Modern Musings………news and grooves from the Modern Side with Mark Randle
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October 2004
(These reviews appear first in Soul Up North, available from Howard Earnshaw, 19 Rectory Drive, Kirkheaton 44 1484 535999 £2 per issue email soulupnorthhfe@aol.com web www.soulupnorth.org - Big thanks to Howard and all at Soul Up North for letting me feature this)
Incognito All cuts (UK Dome CD
“Adventures In Black Sunshine”)
Bluey
and the gang return with their trademark melting pot of all things soulful with
that jazzy twist on this new set for Dome. From the opening cut “Don’t Turn My Love Away” featuring the
unmistakeable tones of Maysa Leake (who appears on another 6 cuts) you just
know what your gonna get…..quality in abundance from one of the UK’s finest
outfits. Take your pick from the
summery dancer “Everything Your Heart Desires” with it’s “Bourgie, Bourgie”
styled break, the film score intro’d frantic jazz-dance of “The 25th
Chapter” (which went down a storm at Cagneys in July), the beautifully melodic
and crafted “True To Myself”, the Frank McComb/Stevie styled rhodes and vocal
of “This Thing Called Love” featuring Tony Momrelle, the strings and things of
“Fences and Barriers”, to the house sound of the Doobie’s cover “Listen To The
Music”…….yes, it’s all there and all expertly done. Just brilliant and not a skip-button in sight. And for those of you for whom money is
no object, the Japanese import contains the belting mid-tempo “All I Want Is
You”…………….sublime. You need this
CD in your collection. Awesome!
Everette Harp Time Of Our
Lives (US A440 CD “All For You”)
Everette
Harp is a session sax player, who proved via his self-titled debut album for
Manhattan Records back in the early 90’s that he could sing a bit too. Just listen to “If I Had To Live My
Life Without You” from that set.
Anyway, what we have here is a smooth jazz album which, whilst well
executed and sonically produced, probably won’t stand out that much from any
other of the genre, BUT……and you knew there was a but………track 6 is a brilliant
bass-heavy sax laced mid-paced dancer featuring our man on vocals. Love it, love it, love it………one of my
favourite cuts at the moment. What
a wasted opportunity though getting Howard Hewett into the studio and only
using him for vocal adlibs on the up tempo “Groove Control”. Bizarre in the extreme!
280 West feat. Diamond Temple Fly (US Phuture Sole 12”)
It’s
well known that I was not so bowled over by the first release on this label as
a good many of the hedz (Stacey Mallory feat DC Washington “People Of The
World”). Decent enough, but maybe
I was a victim of the hype surrounding it. I would say personally that I have enjoyed the subsequent
releases more, and this is definitely one of the better labels within the genre
and one to watch for the future. This,
the fourth release, is simply superb.
So uplifting, with Diamond Temple’s light and airy vocal over a
beautiful groove, with a wonderful harmonica accompaniment weaving in and out. Simply stunning…..whatever your musical
prejudices……see past them……you simply have to FEEL records like this.
Rufuss This Could Be Love (French
Qalo Moto EP “Master & Apprentice”)
I
recall mentioning this as I closed the last column off. I hadn’t bagged a copy then, but I’m
pleased to say that’s been rectified now, and you lot should not let this piece
of quality soulful dance pass you by.
I would liken it to the Billy Preston 12” from last time, and if you
picked that up, you’ll have some idea just how good this is. Set at a nice easy pace, perfect for
crossing over to the modern scene, the pleading vocals on some quality lyrics
are to die for. Wicked trumpet
break completes this haunting track, which is destined to be a future rarity. Wondrous!!
Jay
Color My Heart (JAP R-SOUL CD “Colour My Heart”)
Wow-we……..the
wall of sound that greeted me when I first heard this reminded me of the energy
and anthemic feel I remember on first hearing Ivan Matias’ “Somebody Knows How
You Feel”. This guy is actually a
Japanese artist, and you do have to be careful with these kinds of
releases. The voice often just
does not cut it, but not this time.
Jay’s voice is definitely on the right side of the tracks, having a
great earthy feel. Add to this the
classy snare driven production of the title cut and what we have here is a
sure-fire dance floor winner, which is seeing heavy rotation with the quality
jocks. A future modern soul
classic. Not a great value for
money set at six tracks and around 30 minutes long, but cuts like the sweet
“Only In Love” with its classy brass and the guitar laced dancer “Still”
complete with cool female BV’s help make this a pretty solid album.
Ledisi My Sensitivity (US GRP CD “Forever, For Always,
For Luther”)
Having
suffered a stroke a while back, Luther is obviously in the thoughts of some
heavyweights from the US session circuit.
This album of smooth jazz covers of classic Luther toons is clear
evidence of that. The cut that is
quite rightly going to generate most interest on the UK modern soul scene is
Ledisi’s cover of 1985’s “My Sensitivity”, which originally appeared on
Luther’s “The Night I Fell In Love” album. A star in the making herself, Ledisi takes the challenge of
covering such a quality chooon square-on and delivers us one of the years
highlight feel good dancers. The
other notable vocal cut is Lalah Hathaway’s take on “Forever, For Always, For
Love”. Of the remaining smooth
jazz instrumentals, Paul Jackson Jnr’s “Never Too Much” is probably the pick.
Gabriel Rene Spirit (US
Soulfuric 12” “Winter Music Conference 2004 Sampler”)
This
cut is a must for all lovers of up-tempo modern soul, being set at an ideal
tempo and not too frenetic. A
brilliant vocal performance from Gabriel Rene, this seems to be around in
quantity, despite being a promo. I
must admit, I tend to normally go for the full release on these things to get
label design and any sleeve artwork, but I made a point of picking this up
because the flip side is good too and I figured that they may not both get an
official release, and if they do they may well come on separate 12”’s at double
the cost. Either way, I strongly
suggest that you pick a copy up without delay.
Michael
Cooper Steppin To A Love Song/Are We Cool?/Butter Luv (US Thump CD “Are We
Cool?)
What
a welcome return to form for ex-Con-Funk-Shun main man Michael Cooper after his
patchy effort “This Heart Of Mine” from a couple of years ago. Real quality stuff from a label doing
its reputation no harm at all with this and the recent release from Val
Watson. The boss dancer here
is “Steppin To A Love Song”, which
is a dead ringer for Musiq’s “Forthenight”. No bad thing that, and this is lighting up the dance floors
at all the right places. “Butter
Love” has our man sounding more like Larry Blackmon than Larry Blackmon, which
is probably no coincidence as this cut is so reminiscent of Cameo’s “Word
Up”. Not gonna win any prizes in
the lyrical stakes, but a great groove.
The title cut is a funky shuffling mid-paced dancer with Michael
sounding uncannily like Frankie Beverly (jeez - can this guy throw his
voice?). Superb. For a great late night groove with
someone you care about, check the cover of Marvin’s “Since I Had You”. Good album - essential listening.
The
Sunburst Band Everyday/Twinkle/Fly Away (UK Z Records LP/CD “Until The End Of
Time”)
Causing
quite a stir in the UK’s coolest clubs are these cuts from Dave Lee’s (aka Joey
Negro) outfit The Sunburst Band.
“Everyday” is a finger snapping mid-paced dancer featuring Chaka Khan’s
sister Taka Boom on vocals.
Stunning. “Twinkle” is
reminiscent of the man Ayers at his dance floor best, and the altogether jazzy
feel is complimented by the sassy vocals of some new girl on the block going by
the name of Linda Clifford! “Fly
Away” does the business too, but truth be told, I can’t get past the other two
cuts. £30-40 for the four pack
vinyl or £12 for the CD……..the choice is yours, but watch for those annoying
track differences! Unmissable.
Tim Dillinger You Take The
Clouds Away/Can’t Help But Say/Til The Six Is Nine (US Icon’s Pen CD “Love Is On My
Mind”)
This
is the debut set for 28 year-old blue-eyed soul man Tim Dillinger and a fine
effort it is too. Nashville
resident Tim doesn’t write his own music here, but he is responsible for all
his own lyrics. A mellow set on
the whole with “You Take The Clouds Away” being the only real dancer of note,
but what a great cut. This album’s
been in circulation a couple of months now and I’m not at all sure why I can’t
recall hearing this out. Great
stuff. Of the mellow moments on
here “Can’t Help But Say” and “Til The Six Is Nine” probably just edge it for
me, with Tim’s high register sitting nicely on the grooves. Worthy of your attention.
The Temptations All cuts (US Motown CD “Legacy”)
The
Temps return with their best effort since “Phoenix Rising”, complete with new
member G.C. Cameron. With this and
the Trina Broussard album (no room folks…..sorry!), Motown have hit us with two
of the summers killer albums. As
contemporary as it needs to be, without losing the sensibilities you would
expect from the Temps. If I were
to single out cuts, it would be the obvious dancers “Love To The Music”,
“Somethin’ Special” and “Stay Together”, but with numbers like the catchy “Mr
Fix It”, the great “Fifty, Fifty Love” and the trademark vocal harmonies on the
opening of “You Are So Necessary In My Life”, you really can’t go wrong. Essential - sell the kids if necessary!
Knee Deep feat. Brooke Russel I
Won’t Let You Down (US Knee Deep 12”)
One
of summer 2004’s most anthemic cuts comes from the German based Knee Deep crew,
on a US import on Knee Deep records.
This comes about via Soulfuric, who have a distribution deal with Knee
Deep records. The first release
via this new Soulfuric set-up is a real goody, and the hook on this will go
round in your head for days once you’ve heard it. Brooke Russel’s urgent and into it vocal performance sits on
this uplifting slice of soulful dance music perfectly. One you most certainly need.
Blaze Hiya Luv/Make The Time/Spread Love (JAP Victor
CD “Keep Hope Alive”)
This JAP released album is about to drop on US King Street records, so you can save yourself some money if you want……..personally, I couldn’t wait!! The Kenny Bobien cut here “Hiya Luv” needs to be heard, to be believed. Just unbelievable dance floor friendly inspirational SOUL music for the 21st century. Kenny’s vocal performance is top drawer as normal, and coupled with the string breaks in this it just melts you. This is music to take you to a higher plane without doubt. This is by far the best cut, but others doing it for me at present are the Arnold Jarvis fronted “Make The Time” with Arnolds almost laid back delivery really engaging the listener, and the Byron Stingily vocalled “Spread Love”. All told though, a great album, which will be revered in years to come. Don’t wait until then!
Jiva I Realised (US Giant
Step 12”)
No space - summer smash anthem is all you need to know – acquire!
OK…….so
much stuff, and not making it into the main reviews, look out for other new
bits in the shape of the various artists “Lo Down 2” compilation for a couple
of killer mellow moments, the excellent Parkes Stewart “Heart & Soul” CD
for a real Marvin feel, the forthcoming wonderful Jill Scott CD, Ramsey Lewis’
son Frayne on a great CD for EMI, the wondrous Trina Broussard set for Motown,
bonus cuts on the JAP version of the latest Janet Jackson (yes, I said Janet
Jackson) set, Angie Stone of course, “Café de Soul Vol. 5” and the forthcoming
(or JAP at present) Angela Johnson album for Dome. Also give the new Swing Out Sister album a chance, some
great retro feel soul on there.
Add to these killer 12”’s from Terry Hunter, Steal Vybe, Demitri from
Paris featuring Omar, and one of my current faves from Chez Damier feat. Leroy
Burgess and you might just have to cancel that holiday you’d promised the
missus!!
Randle’s “So Much Good New
Stuff!” Bass Museum early doors choice – Summer/Autumn 2004:
Jay – Color My Heart (JAP R-SOUL CD)
Everette Harp – Time Of Our Lives (US A440 CD)
Angie Stone – Lovers Ghetto (UK J Records CD)
Trina Broussard – Dreaming Of One (US Motown CD)
Michael Cooper – Steppin To A Love Song (US Thump CD)
The Jonz – No Games (US AMR Music CD)
Rufuss – This Could Be Love (French Qalo Moto 12”)
Jiva – I Realised (US Giant Step CD)
Bilal – Better With Time (US Warner Bros. CD)
Frayne – Aphrodisiac (US EMI CD)
Ledisi – My Sensitivity (US GRP CD)
Deitrick Haddon – Stir The Gift (US Verity CD)
Jabari Grover – Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (US Yah-Co CD)
If you have any product for review, contact me on soulboy@randlem.freeserve.co.uk
‘Til next time then,
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