Crash & Burn (2014)
Amiable, centered, and anything but a craver of the spotlight: that’s how some folks perceive ‘middle children’ — and it also describes Traci Braxton. Sharing a household, a stage and now reality show set with boisterous sister sibs would be a tall order for anyone, and given the drama levels that Trina, Tamar and Towanda […]
Hear to Tempt You / Bare Back (reissue)
The year was 1977 and The Temptations were a mess. Yes, THE Temptations, the act that nearly defined soul music in the 60s and early 70s. But the loss of Dennis Edwards and Eddie Kendricks, combined with a series of mediocre, uninspired albums on Motown in the mid-decade left them increasingly irrelevant on R&B […]
Soul To Soul (2014)
Carmen Lundy does it the hard way. She’s a vocalist in a genre – jazz – that is largely the purview by instrumentalists. Lundy also made her musical mark through the method that she employs on her latest recording Soul To Soul – by writing her own material in a field where some singers still […]
In The Red Room (2014)
Honoring tradition and embodying modern cultural savvy, Shaun Escoffery’s third full-length release, In the Red Room, is a hallmark of multi-generational soul music. Whether examining the constant state of uncertainty in today’s political and social affairs, or surveying the eternal ins and outs of romantic commitment, Escoffery is firm and consistent in his observations and […]
A Brand New Day (2014)
R&B artists get hot coals heaped upon their collective heads for the singular focus they place upon affairs of the heart. It sometimes seems that they continually sing songs about the romantic chronology that begins when the eyes meet from across the room until the relationship culminates in love, sex or the break-ups that are […]
Sweet Summer Soul 2014 (2014)
New label Tee Gee records has been busy in its initial year of operation. The compilation disc Sweet Summer Soul 2014 illustrates exactly how busy that label has been. The compilation boats 18 original tracks representing the depth and variety of the soul music. Artists such as Randy Muller will be familiar to American audiences […]
Up (2014)
Stanley Clarke has been performing and recording for more than 45 years. He’s cut 40 plus albums, including his latest Up. So it should not be surprising that Up has a sentimental component. Clarke recruited longtime industry veterans and fresh faces with whom he’s been connected over the years. On Up he covers a version […]
C’est Le Funk
Perhaps it’s lack of imagination or simple laziness that gets projects such as U-Nam’s C’est Le Funk labeled as contemporary jazz or smooth jazz or whatever label we choose to use for an instrumental project these days. U-Nam, a guitarist influenced by the likes of George Benson – for whom he made a tribute album […]
Indie Soul United 2
The good thing about a compilation such as Indie Soul United 2 is that it intersperses familiar names with those striving to make a mark in the indie soul world. This latest project from producer Craig Alan Eleazer features mainstays such as Ty Causey, as well as other names that came across my desk over […]
Trial and Error
A woman perched between the idealistic young years and the deepening pragmatism of full-on adulthood, spilling the contents of her mind and heart into music: that’s what comes to mind when encountering SuCh and hearing her debut CD release, Trial and Error. The appeal of SuCh’s approach is what stands out so boldly in her lyrics […]
