Yearly Archives: 2008

BBE and the UK’s Producer and MC Steve Ellington join forces to give us this live offering from someone better known for remixing joints by Common, LL Cool J, and Buster Rhymes. On this British Hip Hop monster we are treated to a very soulful set of thirteen tracks helped along the way by Pete Cherry, Tim Baxter and Phoebe One and the most samples.. You will be racking your memory banks listening! Particular favourite here is "Precise Precision" for its soulfulness. Those looking for something harder should head straight to "Magnificent". Top marks for this release – quality hip hop CAN come without explicit lyrics.

Steve Williams

Other than the well placed use of Floetry on "Marathon" there is but one worthy track, that of the two-stepper "Love Drug". The rest? Well let’s say it is in a field where players are plentiful and skill sparse. Let’s hope Jive can produce something for the Premier League later in the year.

Steve Williams

Straight off the back of the label’s "Strange Games" compilation comes this onslaught of funky cuts from artists like Chain Reaction, Steve Smith and The Honey Dippers. Just when you thought the vaults and collections of some of the world’s best record collectors and labels must be nearing exhaustion arrives on the scene another, somewhat superior, gem. If you are feeling the many comps on this tip then this will not disappoint, and for those who otherwise steer clear, Mr Thing includes "Boogie Man" by The Crystal Mansion the dog’s nuts of folk funk!! Don’t hesitate; get your dry roasted funk here.

Steve Williams

When did you imagine disco died? Wrong! Because it happens sometime after 2008 and The Million Dollar Orchestra are here to prove just that. Creative, refreshing, gutsy disco blinders from start to finish. If you are bored with the way some of the genres have been heading then pick this album up and stimulate the parts of the brain usually left for alcohol and wickedness. Best of 2008? Here we come and you had better step aside!

Steve Williams

Modal. Jazz. Unbelievable. Sleep Walker are brought on board to remake the "United Legends" album from this time last year and for all but a few notable vocals by way of Carleen Anderson, Clara Hill, Navasha Days, Yukimi Nagano and Josh Milan you would think this was a brand new Sleep Walker release. Full on jazz encased by the now expected perfect packaging only the Japanese seem to provide us. Just good music. Oh, I nearly forgot…. CD 2 is instrumentals… now that’s cleaver.

Steve Williams

If you are only just coming down from the happy heights their "Second Guess" album elevated you to, then rest assure this new offering is going to catapult you back there. Reel People have collaborated with the likes of Omar, Vanessa Freeman, Imaani, Tony Momrelle, Joy Rose and Dyanna Fearon to keep you in the happy zone both on this release and the forthcoming concert. An early summer sounding soul album, due to hit the shops the back end of February, and presented live for you at The Jazz Cafe on Thursday 7th February 2008 www.jazzcafe.co.uk, is destined for acceptance across the board from the soul jazz that is "Ordinary Man" through the Neo Soul that is "Anything You Want" to the jumpy "It will Be" and "High" that the broken soul lovers will adore and no album fillers here folks, just pure quality! This is Britain at its best, an album stamped with longevity and oozing passion, inhaling the best possible soulful oxygen and exhaling a progressive masterpiece with the album"s anthem tracks "Outta Love" and "Upside" destined for greatness at Southport while "Love Is Where You Are" and "Amazing" hitting every Modern Soul dance floor throughout the North. Don"t let this slip you by, make the space on your shelf now and insert a card that says "Insert Reel Music Here" and get your best dancing shoes polished ready for the live album launch at The Jazz Cafe, London and bring your banner "OMAR FOR MAYOR OF LONDON". "Seven Ways To Wonder": Just what ears were put on your head for.

Steve Williams

It’s been almost two years since ‘Cohiba’ dropped but finally the full length album is here and it’s been well worth the wait. Both ‘Cohiba’ and ‘In The Sun’ from the 12" are present plus another twelve quality broken-soul excursions. It kicks off with a killer cosmic funk intro entitled ‘Let There Be Love’ featuring a distinctive spoken word performance from Chris Jam, before moving into the flute laced ‘Everyday’ and ‘Breathe Some Light’, a great collaboration with Atjazz. With other solid moments such as ‘Eager For The Years’ featuring Michelle Amador, ‘Afrodisiosity’ with Fyza, ‘Hurt Ya Twice’ and the two Oezlem fronted tracks, ‘More Than The Eye Can See’ and ‘Women Of The Night’ this is one album you can’t afford to miss!

Andy Allen

For his latest project Herbie delves into the Joni Mitchell songbook. With a band including Wayne Shorter and vocal performances from Norah Jones (‘Court And Spark’), Corinne Bailey Rae (‘River’), Leonard Cohen (‘The Jungle Line’) and Joni herself (‘Tea Leaf Prophecy’) this makes for a pleasant listening experience and could well see some airplay on the likes of BBC Radio 2. The real standout here though is a version of one of my all time favourite Joni tracks, ‘Edith And The Kingpin’ featuring Tina Turner. I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge fan of Ms Turner but here her vocals are more restrained than usual yet retain those wonderful earthy tones which sit perfectly on this glorious laid back jazz interpretation.

Andy Allen

‘Earth Blossom’ from drummer/percussionist John Betsch is one of the rarer releases on Strata-East but thankfully Heavenly Sweetness have picked it up for reissue. Originally released in 1974 this is a beautiful example of spiritual jazz and features the haunting title track plus the percussive masterpiece ‘Ode To Ethiopia’ which has long been in demand.

Andy Allen

‘Infini’ is the debut album from Parisian based jazz vocalist Anne Wirz. She’s backed in the main by a trio (piano/Fender Rhodes, bass and drums) on this largely self penned set, much of which is sung in French. For me though it’s the covers which she excels on such as Sathima Bea Benjamin’s ‘Music’ and her amazing interpretations of ‘Maiden Voyage’ and the Carlos Garnett/Norman Connors jazz-dance classic ‘Mother Of The Future’.

Andy Allen

Raw, uncut soul at it’s best. Take one look at the Dap Kings and you’d ask yourself, can these guys really bring the funk? Yes! They really, really can! The third release for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings is a little milder than their previous release “Naturally”. However, they still come at you hard nonetheless. There’s really no track that stands out more than the other as the entire disc just flows at a crisp pace. The disc begins with the title track. A semi-slow burner that has everything that you loved about soul music, live instrumentation, warm harmonies and a lead voice that packs a punch. Midway through the song, Sharon pauses for a second, slows down the pace and reasserts herself while the Dap Kings break it down to another level. “Nobody’s Baby” has a funky mid-tempo beat that will surely have your head noddin’, albeit a bit short at just over two minutes. That’s a minor quibble that you can deal with. What’s more important is serenading yourself with ten tracks of soul music in it’s purest form. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also bonus cd that features music from various artists from the Daptone label titled Binky Griptite’s Ghetto Funk Power Hour. Hosted by Daptone guitarist Binky Griptite, this disc burns for sixty minutes. If this isn’t money well spent I don’t know what is.

Reg Dancy

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I’m having a hard time deciding which version I like most. Nicole Willis and The Soul investigators dropped “Keep Reachin Up” over a year ago. To worldwide critical acclaim. This was throwback soul music that took you back to an era of folks playing 45’s on the stereo. Brooklyn borned Nicole Willis and Finland’s The Soul Investigators are taking soul music back to its purest form. Except this time around they have some of the hottest DJ’s dropping by to put their stamp on already quality soul. On “Feeling Free” Aaron Jerome adds nice chords to an already bumpin track. Mr Scruff adds banging drums to “If this Ain’t Love”. And the Dynamics’s remix on “My 4 Leaf Clover” gives the track a dubstep feel to it. From a purist’s standpoint, you might want to pick up the original, if you don’t have it already. However this is one of the rare remixed cd’s that don’t disappoint. Definitely worth checking out.

Reg Dancy

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There have an abundance of broken beat hits (and misses) this year. This is one of the hits that should have lots of staying power. In addition, there are a couple of highlights that stand out about the new Flowriders cd “R.U.E.D.Y”. One is the live instrumentation that gives the music a fresh sound every time I play it. The other highlight is the guest vocalists such as Tanya Saw, Spoonface and the dynamic blue-eyed soul man himself, Colonel Red. On the cosmic “Looking Deep” the Colonel provides well placed background scats to complement the vocals of Tanya Saw. “I Think I Know” is a nice mid-tempo gem that is enhanced by the drum work by Richard Spaven (Mark De Clive Lowe, 4Hero). “President” is an energetic broken beat track with vocals by Spoonface, who on this track, sounds a little like Omar to me. “Visualize” also features Colonel Red and has a haunting deep groove that begs for the volume to be turned up. Chances are you feel compelled to do that the minute this track starts. Thanks to the tight production by Vincent Helbers (aka Flowriders), this disc will provide definite satisfaction to fans of the bruk beat, broken soul. Recommended.

Reg Dancy

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This seems like it’s taken ages to be released but I think that is due to hearing that Aaron was signed to BBE such a long time ago. I’ve been really looking forward to hearing it. Aaron has been around for a while now and has been producing some ace tracks/remixes over the last few years. Next year should see his profile explode with this cracking debut album. Some of the vocalists maybe unknown to the masses but most people in the scene will know all about Bajka, Kathrin deBoer from Belleruche, Mozez, Andreya Triana, Yungun and Simphiwe Dana, and boy do they sound good on all their tracks. There is no real point in highlighting any one tune because they are all something special and fans of the Cinematic Orchestra and 4Hero will enjoy Aaron taking things to another level. Essential!!

Simon Harrison

Matt Smooth and Rob Mac are back with their second album under the alias Speeka and it makes me wonder how they have time with all the other projects they’ve got under their belt. With the guys known more for their hip-hop roots than their jazz or funk, they take all those influences and turn them into a wonderful folk style album. This is a beautiful album that will have you wanting more after each play. My copy arrived in the middle of the postal strike, so I was able to give this album the attention it deserves. One of the catchiest tracks I’ve heard this year is "Better Inside", which has all the elements of a hit, if only the nation wasn’t so obsessed with reality TV music shows. With a good balance of instrumentals and vocal productions, this will more than keep you happy through the dark winter months. Yet another excellent release from Wah Wah 45s.

Simon Harrison