Another Journey (2013)
How can it be that an artist as revered as Gladys Knight — GLADYS KNIGHT for God’s sake — can issue her first album in seven years and nobody knows about it? Well, that is just what happened this Summer when Knight quietly released a long-awaited disc of mostly original material on indie music platform […]
Higher
Steve Arrington may be funk’s version of Snoop Lion. Arrington, like Long Beach’s own, infuses his vocals with a slow drawl that sometimes sounds twangy. Arrington has never been known for his vocal range, even during his salad days as the lead singer of the funk outfit Slave or during a solo career that yielded […]
Seasons and Reasons (2013)
For a guy who doesn’t sing a lick and doesn’t publicly play an instrument, James Day has had an outsized impact in the indie soul world. He’s done it with classic pop/soul songwriting skills and a knack for surrounding himself with incredible vocal talent to make his compositions shine — two talents the importance of […]
Soulfisticated (2013)
Jef Kearns took on his musical mission at an early age. Kearns went the woodwind route when his parents asked him what musical instrument he wanted to play. The saxophone would have been the obvious choice for a woodwind player looking to make a mark in the R&B/contemporary jazz world. Kearns decided to play the […]
A Mary Christmas
Once upon a time, a holiday album was a sign that an artist had truly made it. The luxury of putting together a collection of interpretations of time-honored Christmas carols—and perhaps a few original songs of merriment—was reserved for singers and musicians who had reached commendable artistic heights and succeeded commercially in the process. Over […]
Love Never Fails
What drives a person to serve the Lord in spirit and in truth? Plenty of people likely thought Micah Stampley was always a devout person. He grew up a pastor’s kid. Stampley was type of child who possessed an aptitude for music, so he became a crucial part of the church’s musical ministry at a […]
Love to Love You Donna
One year and a half after the untimely passing of Donna Summer, it’s still hard to believe that The Queen of Disco will no longer be dazzling audiences with new anthems. Power-fueled by her dynamic pipes, “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” and “She Works Hard for the Money” have roused club-goers and radio-heads alike over the […]
The Messenger
Kevin Eubanks has been described as one of the greatest guitarist in Jazz, having worked alongside the likes of bebop percussionist Wes Montgomery and drummer Art Blakey. Since releasing his debut album for Elektra Records in 1982, Eubanks has recorded several albums on several labels that have established him as one of the genres most […]
The Expats
Chris asked me to review The Expats, the latest project by Grammy nominated Ethiopian singer Wayna, around the same time that L. Michael Gipson’s op-ed about the crop of young international soul singers appeared on the site. Coincidence? Probably. The Expats, with its fusion of R&B and funk with world music genres such as reggae […]
Best Man Holiday: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
There are two event projects that urban record labels once did very well, but we get them less and less as the years go by: the R&B holiday album and the black movie original soundtrack. Well, the Best Man Holiday Original Motion Picture Soundtrack manages to get both completely right and reminds us of all […]
