Easy to Love (2014)
Maxi Priest came to the attention of American ears due to a pair of massive hits, and a third song that reached the Top 20. The first was his solo jam “Close To You,” a number that ruled the airwaves throughout the summer and fall of 1990. The second, “Set the Night to Music,” a […]
Friends and Lovers (2014)
When your debut CD arrives at the top of the charts, garners a pair of Grammy nominations and cements your status as a performer as well as a songwriter, it’s best not to rush back into the studio. The path to longevity is making music that people will connect to, rather than just hear, […]
Helium (2014)
Dionne Kirby, the Dallas native who sings under the stage name of Dionne, is an inspirational artist. That is a title that a lot of singers want to avoid, but Dionne embraces it on her new album Helium. Now whether inspirational is just a real nice way of saying preachy depends on what an artist […]
Come Back to Me Love (2014)
With her latest album, Come Back to Me Love, Freda Payne comes full circle. It is an album of jazz and pop standards – the kind of songs that Payne grew up hearing and singing in her home town of Detroi, and the kind that were featured on Payne’s first recordings in the early 1960s. […]
Mali Is… (2014)
I begin this review with a question: Is Mali Music’s new CD Mali Is a gospel or secular album? This is actually a consequential question – or at least it appears to be. The Georgia native grew up playing in church, and released two highly acclaimed gospel albums, The Coming and The 2econd Coming, as […]
Can You Feel It (2014)
Most people would say the saxophone is the most popular instrument in contemporary jazz and instrumental R&B music. Sax players might be the closest thing the genre has to super stars. In a way, that shouldn’t be too surprising. The saxophone is the one brass instrument that regularly gets used as a solo instrument after […]
Jarrod Lawson (2014)
If you’re late coming to one of the most musically provocative albums of the year, don’t feel bad. We’re late writing about it. To be fair, the album has only been out a few months and we spotlighted the genius that is Lawson in a First Listen a couple of months back. Lawson’s song, “Sleepwalkers,” […]
Soul Love 2014
Soul Love 2014 isthe latest compendium from UK record label, Reel People Music, a 25 track digital release featuring an array of embryonic soul stars. Despite sounding a somewhat discontinuous affair, there is much to enjoy. Alongside the more familiar names (including UK stalwarts Omar and former Soul II Soul singer Carolyn Wheeler), this much vaunted […]
Speechless (2014)
After what seems like a decade of the dumbing-down of contemporary R&B music by up-and-coming acts striving for commercial success, young audiences who appreciate commercially viable soul with integrity have recently witnessed a burgeoning group of artists who respect the genre’s foundation of melodic fullness and lyrical substance. Singer-songwriters such as Miguel, Frank Ocean, and […]
Fall For You (2014)
Leela James latest album, Fall For You, sneaks up on you and grows in depth, movement, and invitation the longer the project plays and the more frequently you play it. The initial thought on the first few cuts, especially on the first listen, was that the project was beginning solid enough but was essentially routine, […]
