Friday, April 6 2007
Various Artists: The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill Vol. 1
Like other recent reissues of rare R&B and soul music, this is a glimpse into a recess of region-specific American music that has gone largely unheard for three or four decades.
Friday, March 30 2007
Johnnie Taylor: Live at the Summit Club
Gritty 1972 club set by the 'Philosopher of Soul' is released for the first time on the reactivated Stax label.
Friday, March 23 2007
In Memoriam: James Brown
It’s a mistake to compare James Brown (or anyone else, for that matter) as a showman at 70 to what he was like at 40, 30, and 25. But, until the last, Soul Brother #1 still brought the funk.
Thursday, March 1 2007
Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album
Lewis Taylor's admirable perseverance begets a modern day masterpiece.
Wednesday, January 3 2007
Soul Power
Though James Brown's body was lying in state at the Apollo Theater, on the streets of Harlem, his spirit seemed to be everywhere.
Tuesday, January 2 2007
The Last Soul Brother: James Brown (1933-2006)
The humanity of the man -- with its funky and messy flaws and frailties -- could never sustain the myth, so much so that the image of the man who gave Black Power its soundtrack became a harsh reminder of its fractured legacy.
Friday, April 9 2004
Anthony Hamilton: Comin’ from Where I’m From
Anthony Hamilton’s voice is a thing from God, a soaring pleading hard-edged thing, thick in that southern way, Al Green one minute and Otis Redding the next, a thing to treasure.
Friday, December 5 2003
Gerald LeVert: Stroke of Genius
LeVert has simply put in the work, rarely taking creative or stylistic risks, and easily becoming, if not the greatest, at least the most consistent male R&B artist of his generation.
Friday, August 1 2003
Macy Gray: The Trouble With Being Myself
The wonders of Macy Gray are multifarious. By turns ferocious and vulnerable, seductive and schemey, she appears an artist with range and ambition, not to mention a complex emotional history that informs everything she does.
Friday, October 18 2002
Aretha Franklin: The Queen in Waiting: The Columbia Years (1960-1965)
Arguably one of the most important recordings done by a black artists in the post-Civil Rights era, throughout Amazing Grace Franklin seamlessly weaves through traditional sacred recordings.
