Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

It’s refreshing to hear a new young woman who can truly sing R&B. It feels like we’ve been missing her from the soul scene for a while. Houston-born, Chicago-raised, NYC-based Gloria Ry’ann is a musical descendant of the kind of smooth soul that introduced Faith Evans and Teedra Moses to the industry. On silky sheaths of sound like “Where You Are” and the haunting “Wait a Minute,” a cooing and cajoling Ry’ann proves that she’s worthy of these divas’ mantle.

The slow jam heavy debut EP, Just Glow, is solidly produced with a surprisingly fresh ‘90s R&B sound that encourages a revival of that decade’s more sumptuous sounds. With “Gravity,” Ry’ann does tip her hat to the synth pop playing on terrestrial radio for the kiddies, and proves the only moment that compels skipping. Ry’ann delves into more creative territory with the atmospheric “Divine,” lyrically and musically expressing the glow of love. Its doo wop and acoustic soul flourishes over a rolling marching drum; the song reveals a range of tender, experimental textures that contrast the project’s more traditionally urbane ballads. The chanteuse also takes this five-song opportunity to join the ranks of Trina Broussard and Sy Smith in daring to conquer Minnie Ripperton’s suggestively orgasmic “Inside My Love,” blowing its whistle note climaxes out of the water on both classic and sultry remixed takes. All in all, Ry’ann whets listener’s whistle for more of her effortless glow.

Notable Songs: “Divine,” “Where You Are,” and “Wait a Minute.”

Vocals:  3.5 stars
Music:  2.5 stars
Lyrics:  3.0 stars
Production: 2.5 stars
SoulTracks Call: Recommended

By L. Michael Gipson

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Ron Tyson has been a staple in R&B for more than 40 years, both as a vocalist and songwriter.  Ron first came on the scene with Love Committee (formerly the Ethics) and later with as the lead tenor/falsetto for the iconic Temptations, making his first appearance with the group on the Motown 25^th Anniversary television show in 1983.  Since he began his stint with the Temps, Ron has enjoyed the third longest tenure of any member in the group, behind founding members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. 

Ron takes a bit of that Temptations experience and flavor and adds it to the mix with his new album, Recipe 4 Love.  The Philadelphia-born, Monroe, North Carolina-raised Tyson has created an adult contemporary album that’s infused with elements of 90’s Hip Hop-influenced R&B to give it a youthful adult appeal.  Recipe 4 Love also brings in a strong 80’s retro vibe .  The album is ripe with great lyrics from Ron and various writers, and in all honesty, the man can still blow. 

Tyson has written for a number of great artists such as the O’Jays, Archie Bell & the Drells, Eddie Kendricks, the Dells, the Four Tops and Gloria Gaynor.  With Recipe 4 Love, Ron Tyson brings back a time when men expressed both their machismo and vulnerability in their music, and he uses the romance element sorely missing in today’s R&B that will make past great music lover men proud.  But the real treasure of Recipe 4 Love is the storytelling, which is fast becoming a lost art in today’s music world. 

Musically, the production of Recipe 4 Love relied a bit heavily on electronic keyboards, with an unfortunate shortage of standout live instrumentation .  But the producers were able to capture the essence, vibe and mood of what Tyson was looking to convey with the album, and it comes thru with each song, whether dance, mid-tempo, or slow ballad.  Tyson gives you all three speeds, including a beautiful, tell-it-like it is duet with soul legend Freda Payne on “Before the Hurting Starts”. 

Recipe 4 Love is a steady blend of old soul/R&B with New Jack sensibilities, and it works.  The top-notch writing appeals to the experiences of the adult contemporary listener, and the vocals reel you into Ron Tyson’s web of the ups and downs of love and romance.  That’s all you can ask for from an artist of Tyson’s measure, and somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be hearing some of the dance tracks at a grown folks’ party in the near future.  Highly Recommended.

By Gabriel Rich

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

The UK may be delivering a seemingly endless assembly line of female soul singers but the rest of Europe’s dominating soul stars are predominately male, singing from a decidedly masculine point of view. Whether it’s Nyr in France, Tuomo in Finland, Stephen Simmonds in Sweden, Alain Clark in Holland, and here with Jarle Bernhoft in Norway, one consistently hears men who are unapologetic in their masculinity and lyrical maturity, drawing a striking contrast in both tone and carriage to the high-pitched, sexual-content heavy crooners dominating U.S. radio R&B today. More than striking, Bernhoft’s fourth solo project in four years is a welcome one.

Singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist Jarle Bernhoft aka Bernhoft has been representing the best of European soul as a solo artist since 2008’s critically acclaimed Ceramik City Chronicles, but it was last year’s Solidarity Breaks that helped break Bernhoft through to international stardom. His voice has the smooth and sturdy presence of a José James with the sensitive, belting wails of Marc Broussard. Tall, lean and bespoke suited, the bespectacled Bernhoft presents a dashing hipster figure in stature and voice. On his previous live set, 2010’s double-disc 1: Man 2: Band, Bernhoft separately brought his persuasive gifts as a solo one-man band and as the frontman for a full rock and soul band. Unfortunately the two recorded sets and 18 songs felt like overkill for an artist still developing his solo repertoire, and there was filler to spare. This time, backed by the 24-member Norwegian Radio Orchestra, KORK, Bernhoft is more judicious in his selections and relaxed in his delivery. The results are surer, subtler and sweet.

There is acid and meat here too, lyrically speaking. “Stay with Me” is an awkward, yet vulnerable confession that begins in pathos (“I was lost/I couldn’t lift my eyes from my shoes”) and ends with a plea and a promise (“Stay with me/oh, stay with me/ I am dying to set your heart on fire again”). There is complexity to his story telling, certainly with his biggest hit to-date, “C’mon,” a declarative Top 30 song of a regretful man trying to talk to his woman after the troubled relationship has passed its sell-by date ("Now you’ve got me feeling so sorry/ for something I didn’t do/You’ve got me crawling around a gutter/When I should have been busy making love to you"). Like Anthony David, Bernhoft also isn’t afraid to be open about male weakness and does so without diminishment, as with “Control” (“Have you ever/ever have to stand and just watch/while your life was like a game on your Xbox/welcome to the club/I’m the president”). 

A poet with a love of intergalactic metaphors, Berhoft frequently describes man’s dark interiors, inner yearnings, and fantastical experiences in space travel terms, as with the revelatory “Space In My Heart” ("There is a space in my heart/an infinite casing of darkness/there is a space in my heart/waiting to be filled by her") and on the celestial seduction of “Buzz Aldrin” (“You’ll never have to touch the ground/by walking/User make us softer sound/space talking/Everything’ is upside down/it’s lasting/Let’s do what connecting encounter/was wandering (Buzz Aldrin)/Where did you go/Where did you go/ Where did you go”). These two songs, along with “Sunday” and “Stay with Me,” also represent some of this baritone’s finest vocal moments on a project absent a bad take.

Some critics have criticized Walk with Me for the lush orchestrations that KORK beautifully prepares as a bed for Bernhoft’s crisp delivery, saying the arrangements took the edge off the contemporary star’s modern fare. Having recently heard Alain Clark’s far too precious Live with the Metropole Orchestra and Sting’s completely washed-out Symphonicities, KORK deserves a standing ovation for making Bernhoft’s music sound richer, grander and as if it had always been meant for the symphony stage. Restrained, Bernhoft doesn’t go for a lot of the long notes or the sustained highs that he’s proven capable of reaching (check out a live YouTube clip of his “He Ain’t Heavy” (below) for an example of Bernhoft’s capacities), but he’s never swallowed by the surrounding music, a considerable feat when 24 instrumentalists are enveloping you in layers of sound. Despite lyrics that often claim the contrary, Bernhoft stands tall throughout, centerstage and solidly in control while expressing a world of lost, searching men in chaos, in love, in longing, in daydreams and always impressive. Highly Recommended.

By L. Michael Gipson

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

When an artist of Robert Flack’s caliber and legacy announces that she is re-imagining The Beatles songbook, hopes run high, perhaps dangerously so. This is particularly true when no less than Yoko Ono has reportedly given the much-anticipated project her blessing and stated that “"With this collection, Roberta is adding a woman's voice of fun and joy and, again, making people realize how universal these songs are." Sometimes such credible announcements lead to the pleasant effect of having those lofty expectations met or exceeded. This is not one of those moments. Robert Flack’s first full-length recorded album in eight years unfortunately reveals more flaws and ill-conceived follies than moments of unbridled joy. Given the enduring legacy of Flack and her oft-covered hits “Killing Me Softly,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” and “Feel Like Making Love,” not to mention her legendary duets with Donny Hathaway and Peabo Bryson, you want to love anything that comes from this national treasure. Try if you can on Let It Be Roberta, I dare you.

A native of the Washington, DC area and a much-celebrated Howard University alum, Roberta Flack was a musical prodigy and something of a genius, finishing college by 19, teaching and gigging throughout her 20s, before recording with the legendary Joel Dorn in 1969 with her gold-selling, cross-over debut First Take for Atlantic Records by age 32. She’d be a household name for more than the next four decades. Now 74 years young and restrained in her number of public appearances and performances, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist has watched her legend only grow over the last 25 years, starting with the rise of neo-soul and stars like D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Amel Larrieux and Glenn Lewis covering her greatest hits. In more recent years, underground darling Flying Lotus has recorded a loving tribute to the gifted pianist and singer/songwriter (entitled “RobertaFlack”) and countless nationally televised vocal competitions rolling out a version of some ingénue attempting “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” a song made famous in Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me. All of which ensures that while Flack has been gone from the public eye, her work is clearly not forgotten.

Similarly, The Beatles have enjoyed recent cycles of pop culture success, with films like Across the Universe and Cirque du Soleil shows like Love reintroducing The Beatles to new generations. During these revivalist seasons of Beatlemania, cover albums and performances abound as much now as they did during The Beatles’ heyday. Sometimes these renewals of John, Paul, Ringo, and George’s classics are re-imagined, remixed, or simply re-sung with great vigor, ingenuity and aplomb. Let It Be Roberta is not one of those times. 

Flack’s voice, always a sensitive instrument, is thin here to the point of sing-talking karaoke throughout this project. Lacking the stylization skills of women of her stature late in their career, such as Bettye Lavette, Nancy Wilson or Shirley Horn, a diminished Flack is left flailing through a sea of deceptive material she cannot master. Robbed of interpretive powers, her colorless pop voice invites judgment on its quality, resonance, and power, leaving nothing but a harsh verdict available for listeners in the jury box. Her blues on “Oh Darling” can barely lift its depressed arms out of the bed much less rise to so much as authentic pain. Where vocals needn’t be robust to be effective, as on normally poignant ballads like “In My Life” and “If I Fell,” Flack’s producers do her no favors by modernizing the music and speeding up the tempo, draining these classics of all their emotionalism, but worse yet the awe and wonder intended in a lyric like “If I Fell.” Despite a cool electric guitar solo, the anthemic take of “Let It Be” begs the question of whether Flack believes a single thing she’s singing, particularly when stacked up against Carol Woods’ devastating rendering of the lyric’s urgent appeal in the recent Across The Universe.

Repeatedly, the producers seem to be playing a game at Flack’s expense, as on the over-produced, synthesized “And I Love Him” and “Isn’t It A Pity.” On “Come Together,” a song Flack works mightily to save in a flash of interpretive astuteness, her producers seem determined to surround the singer with a third-rate bar band, anemic arrangements, and tossed-in supporting vocals rather than the throbbing funk and rock instrumentation that the melody and chords demand. The contemporary update of the single “We Can Work It Out” is about the only cut ready for radio, and that’s not saying much.

I’m unsure how producers Sherrod Barnes (Beyonce, Angie Stone), Jerry Barnes, and Barry Miles managed to have produced arrangements and instrumentation that sound both overdone and conversely under-produced at the same time, but manage they do. Only on the stripped-down, early recording of “Here, There, Everywhere,” with Flack behind the keys and performing with the simple, emotional honesty that made her an understated star, are listeners reminded why an album marrying The Beatles and Roberta Flack was ever considered a good idea from the start. Shame they didn’t stop after this gem while they were still ahead. Not recommended.

By L. Michael Gipson

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Most of the work on Location Location Location, the new album by Anthony David, will ring familiar to long time fans. Seven of the ten tracks were featured on David’s prior studio projects. Those projects – Three Chords and the Truth, The Red Clay Chronicles and As Above So Below – are notable both for the evolution of David’s sound and for their high quality. Listeners might have their favorites – I’m partial to Three Chords – but nobody’s throwing any of these records away.  

Even though Location, like the mini-compilation Acey Ducey, is made up mostly of tunes from the previous albums, the new CD has a sound of its own. Location includes remixes of three tracks from As Above So Below and live versions of some of David's songs along with his interpretation of Drake’s “Find Your Love.” That’s why it will be hard to pan David for dumping yet another best of album on the market. Even though seven of the songs appeared on previous records, these cuts sound different than the tracks on those previous releases.

Location’s three original tracks are what will remind listeners why they became Anthony David fans. Those three tracks feature intimate vocals, well-written tunes that showcase David’s skills as a storyteller. “Location Location Location” is probably the best example of the many virtues that David brings to the table. The cut employs the oft-quoted real estate term about the three most important factors to consider when buying. I thought that it would be another critique of gentrification – ala “Red Clay Chronicles.” Instead, David addresses the unique spot that earth occupies in the solar system, and how the “pale blue dot” – alone among the planets in this solar system – has the perfect mix that allows life to survive and thrive. The other nine (or eight planets if you want to diss Pluto) are the outer space equivalent of toxic waste dumps. With lines like "where it’s too cold/it’s not too hot/ we’re Goldilocks" and "it’s just right/where we get to witness every season/stars and moons on every night,” David subtly reminds us that humanity doesn’t have the option of packing up and moving. Meanwhile, the cut “Rollin’ Mojo” brings David back to the acoustic sound that he perfected on Three Chords and the Truth. This track plays to David’s strong suit a vocalist, and it’s the honesty and clarity in his voice that allows him to be credible as a singer that is equally masculine and vulnerable. 

The album’s four live tracks give listeners who have not had the good fortune to see David in person a glimpse into the artist as live performer. David comes across as personable live performer who goes out of his way to make his audience comfortable. The sensitivity that he shows toward his live audience is mirrored by the empathy he shows toward purchasers of this project. 

What could have been nothing more than a file dump on disk became an opportunity for Anthony David to give his fans something new for their money. The quality of the three new tracks makes Location Location Location money well spent. Recommended

By Howard Dukes 

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Although the Southern soul recordings at Rick Hall’s Muscle Shoals-based Fame Studios paved the way for Candi Staton, the world over knows her best as the disco diva that almost single-handedly snagged the royal title of Disco Queen from Gloria Gaynor with her 1976 million-selling hit “Young Hearts Run Free” and its immediate follow-up hit “Victim.” But, strip those songs down to their lyrics and you’re left with the ingredients of the blues. Do the same for her bare vocals, you feel her emotive angst and you sense a woman fighting for her freedom from dirt bags who misused her heart. In the nick of time, the Doobies sent her a memo that Jesus was just alright and she got her healing after abandoning disco for gospel music, a tenure that ran a long course of two decades.

In the mid-Eighties, Little Milton sent out the fax that the blues was alright and Staton started contemplating a pilgrimage back into secular territory. 2006’s His Hands proved to be such a glorious return to the down home blues that it left her fans hungry for more of the lovelorn stuff. Though the album sped past the public radar, His Hands was a definite comeback and enough muscle to spark an expedient follow-up. Two years later, she reunited in Nashville with Mark Nevers of alt-country band Lambchop to cut Who’s Hurting Now? for the UK-based Honest Jon’s label, but the album never reached U.S. soil, reportedly due to EMI’s abrupt cancellation of the label’s distribution deal. After much prayer and supplication, the album finally sees the light of day after Malden, MA record distributor Forced Exposure picked up the baton.

Staton still knows her way around a mean lyric, as she creeps around the words with grace and perfect precision. When the notes call for a little more soul, she pours it on. Her signature rasp has refined with age. Her powerhouse gospel testimonies and Mavis Staples-sounding vamps are as convincing as ever, thanks to her perseverance through three failed marriages and years of abuse. The Memphis-steamed title cut, a perfect example of her working at her finest, smells like sweet revenge as she laughs up a big win over a no-good lover: “You hurt me bad, I was the best thing you ever had,” she sings out. As the looping chorus enters the picture, Staton – using Betty Wright sauciness – blurts out a passionate: “I got over you.” She copies the same template on the Aretha-styled, mid-tempo ballad “I Don’t Know,” a song penned by “Young Hearts” writer Dave Crawford. On standout lyrics, Staton exercises plenty of scorn while preaching about her uncertainty over her lover’s questionable whereabouts. She sings: “Woman ain’t no good all alone/cause a house without a man sho’ ain’t no home/If you ask me where he roam/I have to tell you I don’t know.” In the hands of Candi Staton, all of this sounds like gospel music.

Who’s Hurting Now? is peppered with some of Staton’s finest work in years. That’s because she’s surrounded by an exceptionally versatile band, one able to bounce from country bluegrass to Memphis soul. The blues-drenched songwriting, heavy with emotional vitriol and tried-and-true composition, is also a perfect match for Staton’s execution. “Lonely Don’t” shimmers with majestic country-folk storytelling. “Mercy Now” has the gravitas of the Staple Singers’ social justice anthems, while the remake of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Feel the Same” is dipped in Ann Peebles hot sauce. Staton, a talented writer on her own, even contributes marvelous work to the song list with the country gospel-flavored “Dust on My Pillow.”

It is with painful regret that two years after its original UK run most of us are hearing this good music for the first time, but so what? Better late than never, right? But, like its predecessor, Who’s Hurting Now? could very well fly past the public eye. What a terrible mistake we would be making. Highly recommended.

By J. Matthew Cobb

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

One of the more difficult tasks in music is for a performer to evolve musically while managing to remain recognizable to long time fans. This is often a catch 22 proposition. Critics often dismiss groups that stick to tried and true formulas as not serious or creative. On the other hand, fans can punish musicians who change too much by not buying their music. DeeGee and EnBee, the two driving forces behind the German outfit Funkatized, appear to found the right balance. The two roll out their changes over multiple albums. So in 2008, DeeGee and EnBee released Funkatized, an album consisting largely of Euro-friendly instrumental dance tracks. Two years later, the duo dropped Illegal Copy, a record that featured some electro dance but leaned more toward funk, R&B and acid jazz. Illegal Copy also included vocals in a very limited amount.

Funkatized's new release Electric Chicken Club, sees the group moving more toward the kind of output that will be familiar to music fans on this side of the Atlantic. For one thing, Electric Chicken Club features more singing than either of the first two albums. Tracks such as the reggae styled “Time Is Running,” “I Love You Baby, “Red Light Cats” and the jazz/rock ballad “Mama Said” feature fully formed vocals by the duo. The two Germans are very limited vocally, a fact of which they are aware. However, the two make that limitation work in their favor by penning solid lyrics and delivering those lyrics in a conversational and often humorous style.

The duo also built on the virtues that made Illegal Copy so appealing. Namely, DeeGee and EnBee bring a jam band sensibility to their music. They know how to create and improvise, and tunes such as “Quinn C,” “We Need Music” and even a vocal cut like “Red Light Cats” show that these two guys can funk hard. The break from Funkatized to Illegal Copy was pretty stark, and it would not surprise me if DeeGee and EnBee got some blowback from that. The transformation that occurred between Illegal Copy and Electric Chicken Club seems more natural and nuanced. This is addition by addition, and can only help the group find a friendly reception among funk fans in the USA and in other parts of the world. Recommended

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

I have a number of friends who are reaching the age where gray hair is beginning to invade their scalps. While some simply accept it, others have chosen to color their hair to cover the gray.  But they soon learn that hair dye is like a cosmetic heroin: once they begin it is tough to quit.  Oh sure, they could do it for a few months and stop.  But if those months turn to a few years, they are essentially hooked for life, as stopping would result in, as Sting would say, a shocking "field of gray" that would make them appear to age a decade in just a few weeks.

That's a bit of a metaphor for a seemingly endless trend of aging artists attempting to shore up faltering recording careers by issuing albums of "cover" songs, remaking hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s. For some it provides a temporary sales boost (think Michael McDonald on his Motown album), but for almost all it takes them down a path from which it is tough to turn back.  Some may get away with it once, but if they cut a second covers album they become almost impossibly boxed in an oldies prison from which they'll never emerge. McDonald's Soul Speak sold 80% less than its predecessor, Motown 2, and Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow -- while hitting the top 10 with their many albums of remakes -- will likely never again be able to record meaningful albums of new material.

All of this brings us to British rock and soul man, Seal. He surprised those who thought of him as a still-vibrant recording artist in 2008 by jumping on the tired R&B remakes train on his album Soul. It became a hit but made it that much tougher for him to get back on his creative horse for 2010's Commitment, which didn't sell nearly as well. So he has now capitulated, going back to the well with Soul 2, another album of 70s and 80s soul classics redone.

A gut reaction may be, do we really need another album of soul music remakes?  Is there anything that is left to be said with this tired trend? Of course, the answer is "no," especially when the songs covered are the usual wedding band suspects like "Ooh Baby Baby," "Let's Stay Together," "Lean On Me" and "Love TKO," and the arrangements are mostly lower budget-sounding doppelgangers of their revered ancestors (save a lush but plodding take on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On").

It's not that Soul 2 is bad. In fact, it is unchallengingly listenable and would be fine in the background at Kohls; but Seal's fans have the right to expect something new or at least interesting, and unfortunately 2 has nothing to say in its defense. Scratch that. There is one defense, and that is that Seal is still an interesting vocalist even when saddled with tired song selections and arrangements:  His falsetto is surprisingly strong and appealing on "Ooh Baby Baby,"  he channels his inner Teddy on "Love TKO" and he gives a sensitive reading to the Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl."  But nothing here really answers the fundamental question of why Soul 2 even exists, except as a cash in. Every song on Soul 2 has been recorded dozens of times by other artists, and each has a seminal version the sandals of which Seal's covers aren't worthy to unstrap.

I suspect that Seal still has "game," but with his cynical plunge into a second album of remakes he apparently begs to differ. So, like Willie Mays signing autographs for Benjamins at a casino in Las Vegas, here Seal appears to be simply turning in his chips, flashing his plaintive wail in just enough spots on "Backstabbers" and "Love TKO" to remind us that he used to be a contender, but in the end simply giving us a wink and a smile as the line moves on.

By Chris Rizik

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Time takes on new meaning in the furious and frenetic world of entertainment, and a performer electing to take years away from the spotlight can risk losing her edge and her audience. The trend-driven nature of the beast causes many artists to adopt a 'can't stop, won't stop' mentality, so it's hard not to take notice of others confident enough to do the opposite, such as Goapele Mohlabane. In the nearly six years since her last solo project, Change It All, the singer, songwriter, musician and activist turned her focus from local to global, championing the Motherland's most challenging dilemmas by adding her talents to the ANSA (Artists for a New South Africa) organization and 'motherhood' to her jam-packed resume, crucial changes that have obviously emboldened the 34-year-old California native to plunge into more sensual material for her latest release, Break Of Dawn.

Experiencing the CD is both soothing and surreal, kind of like moving from Norman Rockwell paintings and veering straight into the Salvador Dali wing. Producers like Bedrock, Mike Tiger, Dan Electric, Bobby Ozuna and Drumma Boy, to name a few, put aching, yet edgy, lilting touches on songs about the various twists and turmoils that the heart can take. “Pieces” is a wistful, gauzy cascade of a melody about desperate dejection and loneliness: “Then I fall into pieces, I’m here and you’ve left/I fall into pieces, I’m never seeing you again/separated like a puzzle, flying into space, so lost.”  “Tears On My Pillow,” its stark and stormy flipside, is a brooding, percussive glimpse into a broken heart and angry acceptance: “I saw you slip away, long before you gave reasons/couldn’t hold you down, if you wanted to go.”

Never one for conventionally-styled R&B, Goapele is still an affecting songstress, thanks to her sweet yet searing soprano that burrows into the lyrics and peels back layers of emotion with focus and ferocity. "Undertow," a prime example, floats in innocently enough, unfolding languidly as Goapele describes the immediate attraction of their initial encounter, but laments the toxicity of that bond: "How you were licking your lips, I could tell you were danger/that you were the type of boy that even love couldn't change / So I know I should leave, but I'm not ready to go / About to ride that wave, riding on that me on that wave / got me on that wave, caught up in your undertow..."

The richness of a broadened perspective is also what helps in conveying the intent and the emotions of the music in Dawn. Stretching the common woe of single motherhood into hymn territory is "Hush," a song meant to soothe the fatherless child, but laced with just enough frustration to purge her own anger clean during the process: "You know I love you, I'd move the mountains with my hands if I had to, do anything for you/Baby believe me, I hope you can see that, your Momma loves you." The urgency of now and seizing the moment shimmers to the surface of "Right Here," pairing a synthesized whisper of a track with notes that dip and soar with expectancy before flowing into the most straightforward number of the entire set, "Milk & Honey," featuring an artful---and bordeline orgasmic----placement of Auto Tune that tenderly implores her man to surrender to her capable wiles. 

Does Goapele stretch herself too thin at times? Certainly: "Money" has a worthwhile message, but is blatantly lifted chapter and verse from the Book of Prince without his bite or self-assurance, and the opening track, "Play," shape-shifts too much from one genre to another to maintain a lasting impact. However, Break of Dawn is a daring and delectable return, interlocking her life-long political and cultural savvy with a fully-realized vivaciousness that, just like a sunrise, is awe-inspiring and impossible to ignore. Highly Recommended.

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Quoting the chorus one of Broadway’s greatest empowering songs, “You gotta have heart/ Miles and miles of heart.” The German-born singer/songwriter/musician Ayo (AKA Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin) strongly relates to those potent words of wisdom from the musical Damn Yankees. Her attractive musical pictures are articulate and honest, thoroughly adorned with simplicity that relies on live instrumentation and straying from the trappings of technologic clutter. Ayo lovingly stamps her exclusive brand of soul with intense themes of hope and enduring struggle. Her work stems from a rollercoaster childhood, a byproduct of a drug-addicted mother and living in foster homes. Thanks to her father’s encouragement, Ayo found an escape mechanism in her own musical gifts. Though record companies courted Ayo to be the next pop soul diva, she adamantly resisted the mainstream. Her first two full-length projects, Joyful (2007) and Gravity at Last (2008) were therapeutic insights of her past sparked by subtle soul nuances, alternative pop, reggae and rock. The 2009 documentary entitled Ayo Joy unveils more about Ayo’s childhood history and the events surrounding her first concert in her father’s homeland of Nigeria.

Ayo continues digging into her past and dishes out personal observations of life on her latest effort, Billie-Eve, named after her youngest daughter. “How Many People” starts on a reggae roots bed, then shifts to a psychedelic rock dirge as Ayo probes peoples’ spirit and attitudes: “How many people speak their mind? How many times did you waste your blessings?” The mood changes over to the cleansing of the mind on the energetic ska rhythms of “I’m Gonna Dance.” Ayo’s fluctuating voice nails the bluesy “Black Spoon,” reflecting the obvious pain she bears towards others: “One million faces of a broken heart.” The inspirational “Real Love” gives full thanks to the Lord while bouncing between reggae and contemporary pop. “Who Are They?” a stinging commentary on how people treat others in general, adds a bit of country flavor: “People will treat you so much better when they are stars.” “Believe” thrives on an all too brief, but potent spoken word contribution from Saul Williams: “Tangled in a web of belief and disbelief/Entertaining possibilities/Otherworldliness/Civility.” Besides the original pieces on Billie-Eve, Ayo brings full credence on a pop/soul classic in The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back.”

These tracks from Billie-Eve are just a sample of Ayo’s exquisite vocal talents and genuine lyrics, verses echoing a lifetime of surviving the hard times. In other words, Ayo’s heart is unquestionably in the right place.

Notable Tracks: “I Can’t,” “Flowers” and “We’ve Got To.”

Vocals:  3.5 stars
Music:  3.5 stars
Lyrics:  4.0 stars
Production:  4.0 stars
SoulTracks Call:  Highly Recommended

By Peggy Oliver

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Sarah Makonnen, the artist who goes by the stage name Sarah MK, is a woman of many talents. She claims writing and arranger credits on eight of the nine song on her new recording, Worth It. The Canadian also takes a citation as executive producer. 

Sarah MK sings and spits a few rhymes on Worth It. That’s not a bad days work. Still, after listening to Worth It, it becomes clear some of those hats fit more naturally than others. The artist’s skills as a lyricist measure up. The soul/hip-hop fusion cut “Think Dat” shows that Sarah MK is an imaginative artist who can spin the dysfunctions of modern life into funky little polemics. This number addresses people who operate under the mistaken notion that bad things will never happen to them. The mid-tempo cut “Just Friends” finds Sarah MK wondering if it’s worth the risk to take a friendship to the next level.  The artist gives listeners a sample of her MC skills on this song. Ironically, her rapping is the one part of Sarah MK’s skill set that is not as refined her singing and songwriting – although you wouldn’t know it by listening to this cut. The rap on “Just Friends” works because Sarah MK’s rhyming has a melodic feel that allows her to move smoothly from singing to rapping. Conversely, her rap on the “Ain’t Hearin’ It.” - a tune where she disses the phonies she comes across in the music industry – sounds robotic rather than conversational.

Her still-developing rap talent is not a deal breaker because Sarah MK’s song writing and singing are the album’s real stars. She sports a mature and vocal instrument that will distinguish her from many of her peers who often feel the need to sound like a bunch of 13 years olds when they’re not trying to channel their inner Patti LaBelles. The twin numbers “Should’ve Part I” and “Should’ve Part II” reveal Sarah MK as an artist who understands the power of understatement and clarity. This jazzy ballad tells the story of a woman who tells her ex-lover that his apologies came too late.  Both the sparse arrangement and Sarah MK’s restrained yet intense vocals pack a serious emotional punch that allows the listener to hear and understand every word.

Worth It shows that Sarah MK is a serious artist who is willing to push topical and stylistic envelopes. In fact, if this project reveals one weakness, it’s that this artist’s ambition might lead her to do too much. But then too, that could be a nice problem to have. Her weaknesses can easily be transformed into strengths by spending a little time woodshedding.  And Sarah MK does not seem to be one who is allergic to doing a little more work. Recommended

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

It should not be surprising that gospel singer Genita Pugh is a traditionalist. After all, she is a pastor in her hometown of Laurel, Miss. But in addition to a traditional approach to music, Rev. Pugh possesses an incredibly rich vocal instrument that flavors all of her work, including her latest recording, My Purpose.

The album has received some heavy attention as a result of the first single and video, “Can’t Live.” The tune, which is the first single from My Purpose, expands on the hook from an R. Kelly song. Gospel singers have long repurposed hits from the R&B canon – transforming them into songs that tell the good news of the Gospel. The selections tapped for such a transformation includes James Cleveland’s borrowing Gladys Knight’s “You Are the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me” way back in the 1970’s. That effort legitimized - if not created - the practice. More recently, R&B star Faith Evans teamed with Sunday Best finalist Jessica Reedy on the gospel cover of the disco song “Doctor Love.” There was even a faith-based makeover of R. Kelly’s epic “Trapped in the Closet.”

Rev. Pugh uses all of the cuts on My Purpose to deliver the kind of musical message that is a clear and unabashed declaration of belief and dependence on God’s grace and power. Her songs feature Pugh’s powerful vocals backed by a small choir. Some, such as the gospel ballad “Open My Eyes,” would be suitable for use as congregational praise and worship songs. Others, like the live performance of “Do You Love the Lord,” combine contemporary R&B melodies with  traditional gospel call and response by Pugh and the choir to deliver and energetic performance.  Another live number, “All The Ways of You,” is an old-timey hip-slapper that draws on gospel’s common history with the blues.

There is a great deal of diversity in gospel music today. Fans can hear troubadours who draw on the production techniques of contemporary R&B and hip-hop to craft intensely personal stories of the struggles the face and the triumphs they experience during their faith walk. Others find inspiration in the old landmarks laid by their musical predecessors. My Purpose is an example of the latter, and the fans of traditional gospel will find comfort in the album’s clear and understandable message that we need to acknowledge God in all of our thoughts and actions. Recommended.

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Betty Wright is without a doubt one of the realest soul singers to ever hit the radio. With Lyn Collins’ ideologies and a contagious Mavis Staples’ fire, Betty Wright solidified her artistry using an “in-your-face” bravado with raw Stax soul on “Clean-Up Woman” and sexy slow jams like the 1978 two-part ballad “Tonight is the Night.” Although most of her treasured tunes are confined to her TK era, Betty Wright seems to somehow reemerge to the scene like a burning phoenix, constantly reinventing herself and her musicology with every passing decade. “No Pain, No Gain” gave her a major comeback in the late Eighties. In the Nineties, Gloria Estefan earned a No. 1 hit single with “Coming Out of the Dark,” thanks to Wright’s background vocal arrangements. In the 2000s, Wright contributed production work to Joss Stone’s Grammy-winning Mind, Body & Soul and collaborated with a long list of acts including Angie Stone, Diddy and Lil Wayne.

In the year of 2011, Betty Wright’s still feisty in all the right places. On her latest disc Betty Wright: The Movie, she revisits her smoldering soulful formula while getting the preferential treatment from Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and the talented hip-hop conglomerate The Roots. The combination feels like a match made in heaven, proven so strongly on the album opener, “Old Songs.” With The Roots’ providing hip-hop old-school muscle, Wright pens a lyric that mixes the old with the new (“When you’re thirty-five or forty and you’re chillin’ with your shawty/What ‘cha gonna listen to?”). And she doesn’t mind partying with the young when she orbits the planet of Weezy on the Lil Wayne-featured “Grapes on a Vine,” which contains a bold mesh of Prince funk and guitar rock. On both “In The Middle Of The Game (Don’t Change The Play)” and “Tonight Again,” she stills gets her mojo working on all the beauty shop hot topics without going for the kill by using Mille Jackson smut. And, she continues to pour out her unapologetic doses of street wisdom. On “Real Woman,” Wright sings, “Get yourself a real woman/so you can be a real man/it’s time to stop playing with girls/ you need a woman who will understand.”

Of the album’s proudest highlights, “Whisper in the Wind” reunites Wright with Joss Stone for a song that soars to Teena Marie heights. “So Long, So Wrong” excels on the backs of Kirk Douglas’s guitar strokes and Thompson’s drums. The synthy “Look Around (Be a Man)” bears the symphonic elements of Chaka Khan’s ‘80s stuff. Above all, it is in the album’s last minutes where “You and Me, Leroy” finds a determined Wright raising up the esteem of her lover using motivational rapping atop a slick Isaac Hayes-esque jam session. It is in those moments where The Roots pump out an arrangement that sounds like leftovers from Wake Up!

The album plays like a double-LP long-player with the songs tending to reverberate longer than they should. The overly-repetitive chorus and funky grooves start to grow thin on “Old Songs” after three minutes of play, while the Angie Stone neo-soul – scattered throughout the entire eighty-minute set – starts to cool down faster than anticipated. Although the songs are strong in posture and grit, many of the tracks extend well past the five-minute mark and stand in need of shorter edits -- possibly like “Tonight Is The Night’s” infamous two-part structures on its original 7-inch 45s, with its perfectly-timed monologues saturating that cut’s lava lamp mood. It isn’t certain if Betty Wright: The Movie – decorated as  Betty Wright’s big millennium “comeback” – was originally designed to be a concept album, but Betty Wright and The Roots play to one another’s strengths, similar to the joint collaboration of John Legend and the Roots on Wake Up! And, with Betty Wright: The Movie, Wright pulls off her best album since 1978’s Betty Wright Live. Still, it seems there’s more to be desired here. Or, maybe not; like ?uestlove’s now-trademark Chia Pet hairdo, maybe all the album stands in need of is a decent trim. Recommended.

By J Matthew Cobb

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Writing songs since his teenage years, earning a record deal at 16 and flexing that skill with multiple performers (Mya, Brandy, Marc Anthony, Christina Aguilera) sharpened Robin Thicke's instincts as a vocalist, musician and producer. Camera-ready good looks and well-connected lineage aside (both parents being entertainers), his affinity for smoothly-crafted urbanized pop was undeniable, and although 2003's Beautiful World put Mr. Thicke on the map, it was 2006's The Evolution of Robin Thicke, featuring the inescapable "Lost Without U," that solidified his rep as a genuine blue-eyed soul man. He probably wouldn't be faulted for sticking solely to the classically-composed R&B stylings that earned such acclaim, but luckily, Love After War is as plush as those former releases and almost as adventurous as Sex Therapy, minus the 50-11 guest appearances and single-minded focus on 'gettin' it on.'

First-time fatherhood with the Mrs., Paula Patton, must've uncorked a wellspring of creativity in Mr. Thicke, because Love.... is a sprawling and ambitious set; in fact, the 17 tracks veer so unexpectedly from one mode to the next that the pacing borders on schizophrenic. Sometimes he's brash and bombastic, launching into glittery, high-energy jams like "Angel On Each Arm" and the self-possessed "I'm An Animal," where the attempt to warn a woman that he's no damn good is undermined by its hammy execution: "I've got a chemical (testosterone?) that makes me go numb, I don't know what to do with my opposable thumbs/ I got a mean temper bangin' like an Indian drum, and if you press one of my buttons I'm gon' do somethin' dumb." "Never Give Up" is an intriguing listen, grafting Jose Pablo Moncayo's lively Mexican-flavored composition, "Huapango," over a throbbing, syncopated beat: "Lost your heart, lost your will, on your knees, just for a dollar bill/Lost your faith, and your confidence, nothing seems fair, nothing makes sense....it's not over, hold on Baby, it's never too much."

Another highlight that's practically tailor-made for the Occupy Movement, "The New Generation," demonstrates the veracity Mr. Thicke possesses as a singer and lyricist. Replete with sample-mimicking reverb over b-boy rhythms, what could've been stiff and preachy is  downright galvanizing. Listeners will tempted to pump their fists and march in place as they absorb Robin's assessment of today's politically-charged atmosphere: "We want our freedom, like the Statue of Liberty/we want to see our children, live better than you and me....things are really changin', from Africa to Asia, to Europe and across the seas/everybody's got their head up, and nobody's on their knees."  

But as the supple first single and title track demonstrates, Mr. Thicke isn't trying to abandon that well-earned Loverman persona. "Pretty Lil' Heart," with its Lil Wayne intro, cooing assurances and tangy Erykah Badu-recalling chorus----"Baby, you got me, don't worry your pretty lil' heart"----is another instant smash, and that fluttery falsetto is poured sweetly throughout the naughty bedroom games vividly described in "All Tied Up" and "Tears On My Tuxedo," where drama-queen angst that used to draw sympathy is now paper-thin: "Crazy in the morning, afraid of the night, story's always changing, something ain't right/don't know if it's real or fake, I can't trust the bait, of your tears of my tuxedo." The CD's most understated performance belongs to "Dangerous," which uncoils like a beautiful, yet venomous snake entrancing its prey with hypnotic movements before rendering a fatal strike: "You're idealistic, so filled with glee, you see me as your shining prince, but I'm a treacherous king/You'l accept my olive branch, but I'm poison iiiiiiiiivy."

With its sheer enormity of material, Love.... can't escape becoming languid and overly-mawkish from time-to-time: for every strong selection ("Stupid Things," "What Would I Be?"), there's one that goes too far and becomes too much ("I Don't Know How It Feels to Be U" sounds like a sympathetic pregnancy ode for Paula, and "Boring" name-checks so many people and places that it comes across like a stilted ad). But that doesn't prevent Mr. Thicke's formidable fifth CD from being classified as essential listening for today, 2012 and beyond. Highly Recommended.

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Highly inspired by his parent’s discerning ear for quality music, there were many musicians (Herbie Hancock, Donnie Hathaway) and producers (Quincy Jones, Maurice White) that Rahni Song admired and respected from afar.  But it was a particular interview with Melba Moore that struck this multi-gifted talent in a very persuasive way. Transitioning from his day job at age nineteen to producer and record label executive, Song initially focused on discovering and developing new artists.  His first avenue was co-forming Emprise Records, which first produced the gospel project, A Different Drummer by The Family Love.   With his foot in the music industry door, Song encountered Bootsy Collins while promoting A Different Drummer.  Since that critical meeting, Song continued racking up impressive credits with Freddie Jackson, George Clinton and other prolific urban talent as a producer, arranger, musician and engineer.  Yet it was his keen sense of adapting to over two decades of changing industry trends that earned Song his own calling card in the industry ranks.

On his sophomore outing, Breakin’ the Rules, Song serves a ten-track helping of jazz, pop, funk and gospel originals and tributes to several urban music legends.  The instrumental “Barry’s Medley” represents R&B sexiest stylist Barry White proudly with “I’m Gonna’ Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby” and “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up”; dressed up with the original funky disco orchestrations.  “It’s Funkalicious Baby” finds Song throwing down on behalf of funk masters Bootsy and Clinton.  Veteran saxophonist Marian Meadows turns in solid performances on both of his contributions, including “Timeless,” framed by a charming bouquet of vibraphone, strings and harmonica by Julian Davis, AKA The Harmonica Man.  Two ballads on Breakin’ the Rules showcase lesser known yet respectable vocalists.  While Naomi Emanuel’s calm alto accentuates the empowering “Decision,” Corey Jarrell oozes neo-soul romance on “Worth the Fall.” 

Amongst the aforementioned gems are a couple of disappointments; the biggest one being the remake of the Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway trademark duet “The Closer I Get to You,” primarily due to Kevin Lee’s uneven vocals.  Otherwise, Breakin’ the Rules is a powerful testament to Song’s great ear for fresh talent and his remarkable musical vision.

Vocals (collectively):  3.0 stars
Lyrics:  3.0 stars
Instrumentation:  3.0 stars
Production:  3.0 stars
SoulTracks Call:  Recommended

By Peggy Oliver

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Alicia Myers has lived a real life since the spotlight from her time as a member of One Way and her respectable career as a singer of tunes such as “I Want to Thank You” and “If You Play Your Cards Right” receded. She worked office jobs, primarily in the medical field – even returning to school to beef up her skills in medical transcription. Myers underwent treatment for breast cancer and now devotes herself to the cause fighting the disease by working with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and encouraging black women to stay on top of their health. With real life intervening on a regular basis, Myers didn’t have a lot of time to get back into the music business full time. Myers told a Jet magazine interviewer that she performs occasionally in her hometown of Detroit. Apparently, the itch to create was still there, and this year Myers decided to scratch it by releasing an album titled Peace of Mind.

The album’s sound will be recognizable to anyone familiar with Myers from her time making funky dance music with Al Hudson or as Anita Baker’s predecessor as the princess of the Motor City’s jazz infused R&B. Myers is clearly in her comfort zone when driving in the smooth lane. The jazz ballad “Stay” melts like butter when Myers applies her smoky vocals to the lyrics. The 1981 song “If You Play Your Cards Right,” showed the Myers has a jazz singer’s sensibility when in comes to rendering vocals that are both understandable and intimate. Unfortunately, “Stay” is the only track on Peace of Mind in which we hear those skills applied to a ballad. Myers gives us a few dance tracks. “Weekend” is an up-tempo party anthem that sports a funky bass line and a catchy hook. Youth oriented artists have annexed the party anthem, and that makes sense to a point. They’re young and have the time and disposable income to hang out. However, there have been some pretty memorable party anthems made by grown folks – can anybody say Bell and James – and Myers mines that vein with this song. The song’s lyrics remind listeners that if anyone needs to go out on a Saturday night, it’s somebody with a job and kids (especially teenaged kids). Good tune, although I thought the ‘ain’t no party like a weekend party’ chant was a bit of overkill.

On “Fancy Dancer” Myers seeks to recapture some of that One Way vibe, but the effort falls flat under clichéd lyrics that has the listener visualizing images from every dance floor song made between 1976 and 1979. That miss aside, Peace of Mind is a solid comeback effort for Myers that will hopefully lead to some dates outside of the Motor City and future projects. Recommended.

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

There’s a difference between ‘staying in one’s lane’ and becoming stagnant, and that’s the burden of every artist who wants to evolve and remain relevant in their chosen field. Anthony Hamilton found himself at such a crossroads in 2008, wanting to be seen as more than a melancholy musician and stretching his style with urbanized optimism on his sixth major-label studio release, The Point of It All. It would’ve been easy for Mr. Hamilton to replicate that successful mold, but instead he continues to expand on the merits of his down-home, Southern-flavored rhythm and blues, bringing eloquence and introspection to his seventh CD, Back To Love.

Since a part of Mr. Hamilton’s appeal is his humble ‘everyman’ persona, Mr. Hamilton doesn’t shy away from pouring out his heart’s contents about love and life in sparsely-arranged yet soul-shattering tracks, with enough polish and precision worked in to keep it moving. “Writing On The Wall,” a saucy midtempo, portrays a man aware of his lady’s foul rep but all-too-willing to find out for himself how bad she really is: “It’s alright, I don’t wanna hear it/it’s my life and I’m grooooooown.” “Pray For Me,” one of the three songs on which he collaborated with Babyface, offers one of the collection’s  most poignant moments, expressing heartbroken remorse at betraying his soul mate for a booty call as he begs for divine intervention to set it right: “Thought I was something, really something/in the end who knew I’d end up with nothing? I was frontin’, truly, frontin’/Girl I really can’t be mad I had it coming.” Wiry guitar licks and a driving funk beat propel “Sucka For You,” an ode to an irresistible woman and an invigorating contrast to the sultry rhythms of “Woo,” which bubbles and simmers as Mr. Hamilton’s raspy croon paints the picture of a man leaving behind the tried-and-true to sample temptation: “It was heavy, like Delilah, set my soul on fire/Oooh, Girl you so BAD.”

But just like any other adult, Mr. Hamilton knows that honeymoons only last for so long and some days offer more famine than feast: “Never Let Me Go,” a surprisingly supple duet with Keri Hilson, couples his grainy vocals with her sugary ones as her past demons and his determination to overcome them threaten a new relationship: “But if I love you (I’ll never let you go), how can I trust you (just tell me what you want)/to be there when I need you (Girl put your heart in mine), then I promise that I’ll never let you go.”

Opening the CD with a subtle sheen of melancholy and foreboding is the title track, a mission statement set to music as Hamilton wonders aloud, in a tender falsetto, how to rekindle their cooling romance, while “Best Of Me,” sways with a tropical feel and is delivered with understated elegance. Reverb and regret echo throughout “Who’s Loving You,” a “Purple Rain”-recalling torch ballad about the struggle to let go (“You say you wanna be alone girl, but I see you holding his hand/cuz’ love is your religion girl, you might hate the song, but you love the band”), and a decidedly Bill Withers influence weaves in and out of “Life Has a Way,” a harrowing come-to-Jesus lament with subtle, sandpaper-like percussion and throbbing guitar notes that frame the words of a broken man who, once on top of the world, now teeters on the edge: “And my children still look up to me while their stomachs’ on empty/Oh, I need an angel to fall on me now.”

Self-possessed, skillfully-rendered and brimming with honesty, Anthony Hamilton does exactly what he’s expected to do--give anyone in the range of his voice a hearty dose of sincere and spectacularly-delivered soul music. What it may lack in flash is made up for in fervor, so any fan of Anthony’s should be more than ready to jump on-board and get Back To Love. Highly Recommended.  

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

It seems as if the soul music community has a love/hate relationship with Rihanna. They criticize her underwhelming vocals, gripe about her electro-pop cadence and mock her questionable moral system on message boards. Yet, they sneakily download her songs behind their peers’ backs and champion her club-ready songs in the nightlife as if she’s the Donna Summer of the Twitter age.

Rihanna’s sixth studio disc, Talk That Talk, continues her quest for radio domination, as she grows more attached to the swarm of slinky, layered Eurodisco production now being attached to her. On this chapter, RiRi hangs up the the whips and chains of “S&M” in exchange for Romeo & Juliet romance, something she adorns for on the breezy island R&B opener, “You Da One,” (“You know how to love me hard/I won’t lie I’m falling hard”) and on “Roc Me Out” (“I’ll let you in on a dirty secret…I just want to be loved”). Of course, she hasn’t gone cold turkey on the naughty sex, evidenced best on kinky hip-hop bangers like “Birthday Cake” and “Cockiness (Love It),” but she seems to have abandoned the dark context of Rated R and the post-Chris Brown scars of Loud while worshipping the current hand Cupid has dealt her. She also abounds more comfortably on the 4/4 rhythms that have earned her top billing at the discos. Dr. Luke and Calvin Harris sweep Rihanna into a club trance on “Where Have You Been,” while Harris supplies her most ambitious arena-ready party anthem to date with “We Found Love.” The power of love doesn’t stop there: “We All Want Love” feels like R&B’s “Give Peace a Chance,” “Drunk on Love” has RiRi belting for a love overdose and “Fool in Love” puts her front-and-center on a manageable Beyonce’-esque ballad.

Some of the silly album filler, particularly the X-rated “Red Lipstick,” diminishes all hopes of the disc’s pop-savvy perfection, but Rihanna comes out in the lead amongst her fellow peers, landing RiRi her most-improved congealed album to-date.

Notable Songs:  “Where Have You Been,” “We Found Love, and “Do Ya Thang.”

Vocals: 2.0 stars
Lyrics: 2.5 stars
Music: 3.0 stars
Production: 3.0 stars

SoulTracks Call: Recommended

By J. Matthew Cobb

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

The Pacific Northwest region has boasted one of the biggest hip-hop communities since the days of Sir Mix A Lot in the early eighties. Seattle, Washington alone has claimed top ranked DJ/producers like Vitamin D and Bean One whose beats have translated into massive underground success. There are also some strong family ties within this hip-hop family as Vitamin D’s sister is the neo-soul sensation Choklate, who has teamed with D and several other Seattle’s cream-of-the crop beat masters on her self-titled 2006 debut and her 2009 sophomore project, To Whom It May Concern. Their assorted pop, jazz, blues and soul orchestrations and samples augmented by live instrumentation and Choklate’s brutally honest storytelling and expressive voice were certainly potent ingredients that propelled the alternative urban market forward into region’s public consciousness. This intoxicating recipe also reeled in fans around the world that were appreciative of Choklate’s no-nonsense artistry.  

With her latest Fah La La La La The Christmas EP, Choklate stays true to form as she once again calls upon the Seattle hip-hop production gurus. This time, it is Kuddie Fresh and Bean One who spice up Choklate’s earthy and gritty alto vocals. Choklate sends warm holiday greetings on the first single, “Tis the Season,” a dreamy R&B ballad with a stylish Christmas loop of strings and bells. “Christmas Time Again?” is anchored with Fresh’ pulsating keys and Choklate’s matter of fact narrative, philosophizing that families should not be restricted to the holidays for keeping in touch: “It hasn’t been forever/But it’s been long enough/Since the last time we shared/Time to catch up on what’s up with you.” Choklate starts leaning toward her playful side, tossing a scat or two, with the R&B remix and reconstruction of “The Christmas Song” re-titled “That Christmas Song Roasted Chestnuts.” Fresh’s snare brushes’ hit that perfect whimsical beat on the updated track. Where Choklate goes into sass overdrive is “Santa Sucks”: “Hey Santa I think you got my order wrong.” Producer Bean One’s whips out a genius sample in the pop country novelty hit from 1967, “Sugar Town” by Nancy Sinatra.

Despite only four tracks and two interludes, Fah La La La La rings loud and clear, especially when Choklate locks into her storylines and unleashes the humor on “Santa Sucks.” However, the shortcomings occur when Choklate’s vocal presence sometimes lack dynamics and range, occasionally interrupting her usually interesting vocal flow.  That aside, Fah La La La La The Christmas EP is another positive step for Choklate and the Seattle hip-hop/R&B underground movement.     

Vocals:  2.5 stars
Lyrics:  3 stars
Music:  3 stars
Production:  3 stars  
SoulTracks Call:  Recommended

By Peggy Oliver

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Picture it: Dallas, TX, early spring in the year 2000. Hip-hop legend and part-time turntablist-extraordinaire Biz Markie was flexing on the ones and twos, announcing to a hyped crowd that he was about to drop some new music from the Bad Boy label by a Chi-Town artist named Carl Thomas. I took it as my cue to make hit the powder room, turned to leave…..and couldn’t. Instantly, I was transfixed by the velvety vocals, grooving to the mid tempo melody of his first single, “I Wish,” and intrigued by the haunted refrain----“And I wish I never met her, at all, even though, I love her so”---- becoming an enthusiastic and instant fan.

It didn’t take long for others to join me. Amongst his shiny-suited and raucously-rhyming label mates, Mr. Thomas was Bad Boy’s first-ever full-fledged R&B lover man, a performer who combined an old-school methodology of songwriting, sangin’(no typo) and soul-baring vulnerability with a street-savvy sense of cool, making his debut, Emotional, an instant smash. Now, a full decade into his career, Mr. Thomas has enjoyed career highs (gold and platinum CDs, a pair of Grammy nominations); endured personal lows (the untimely death of his older brother in 2004) and label dramas, landing solidly back in the game with his latest and most expansive release yet, Conquer.

What distinguishes a favorite from a flash-in-the-pan is an artist’s ability to remain consistent with quality while evolving as a performer, and Conquer’s eleven tracks demonstrate that truth, neatly separating the edgier, eclectic numbers from his anticipated offerings of sultry R&B. Its first single, “Don’t Kiss Me,” is a lavish, 70s-styled Rico Love production, tenderly pleading atop a celestial doo-wop rhythm that a woman love him fully or leave him alone: “Don’t kiss me, no, unless those lips you kiss me with, say ‘I love you for life’/Don’t touch me, no, unless you promise that those hands will never wave goodbye.” The percolating lamentation, “It Is What It Is,” features lyrical touches from the late Dwight “Heavy D” Meyers and also pairs him with former label mate Mario Winans, hearkening back to his breakout hit, “I Wish” in its unrequited efforts to steal away another man’s lady: “I know, you know, that you shouldn’t be here / go home / I can hear the temptations / it’s calling me now.” “Sweet Love,” courtesy of Mike City, is a lilting lovers’ ballad that conjures visions of seduction, silk sheets and candlelight, while “Round 2,” one of Mr. Thomas’ co-penned tracks with Andre Harris, attaches the wish for a do-over to a rain-mimicking percussive beat and plaintive, subtly auto-tuned croons.

What may catch some CT fans off-guard are the opening tracks, which are a 180-degree turnabout from his usual style, yet polished and offering glimpses of techno-edged pop and rock.  “Long Distance Love Affair,” for example, weighs the pros and cons of an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ partner and tosses in a splash of reggae to shore up its undercurrent of pessimism (“And I will call your phone, a thousand times a night, because I want to believe you baby/Wanna believe that you’re at home, alone, even though it ain’t that easy”). The title track is one of his most divergent songs yet, layering anthemic verses of passionate possession against a throbbing, reverb-heavy backdrop that may recall an early version of Seal: “Now you can run, you can hide, but you can’t do nothin’ to change my mind/we may not always see eye to eye, but we’ll always survive.” His first-ever pairing with uber-hot producer, Lee Hutson Jr., results in “The Night Is Yours,” a sleek and self-assured hybrid of techno and electro-styled pop that is anchored by Mr. Thomas’s nimbly-nuanced tenor and promises of an extraordinary evening: “Take the lead, be my guide, I’ll sit back and enjoy the ride…../the night is yours, to you it belongs, it’s not set in stone.”

Four years after the underappreciated So Much Better, it would’ve been safer for Mr. Thomas to exploit his come-hither sex appeal and recycle the Bad Boy era-style that launched him into stardom. Instead, the newly-inspired entertainer reclaims his place as one of modern soul’s best, broadening his range and repertoire to effectively execute some cool and cliché-Conquering R&B. Highly Recommended.

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

The songs on One Voice, Micah Stampley’s latest album, all have those great hooks that are destined to be sung during praise and worship services in churches across America. That is definitely the case for “Overcome.” The youth will love the Florida Seminole-like war cry that opens up the energetic “Hosanna.”

Praise leaders know how to select the segment of a gospel song suited for congregational singing. Of course, a song should have more than just a catchy hook and in that regard, a track like “Overcome” is trademark Stampley. Stampley does not obscure the religious nature of his songs in order to attract a crossover audience, and he includes references to scripture in his songs. A tune like “Overcome” is a traditional choral number featuring lyrics that invite listeners to worship God.

While Stampley remains lyrically and thematically constant, he also uses the music to get heads nodding.  A tune such as the aforementioned “Hosanna” features the kind of production techniques heard in contemporary hip-hop and R&B, while tracks such as “High Praise” and “Call of Love” draw their musical inspiration from pop and rock. Stampley even dips his toe into folk on the cut “Desperate People.” This track shows that Stampley is able to metaphorically flip the script as well. Desperation is often another way of saying risky, but the desperate people Stampley is singing about want more than their empty and sinful lives have to offer. The next track, “Search for You,” is the perfect compliment as its opening line comes uses Psalms 42:1 to illustrate how far desperate people will go to get what they need from God.

One Voice is a record that expresses Stampley’s musical and spiritual mission. He may use modern production techniques but his lyrics reveal as a traditionalist with a single-minded mission to preach the word through song.

Notable tracks: Overcome, Heaven on Earth, Desperate People, Call of Love

Vocals: 3.5
Lyrics: 3.0
Instrumentation: 3.5
Production: 3.0
SoulTracks call: Recommended

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

He’s charismatic, chiseled from dark chocolate, has a voice that melts women into their stilettos (witness his swag in person and take your lady….if you dare) and is versatile enough to deliver cool club bangers and sexy soul songs with street cred and sex appeal. Joe Thomas, as a proven hit-making veteran with almost two decades of steady success (“All The Things {Your Man Won’t Do},” “I Wanna Know,” “Stutter,” “What If A Woman,” etc.), is in an enviable position as a performer and has a loyal fan base; so it’s baffling that the singer, songwriter and producer opted to employ the visions of others and take the path of least risk and resistance on his ninth studio CD, The Good, The Bad and the Sexy.

Fans of the sanctified-turned-secular entertainer are going to hear a lot of what they’ve come to expect from the man, including moments that speak to the imperfections of relationships: “Losing” is an edgy up-tempo about the wisdom of being alone versus the inevitable pain of a toxic union (“how can I love someone who / who only breaks me into a million pieces / what do I do / put it back together, but without you”), and “Circles” posits Joe as a man sitting on the sidelines and hoping to leave second-string for the top player title to win a lady’s affections. “Impossible” is Joe revealing his vulnerability as he pleads for respect, and what could’ve been a tired pimpin’ playa-by-numbers groove, “Time of Your Life,” actually sparkles with as he smoothly steps to a lady and offers more than a fresh drink (even as he does brag about his ability to pay for multiple "poppin’ bottles") and eventual carnal release.

It doesn’t take much to realize that Joe shines brightest, or is at least the most comfortable, when he’s in Mack-mode (a quick glance at the titles demonstrates the emphasis on seduction, the act and the aftermath): “Slow Kisses” promises that he can be as sweet as he is sexy, telling his woman that cuddling her is just as fulfilling as the act itself (“Tonight I’m gonna lay you on the bed, and we ain’t even about to have sex/just lay your head down on my chest, sometimes the simple things are the best”), but the single “Pull My Hair” is its demonstrates a passion-filled play-by-play of how his latest conquest unfolded, from the steamy words at the bar to the pain-and-pleasure culmination afterwards. “Tonight” even finds the singer in Keith Sweat territory, practically begging and pleading for sexual healing like a man who’s been celibate for decades (“When are you coming over, girl I need it bad…..hurry up and come over, just tell me what I gotta do to get you here so we can make love.”).

So, if his vocals are the Good and the lyrics are the Sexy, what’s Bad? The capable, yet ho-hum production, his inability to expand the topics and his veering off of Mature and Masterful Road to merge in with the Treys and Ushers to ride in on Trite and Trendy Expressway: is a club the only place he can meet a woman these days, seriously (“Lose Control”)? And if he’s really putting in work under the sheets, what’s with all the alcohol references? Occasional sipping can enhance, but an amateurish preoccupation of liquoring up “for a better performance” (this is an actual lyric folks) while over-the-top porn-worthy moaning looms in the background is immature and illness-inducing ("Drink Up").

Nothing is wrong with incorporating modern touches into an established sound, but when an artist eschews originality for a younger market and puts his well-oiled machine in the hands of others, it shortchanges everyone involved. Think of Joe's latest as a glass of water, something that momentarily quenches the thirst, but isn’t particularly full of flavor or memorable afterwards. Moderately Recommended.

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

The artists who achieved success on the BET show Sunday Best are starting to take the next step in the advancement of their careers. The winners of the first three seasons have released new projects. When a contestant reaches the final rounds of a competition like Sunday Best, it’s clear that he or she is a highly talented artist. And as with any successful franchise in this genre, the fact that a contestant didn’t claim the top prize did not dissuade participants such as Season 2 runner up Jessica Reedy from using the show as a stepping stone to a full CD.  The difference between the winner and the runner up often comes down to the subjective judgment of a critic or a group of on-line voters.

Fate and the taste of the public will be the final arbiters of the quality of Reedy’s new album, From the Heart. However, those seeking a more personal and intimate style of gospel music will be impressed with Reedy’s debut effort. Reedy eschews the power praise and worship path in favor of music that is more lyrical and that makes more than a passing nod to production techniques often found in pop and R&B. However, Reedy does not gravitate toward the R&B/hip hop fusion that is much the rage among many of her gospel peers. Instead, she is intent on mixing her inspirational lyrics with pop, soul, blues and disco. That’s right, disco.

Reedy reminds me a lot of Mary Mary because of the way she displays her knowledge of music (both secular and gospel) history in her song selections and musical arrangements. In 2005, Mary Mary captured the mournful soul that Aretha Franklin displayed in her classic “Ain’t No Way,” but refashioned it as a declaration of unbreakable faith in the tune “Yesterday.” Reedy reaches into the disco archives and retrieved “Dr. Love,” a forgotten gem by a female trio called First Choice. There’s a long history of Christian artists adding gospel lyrics to secular compositions, and choosing a song like "Dr. Love" exposes Reedy to certain risks. First of all, Reedy has to deal with “remedy” that First Choice alluded to in their playfully risqué version of “Dr. Love.” Then, there is the fact that the song has been out of the public square for so long that many listeners might have forgotten about it. Reedy actually uses the latter reality to her advantage. She clearly understands imagery of Jesus as a healer of physical and spiritual maladies, and her lyrics brim with words that will elicit understanding nods from the faithful.

From the Heart is a descriptive title. Reedy is interested in using music to explore the way that individuals relate to God. A song like the thought provoking “Blue God” addresses the tendency for humanity to want God to work on their  terms. Reedy actually hints at that theme on the first track, “Put It on the Altar,” and on the ballad “What About Me.” The latter track finds Reedy assuming the voice of the Almighty to remind listeners to remember God. Reedy also plows into the Memphis soul sound on “Marching O,” - homage to Al Green and Hi Music – and on “I’m Still Here.”

One recurring theme of programs like Sunday Best seems to be how the post-reality show careers of the contestants evolve in unexpected ways. Non-winners go on to become A-list stars  (see Hudson, Jennifer) while winners struggle. We won’t know if Reedy will be more successful than any of the Sunday Best winners. However, From the Heart proves that Reedy has to stuff to be a force in gospel music for years to come.  Recommended.

By Howard Dukes

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Tomas Doncker’s fierce hunger in his songwriting abilities, musicality and independent artistry has produced a fruitful and fascinating musical path.  With over twenty years invested in the progressive New York City ‘No Wave’ movement, his guitar contributions with bands that encompassed blues/funk (Defunkt) and punk/jazz (James Chance & The Contortions) was just a glimpse of this multi-faceted vocalist/musician.   In the past few years, the Brooklyn native Doncker has vastly expanded his musical horizons outside the ‘No Wave’ world, working with blues great Bonnie Raitt and former P-Funk member Amp Fiddler.  For a season, Doncker traveled extensively to Japan and the West Indies and was the first U.S. artist to headline the annual Shanghai (China) Folk Festival.  He finally debuted as a solo recording artist in 2007 with his mellow pop, soul and world music hybrid, Inside Out.  Doncker then joined forces with poet Yusef Komunyakka and other New York ‘No Wave’ collaborators like Corey Glover as The Shape Shifter Ensemble for The Mercy Suite – a more ambitious effort depicting songs of love and war. 

Recently, Doncker is firmly grasping more of his role as a global soul ambassador; fully recalling his school days where multi-cultures were embraced.  One particular place that pricked Doncker’s heart was helping the continent of Africa.  His composition, “Children of Darfur,” was the focal point to what would launch a mini series beginning with his third disc, Small World.  His honest sentiments about impressing his audience with his world vision are best explained on the Small World’s title track:  “The world inside my head is not outside my window.”  

The second and latest in this series, Power of the Trinity, is a moving dedication to Ethiopia and its revered leader, Haile Selassie; originally based as a play by the late Roland Wolf.  Doncker spins his gentle tenor and fusion of popish soul and African tones with appearances from two generations of Ethiopian musicians, Selam Woldermarium and Gigi, and several New York based musical associates.  The roots reggae soundtrack of “Selassie” gives gratitude to the Emperor’s impact on Ethiopia during World War II: “He came to lead his country against depression and tyranny.” “Seven Sons” pays respect to one of Ethiopia’s influential urban musicians Ibex Band with its jazz-tinged horn section of Steven Bernstein & Peter Apfelobaum.  The somber poem, K’Rar, paced by Woldermarium’s ornate guitar lines, steady bass drum and Komunyakka’s brief but eloquent poetic meter, unveils three-thousand years of inspirations that defines Ethiopian history: “From the goatherd/ To the King of Kings/ To Bob Marley” and “the natural blues of the saxophone.”  Bill Laswell’s muscular bass guitar, Gigi’s dizzying soprano and Doncker’s understated voice create a magnetic African painting on “Conscience of the World.”  The clicking percussion and Peter Apfelbaum’s bluesy saxophone accent Jah-Rusalem that flows with an uncontrived spiritual joy celebrating the country’s prominent Christian faith:  “Take my sorrow/Take my shame/Blessed be Your holy name.”  The words are few, but the intention of the funky Afro-Beat driven “Justice is Due” resonates strongly:  “We are living proof that justice is due.”  Doncker’s personal thanks to everyone from Brooklyn to Ethiopia is a kicking jazzed up party co-hosted by dub master Dr. Israel and backed by plenty of snare punches and dancing horns from Bernstein and Paul Shapiro.

Doncker’s on-point musicality connects the Ethiopian traditions with soulful pop brilliance throughout Power of the Trinity. Overall, there is very little to fault with the exception of “Only the Faithful” that fails to spark the intended spirit of the remaining pieces.  Otherwise, Power of the Trinity is an invigorating excursion of Doncker’s journey from Brooklyn to Ethiopia and continues an impressive chapter in his ever fascinating independent music artistry. Highly Recommended.

By Peggy Oliver

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Physically compromised, emotionally broken and struggling to accept the almost-instant success that many of her peers yearned to achieve, Mary J. Blige was a tender 23-years-old when she released her most universally-lauded album, My Life, a collection of songs that revealed as much yearning for acceptance and vulnerability to heartbreak as it did her ability write lyrics and flawlessly combine the purest elements of hip-hop and true-school soul. What’s the 411? introduced Ms. Blige to the world, but the seminal contents of My Life resonated so strongly with the fans that many eschewed the personal growth that prevented her from revisiting its despair and desperation in future works. Seven studio CDs later, nearly ten years removed from that masterpiece and now considered an icon, Ms. Blige decided she was strong enough to head back into the lab, spill out her heart’s contents and expound on the moments and mantras in a competent and compelling follow-up.

In the intro,  Ms. Blige states to her one-time mentor, Sean “Puff Daddy/Diddy/P. Diddy” Combs, that  My Life II…. is “not a competitor:  it’s a sequel, an extension of how far we’ve come….not saying that pain doesn’t exist no more …. but now we know how to navigate it.” She’s not as uber-polished and Pollyannaish as she was on 2009’s well-meaning, but sterilized Stronger With Each Tear, but she still retains the self-awareness and emotional clarity even while fragile, displayed in tracks like “No Condition,” a synth-riding, brooding mid-tempo acknowledging the toll of a dysfunctional relationship before she bows out: “How did you go, from being my best friend, to me barely even wanting your affection….I can’t love you under these conditions.” “Mr. Wrong,” with a cameo by the omnipresent Drake, illustrates the paradoxical appeal of ‘junk food men,’ those with no long-term value but who are irresistible even as they do the most damage: “Bad guys ain’t no good, good boys ain’t no fun/Lord knows that I should, run off with the right one.”

Rick Ross laces his id-centered, grimy style throughout “Why,”  an unapologetic counterpart to Ms. Blige’s agony as she wrestles with a love turned inside out: “Why can’t we turn love around, we build it up to break it down….we live in heaven, go to hell then, go right back to force the lesson/I’m tired of stressing, get the message, I can’t live in this depression.” The most devastating of them all, “Empty Prayers,” rails against the heartbreaker and her own naiveté as she realizes that seeking His help for their union was a fool’s errand all along: “And I know that He had something better to do than to sit and listen to a broken-hearted fool/Could’ve been saving the world from a tragedy, but instead He was listening to me.”

Does she still, as in tracks from My Life, get her party on? Most def: “Next Level” pairs her with Busta Rhymes in an ear-catching work-out of a jam, Rodney Jerkins’ production prowess on Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”  allows a confident remake, and “Feel Inside,” featuring Nas, spills out her heart’s contents over a “Love Is All We Need”-recalling vibe. “25-8” captures that honeymoon-ish haze that is so intoxicating to the newly in-love: “I don’t wanna have to rush, cuz’ 24/7 ain’t enough, and I got so much love for you Boy/I need another hour in a day, so I can love you 25-8, 25-8….”

Brimming with artistic stretches (The poignant “Need Someone” is downright country, while her duet with Beyonce, “Love A Woman,” seems untenable in concept but actually pushes the latter out of her comfort zone and creates a mantra in the process) and the assurance that only maturity can deliver, My Life II acknowledges the broken girl that once was, embraces her imperfections and welcomes her along for the rest of the Journey: not to exploit or nurse those pains, but to celebrate the full-fledged woman that she’s become as a result of them. Enthusiastically Recommended.

By Melody Charles

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

After a while, I’m sure it gets obnoxious to have so many write, talk, and tweet about how unlikely a star you are, when alas here you are and deservedly so. Such is blue-eyed soulster, Allen Stone’s lot.  With the advent of “Unaware” making everyone aware of exactly who longtime singer/songwriter Allen Stone and his Occupy Wall Street accusation set to music are, Stone has found his skin, nerd next door looks, and Pacific Northwest origins more of a conversation piece than the brilliance of a political lyric rendered as a heartbroken lament:  “You say that you care/I was unaware/All you do is push, pull, tear/ we can’t stretch any further.” Kin to Jill Scott’s “My Petition” and Raheem DeVaughn’s “Bulletproof,” Stone’s socially conscious hit single garnered a level of attention that those equal songs did not, catapulting him to an overnight sensation, when of course he has been anything but. Timing is everything, and the fortuitousness of #OccupyEverything and the simultaneous dropping of Stone’s sophomore album has caused many to pay attention to a straggly-haired, four-eyed 24 year old who’s been out here grinding in relative anonymity for a few years heretofore to cult status and crickets.

Crickets are the last thing this young preacher’s kid from Seattle deserves, given his talent and his propensity for having something meaningful to say. Like Donnie of the Colored Section and Daily News fame and Marcell Russell (formerly of Marcell & The Truth), Stone translates his early divinity exposure and church-reared vocals to reach a broader world with an overtly secular, covertly spiritual enlightenment message; a message set to mp3 at least since 2009, if not before.  “Unaware” demonstrates that he’s only grown savvier about wrapping the political in the palatable to avoid the more prominent preachiness of his earlier conscious, but no less erudite works, like “Last to Speak” and “The World We Live In” from his debut album (Last to Speak) and first EP (Take One Session EP: Vol I), respectively. He does veer a bit more into soapbox dogma on Allen Stone in the light funk of “What I’ve Seen,” but the bassline is more heavy-handed than the delivery. Stone is a natural-born teacher, and his several years of YouTube posts and three-year body of commercially available work bears out his skill and openness to evolve in his teaching even more effectively over time. Throughout his proletariat catalog, Stone’s work is filled with lines railing against a variety of everyday human symptoms of a capitalistically driven society, from interpersonal exploitation to hyper-consumerism and how all of it is making us less human.

And, what seems to most interest Stone as a most capable lyricist is how he can help remind us how to reclaim that humanity rather than merely raging against the machine. “Everybody’s feeling the strain of a nine to five,” says Stone on “Celebrate Tonight,” inviting listeners to “leave all your deadlines behind” and just enjoy the magic of being fully present in the moment, if only for one night. Stone consistently reveals a level of insight and compassionate sensitivity to the working person’s plight, even when rebuking some folk’s misplaced motivations for upward mobility and all-consuming busyness.  “Whatever keeps you occupied/whatever gives you a contact high/…will never make you satisfied”; compared to the driving vitriol of the similarly themed “Satisfaction,” “Contact High” is a light chiding. The latter song is less about the expected marijuana than a handy metaphor for expressing our collective disconnection and how we’ve resorted to living off the fumes of what actually fulfills in a lived life: “Are you looking for peace of mind?/you won’t find it in your status line.” Against a backdrop of blaring brass and organ riffs, “Satisfaction” is a bit of David Bowie stirred in with an angry dollop of Robin Thicke spitting accusations against the locust-like exploitations of love ‘em and leave ‘em dissatisfaction, here disguised as an unrequited love retort. Even when going for the jugular, Stone can’t help channel an Oprah Life Class moment of urgent pleas for self-reflection. “Get your act together/It’s really all up to you/Life is always better when you don’t have nothing to prove,” proclaims Stone on “Nothing To Prove”; one may argue with Stone’s premise, but no one can hardly argue with the garage band earnestness driving his message home.

In music and arrangement, Stone has grown exponentially from his three earlier works. The arrangements in particular, while simple, have more changes and transitions than before. The band playing is funkier, fuller and far more propulsive in their soul-meets-light-rock excursions than on the vastly more minimalistic Last To Speak, a project that almost feels acoustic folk in comparison. Still, Stone musically feels to be an artist in development rather than one who has nailed his sound. Like Jamie Lidell’s Jim or Lewis Taylor’s similarly nostalgic Stoned, Stone is as much nostalgic pop as he is soul on Allen Stone. Effervescent as a teenage sock hop, “Say So” is a bit of ‘70s pop magic that has the energetic bubbly suds of Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It” or a less electronically rendered Al Jarreau’s “Boogie Down.” This may not be the intent of an artist who was quoted in the New York Times as saying: “I’m sick and tired of soul music looking so crisp and clean and proper! Because my soul — I said my soul! — is just a little bit greasy.” The search for oil may be how you get to a valiant attempt at up-tempo blues like “Sleep,” a swinging, if moody-ish panorama that’s selling a bit too much handclapping, tambourine pep to qualify as a true blues, despite its lyrical pathos.  

Interestingly, soulfully speaking, Stone was arguably his most melodic and emotionally bare in previous gifts like “False Alarms” and “Figure It Out,” but here rarely ventures into this more personal territory as on “Your Eyes.” Graciously, slow dancing does get a revival in the lip-locked sway of “The Wind” a blue lights song that could sit side-by-side with Electric Empire’s “Little Things” as the hot toddy homage to all the hip-to-hip circle sauntering that used to be a staple of our lives, but sadly appears to be slipping away. Unfortunately, the inflexibility of Stone’s consistently monotone tone and timbre feel less suited for a song whose light penmanship required an equally airy vocal approach; one Stone only has in an ever present vocal resonance, but not in technical ability. Only the sure falsetto and intensely emotional natural on “Unaware” demonstrates the possibility of a more agile voiced balladeer in the making on Allen Stone.

The pitch perfect timing of “Unaware” already informs us just how much promise has been fulfilled in Allen Stone, teacher and songwriter. Only time will tell if his musicality and vocals catch up to the inspiring levels of his writing and creative voice. In the meantime, two fine EPs, one astonishing—if brow beating—debut, and solidly strong sophomore project says that the story is Allen Stone, the artist; the rest is just media noise for those sadly still unaware.  Highly Recommended.

By L. Michael Gipson

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

It’s a dicey business pitting your best work against your latest work as the members of Boyz II Men have done with the release of their appropriately titled 20^th anniversary album, Twenty. Much like the R&B group’s last three decent-to-good cover albums, it inherently draws some uneasy comparisons. How does a “So Amazing” stand up against the similarly vibed “Four Seasons of Loneliness?” Or, the single, “More Than You’ll Ever Know (feat. Charlie Wilson),” against one of the longest standing #1 singles of all times, “I’ll Make Love to You?” Well, it helps that songs like “I Shoulda Lied” benefits from the return of Babyface penning and producing mid-tempo grooves and ballads for the group, always a winning formula for the (now) trio. Unfortunately, all the returning legendary collabos don’t fare as well. One might also question the notion of covering yourself even at the 20 year mark, as the group does on Twenty, side-stepping some of the direct comparisons between old and new material, but merely replacing that comparison with one that places the best-selling version of “End of The Road” with this more recent take and questioning whether the gimmick was worth the risk.

The first issue is the sequencing of the first CD of the double-disc project. In the trendy anthem, “Believe,” Teddy Riley proves his best years aren’t quite behind him, at least not entirely. Nonetheless, the head-bobber could have easily been sung by any vocal group around and proves too leaden an opener for an anniversary setlist worthy of a stronger vocal introduction. Riley steps in it again later on the muddied “Flow,” a cut that does anything but. Following Riley are producers Tim & Bob, a hitmaking duo that was responsible for the five weakest filler songs on the 12 million-selling, Grammy-Award winning II (“Vibin’,” “U Know,” “50 Candles”…really?).  And they continue to do Boyz II Men no favors with the competent, but unexceptional “So Amazing” and the only slightly more memorable “Slowly” and “Will You Be There,” the latter coming at a more appropriate time, nearer the end. Newcomer Julian Bunetta decides to continue the trend of making fans yawn on the first disc’s first half with “Put Some Music On.” Not only are these project launchers un-ignitable duds in comparison to Boyz at their best, they also sport some of the weakest, most whining vocals of Boyz’ career. One could argue that the auto-tune heavy radio cut, “More Than You’ll Ever Know” featuring Uncle Charlie Wilson only continued the trend, so obviously cloying for radio is its slickly metallic production, but it’s heads and shoulders above its sequenced predecessors.

Then Babyface reminds everyone why he is the master who helped Boyz II Men become the Billboard record-holders of three of the top four charting #1 songs of all times –“Sweetest Day (feat. Mariah Carey),” “End of Our Road,” and “I’ll Make Love To You”— songs that place made Boyz Billboard’s biggest group of the ‘90s and a charting peer to The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Mariah Carey in charting #1s on the Pop charts. Babyface’s “I Shoulda Lied” could have easily fit into II or Motownphilly, two of the three albums that made Boyz II Men music royalty. Babyface repeats the feat later with the sentimental, but not syrupy “One More Dance” and to a lesser extent with the synthy, “One Up For Love” (co-produced by Khris & AL), ensuring three of the four most on-the-money vocals of Twenty. Snatching that fourth slot is the Da Internz, who adroitly follows up “I Shoulda Lied” with the thumping “Benefit a Fool,” a retro-soul doo wop worthy of The Four Tops. There isn’t a hair out of place on the thrilling, foot-stomper whose harmonies are the closest to Boyz at their 2002 Full Circle technical apex. The usually sound Rex Rideout drops the hot potato soon thereafter with the “Careless Whisper” derivative “Refuse to Reason.” Rounding out the first disc of original material since 2005’s equally uninspired Remedy is a surprising life-saver pop ballad for Teddy Riley’s apparently quite sinkable reputation, a highly melodic “End of the Day” featuring a Japanese singing, J-pop sensation Atsushi Sato of Exile.

Tim & Bob also rescue their reputation on the re-produced “MotownPhilly,” one of several bewildering re-recordings that are so little changed from the originals in production that listeners will wonder why the 60 million sellers bothered. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis deliver a note-faithful “On Bended Knee” that while technically proficient, lacks the youthful urgency of the original vocal. The jarring absence of Michael McCary’s speaking part on “On Bended Knee” only adds fuel to the question, one that whiffs of legal or financial considerations in this and other recreations. The only thing that seems to change on these lovingly and solidly sung re-recordings is a sense of pacing and, dare I say, vibrancy, particularly on “End of the Road.” For “Water Runs Dry,” “Four Seasons of Loneliness,” and the iconic “I’ll Make Love To You,” there is not enough changed  in arrangement--or poorly changed, like the cheated closing of “I’ll Make Love To You”--and too much lost in the absence of McCary’s strong baritone/bass though occasionally someone is clearly pinch-hitting this position on backgrounds).

On the plus side, Shawn Stockman’s vocals stand out as pristine and clear as ever—perhaps better than before - even as melisma maestro Wanya’s whining affectations are begins to show signs of wear, while Nathan solidly holds the middle together, as always. For his part, Babyface brings a nuanced, additive warmth in a rich covering of “A Song for Mama,” making this cut at least worth the effort. On the closeout original “Not Like You,” Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis remind fans why Boyz still matter. Though the mid-tempo groove doesn’t return Boyz to their storied heights, the song does  deliver its own, less obvious shine.

Overall, it’s nice to know that 10 albums and 20 years later, in the hands of the right producers the Boyz can still hit most of their marks with some enviable prowess on their hits and create some new standouts. Still, a more creative presentation of the bestsellers or an excavation of less celebrated but more creatively daring material on Evolution, Full Circle, and Nathan, Michael, Shawn, and Wanya would reveal an embarrassment of riches to draw from: songs that, if re-introduced, could have sounded fresh to those who missed out on their brilliance the first time. In the words of an unsung Boyz II Men gem, “Oh Well.” Recommended.

By L. Michael Gipson

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

One might be surprised of the various faraway places producing American-born R&B/soul music. Certainly, Iceland doesn’t readily come to mind. Quick history lesson: the original musical culture of the Republic of Iceland was inspired by folk music from Northern Europe and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While folk still has a place in Iceland, this small island sitting across from Norway has recently produced several alternative pop sensations, including: The Sugarcubes, Bjork, GusGus and Sigur Ros—all who have attained international attention with their ambitious mix of rock, classical and electronic music. Unfortunately, on the international radar, Iceland’s urban music talent pool tends to be just a whisper below the more dominant pop and folk market. Yet, amongst the handful of homegrown artists, there are occasional pleasantries who bubble up above the transient pop stars, such as the jazz funk band, Mezzoforte, and a particularly delightful R&B/jazz duo Kenya and Nemor, one who should shed a bit more light on the Iceland soul scene.

Kenya Emil, an Icelandic native, and Jason Nemor Hardin, a US transplant to Iceland, discovered each other’s talents at a regional event in 2003. One might call it destiny for aspiring musicians like Kenya & Nemor to first meet at a concert entitled “The Soul of Motown,” but it was actually thanks to much encouragement from their respective friends that the two found one another and hit it off. While Kenya’s first professional gig was performing at this tribute concert, Nemor rediscovered his childhood musical gifts after a career playing basketball in Europe. One year later, Kenya (known as “the voice”) and producer/musician Nemor (known as “the vibe”) reconnected to start developing their own soulful niche. Their first demo track in 2004, “Touch Me Taste Me,” was the beginning of several years in defining their sound and sharpening their songwriting abilities. The duo eventually caught on in 2006 with expanded club gigs and festivals in Iceland, along with tours of Norway and New York.

After years of perfecting their studio performances and stage presence, Kenya & Nemor’s finally self-release their debut Just Becuz, an intertwining of Atlantic Starr, Earth Wind and Fire and other old-school R&B influences with mostly electronic beats. Dance clubs could feast on the title track, one accented with booming bass and plenty of Kenya’s vocal sweetness and sass. The hip-hop shaded “U Know How It Goes” is powered by the fierce snare drums and funk-laced piano by the track’s producer Thaddeus ‘Pismo’ Smith III. For a light, romantic moment, “The Coffee Song” covers sexy ‘80s R&B balladry with a touch of swing and Kenya’s inviting alto for that special encounter: “We can get some coffee/Get to talking.” In a different romantic light, Nemor’s dreamy keyboards and Kenya’s sultry lead and background voices send “Touch Me Taste Me” into a soothing sensual zone. With a modern jazz trio led by pianist Dadi Birgisson, “U Take Me Places” is another intimate setting that detours from the R&B format. Though Kenya keeps it mellow for most of Just Becuz, she firmly exercises some vocal power on “U Go Your Way,” about a relationship on the skids.

Just Becuz is a sweet elixir of old school R&B tossed with neo-soul, hip-hop and jazz tidbits. The only major downfall is when Nemor’s rare lead—and sometimes off-key—appearance on “Still Recall” falls far short of Kenya’s vocal confidence. Otherwise, Just Becuz is a credible debut for Kenya & Nemor, one that should make a small dent in the international anonymity of Iceland’s fairly quiet urban music community. Recommended.

By Peggy Oliver

Click on CD cover to listen or purchase

Without using a statement loaded with hyperbole, it is most important to value the Minneapolis-bred ‘80s funk band The Time separately rather than as a unit. That’s because, as history preaches the unraveling truths from behind the shrouds, we learn that Prince had his hands in everything that once bore the group’s name during the early years, from the songwriting and production to the instrumentation and background vocals. As for the band’s leader, Morris Day—a frontman caricature dressed up as the suave goofball on a never-ending sexcapade and escorted by his personal valet, Jerome Benton, he was usually in the forefront of each release. The rest of the band took a backseat to Day’s scenery chewing and Prince’s executive orders. It was only until the band hit the road as Prince’s opening act that they proved their powers, funking and jamming like a gritty steroid-ravaging baby brother of Earth, Wind & Fire and James Brown. Still, Prince was the star; leaving The Time in the shadows as the warm-up to the big finale.

As time would teach us, The Time proved to be the biggest mistake Prince failed to capitalize on. That’s because each of the band members made a profound impact on the rest of the music world. Just go down the line: keyboardist Jimmy Jam and bassist Terry Lewis, ultimately fired by Prince for engaging in an Atlanta studio experiment on the S.O.S Band, turned Janet Jackson into a goldmine; guitarist Jesse Johnson wound up looking like a funky heir of Jimi Hendrix on his A&M solo records, even jamming with funk giant Sly Stone on the R&B hit “Crazay”; Monte Moir laid down the riveting soundscapes on Janet Jackson’s “Pleasure Principle” while writing many more Jam & Lewis-produced delights, including the Alexander O’Neal classic ballad “If You Were Here Tonight”; drummer Jellybean Johnson, notable for co-producing Jackson’s “Black Cat,” produced for the likes of Nona Hendrix, New Edition, Alexander O’Neal and fellow Minneapolis R&B band Mint Condition; Morris Day pulled out a number of hit singles on his own, including “The Oak Tree” and “Fishnet,” while still sporting chauffeur/prop man Jerome Benton on his shoulders, years before P. Diddy even met Fonzworth Bentley.

Twenty years since The Time’s last album Pandemonium, an unexpected reunion of the original members at the 50^th annual Grammys Awards sparked the idea of a new album. On the celebratory companion DVD highlighting the band’s 30^th anniversary of star time (packaged as a deluxe edition commercially available at BestBuy stores), the original band members gather at a dinner table, rejoicing in their most recent union and priding themselves in the historical relevance of their new assignment.  On the hour-long DVD, James Harris, III, best known as Jimmy Jam, expresses one of the marvelous unseen blessings from their new album. He confesses that “the interesting thing about the new record is…I can’t think of any point of time that a band has 30 years after the first [project], come back together, not use their original name, but are the original people.”

Without Prince’s blessing to use their longtime stage name, the band formerly known as The Time, now rechristened as The Original 7ven, finds themselves building on the inspiration of incessant possibilities, while also celebrating their uniqueness to the wonderland of funky R&B. Remember those ‘80s vintage electronic keytars? Or, the heavy use of the Linn LM-1 drum machine? Or, how about those spunky instrumental jam extensions that felt like distant cousins to the overloads of disco? Well, all those elements important to the landscape of Minneapolis funk are secured on the band’s latest effort Condensate.

“Strawberry Lake,” a twin to Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” and The Time’s "Fishnet" perfectly opens the album using Sly Stone and Graham Central Station fun, thanks to the stretched-out synth legatos and the worldwide invitation to “party till you drop and have the best time of your life.” On the lead single, “#Trendin,” Jam & Lewis puts the ‘80s bunch smack dab in the middle of the digital age boasting a barrage of clever pickup lines for Day (“Tweet it up y’all…I’m bringing heat/Beastin’ all hot topics every week”). Songs like “If I Was Yo Man” and “Faithfull” soothe the album with mid-tempo, mild-funk comforts.

Probably the album’s obvious painstaking gripe, albeit a very selfish one to the hardcore funk fan, is the abundance of stronger cuts tucked at the album’s end. Although “#Trendin” and “Strawberry Lake” opens the set with profound strengths, the last five cuts are definitely worth staking out. Sporting Jesse Johnson guitar pyrotechnics and “Sign O’ The Times” drama, “AYDKMN” (acronym for “Ahh, You Don’t Know Me Now) is an earful of orgasmic funk. Afterwards, “One Step” fires up a heavy dose of Nu Wave-driven gospel-funk and “Hey Yo” flows like Ne-Yo. Still, it is the climatic highlight, “Toast to the Party Girl,” that is without a doubt the album’s shining star. The co-lead and background vocal layouts from Treasure Davis and early Prince protégé Sue Ann Carwell help solidify some of the nostalgic Wendy & Lisa action from the 1999 era. When the song revs up its synth-fueled vamp, Morris spikes the punch with ferociously funky ad-libs, especially when he shouts for the “chili sauce” on a surprising reprise. Tagged to the album’s very end is the album’s definite sleeper: “Gohometoyoman,” a smooth, but naughty Quiet Storm ballad – anchored tightly to Prince romantics and Monte Moir’s wizardry – is just screaming for radio airplay.

Although it could be a shocker for some to notice the album’s reluctance in producing long-playing party favorites as explosive and as prodigious as “777-9311” and “Get It Up,” Condensate is an appetizing disc that portrays the original members of The Time standing steadfast in their element. Certainly the band pays homage to their Minneapolis roots and to the genius known as Prince, but the band chooses to pick up where they are now rather than where they left off as a group. With every seasoned member now contributing to the creative process, each getting their feet wet in the songwriting and with no Prince in sight pulling the executive strings, The Original 7ven is basking in the glory of their freedoms and is proving to be as strong as they were when they first started. So, please don’t call Condensate a comeback. Call it a second coming, a second coming of cool funk. Recommended

By J Matthew Cobb