The Sunday Soul Affair, 17/02/13

‘Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite’ – I thought that song choice was going to make me a legend, I really did!  I thought it would go down as the greatest curveball in the history of The Sunday Soul Affair, but I don’t think it necessarily made the impact I was hoping for – particularly when I hit play and had Curly CJ gawking back at me cheerfully boasting to have never heard the song before.

As much as a hero as Curly CJ is, and as much fun as I have hanging out with him, I do love it when he’s away and I get to fill in for his show as well – totalling a four-hour marathon session starting at 8am all the way ‘til midday.  The curveballs are a regular feature to CJ’s show, and the ultimate rule that defines a curveball as CJ would define it is ‘a song he wouldn’t normally play’.  I usually like to extend that definition into ‘a song I wouldn’t normally play… that’s going to make you smile’.  The song also has to have relevance to the genres, so obvious contenders for curveballs like ABBA, Take That, etc aren’t valid entries.

I’ve filled in for Ceej quite a few times on his show and my previous curveball submissions have included the Rocky theme song, as performed by The Menahan Street Band, ‘Licence to Kill’ by Gladys Knight (I was ‘Skyfall’ bandwagon-ing), and a mash-up of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ with the instrumental to Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ (which is actually pretty awesome!). 

‘Goodnite Sweetheart’ was recorded by The Spaniels in the 1950s and obviously popularised by the 80s classic, ‘Three Men and a Baby’ (which apparently CJ has never seen).  I am kidding a bit as it actually got a pretty good reaction from people who were tuned in.  I’ve yet to ask CJ if The Sunday Soul Affair budget will go so far as to reimburse me for the 69p I spent on the song so may have to bide my time on that one J  

In the meantime, for your listening please, feel free to regale yourselves with this wonder from The Spaniels, and, as I don’t post up The Sunday Soul Affair playlists in my forum pages, here’s the playlist from Sunday 17^th February below.

Hour #1

'People Get Ready' - Curtis Mayfield

'Love Is More Than A Wedding Day' - Cody ChesnuTT

'Washed Up' - Hannah Williams & The Tastemakers

'You For Me and Me For You' - The Right Track

'Don't Waste This World Away' - Maceo & All The King's Men

Covers:

'Baby This Love I Have' - AAries

'Soon I'll Be Loving You Again' - Joe

'I Can't Help It' - Soul Cycle f/t Mavis 'Swan' Poole

'This Woman's Work' [live] - Maxwell

'Still In Love With You' - Sade

Hour #2

'Show Us How You Fly' - DJ Spinna f/t Christion Ulrich

'No Disguise' - Modaji f/t Jag

'Rocking You Eternally' - Jazzanova f/t Leon Ware & Dwele

'Love and Revolution' - Nicola Conte f/t Melanie Charles

'At First Glance' - [re:jazz] f/t Mediha

'Walk On' - Chris Dave f/t Aaron Camper

'Back Stabbers' - Ronnie Foster

'Blessed is the Woman' - Shirley Brown

'Springtime Smile' - Portrait

For playlists for The Blue-in-Green Sessions, please visit the Starpoint forum pages here:

http://www.phpbbserver.com/starpointradio/viewtopic.php?t=512&start=0&mforum=starpointradio

Lou Bond

Today, I stumbled on to the genuinely, very sad news that Lou Bond had passed away.

In 2010, I was asked to write an album review for Lou Bond's album that had initially been recorded in 1974, for a subsidiary label of Stax Records, but had flown criminally under the radar at the time of its release.  Thankfully, it found itself being reissued by Light in the Attic Records nearly forty years later, and I'm so grateful that it was.

I suppose one of the first things you realise when you're first listening to it is it really doesn't sound like any other soul music that you may have heard from 70s.  That's probably why the album failed to make any mark upon its release - drawing on further influences from country and folk music may have been enough to leave any record label back then scratching their head about how they were going to promote it, but, conversely, there's a specific and concise magic to this record that's inimitable.

There's so much I want to say about him and his life but to do him justice, I should save it for a future post.  It's been a few hours since I heard the news and it was just really important to me to get something out there to support him, his name and his music.  Here's the review I wrote up for the album in 2010 which in many ways says a lot more than I could do now, so I hope you read it, enjoy it, and become inspired to explore his music.

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'Lou Bond' by Lou Bond [Light in the Attic, 2010 (reissue from 1974)]

Written by Imran Mirza

The beauty of music is that you can discover it at any time.  Good music is timeless and transcends generations... and I can't think of a better opener to discuss Lou Bond's self-titled album than that.

Hailing from Memphis, Lou Bond became a part of the Stax family, or more specifically their subsidiary label, We Produce, in the early 70s and released his 6-track album under the imprint in 1974.

Stax Records are legendary for their soul offerings from the likes of icons, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding and Booker T & The MGs, but Lou Bond's release is hardly one that would fit snugly in amongst the Stax catalogue.  Where a huge portion of classic soul music tips its hat respectfully to gospel music, Bond was keen to cite country and western influences almost above those of his church roots.  As a result, perhaps more appropriately dubbed ‘universal soul’, Bond doesn’t waste a second on this release as he uses the album to challenge aspects of society – from senseless wars, untrustworthy governments, unrequited love and failed relationships, but it’s an album filled with hope as much as it focuses on these negative aspects.

Songs like the impassioned ‘Why Must Our Eyes Always Be Turned Backwards’ and the awesome ‘To The Establishment’ are songs with as much relevance today as they had when they were first released, and will more than likely ring true in another 40 years.

Lush orchestration by The Memphis Symphony Orchestra and rich horns by The Horns of South Memphis really elevate the work laid down by Lou Bonds, and his guitar, and deliver an almost folk-ish finish and arrangement that works exceptionally well, but which ultimately may have left Stax with little idea on how to present the product upon its initial release.

As much as quality music purchasers should be applauded, fans are doing themselves a disservice by not picking up a copy of the CD itself as the icing on the cake to this reissue (aside from the previously unreleased bonus track) is really the bonus booklet that comes along with it, which features an incredibly written feature and interview with Bond himself, along with contributions from artists he played with, members of Stax and friends from his childhood.  Reading about Bond's childhood amongst numerous foster homes, and his time living on the streets, makes songs like 'That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be' even that much more significant, and haunting in its own way, as the Carly Simon-penned song muses over marriage and family, and the expectations and disappointments they can bring:

You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds
But soon you'll cage me on your shelf
I'll never learn to be just me first
By myself

At the risk of ending with an overstatement – this really is an important release.  It’s been dubbed among several sources as a ‘masterpiece’ but reading that, as a prospective listener, is like being told the twist ending to ‘The Usual Suspects’ or ‘The Sixth Sense’ – the fun is in finding that out for yourselves, and after you’ve heard ‘Lou Bond’ from front to back… you will find that out yourself.  You’ll smile, you’ll think, you’ll probably even be sad, but that’s a rare gift that music that can give you, so cherish it.

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Smoove: Smoove Operator [Interview]

Written by Imran Mirza

They say it takes many years to become an overnight success, and for Smoove, becoming recognised as one-half of soul and funk duo, Smoove & Turrell, it was actually in the making for many years!  It is something that seemed to happen very, very fast though.  Having their debut album, ‘Antique Soul’, released in 2009 by Jalapeno Records proved to be an instant breakout success and garnered immediate attention and praise from fans and critics alike, including BBC Radio’s Craig Charles, and subsequent soul music aficionados housed on Solar radio and Starpoint Radio.

John Turrell’s vocals aptly combined with Smoove’s tailored and multi-layered production skills to create a project embraced, frankly, by anyone that heard it.  Praise, adoration and even further notoriety followed with Smoove & Turrell’s sophomore relase, ‘Eccentric Audio’, which continued to further reinforce the name ‘Smoove & Turrell’ as genuine forerunners within the UK’s ever-emerging soul scene.

Not one to rest upon his successes here, Smoove’s resume goes on to mark even further achievements and successes, including being a leading contributor to Record Kicks’ 2011 release, ‘Mo Record Kicks: Act Two’, compiling the songs from the label’s current catalogue as well as contributing a few of his own remixes to the project, including a fantastic one for Nick Pride & The Pimptones’ ‘Waiting So Long’, which would also go on to find a home on the group’s own 2012 remix album (‘Remixed Feast of Jazz’), as well as Smoove’s own brand new remix compilation, ‘First Class’.

Smoove’s production talents are expertly showcased on this diverse compilation of remixes from Jalapeno Records and they demonstrate why his skills are becoming those of increasing demand.  Blessed with his golden touch on this release art acts including, Brenda Boykin’s ‘Hard Swing Travellin’ Man’, Electric Empire’s ‘Baby Your Lovin’, The Bahama Soul Club’s ‘Nassau Jam’ and Kraak & Smaak’s ‘Call Up To Heaven’.  In the same way that The Impellers caught many off-guard with their unorthodox cover of The Ting Tings’ ‘That’s Not My Name’ from earlier this year, it may be even more of a left-field turn wrapping your ears around Smoove’s funk-filled remix of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, as performed by The Third Degree.

The songs are tackled with a confident mix of soul, R&B, disco, Latin and funk providing excellent accompaniment along the artist’s original recording with new life breathed into them.

What can you say, the man’s clearly a Smoove Operator, whether it be in the recording studio or the DJ booth, so naturally, it’s our great pleasure to secure time with the UK’s very own, producer extraordinaire, Smoove!

Before we go on to discuss the current release, can we talk about the success of Smoove & Turrell?  You’re two albums in and have garnered a significant amount of praise for each release – you must be really thrilled with the group’s success?
It’s been a real breath of fresh air working on the project of Smoove & Turrell these last five years and I’m overwhelmed with the amount of success we have gained from all over the world.

What made you decide you wanted to pursue a career in music?
I was always into music as far back as I can ever remember. My father had a large record collection which generally got played at loud volumes in our home. I remember dancing to Spencer Davis Group and air-drumming to Jimi Hendrix when I was about nine years old, but it was The Police that really caught my attention.  Probably down to the intricate drum patterns.
I later got into breakdancing and then discovered hip-hop culture which is when I got into collecting and sampling records.
I really wanted to make my own record so when I got my hands on a 4-track recorder, the world was in my hands and anything seemed possible. It wasn't long before I met some like-minded musicians that helped me get to grips with programming and sequencing which soon got us our first record deal with Big Life Records.

Who were some of your earliest musical influences?
Funkadelic, Marrs, Dynamix 2, Richie Havens, anything on Street Sounds Records, DJ Jazzy Jeff , DJ Cash Money, Eric B & Rakim, Tuff Crew, Roy Ayers, 45 King, Trax Records, Brass Construction, Zapp, Azymuth, etc.

Following the efforts and remixes you placed into the ‘Mo Record Kicks Act 2’ compilation of last year, ‘First Class’ is an album fans will certainly be excited to hear from you – how did the idea initially come about for a remix album?
I had already made two Smoove solo albums on Acid Jazz Records in 2005 and 2007 – one called ‘Dead Mens Shirts’ and another called ‘Gravy’, which contained a lot of remix work. Over the recent years I have done so many remixes for different artists so I decided to compile a list of some of the most recent remixes. There was about forty to choose from so I sent the tracks to Jalapeño Records and offered them the idea of doing a compilation album which became ‘First Class’.
  
What makes you decide to tackle a song to remix, and how do you approach it?
I get offered a lot of remixes but don't always accept them as I will only work on a song if I think I can bring something out of the original version.  I try not to work on instrumentals as I find them very difficult for some reason.  I’m a beat junkie so I will usually spend most of my time getting the drums sounding really good and then most things will usually fall into place.

How did you go about compiling the songs for ‘First Class’?
I really couldn't decide on the track list so I left most of it down to Trevor from Jalapeño to pick the selections as I was happy to go with any of the 40 tracks I had sent him.

Is there anyone amongst the track listing for ‘First Class’ that you’d particularly like to hit the studio with?
A lot of the remixes feature great singers such as Brenda Boykin, Lex Empress from Kraak & Smaak, Jon Allen, Sandra Nkake and my partner in crime John Turrell, but I'd love to do a track together with Africa Bambaataa. He's a legend and real hero of mine! I’ve already worked alongside Jess Roberts on my early Acid Jazz albums.

How do you find DJing to a live crowd as opposed to performing as part of a band?
I love performing in both situations but they are so different from one another in many ways. Performing as part of the band is very exciting as there is always room for improvisation. The band is more of a team effort where as DJing is much more of a solo act where I can control things a bit more. I don't tend to work out my DJ sets as I like to freestyle and take the mood wherever I feel it. I sometimes DJ along side John Turrell where he sings along over my impromptu sets, which is endless fun!

What’s next for you at this point – will the solo work continue or are there plans to get back into the studio with John Turrell for a third album?
I’m running two record labels – Wass Records and Wack Records, constantly touring with the live band and DJing.
I’m back in the studio already working on another Smoove & Turrell album and I’m remixing various artists as well as working on some new Smoove solo projects!
All our tour dates and blogs can be found on www.smooveandturrell.com

Laura Mvula

Did anyone see Graham Norton last Friday night?  In between the fairly bizarre – albeit hilarious – ramblings of Mark Wahlberg (seriously though, was he drunk, or high or really, really tired?) was the night’s musical guest, Laura Mvula, who sang her current and incredible new single, ‘Green Garden’.  I had never even heard of her before the show but apparently Ms Mvula is looking set to have an excellent year as she’s been a runner up in BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll, plus is in the running for the Critics’ Choice award at the BRITs this year as well. 

The album, ‘Sing to the Moon’, is due out in early-March and if the rest of it sounds anywhere near as good as ‘Green Garden’, then it’s instant coppage from me.  Feel free to click the link below for the YouTube clip of the full video – it’s excellent stuff so we’ll have our fingers crossed for instant success.  We’ll be adding ‘Green Garden’ to the Blue-in-Green playlist, hopefully, by March.

What's new?

Just wanted to report back with a brief update of some records I’ve recently picked up over the last few weeks and that I’ve playing a fair amount of on the show.  I’ve been talking a lot on air about the ever-growing list of albums that are patiently awaiting their slot within our coveted ‘Album of the Week’ segment so here a few of them are…

Cody ChesnuTT – ‘Landing on a Hundred’ (2012, One Little Indian)
With like ten years since his recorded-in-his-bedroom-debut-album, ‘Headphone Masterpiece’, earned him his cult following, solidified by the invigorating collaboration with The Roots for ‘The Seed 2.0’, you do almost wonder whether ChesnuTT had missed the boat waiting this long to deliver his follow-up.  Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be have been the case as the release of his brand new album seems to have created all the same waves he was riding ten years ago.  Anyone that’s actually heard ‘Headphone Masterpiece’ would probably have ached to hear such compositions (including my favourite, ‘No One Will’) brought to life by a full in-house band and ChesnuTT’s vocals are really brought to life in the studio, including a lavish string section to boot.  Huge comparisons with some of Marvin Gaye’s best vocals are well-deserved, with standouts including ‘Til I Met Thee’, ‘Love Is More Than A Wedding Day’ and ‘Chips Down (No landfill)’.

Kylie Auldist – ‘Still Life’ (2012, Tru Thoughts)

I initially heard of Kylie Auldist from a Tru Thoughts compilation entitled ‘Tru Thoughts Compilation’ (which I urge you to purchase if possible as it’s available on Amazon for a mere £2.11, and showcases the immense diversity the independent Brighton-based label has on offer).  That compilation is actually helping me to expand upon my Tru Thoughts catalogue as the majority of it has simply revolved around Alice Russell, Spanky Wilson and the many guises of Quantic.  Kylie Auldist’s contribution was the Ashley Beedle remix of ‘In A Week In A Day’ which is a top tune and has subsequent led to me picking up her 2012 album ‘Still Life’.  Truly an excellent, excellent album from the lead singer of The Bamboos, with a bit of funk, old-fashioned soul and bucket loads of personality.  Tracks that have been getting loads of airplay on the show include ‘Changes’, ‘Night of Lies’ and ‘All In You’.

Bunny Sigler – ‘That’s How Long I’ll Be Loving You’ (1974, Bbr)

Prior to this album, the only recording I had of Bunny Sigler was his exquisite vocal contribution to the excellent (and considerably underrated) Larry Gold album, ‘Don Cello and Friends’ (2003), and the gorgeous song, ‘Can I’.  It’s truly incredible which makes it even more baffling it’s taken the amount of years it’s taken for me to actually purchase a Bunny Sigler album.  And I’ve opted for his very first one originally from 1974, but reissued with two bonus cuts in 2012, ‘That’s How Long I’ll Be Loving You’.  Multi-instrumentalist and producer, this great slice of classic 70s Philadelphia soul, featuring his own version of The O’Jays’ ‘Love Train’ would make for a great purchase of Sigler’s music for you guys too!

Soul Cycle – ‘Flipped’ (2010, Soul Cycle Music)

I totally – unintentionally – stumbled on to this release while on the hunt for new music from Saunders Sermons (we’ll talk more about him in upcoming posts), and not only found him appearing on the track list for this release, but also Melanie Charles (she’s brilliant!) and Rogiers.  The album title ‘Flipped’ gives a slight hint to the theme of the album: cover versions, with Andre 3000’s ‘Prototype’ among the standouts, and the as-if-it-hasn’t-been-covered-enough-times selection of Stevie Wonder’s ‘My Cherie Amour’ (featuring the aforementioned Melanie Charles) ranking highly.  Saunders Sermons appears on a track he previously covered on his own release (‘Classic Delight’), ‘In A Sentimental Mood’, but this version is a considerably more up-tempo R&B interpretation; but the show-stealer is the second Stevie Wonder selection of ‘I Can’t Help It’ by Mavis ‘Swan’ Poole which is terrific.  Finding a hardcopy in the UK is near impossible so I ended up having to purchase it from the US website, CD Baby, who host a brilliant selection of independent music for your purchasing pleasure.

'No Beginning No End' by Jose James [Album review]

I’ll apologise in advance as I can tell this is going to end up being one of those back-and-forth and somewhat garbled reviews where I seem to have lots to say about the release but I don’t actually know what the point I’m trying to make is.  That’s about as good an introduction as any, so let’s get down to the album at hand… Jose James’s ‘No Beginning No End’.  I’ve spoken much about my adoration for Jose James’s music so let’s just say that my anticipation for this album was very high and leave it at that, for fear of me coming across as overly-obsessive.

Well, I am overly-obsessive but I don’t want you to know that.

Many reviews for this album have highlighted this at James’s subtle shift away from jazz but I actually think this should be less of a focal point than it is.  James has always been amongst a very short list of artists that can actually – comfortably – get away with such seemingly bold moves.  His diversity has always been a significant part of his charm.  Beyond just comparing the traditional jazz-stylings of ‘The Dreamer’ to the more contemporary-sounding, ‘Black Magic’, his catalogue of music extends far further, from gracing the last three album releases by Italian maestro, Nicola Conte and his unique bossa nova-jazz-infused compositions; Germany’s number one musical export, Jazzanova, and their wonderful collaboration from 2008, ‘Little Bird’; appearing on both albums from Japan’s fiery piano-led jazz trio, J.A.M.; even collaborating with the eclectic dance outfit, Basement Jaxx, in 2009 on their album ‘Scars’.

It’s a diversity that can only come from complete confidence and security in yourself as an artist and everything you want to achieve.

Assessing the assembled musicians for ‘No Beginning No End’, on paper… this is it!  This is James’s bold attempt at more commercial recognition, and it’s a great way to do it: Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Pino Palladino and Amp Fiddler, not only include some of the best musicians in the world right now, but they’re also logical ones for James to recruit as well.  Robert Glasper – and, in turn, Chris Dave – both just having come off an incredible breakthrough year  themselves with The Robert Glasper Experiment achieving notable success for their album, ‘Black Radio’, marks the interesting comparison of an artist attempting to take that progressive leap towards new audiences, as evidenced by his approach to include a host of vocalists established within the contemporary soul and R&B world.  Esperanza Spalding too, again last year, with her more radio-friendly release, ‘Radio Music Society’.  The logic is fairly self-explanatory but I suppose it’s just a shame that jazz needs to be… jazzed-up to appeal accessible and interesting to audiences.

‘No Beginning No End’ certainly takes this ideology on board and embraces the new direction with minor shifts in styles and genres as the album progresses.  Fairly welcome neo-soul-esque grooves kick off the opening portion of the album, with ‘It’s All Over Your Body’ and ‘Sword + Gun’ proving to be particular highlights, the seemingly very popular Emily King combo of songs ‘Come To My Door’ and ‘Heaven on the Ground’ acts as the segue to potentially more standard James fare with a series of lush jazz ballads that at times are suitably reminiscent of ‘The Dreamer’.  There’s a fairly surprising turn from Amp Fiddler as he delivers the music for the album’s closer ‘Tomorrow’, although, in honesty, after hearing about Amp’s involvement before the album’s actual release, I was hoping for something uniquely Fiddler-esque that would have been more of a fit for the first half of the album, but this will more than do!

This is a good album.  And I mean a gooood album. The more I listen to it the more it grows on me, as songs like 'Bird of Space' and 'No Beginning No End' start to marinate into my subconscious, and 'Do You Feel' reveals itself as the true gem of the whole album.  One slightly nerdy complaint is that the inlay card doesn’t allocate the musicians to the songs they played on, so as I’m in the midst of my Chris Dave fandom, I would have quite liked to know the songs he actually drummed on, along with Robert Glasper et al.

This album has been dubbed Jose James’s best shot at achieving crossover success.  Ultimately, time will tell whether that’s what happens or not, but in the meantime, the most important thing for existing fans is that it’s another release for him to include amongst what’s building to be a truly incredible discography.

The big time!

The above is an image of the official promo sheet that Record Kicks put together to advertise the brand new release by Hannah Williams & The Tastemakers and the group's new single, 'I'm A Good Woman'.  This promo sheet gets sent out to... well, everyone, including DJs, radio stations, magazines, etc.

And look at all those comments and quotes the label's included.  Sure are a lot.  I bet you have to be fairly important to be asked to contribute to a band's promo sheet.

Read the third one from the bottom.  The one that's attributed to 'Starpoint Radio'.  Guess who wrote that?  Guess who was asked to write that?  It was ME!  Can you believe it!?  My lack of professionalism demonstrated here aside, this is by far the coolest thing to happen to me in ages!

I'll be writing for MTV in no time! :)