Last month - to be exact April 5^th 2008 - I did my first ever Soul Tracks monthly feature. Now the time has come again and I'm excited to write about the London Soul Scene for the second time in May. This time though, it is about male soul artists...

Natty

Natty comes from London, and has a lot of soul; his music draws influence from Alternative, Acoustic and Reggae. His music is pure and lyrics remind one of Estelle 1980. Natty is raw talent, and I'm glad Atlantic Records unearthed him, Natty's music should be played loudly in the summer streets of London when he drops his single Cold Town 19^th May 2008. You can check out other tracks by Natty on his my space page (see end of feature) such as Coloured Souls Mix, Bedroom Eyes Acoustic, and If I (free download). Natty's musical influences are Lee Perry, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Fela Kuti, Yellowman, Finley Quaye, Prince, Burning Spear, The Streets, D'Angelo, Miles Davis, Sly Stone and so on.

 http://www.myspace.com/natty4d 

Brotherly

Soul, Electronic and Jazz has never sounded so good, Brotherly are a double out fit consisting of Robin Mullarkey and Anna Stubbs, who have joined forces with Martyn Kaine, Simon Colam, Femi Temowo (who I'm going to talk about in a minute), Natalie Wialliams and the talented Tawiah. Also on their debut album is Eska, Ty, Earl Zinger, Eddie Stevens, Jan Ozveren, Fin Peters, Volker STrater and Gareth Lockrane. Brotherly's influences are Massive Attack, Candi Staton, Tony Williams, Nuyorican Soul, Incognito, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Sonny Rollins, and many more. Their album got them a jazz café gig and great press feedback. One Sweet Life is now available to purchase. Brotherly's single will be released in the States this week, http://www.monumentalmanagement.co.uk/.

www.myspace.com/brotherly

Femi Temowo

Having done a big article and interview on Femi Temowo a few years ago for http://www.beyondjazz.net/ and my site http://www.feelthesoul.co.uk/ I am still a fan of Femi Temowo's music, his debut album Quiet Storm is a classic in today's jazz, which I refuse to say modern because Femi Temowo is not modern jazz as he combines in lots of different elements in music from spoken word artist Zena Edwards, to lots of percussion. Often his African roots shine through making this an eclectic jazz record, the track that features Zena Edwards is called Wood and Strings, highly inspirational and creative. Quiet Storm was released on his own label imprint called FemiTone Music and he can be checked out on my space. 

www.myspace.com/femitemowo

Soweto Kinch

Just a one off for this piece, I like to call Soweto Kinch the Questlove of UK Jazz. Now all though Soweto Kinch is from Birmingham and not straight from the heart of London, most of the artists I will talk about will probably be from other parts of the UK but end up in London due to music. A Life in the Day of B19: Tales of the Tower Block sounds like a hip-hop album, and it exactly is that, but Soweto Kinch uses his experiences in London and England to rap about, it is almost spoken word over inspiring jazz grooves or jazz beats. The awards that Soweto Kinch has won is impressive from BBC Radio Jazz Awards, MOBO Awards (if that counts), BBC Radio Jazz Rising Star Awards, Mercury Music Price, Urban Music Awards Best Jazz Act, and even though I've put this up in different years he has climbed from unknown to known in what seems like quite a short space of time. Soweto Kinch is proud of his culture, proud of his roots, and where he comes from and expresses this in his playing and recordings. Soweto Kinch is somebody I'd love to see live when I get the chance to, as he is real and inspiring.

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Posted May 5th, 2008 by administrator