The Shaolin Afronauts are an Adelaide-based afrobeat band that is styled after Fela Kuti's Africa '70 band and the legendary jazz artist, Sun Ra. Their music incorporates elements of avant-garde jazz, soul and traditional African and Cuban percussive rhythms.
Founded in 2008 out of a fascination with afrobeat and creative improvised music, the band began life as a support act for soul and funk band The Transatlantics before branching out to play their own shows. Over the course of the next few months, the group solidified with a core of 12 band members and expanded their repertoire of original songs. Over the next few years, the band's presence grew; in 2011, they were booked to play the Womadelaide festival in South Australia and had already seen extensive touring throughout the country.
Later in the same year, they were signed to Freestyle records and saw the release of their debut album, Flight Of The Ancients, from which his track - Kilimanjaro - is taken. The album was featured on Radio National Breakfast in Australia and garnered considerable attention on community radio, Streetpress and overseas radio, like here in the UK; Craig Charles has showcased them on his Funk & Soul show on BBC 6 Music.
In 2012, The Shaolin Afronauts released their second album Quest under Capricorn and in 2014, Follow The Path, their third, both released on Freestyle Records; the albums were recorded with an expanded ensemble of 18 musicians.
From the 1978 album Sunlight; Sennheiser vocoder pwns Autotune FTW. That and a mountain of talent, as well as performances by drummer Tony Williams and bassist Jaco Pastorius. I Thought It Was You was mildly received at the time by UK jazz listeners; as a whole the album tends to lay more toward funk than a jazz record, and is reminiscent of much of the electro-funk (or boogie as it was also known) of the time. Sunlight also marks the beginning of Herbie's 1980s electro-era style that was more refined in his later albums such as Future Shock and Sound System.
A sleeper track from the 1995 Soul II Soul album Volume 5: Believe and was the signature tune to Jazzie B's excellent two-hour show Back To Life on BBC London 94.9 here in the UK; he's now on Solar Radio with the same format, always worth a listen opn a Sunday afternoon. Zion was never released as a single, but to me it's way too good to be considered album filler material. Its worthy of a bigger audience than it gets.
Back in September 2007, Freestyle Records released Black Feeling, an album project brought to life by Australian musical supremo Lance Ferguson from The Bamboos, exploring a number of alter egos, such as Cookin´ On 3 Burners and Lanu. Each track was presented under a pseudonym to give the impression of an album you would find whilst digging in a Caribbean record shop or American thrift store. As a collection of reworked classics, the album set dance floors alight across the world, indeed the single Hippy Skippy Moon Strut by The Mighty Show-Stoppers became a huge selling 12", and also notched up well over 350,000 individual viewings on YouTube to date.
In 2011, Freestyle Records released a teaser 45 single that featured 2 cuts from the follow up album Black Feeling: Volume Two.
The A side is Lance & Co´s fantastic reworking of the anthemic Burning Spear under the moniker of The Poly-Tones, an intense and driving piece of soulful funk, and what could possibly equal that for the flip side? The Mighty Show-Stoppers giving Johnnie Pate´s blaxploitation soundtrack classic Shaft In Africa such a convincing and wonderful re-working, you will think you are back in time, on the film set whilst Richard Roundtree's John Shaft persona kicks some serious ass.
An awesome cover by Lance Ferguson from The Bamboos, exploring a number of alter egos; I've used this well produced and played 45 to kick my DJ sets off.
Charles Bradley is an American funk/soul/R&B singer, signed to the Daptone Records label under their Dunham Records division. His performances and recording style are consistent with Daptone's revivalist approach, celebrating the feel of funk and soul music from the 1960s and 1970s. One review stated that Bradley "echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding". I'll second that and throw in an extra compliment; Bradley's sound is Retcon Soul at it's very best. He was also the subject of a documentary, Soul of America, that was on BBC Four recently; what a voice, what a hard life.
Bradley was raised by his maternal grandmother in Gainesville, Florida until the age of 8 when his mother, who had abandoned him at 8 months of age, took him to live with her in Brooklyn, New York. In 1962, his sister took him to the Apollo Theatre to see James Brown perform. Bradley was so inspired by the performance that he began to practice mimicking Brown's style of singing and stage mannerisms at home. When he was 14, Bradley ran away from home due to his poor living conditions - his bedroom was in a basement with a sand floor - and lived on the streets during the day and slept nights in subway cars for two years. Later, he enlisted in the Job Corps which eventually led him to Bar Harbor, Maine to train as a chef. One time while working, a co-worker told him he looked like James Brown. When asked if he could sing, he was at first shy but eventually admitted that he could. He overcame his stage fright when a crew member pushed him through the curtains onto the stage, and performed five or six times with a band. After his band mates were drafted into the Vietnam War, the act never re-formed.
Bradley worked in Maine as a cook for 10 years until deciding to head west, hitchhiking across the country. He lived in upstate New York, Seattle, Canada and Alaska before settling in California in 1977. There, Bradley worked odd jobs and played small shows for 20 years. In 1996, Bradley's mother called him and asked him to move back in with her in Brooklyn so she could get to know him. It was there he began making a living moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator in local clubs under the name 'Black Velvet'. During this time, Bradley experienced more hard times, including almost dying in a hospital after being given penicillin (to which he has an allergy) and waking to the police arriving to the scene of his brother's murder just down the road from his mother's house.
While performing as Black Velvet, he was eventually discovered by Gabriel Roth, co-founder of Daptone Records. Roth introduced Bradley to Daptone artist and his future producer Tom Brenneck, (then the songwriter and guitarist for The Bullets and later for Menahan Street Band), who invited Bradley to his band's rehearsal. Bradley asked that the band simply perform while he made up lyrics on the spot. After writing several songs, Daptone released some on vinyl starting in 2002; ten were chosen and released as Bradley's debut album No Time For Dreaming in 2011, at age 62. The album caused a stir almost immediately; for example Mojo magazine placed the album at number 40 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011."
In the spring of 2012, Soul of America, a documentary directed by Poull Brien debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas; Brien had first met Bradley when he directed the music video for the track featured her, The World (Is Going Up In Flames). The documentary tells Bradley's life story and met with favourable reviews and the film went on to play prominent festivals around the world.
Bradley's second album, Victim of Love was released in April 2013; as further endorsement of his soul credentials some of his songs have frequently been sampled by hip hop artists, such as Jay-Z and Asher Roth.
After years of struggle merely to survive, it looks like the success Charles Bradley has long been overdue are finally coming to him; his legacy have already been established.
With various funk labels turning out new age jazz funk in the last couple of years, there was only really one thing for the label best known for that practice to do. Start releasing dirty soul and funk. In The Basement, originally sung by Etta James and Sugar Pie DeSanto, is the first single out from Jasmine Kara, from the album Blues Ain't Nothing But A Good Woman Gone Bad.
Iranian born, Swedish native Kara has an ability to bare her soul vocally, quite a feat in a young voice. Not surprising then why it wasn’t long before she was brought to the attention of legendary records man Marshall Chess of Chess Records fame. Mr Chess became Jasmine's mentor and produced her debut album mentioned above, initially released through Tri-Sound Records, Marshal's other label.
In collaboration with Tri-Sound, Acid Jazz have released this track as a single from the album, with the equally dancefloor filling flip-side In The Basement. Pt 2. Dunno what’s going on with the release schedule for the album; although the single came out September 19th on Acid Jazz, no date seems to have been set for the album.
The spectacularly-voiced Kara performs a version of In The Basement that isn’t wildly different from the original - slightly heavier and faster - but nonetheless a dead ringer for a sixties soul session 45.
Off the hook singing, peerless production and a b-boy-featuring video should imbue Kara’s career with a credibility that prevents it ending up where Duffy’s has. In the basement.
It’s been 16 long years since award winning, R&B veteran Johnny Gill released a solo album (1996's Let's Get the Mood Right), but now he's back with a new single In The Mood, the first track from his forthcoming album, Still Winning on Notifi Records.
In The Mood was written by Gill, Ralph Stacey and also Dave Young, who has composed hits for Faith Evans, Toni Braxton and Mary J. Blige. Gill stated:
"It’s a blessing to be able to record again after 16 years and I’m excited for my fans to enjoy the new music."
With over 30 years in the business, including several platinum hits and awards, Gill recently told Singersroom R&B magazine that he just remains true to himself.
"I don’t know if I have a formula. I just know most importantly I have to do and be me. One of the things I have been battling with while recording this record is [that] I like so many types of music but you think I know what people are going to expect and what they want. All this is put into a place and then somebody said to me “you have to do you and where you are today that is what it is.” That is what people are going to gravitate and connect with. If you want to do something a little bit more different than what you have done in the past, you just have to speak to a truth of what you’re doing. Everybody else will be able to connect to it."
My, my, my, Johnny Gill is looking like he's swum a few laps in the fountain of youth on a relay team with Prince, Q-Tip, Common, Pharrell, and Raphael Saadiq in the video for the tune. Aged 45, JG is giving those young whippersnappers a run for their money and honeys, but outside of Johnny providing more proof that black don't crack, the video is pretty formulaic. I feel like I've seen this video a few times before in the '90s, but that's OK with me because it's tastefully done and, although not the most exciting, it works for this song.
The new album will be released 11th October, featuring production by Grammy Award Winning Producers Troy Taylor, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bryan Michael Cox and Wyclef Jean.
Mint Condition are a legendary band who should need no introdcution. The chart-topping and globe-trotting R&B mainstay, who were discovered by music moguls Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and were on their now-defunct label, Perspective Records
Well now they're back with a new album, 7, their first since the 2008 release E-Life. Recently signing to Shanachie Records, the new LP was released April 5th this year, just in time to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. Currently on tour with Prince, the R&B super group has released the first single off the album, titled Caught My Eye, a two-stepper that does its best to recreate that signature sound they made their staple two decades ago.
I have to admit that I didn’t pay this track enough attention when it initially surfaced, like a fool. But, repeated plays have unlocked a groove thats up there with Mint Condition’s best (i.e. the Jam & Lewis years). It’s an addictive midtempo number featuring the hallmarks of that classic MC sound; live instrumentation, memorable vocals, mature lyrics and catchy songwriting. As a person who makes no qualms about hiding their appreciation for R&B music, I’ll gladly spread the word on MC's new tune.
Monica is back with a new single called Anything (To Find You), and was for me probably one of the most infectious songs of the summer.
Monica, for the uninitiated, has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, including over five million units in the US alone. With a career lasting over 15 years, she became the first artist to top the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. In 2010, Billboard listed Monica at number 24 on its list of the Top 50 R&B and Hip Hop Artists of the past 25 years. Anything (To Find You), produced by Missy Elliott, rides atop a familiar beat to hip-hop heads, Notorious B.I.G’s classic tune, Who Shot Ya? Ironically, it features two artists who were definitely influenced by Big Poppa, himself - Rick Ross and Lil Kim.
Rozay even mimics Biggie’s lyrical cadence on the track, but surprisingly, it’s the Queen Bee who comes through with the standout verse, referencing Who shot ya, but putting a love rather than hate slant on it.
Overall, this is a great R&B/hip-hop song for Monica and has got major airplay on US radio.
Be on the lookout for her upcoming album, New Life, when its released on the 29th November.
Summer never properly came, but this slice of slick soul let us dream of a perfect one. From The Fantastics! (the excalamtion mark is part of the band's name), featuring the smoky yet sensual vocal delights of micro diva, the wonderful Sulene Fleming. The interplay between Fleming and the imperious tones of tenor sax-man Mark Norton will delight the listener over this slower Groovin' - style vibe. A subtle taster for their forthcoming new album. The Fantastics! once again demonstrate their versatility on this refreshing and golden tinged love song ripe for radio. Never really comfortable with tightly defined and rigid musical pigeon holes, The Fantastics! have always been pushing the boundaries and honing their musical eclecticism since before their first Freestyle releases back in 2008. As a primer for their second Freestyle album All The People, released August 2011, Teaming up with stunning vocalist Sulene Fleming, on the recommendation of DJ, promotor and all round musical guru Lubi Jovanovich, the band set to writing with Sulene (who first came to attention on The New Mastersounds first album, with the funk club banger Turn This Thing Around) and the results speak for themselves. Somewhere Finally is a concise, catchy and beautiful summer love song, that's dripping with deep soul, horn hook lines, Sulenes' soaring vocals and a shimmering vibe that has already seen this track become a highlight of The Fantastics live shows already. All the People provided the band the opportunity to blend together their favourite influences into something that defies classification; is it disco, soul-jazz, fusion or organ funk? Well - it's all that and more..and just like the album it's taken from - this busts wide open the rigidly defined and often claustrophobic boundaries some people would prefer music to be trapped in. That approach is not for The Fantastics!
