WEEK 4

This week we have two great vocal jazz albums from Gregory Porter and Carmen
Lundy, both will be contenders for jazz album of the year. There are also a few new soul albums this week: Esnavi is a nice new independent soul album, and there are a couple of good gospel/soul albums, and some good jazz from Kajoto and Kirk Whalum, also check the reissues. best week so far this year for new releases.  Also don’t miss the reissue 7”’s, including the Illusions very ltd track using the classic northern soul Luther Ingram ‘Exus Trek’ backing track.

Don’t forget all vinyl buyers – the latest Soul Brother Records’ paper vinyl catalogue is available – please send me your postal address to soulbrothers@soulbrother.com and I will send you a copy through the post.

We have just had shed loads of new titles on vinyl come into the SBR emporium.  Check the catalogue or use the link on the home page to the selection of albums, twelves and sevens.

Soulfully yours
Laurence

ALBUMS OF THE WEEK - week ending 10th Feb 2012

GREGORY PORTER - BE GOOD - CD - MOTEMA - NEW - £13.99
Jazz vocalist Gregory Porter returns with his eagerly anticipated follow-up to the brilliant ‘Water’.  ‘Be Good’ is less edgy set but lovers of his socio-political material will go for Porter’s take on ‘Work Song’.  Try also the intriguing ‘On My Way To Harlem’ or the Motown tinged ‘Mother’s Song’.  ‘Bling Bling’ hits a fast jazzy groove.  Throughout Porter’s vocals and lyrics are superb as is the musicianship of his band.
read full review and hear clips for - GREGORY PORTER - BE GOOD

CARMEN LUNDY - CHANGES - CD - AFRASIA - NEW - £14.99 Carmen Lundy is one of the leading female jazz vocalists, and on her 12th album 'Changes' she sounds better than ever and she is accompanied by a great six piece jazz combo. 'Love Thy Neighbour' is a brilliant uplifting driving number with great lyrics a good keyboard solo from Anthony Wonsey and horns from George Bohannon and Nolan Shaheed. The purity of Carmen's voice is breathtaking on the mid tempo 'Dance To The Dance' , The Night Is Young' , 'So Beautiful' 'Sleeping Alone' and the slightly slower 'Too Late For Love'. This has to be one of the best female vocal jazz albums for a long time.
Read full review and hear clips for CARMEN LUNDY - CHANGES - CD

NEW, RECOMMENDED AND HOT SELLERS w/e 10th February 2012
GREGORY PORTER - BE GOOD (FROM MID FEB) - MOTEMA - CD - NEW - £13.99 CARMEN LUNDY - CHANGES - AFRASIA - CD - NEW - £14.99 VARIOUS ARTISTS - JUMP START MUSIC VOL 3 - GT - CD - NEW - £11.99 ESNAVI - EXIT E - PLANET E - CD - NEW - £14.99
BRIAN COURTNEY WILSON - SO PROUD - MUSIC WORLD - CD - NEW - £14.99 FRED HAMMOND - GOD LOVE ROMANCE - VERITY (2CD) - CD - NEW - £14.99 GARLAND GREEN - I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE - SPECIAL SOUL - CD - NEW - £15.99 ERIC MARIENTHAL - IT'S LOVE - E ONE - CD - NEW - £13.99
KIRK WHALUM - ROMANCE LANGUAGE - RENDEZVOUS - CD - NEW - £14.99 KOJATO AFRO LATIN COUGARITAS - ALL ABOUT JAZZ - BUYU - CD - NEW - £12.99 CARMEN LUNDY - NIGHT AND DAY - AFRASIA - CD - NEW - £14.99 LOS NOMBRES - LOS NOMBRES - NUMERO - CD - NEW - £14.99
HI TENSION - HI TENSION - EXTENDED VERSION (MID FEB) - CHERRY RED - CD - NEW - £11.99 WENDY RENE - AFTER LAUGHTER COMES TEARS - COMPLETE STAX/VOLT SINGLES 1964-65 - LIGHT IN THE ATTIC - LP - NEW - £24.99 WENDY RENE - AFTER LAUGHTER COMES TEARS - COMPLETE STAX/VOLT SINGLES 1964-65 - LIGHT IN THE ATTIC - CD - NEW - £14.99 SMOKED SUGAR - SMOKED SUGAR - EXPANDED (MID FEB) - BIG BREAK - CD - NEW - £12.99
LINDA LEWIS - FATHOMS DEEP - EXPANDED (MID FEB) - BIG BREAK - CD - NEW - £12.99 VARIOUS ARTISTS - ECCENTRIC SOUL - THE NICKEL AND PENNY LABELS - NUMERO - CD - NEW - £15.99 VARIOUS ARTISTS - ECCENTRIC SOUL - THE NICKEL AND PENNY LABELS - NUMERO (2LP) - LP - NEW - £21.99 GOLD - WHAT ABOUT THE CHILD - SOUL 7 - 7" - - £8
SEVEN SOULS - I STILL LOVE YOU/I'M NO STRANGER - OKEH (OUTTA SIGHT) - 7" - - £9 ROBERT TANNER/NEW SOUNDS - SWEET MEMORIES - MEGATONE - 7" - - £9 ILLUSIONS - CRYING DAYS ARE OVER - HIB (PROMO) - 7" - - £9
NEW, RECOMMENDED AND HOT SELLERS w/e 3rd February 2012
JONATHAN WINSTEAD - LOVESTRY - JONATHAN WINSTEAD - CD - NEW - £14.99 VARIOUS ARTISTS - SOUL SEEDS VOLUME ONE - BLACKTREE - CD - NEW - £13.99 ERIC MARIENTHAL - IT'S LOVE - E ONE - CD - NEW - £13.99 JACK DE JOHNETTE - SOUND TRAVELS - E ONE - CD - NEW - £13.99
VARIOUS ARTISTS - GOLDEN GATE GROOVE - SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA LIVE IN FRANCISCO 1973 - PIR - CD - NEW - £9.99 SMOKEY ROBINSON - SOLO ALBUMS VOL 6 - WARM THOUGHTS/BEING WITH YOU - MOTOWN - CD - NEW - £13.99 FREDDIE HUBBARD - HIGH ENERGY/LIQUID LOVE/WINDJAMMER - BGO (2CD) - CD - NEW - £14.99 HEAVEN AND EARTH - HEAVEN AND EARTH - PTG - CD - NEW - £16.99
L J REYNOLDS - L J REYNOLDS/TRAVELLIN (FROM MID FEB) - EXPANSION - CD - NEW - £13.99
LAST WEEK'S ALBUMS OF THE WEEK

JONATHAN WINSTEAD - LOVESTRY - CD - JONATHAN WINSTEAD - NEW - £14.99 Nice well produced mellow soul album with good songs and featuring real instruments. Jonathan possesses a good smooth soul voice and his approach reminds me a little of Ty Causey. ‘Wake Up’ is a great tune, a lower mid tempo track that really grabs your attention. ‘Sexy Lady Love’ is an upper mid tempo and along with the interestingly constructed ‘Selfish’ are also highlights. The mid tempo ‘back Again’ and the ballads ‘You Make Me Say’ , ‘Sweet Baby’ and ‘Adrenaline Rush’ are also good on this strong album.
read full review and hear clips for - JONATHAN WINSTEAD - LOVESTRY - CD

VARIOUS ARTISTS - SOUL SEEDS VOLUME ONE - CD - BLACKTREE - NEW - £13.99 16 New Soul and Soulful R&B cuts from Blacktree music productions. Ashley Guin has a very cute voice and ‘Rushin’ is a beautiful mid tempo stepper. Natasha Watts ‘Back 2 U’, Nicole Mitchell ‘Chance With You’, ‘Chanel ‘Love Affair’ and The Groove ‘The Weekend’ will keep the dance floor moving and Bianca Starr ‘Swimmin’ will keep the slow jam fans happy. Good contemporary soul compilation.
Read full review and hear clips for VARIOUS ARTISTS - SOUL SEEDS VOLUME ONE - CD
PRE-ORDER FOR NEXT WEEK
GINA CAREY - LOVE LETTERS (FROM MID FEB) - CD - GICO - NEW - £13.99
Gina Carey (formerly Gina Green) has a very unique soulful voice and on her new album 'Love Stories' she sounds better than ever. The melodic shufflers 'Love You Babe' , 'So Natural' and the slower 'Beautiful Music' give her voice the space to express herself. The mid tempo 'Love Peace and Joy' and slightly faster 'Forever' have nice grooves, but the killer track is the dancer 'Boogie On Down' which really swings along in a loose funky soul groove. 		JOHN CAREY - SMOOTH SOULFUL AND FUNKY (FROM MID FEB) - CD - GICO - NEW - £13.99 Guitarist John Carey's album does what is says on the tin, he can be Smooth, Soulful and Funky. Ably assisted by his wife Gina Carey who brings the soulfulness to the vocal tracks, on her own on 'Who Am I' and on the duets the upper mid tempo shufflers 'You're My Inspiration' and 'I'm So Into You' , the appropriately titled 'Old School'. John shows the funkier side of his playing on the instrumental 'Stanky' and the smoother side on 'Spicy' 'Let It Flow' and 'Eunice'. Very nice, quality album.
PRE-ORDER FOR LATER IN THE MONTH
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIEMENT - BLACK RADIO (FROM LATE FEB) - CD - BLUE NOTE - NEW - £13.99
Robert Glasper Experiment sees Robert in soulful surroundings with a raft of strong guests. Erykah Badu adds a wispish vocal to the classic 'Afro Blue' and 'Cherish The Day' is a delightful ballad sung by Lalah Hathaway. Ledisi contributes a vocal more akin to her early work on 'Gonna Be Alright' or try the dreamy 'Move Love'. Equally mellow is 'Ah Yeah' with vocals from Musiq Soulchild and Chrisette Michele and the Meshell Ndegecello sung 'Consequence Of Jealousy'. Bilal's eerie vocal gives the jazzy 'Letter To Hermoine' a unworldly feel. This experiment is a strong set full of mellow jazzy Soul tunes. Masterful. 		KHARI CABRAL SIMMONS - CLEMENTINE SUN (FROM LATE FEB) - CD - DOME - NEW - £13.99 Atlanta's Khari Cabral Simmons' 'Clementine Sun' is a mix of Soul and Jazz. India Arie adds a typically fine vocal on Stevie's 'Never In Your Sun'. 'The Dove' is a fine instrumental slice of bass led Jazz Funk. Monday Michiru adds a scat vocal to the breezy 'Belle Of Byron'. 'How Can We Go Wrong' has an Incognito feel – not surprising as it features Bluey. Sabrina Malheiros contributes a fine vocal to 'Major Bossa'.
TOP BAKERS DOZEN SOUL
Jonathan Winstead –Jonathan Winstead
Anthony Hamilton – Back To Love
Betty Wright –Betty Wright The Movie
Alicia Myers – Peace Of Mind
L J Reynolds - Get To this
Josh Milan – Honeycomb music
Revelations ft Tre Williams – Concrete blues
New Soul Generation – Rhythmic Journey
Electric Empire – Electric Empire
Celestial - Celestial
Jill Scott – from the vault
Deborah Bond – Madam Palindrome
Soul Persona –Lap Dancer
TOP TEN JAZZ
Deep Jazz – The Meeting
Unity Sextet –Unity Sextet
Richard Elliot – In The Zone
Dave Mc Murray – I Know About Love
Jessy J – Hot Sauce
Sabrina Malheiros - Dreamin
Mark De Clive Lowe - Renegades
Nicolas Payton - Bitches
Dwight Trible – Cosmic
Gregory Porter - Water