Humanite (2019)
Kirk Whalum – Humanite Sax man Kirk Whalum is a citizen of the world who as a band leader, side man and studio musician has performed with legends. But in a way, all roads lead back to his native of Memphis. That city is the crossroads for much that is a part of our spiritual, […]
Soul Organic – 20th Anniversary Edition
Hil St. Soul – Soul Organic 20th Anniversary Edition The British duo of vocalist Hilary Mwelwa and producer Victor Redwood-Sawyerr turned heads around the globe at the turn of the millennium with their first album, Soul Organic. Arriving on the music scene a few years after the rise of Maxwell, D’Angelo, and Erykah Badu in […]
Gold Dust (2019)
Calvin Richardson – Gold Dust Calvin Richardson is an artist who has it all: a nimble, southern-soul-inflected tenor, lyrical prowess and the ability to remain artistically consistent, yet modern and cool. However, despite being one of modern soul’s finest, Richardson remains one of the genre’s most slept-on performers. He put the world on notice with […]
We’re in This Love Together – Celebrating Al Jarreau (2019)
Chris Walker – We’re in This Love Together – Celebrating Al Jarreau The endeavor of assembling a meaningful tribute album to a singular talent such as Al Jarreau is one of Herculean proportions. The late singer-songwriter is one of the most deserving artists of the last century to be commemorated and honored. His unmistakable, signature […]
Sketchbook (2019)
Fantasia – Sketchbook Fantasia eschews boxes. She can nail jazz, blues, and swing as capably as she can a hip hop, gospel, or dance. As she evolves and has mastered building a song with restraint to satisfying explosive ends as indicated by her devastatingly brilliant Christmas at Midnight project, a sold-out residency with the Pops […]
Hypnotic (2019)
Ty Causey – Hypnotic The sentences on the inside cover of Ty Causey’s latest album, Hypnotic are revealing. “All songs arranged and produced by Ty Causey.” “All lead and background vocals by Ty Causey.” The word ‘all’ does a lot of work in those two sentences for it likely explains why Causey can produce adult oriented […]
The Love Factor (2019)
Brandon Williams – The Love Factor Albums like Brandon Williams’ The Love Factor often have a revelatory feel. Listeners will be treated to collaborations that bring together well-known performers or they’ll be introduced to emerging artists, and some of those up and coming artists may have surnames that resonate with soul music fans. The project will […]
Point Less (2019)
On Point Less, singer/songwriter Ola Onabule makes music that is both timeless and timely. Point Less is timeless in the sense that Onabule embraces a sound that his defiantly analog. The tracks on the album fuse jazz, funk and elements of African, Caribbean and Brazilian bossa nova, just to name a few. He employs a […]
1968: The Other Side of Town (2019)
I made the mistake of taking the 1968 part of the title of Rasheed Ali’s now four-part musical history lesson too literally. That makes sense. Starting each album title off with the 1968 served as something of a historical pin drop that linked Soul Power, Love Power, Black Power and now The Other Side of […]
Jimmy Lee (2019)
Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee Longtime fans of neo-soul groundbreaker Raphael Saadiq are in for an unexpected, decidedly dark ride with the arrival of his first album in nearly a decade, Jimmy Lee. The one-time Tony Toni Tone’ frontman built a reputation throughout the 2000s and early 2010s as a masterful purveyor of grown folks’ R&B […]
