Full Power
Even though the current urban U.S. recording industry is knee deep in the digital era, retro music that strays from the auto-tune and robotic rhythmic madness is very much evident as fans continue to crave more of a refreshing alternative. Recent artists who have truly solidified the “everything old is new again’ theory have completely […]
Life Happens
Last year the Greg Camalier-directed Muscle Shoals told the often-neglected story of Rick Hall and the North Alabama music factory that gave birth to golden records for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Etta James, the Rolling Stones, Percy Sledge and thousands more. Candi Staton, a church-trained singer born seventy miles southeast of Muscle Shoals, […]
Redemption
Gospel, blues, funk, jazz, soul, marching & world music constantly rub against and off on each other in the artistic gumbo of New Orleans. The same can be said about the art and life of Glen David Andrews, one of the Big Easy’s native sons. Andrews, the New Orleans based trombonist and vocalist, hails […]
Greatest Slow Jams (2014)
The Dramatics at Stax sounded like an odd fit. Stax is the Memphis based label that specialized in funky soul of the Bar Kays or Booker T. & the MG’s, and that gritty churchified cut me and I’ll bleed soul of Otis Redding. The Dramatics hailed from Detroit, and their smooth doo-wop inspired harmonies and […]
Broken Compass
Some of the best advice anybody can receive involves diversification. Spreading one’s brand requires a step outside of the comfort zone. Therein lies the dilemma. Say you have a good voice like Chicago born, Philly-raised and New York-schooled Amatus. The predictable play would be for her to place all of her eggs into the high […]
The Hippest Trip in America: Soul Train and the Evolution of Culture and Style (By Nelson George)
Throughout the course of R&B music history, few vehicles have had the kind of long-lasting impact as has Soul Train, the weekly dance and performance TV show founded by Don Cornelius in 1970. Begun as a local Chicago program filmed in a tiny studio, the series immediately established importance as a platform for black artists […]
Evolve
Jackiem Joyner’s Evolve represents somewhat of a return to the genre of instrumental music that brought him commercial and critical success. Listeners may decide that theme distinguishes Evolve from Joyner’s 2012 Church Boy. The previous project took the multi-instrumentalist and saxophonist back to his church roots, just as the truth in advertising title acknowledges. Church […]
The Essential Sade (2014)
Thanks to those demure, dusky vocals, tantalizing soul and jazz grooves and, of course, that minimalist yet mesmerizing fashion sense, we just cannot get enough of Helen Folasade Adu, AKA Sade. In the nearly 30 (!) years since her Diamond Life debut, the Nigerian-born and England-based superstar channeled the virtuosities of early influences (Al Green, Billie Holiday and […]
Chameleon
Harvey Mason’s nickname is “Chameleon,” and I definitely get the appropriateness of deploying the moniker as the title of the drumming legend’s latest album. The nickname comes from the ease with which Mason moves into different musical genres. Jazz, most notably jazz-fusion is where Mason earned his name. A generation of fusion and contemporary jazz […]
Darker Than Gray (2014)
There are always mixed feelings when one of your favorite alternative R&B or rock artists goes more decidedly pop in their music. Such is the case with singer/songwriter sometime soulster, sometimes rocker Kameron Corvet, whose latest project, Darker Than Gray, is both more urban and pop than the album that landed him on the map […]
