'Music and Minds, Part 1' by The Soul Sound Collective

'Music and Minds' is the debut EP from London-based The Soul Sound Collective - a project that comes with high expectations for followers of the band's understated and sublime style of instrumental soul music.

With two prior single releases under their belt - the lush sax-driven 'Stay A While' (November, 2018) and the celestial nature of the follow-up 'Something Like That' (February, 2019) - The Soul Sound Collective ascend to the next phase with a four-track EP of new and original material further exemplifying their masterful skill.

Comprised of multi-instrumentalist and producer, Craig Sims, along with long-time collaborator and bassist Tim Higgins, 'Music and Minds' also boasts strong contributions throughout from Simon Lee on guitar, Colin Watling on saxophone and Nick Crank on trombone.

The Soul Sound Collective have always openly worn their influences on their sleeve - from the EP's Roy Ayers-tinged 70s jazz-funk opener of 'Slow Burn' to their lush Sade-inspired debut single 'Stay A While'.  It's long been a part of the Collective's charm, to fuse these varying styles into compositions that result in a very distinctive Soul Sound Collective signature.

In fact, strong elements of Roy Ayers's music and style seems to permeate into several of the tracks presented here - 'Keeping On The Up' deftly continues within the 70s jazz-funk vein, and while 'His Guitar' sees guitarist Simon Lee take centre-stage, the momentary inclusion of vibes near the song's conclusion is all that's needed to take the song to a whole other plateau.  The ethereal 'Distance Between' closes the project out leaving you with little doubt as to how good the Collective actually are.

With this instalment being the first of a planned series of releases under the 'Music and Minds' banner, Part 2 is something we look forward to with great excitement.

'Cross Currents' by Jesse Fischer

'Cross Currents' is the new EP from the tirelessly prolific Jesse Fischer who has once again delivered an exquisite project befitting his unlimited talents.

Producer, pianist - multi-instrumentalist really - engineer, songwriter... it's a lot of hats but all worn by Fischer with his own inimitable class and style.  His is a truly unique ability to craft music rooted within the essence of classic jazz, funk and soul stylings while still having the confidence to push through those boundaries creating something distinctly his own, and the four tracks presented on 'Cross Currents' is truly a testament to that.

Fischer's passion for collaboration not only sees him partnered with long-standing musicians including Jordan Peters on guitar, David Cutler on bass, Billy Buss on trumpet and Mino Cinelu on percussion; but also now introducing comparatively new names into the fold appearing together on record for the first time: drummer Nate Smith who released his awesome LP, 'Kinfolk: Postcards From Everywhere' in 2017 through Ropeadope Records, and then there's the inclusion of revered saxophonist Marcus Strickland, whose most recent and sublime Twi-Life project ('People Of The Sun') was released in 2018 through Blue Note Records.

Sarah Elizabeth Charles rounds out the collective providing vocals on three of the project's four songs continuing in their long-standing history of match-made-in-heaven collaborations together, and I'd always point people towards their cover of Minnie Riperton's 'Loving You' from Fischer's 'Day Dreamer' project in 2015 as a leading example of how good the duo consistently sound together.

'Cross Currents' seems to be the result of a typically creative spell for Fischer - with 'Flipped II' (the second of his covers series which follows the release of the original 'Flipped' in 2010) having seen release in 2018 and another full-length album due out next year as well as having his hand in a slew of other projects, which we'll look forward to as and when they see the light of the day.

Jesse Fischer is one of those rare-breed of undeniable talents whose enthusiasm and passion soars almost as high as his musicianship.  It was our pleasure to have been able to secure time with Jesse to talk about the new project and his career for Episode #24 of the Blue-in-Green:PODCAST which you can hear in full below...

['Cross Currents' is available to purchase via Bandcamp.]

Jay Dee/J Dilla (pts1-6) by CONFESSIONS OF A CURLY MIND

welcome to the first COACM broadcast of 2019, 9 months in the making, celebrating the life & times of Mr. James Yancey (aka Jay Dee aka J Dilla). even before his untimely passing in 2006, Dilla Dog was already a mythologised, legendary figure within the hip hop pantheon. his work was so distinct, stunningly influential and incredibly vast, that i knew i would be staring down the barrel of my largest show, and project, ever.
as per the many interviews and testimonials you'll hear scattered throughout the show, Dilla's overall style and swag when it came to creating music ultimately ended up influencing not only a whole new generation of beat makers, but also how live musicians played their shit. a TRUE artist and the godfather to an entire sound, Dilla was by all accounts a humble and modest individual, but also loved his ice, his trucks & getting faded with his friends n fellow musicians. personally speaking, as is the case for a lot of the fans who grew up listening to his music and didn't have the privilege of knowing him as just James, his influence on my own musical journey can't be overstated.
as a result, this show goes for a whopping 33 hours, 30 minutes & 59 seconds. truly a Dilla Day-and-a-bit, & a reverent tribute to both the man AND the musician, as told by not only my nasal ranting, but by audio clips of those closest to him speaking on his life, his skills & his legacy.
[...] the show will be broken up into 6 parts for your convenience. so smoke em if you got em, and remember to TURN IT UP!

- MISTA VEE

'Seeds' by Lasperanza

The brainchild of saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Rico Garofalo, 'Seeds' marks the enchanting debut project from new Dome Records signee, Lasperanza.

A recent and very poignant Facebook post on the Lasperanza page called back to a 12 year old Rico in 1984, lounging in his living room falling in love to the sounds of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘War’ and, later, detailing the amount of time spent late at night listening to music secretly under his bed covers through his headphones.  ‘Seeds’ is very much the love letter to those times and to the soul music he grew up listening to under those covers; so much so, that this album was initially envisaged as nothing more than a passion project with no real intention of it seeing an official release.  The slate began with some thirty-plus songs for consideration before being whittled down to the ten presented here and, even on paper, the variety of these classic and beloved recordings tackled are genuinely provocative - recreations of disco classics like George Benson's 'Give Me The Night' and Michael Jackson's 'Working Day and Night' sit comfortably alongside interpretations of Gwen Guthrie’s ‘It Should Have Been You’ and Keni Steven's 'Cannot Live Without Your Love', resulting in a series of luxurious, almost heavenly, soul-drenched and string-heavy numbers.

The songs are masterfully re-imagined with a fantastic array of vocalists enlisted to breathe new life into these timeless pieces: Izzy Chase, Rhiannon Penney, LaAerial Owens, Hannah White, Decosta Boyce, Colette Connor and Kayleigh O'Neill all excel in their contributions throughout, as does the brilliant Heidi Vogel (famed for her work with Sean Khan and the Cinematic Orchestra) who guests with Keni Stevens himself on the album's breathtaking closing number, 'Under The Moon and Over The Sky'.

While Rico is credited as producer and saxophonist primarily, as well as handling percussion, drums and Rhodes on other tracks as well, there is still an incredible amount of talent that round out the instrumentation with keyboards on ‘Working Day and Night’ by JD73 (The Haggis Horns, Nightmares on Wax); keyboards on ‘In The Mood’ by Matt Steele (Brand New Heavies, Jersey Street), and trumpeter Vicky Flint (The Mighty Mocambos and our very own PVIBEZ) appearing on several songs.

As a soul music label, Dome Records has a lineage as strong as any other UK label you could compare it with.  In a conversation we had with the label's founder Peter Robinson in 2009, Robinson stated that the label's intention was always to "put out quality records".  Birthed in 1992, Dome has served as home to indelible names in soul music including Incognito, Eric Roberson, Dennis Taylor and so many others, all who have put out stellar, "quality" records.  'Seeds' is an album of such exquisite brilliance that in years to come, the album - along with its creator Rico Garofalo - will be remembered as one of the most quality records that Dome ever put out into the world.  Twelve year old Rico would be very proud.