It’s The Peace That Deafens (2015)
Ola Onabule said that It’s The Peace That Deafens, his follow up to the brilliant Seven Shades Darker, is the result of a process that found him taking full ownership of the African-ness in his background. In prior years, Onabule, who was raised and educated in Nigeria and Britain, believed there was an imbalance in […]
If I Sing (2015)
Since the turn of the century, independent soul has gradually gained more and more steam as a movement of talented, multi-faceted artists with distinctive songs and compelling messages that are often deemed too sophisticated by major-label A&R personnel. Though self-sufficient R&B singers have been putting out records for the better part of a century, too […]
One Place Live (2015)
. It is indeed a tight balancing act when a worship leader who serves their church community successfully crosses over into a recording and touring artist. In a distinguished field of female worship leaders who have juggled their church responsibilities and toured internationally, including Shirley Caesar, CeCe Winans and Kim Burrell, a seasoned talent who […]
Healing Season (2015)
In the highly-underrated 1994 comedy, The Ref, an unlucky cat burglar takes a bickering couple hostage and must endure their sniping, along with other annoying relatives, as they attempt to salvage a tension-filled Christmas Eve. After hearing one too many insults from the elderly matriarch, Denis Leary finally explodes with a barb of his own: “I know loan […]
Live In Manchester (2015)
. Throughout the 1990s, British soulstress Lisa Stansfield held an enviable spot in the landscape of international R&B and pop. From the moment she surprised worldwide audiences with her breakout hit, “All Around the World” (and earlier in the UK, with “People Hold On”), through a handful of albums, tours, and appearances which saw her […]
Unbreakable (2015)
As if the world stood still, Janet Jackson’s present-day return to music has us all on pause. It’s because there’s probably not a single superstar in the R&B constellation that’s been as reclusive as Janet “Damita Jo” Jackson in recent years, save possibly Sade. It’s been seven years since Discipline dropped, but only her closest and […]
Beat Tape 2 (2015)
You know what’s the coolest thing about being a music critic? It’s not the free music and occasionally free concert ticket, though those all help ease the financial pain of being a full-time writer. The most thrilling aspect of being a music critic is following an artist and closely watching that particular creative being grow […]
Love + War (2015)
The urban alternative wing of R&B/soul may finally have its answer to Sting. With naked songs written in blood beating poetic verse that takes on weighty philosophical and personal themes with cloaking metaphors, every song is sung with unmitigated power, clean, precise lines, and soaring climaxes that rattle the woodwork. Save his UK colleague, Laura […]
First Class (2015)
Listen to guitarist’s U-Nam’s last three projects – last year’s C’est Le Funk, the DVD Live at Anthology and the George Benson tribute project Weekend In LA, and you will hear the saxophone contributions of Shannon Kennedy. Kennedy, a native Californian, is something of a prodigy and activist for young musicians who has also paid […]
The Burbank Sessions (2015)
The Burbank Sessions has been a long time coming. The intimacy of live performance heightens the full power of Bruce Sudano’s many gifts. Recorded with the Candyman Band at Lokisound rehearsal studio in Burbank, these seven songs comprise a tuneful illustration of Sudano’s songwriting talent in all its raw beauty. As he notes in the […]
