Arika Kane (2009)
Childhood ambitions don’t always pan out as plausible career moves, either because another calling takes hold, or a rude reality check demonstrates that they’re better off making other plans. From the sound of it, neither of these apply to Arika Kane. Singing since the tender age of ten, Ms. Kane had a start in the […]
In The Moment (2009)
Debuting a solo project 30 years in the waiting can be a mean setup depending on the artist. With the high potential for failure shadowing such a long-awaited release, bassist and songwriter "Ready" Freddie Washington finally steps from behind the scenes and into the fore with his solo project, In The Moment. For the uninitiated, […]
Blessing Me (2009)
The Grace Community Church in Kennesaw, Georgia is one of the fastest growing churches in the Atlanta area. This may be due to the church’s house choir – The Anointed Voices of Grace – being considered one of the region’s top-rated choirs. With all that hype, it was only a matter of time before the […]
Soul Divo – The Collection (2009)
It is sometimes hard to fathom Dexter Myers has spent a full decade and four CDs as a truly underground, independent smooth soul stylist. I suppose that his against-the-odds longevity is what he had in mind when entitling his latest release, Soul Divo – The Collection. Since his debut Six Dimensions in 1998, this […]
Crazy Beautiful (2009)
LaSonya Gunter had my interest with the four tracks on her record Crazy Beautiful. After that, she kind of let me go. Those first four tracks (excluding the 18 second introduction) provide a glimpse at the kind of artist Gunter can be at her mature, confident and creative best. Those songs reveal an artist who […]
RetroSoul (2009)
The Chestnut Brothers – an old-soul duo hailing from Atlanta – pedal their Dennis Edwards, Howard Hewett-inspired chops on RetroSoul. The title is a fitting headline for an album paying respects to a more innocent chapter in Southern-fried soul music. Reminiscent of first-rate Johnnie Taylor (latter Malaco era) at its best, the twosome still stumble […]
If the Rains Come First (2009)
The cooing charm in Somi’s vocals and the seductive, trance-like ease of her silky jazz approach to world fusion music will set off listeners’ cozy inner vibes. To say the least, it’s inviting and comforting, reminiscent of the Zen music backgrounds of small boutiques. Unfortunately, too many tracks on If the Rain Comes First sounds […]
The One (2009)
As the lead guitarist of The Dazz Band, Mike Calhoun knew how to throw down plenty of funk licks to keep all those happy feet moving and grooving on the Soul Train line and during their energetic concerts. Yet there are also plenty of other sides to the founder of the popular R&B band with […]
Jerri Curl Muzic (2009)
Autotune is being done to death these days. Of course, that technology is not new, and a similar technology was used most famously by the late Roger Troutman, leader of the 1980s funk band Zapp. It is Troutman rather than contemporary artists who serves as the inspiration for Bigg Robb on his latest CD, Jerri […]
Can’t Stop (2009)
Jazz is perhaps the most democratic of all musical genres. Even the greatest and most renowned musician understands that he or she is basically performing in a group of equals where all of the sidemen members are leaders in other bands. The best leader understands that the way to get the most out of those sidemen […]
