ROTATION; 1XTRA, CHOICE FM, SMOOTH FM, SOLAR, STARPOINT, GALAXY FM, BBC RADIO ESSEX, THREE COUNTIES, NOTTINGHAM, HOT96, WESTSIDE 89.6FM, OFM TENERIFE, MRS SWEDEN.
SCOOPS; REVIEWS ECHOES, TOUCH, SOUL PORTAL, FAT CITY … TO BE CONTINUED
LIBERATED SOUL FROM THE STREETS OF NEW YORK.
SOUL & THE CITY WAS THE HIGHEST NEW ENTRY IN SWEET RHYTHM’S CHART MAY 2007 … EVENTUALLY CLIMBING TO #2. ALL INDEPENDENT ARTISTS, 10 WORLD EXCLUSIVES, ALL 17 TRAX PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED IN THE UK & EUROPE. S&TC FEATURES THE RETURN OF THE FAMILY STAND WITH SANDRA ST. VICTOR, A TRANSATLANTIC COLLAB BETWEEN NEWCOMERS BLACK I & UK SOUL SUPER HERO OMAR, A RARE EXTENDED MIX OF DJ SPINNA’S ‘OUTTA TIME’ WITH LEAD VOCALS BY DELOUIE AVANT (OF THE GOODFELLAZ) & A WORLD EXCLUSIVE AVILA BROS PRODUCTION ON MORRISON SLICK WITH TL CROSS, THE TRACK ‘LOOK AT ME NOW’ WAS ORIGINALLY SLATED TO COME OUT ON JAM & LEWIS’ FLYTE TYME LABEL.
IT ALWAYS SEEMED LIKE NEW YORK SHOULD BE THE CAPITAL OF SOUL MUSIC. ONE OF THE FIRST FUNKY SOUL SONGS THAT TODDLERS LOVED WAS ‘THE PINBALL SONG’ ON SESAME STREET (WHICH WAS A MADE UP NEW YORK AREA), REMEMBER THAT? “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 …. SIX! DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO…” BUT WHILST THE BIG APPLE’S RICH HISTORY INCLUDES DOO WOP, SALSOUL (DISCO), HIP HOP, NEW JACK SWING & BRILL BUILDING POP ITS NEVER HAD A SOUL SCENE TO RIVAL PHILLY, DETROIT (MOTOWN), ATLANTA, MEMPHIS OR NEIGHBOROUGHING NEW JERSEY. EVEN NY’S ATLANTIC RECORDS, AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LABELS IN SOUL HISTORY BEING THAT THEY SIGNED RAY CHARLES WHO CREATED THE 1ST EVER SONG ‘I GOT A WOMAN’ (IRONICALLY RECORDED IN ATLANTA) NEVER FOCUSED ON ITS LOCAL AREA & THE SOUND OF THE 5 BOROUGHS (THE BRONX, QUEENS, MANHATTAN, BROOKLYN & STATEN ISLAND). SO WITH NY ACTS HEAVY, MARTHA REDBONE & DJ SPINNA ALL GAINING COLUMN INCHES IN THE MUSIC PRESS, THIS ALBUM FOCUSES ON THE NEW YORKERS MAKING MUSIC THAT KEEPS 2 EARS ON THE STREETS WITH GRITTY BEATS, WARMS KEYS, FUNKY STRING LICKS, SONGCRAFT & DISTINCTIVE VOCALS.
’OUTSIDE THE BOX’ – RA RE VALVERDE LAST YEAR WAS BROKEN DOWN FOR US AS BRR & ARR (BEFORE RA-RE & AFTER RA-RE) … … ‘LOOK AT ME NOW’ – MORRISON SLICK A KILLER PRODUCED BY THE AVILA BROS … … ’MOVIN’ ON’ – NICK ROLFE A BELTER OF A CHOON FEATURING ALL THE BEST SOUL PET SOUNDS, FULL BRASS ARRANGEMENT, LIVE DRUMS, WAH WAH, HAMMOND B3 ORGAN, FEMALE BACKING VOX AND A SINGALONG CHORUS “BA BA BAA DA BAA BAA DA” … … ‘LADY’ RUSSELL TAYLOR ELECTRIC SOUL … … ’FAMILY AFFAIR’ – BLACK I FEAT. OMARFRESH TAKE ON SLY’S GENIUS … … ‘GETTING HAPPY’– THE FAMILY STAND THE RETURN OF SANDRA ST VICTOR, ON A FEEL GOOD SOUL MONSTA … … ‘BOYFRIEND’ – MARTHA REDBONE A GEM POPULAR IN NY, LIKE THE ISLEY BROS HAVE BEEN WATCHING TOO MUCH WILL & GRACE.
HEAVY VIDEO!!:
OMAR CHATS ABOUT WORKING WITH BLACK I & TACKLING A SLY STONE KILLER ON ‘FAMILY AFFAIR’ - CLICK HERE!
NY’S BRILLIANT NEW AUTEUR RA-RE VALVERDE TALKS OUTSIDE THE BOX IN SESH –CLICK HERE!
CUTS!
BEST KEPT SECRET TL CROSS GETTING HAPPY THE FAMILY STAND FAMILY AFFAIR BLACK I FEAT. OMAR MAKE YOU MINE HEAVY THE MORNING AFTER MICHAEL HAMMOND OUTSIDE THE BOX RA-RE VALVERDE LOOK AT ME NOW MORRSION SLICK OUTTA TIME (EXT. CLUB MIKZ) DJ SPINNA & NEW RADICALZ BOYFRIEND MARTHA REDBONE LADY RUSSELL TAYLOR YOU CAN’T BE LATE JEREMY JAMES HEAVEN GIL SMALL FEAT. LAURONE MCCLENDON MOVIN’ ON NICK ROLFE SOMEDAY WE’LL ALL BE FREE JEWELL ZAIRE & TL CROSS WHEN IM WITH YOU (DJ SPINNA MIX) TRACIANA GRAVES MARVIN PETER HADAR GRAND LARCENY LAVELL
