Now then was it really 12 months ago that Richard Caiton blew us all away at Soul Essence? and what a way to finish off the year, Darrow Fletcher at the Wilton and what a show he put on, it couldn’t really get any better than that. The Soul4Real Weekender in Bilbao was another top doo with increasing numbers of brits attending. Locally (Northants) Iv been impressed with a couple of doo’s that have emerged and appear to be attempting to embrace something new alongside the trusted oldies, one such tune is Willie West & The High Society Boys “She’s so Fine” which surfaced earlier on in the year on a Timmion Records 45, it’s a percussion fuelled funky dancer which stays just on the right side of soul, an absolute must and at Snooks Soul night in Raunds it actually got played 3 times including the last record of the night and had a very healthy response on the dance floor each time with punters clapping at one stage. New music finding a home amongst the Northern crowd, how good is that. The Derobert & The Half Truths 45 “The Joy” we talked about last year too has also gone on to be appreciated and accepted by a wider crowd too. Plumby got on the case pretty sharpish and stocked there brilliant Sky Hi 45 “Smoothie Pie” which also garnered some serious attention both in the clubs and on radio. You may remember in the last programme notes I reviewed the magnificent JMAY and his “I wont hurt you”, well its done so well its now popped up on iTunes, in November I played it out at the excellent Soul in The Bowl 2 roomer and 2 guys came to the decks telling me that one of the ‘Premier League’ jocks has been playing it covered up, so I promptly gave them the details and sent 2 soulies home happy. I’m dismayed, why would anyone want to cover up a new release and pass it off as some one else’s work? It’s a brand spanking piece of new soul music albeit released in digital form, which from where I’m standing should be embraced by anyone with even the remotest interest in black music, for me it’s the best new release dancer to appear digitally ever. To threaten the possible existence of JMAY as a recording artist by this sort of deception is wrong on every level but we’ve been here before and I’m sure it will happen again. Actually I do know the identity of the jock in question and I have no doubt the silly sod has been duped into thinking he has an old unissued track and has paid 3 figures or more for a carver. Anyway moving on, musically it’s been another top top year for me, I haven’t been able to keep up with the new tunes, and it’s been a relentless year for new quality soul music and my Paypal account tells me it’s been just as busy locating vinyl dusties too.  November saw the ever reliable Charles Walker & The Dynamites release the album “Love is only everything”, as you would expect its real instruments all the way with horns a plenty, track 3 “Still cant get you out of my mind” will get the raps, it’s a quite stunning horn driven dancer that could grace any Northern floor but also garner some attention at a more modern focused doo, set at the perfect pace too and its available on vinyl. There is no doubt its been a fine year for Bashiri Asad, both of his albums having originally surfaced via ‘E’ music sights have now landed at the more accessible outlets, his voice is warm and evocative but has a hard edge when required, he writes his own lyrics, the production values are strong and once again its real instruments all the way, his album “The Space Between” contains the potential classic “The Distance” which has garnered some serious plays over the past year or so, it could have graced any Luther Vandross album and would have been acclaimed as a masterpiece had it done so, it really is that good, and “Living the Dream” has both “Beautiful You” and “Love Revolution” two fine tracks well worthy of acquisition. Both albums have other stand out moments too. Thanks must go to Gibbo and Mark Merry for  bringing Sir Lawrence to my attention, he was a new name to me and his album didn’t disappoint either, his version of “Skating on thin ice” was the track we all jumped on, modern day balladry at its finest and what a voice too. Speaking of ballads, the top two were without doubt the simply wonderful Ed Riddick and his awe inspiring “There she goes”, starts off with some fabulous male female verbal jostling ala Shirley Brown/Millie Jackson and then settles into a gentle flowing ballad where Ed is professing his innocence and his love both at the same time. This can be found on the album “A Smooth Review” “Confessions and Innuendos”, for the best part of the year this has been

my number one choice then along came the spine tingling Lina and her “I wont go down” more supreme balladry which really draws you in, if Mark Merry had his way this would be the National Anthem, he’s hammering it on his excellent Soul Sermon radio show and has done so ever since he first got his ears around it. Her album “Love Chronicles” also has some other fine moments; her voice really is ear candy. Anyway anyone remember Martha High, well she came back with a funky soul album which didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting but “Dragging me down” is an essential dancer that ticks so many of the varied boxes we look for go and have a listen, once that baseline hits you and then the Hammond you will be hooked. My album of the year was another new name to me, Jimmy Ja and his “Time to shine” set has so many good moments its very southern, another with real instruments and his voice is so distinctive, “Twenty Four Seven” is a superb midtempo stroller which got some serious radio plays including the ever excellent Mick O’Donnell with his ‘Soul Discovery’ show, “Lovin You” and “Here I am” slow things right down and allow Jimmy to show the full extent of his voice, lovely pair of ballads however; it was the midtempo floater “Can we try again” that rose to the top and begun to get repeated spins everywhere, an essential 9 tracker that really made my year. Remember Charles Blackman, he of the booming voice that sat on so many 45’s and twelve’s in the late 80’s early 90’s well he’s back with a new album titled “Born Dangerous” and I would suggest if he carries on singing with so much power, passion and determination it might we prove to be dangerous to his health, want an example then go straight to “A Lady” and play it loud, an OMG moment if your into voices that’s for sure, the production is very modern but with a voice like this riding the rhythms you cant help but like it. The track in question could become a monster in the modern rooms, just needs a jock to get behind it. I have a soft spot for Leela James, her voice at times can leave you shaking your head in wonderment but her tribute album to Etta James has floundered big time to my ears, messy arrangements, silly gimmicky noises, quite what all this has to do with one of the greatest voices eludes me, the album was only saved because everyone jumped on the 80’s inspired surging dancer “I’m loving you more everyday” the one track where the production allowed her some room to do what she does best, as for the rest of the album don’t bother wasting your time trying to get your head around it. Marvellous Mack arrived from no-where and gave us his “Tailor made” set which contains easily one of the tracks of the year, the southern stroller “Our Love” which is a stunning example of a blues man doing soul, I cant get enough of it, speaking of the blues Quintus McCormack released a fine set titled “Still call it the blues” which kept me company an many a dull wet day, hidden right in the middle of this modern day blues album is “What am I gonna do” a stunning subtle soulful dancer which had me hooked on first listen. Echoes of Tyrone Davis can be heard musically but the track stands on its own as another future potential big play. Current fave Gregory Porter came good again this year with another soul jazz dancer in the shape “On my way to Harlem” which scored very heavily over here in the UK from his album “Be Good” which has a Jimmy Cobb kind of feel to it and in my book, that’s ok. There can be no doubt that it has been an excellent year for new funky soul releases and one that caused more than ripple here at home was the Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics set titled “Its about time”, the whole album is bathed in real instruments, all tempos, and is very funky in places too, a really enjoyable listen, as usual one track has surfaced and got repeated plays “Looking for a better thing” with its chink chink base line, tinkling piano and organ fills and some great vocals from Ruby, cant get enough of it. If you like this then you will already be on the case of two other moody funky soul albums, both Charles Bradley and Lee Fields albums are essential additions to your collections, both have timeless soul cuts on them, 45’s have surfaced from both albums but they aint the best cuts by a country mile so go get the albums, I think both are available on vinyl to. Thanks to Mick O’Donnell the Total Package Band came into my life and gave a so so album that has a hideous version of “Seven Day Lover” on which really is bad, don’t distress yourselves download the track “Lifestyles of the rich and famous” the one track where they got everything right, a great mid tempo dancer with all the right elements to put it into the mix. Moving on, Mel Waiters is always worth a punt, his voice has graced cd’s into double figures now his new album “Got no curfew” has a couple of fine moments, “Your used to be” is a beautiful soul song with a real life storyline and for more of the same check “Being a fool for you”, the synthesised  uptempo tracks lack depth and suffer from poor production values, so we’ll leave that and have a look at an old fave Barbara Carr, her album “Keep the fire burning” is traditional southern soul which I cant get enough of, I appreciate that this type of album is not accepted by the masses, but it really does reflect the very roots of our music, the dancers come at you thick and fast with echoes of Ann Peebles sprinkled here and there. “Come on Home” and “Moment of Truth” are top notch dancers full of passion, real instruments which include horns and the obligatory Hammond create a backdrop to fine vocals, how can you sit down to this, WOW. The slightly more down tempo title track is an absolute must. Eric Benet’s album arrived to much fanfare, I personally couldn’t get into it, all very average I’m afraid, saved only by the very impressive chugger “Waiting”. For many the Big Brooklyn Red album was the highlight, last year whilst at the excellent Arties Mill modern soul nights Roger Williams dropped “Taking it so far” which rammed the floor and last April I played said track several times at SE30, as an album its well worth the investment, I love the guy anyway already having several of his albums on the shelves. A contender for my album of the year was the Vel Omar set “The greatest song I ever sang”, a voice that has echoes of Sam Cooke, the real surprise for me is that the label CDS Records is renowned for very poor production values, so many of this labels output has been ruined by crass synthesised noise masquerading as music, but hey someone at the label has finally realised that real instruments make for a better sound. The moving ballad “Still my love grows” is pouring out of the speakers as I type, the subtle dancer “I’ll be there for you” is another stunner and then there is the piano led title track which is a ballad of immense beauty, the killer on here though is the intense ballad “Give me your love” which is the very pinnacle of modern day soul balladry and there are many other great moments here too, another absolute essential purchase for the thinking mans collection. Moving away from the music for a moment I’m reading a fascinating book titled “The Chitlin Circuit and the road to Rock & Roll” written by a Preston Lauterbock, it takes us back to the 20’s and the birth of the black big bands, the rise of the early black superstars, the bandleaders, the move through to smaller combo’s and the birth of rock & roll which was clearly a black phenomena bastardised by the white middle classes, the importance of Beale Street in the history of black music is certainly rammed home in this book. It also provides another historical account of how the black man struggled for the very basics to survive at that time, be prepared once you pick this book up you won’t be able to put it down. Back to the music now and gospel has once again had another fine year with a number of tracks crossing over, cream of the crop for me was the subtle dancer “Usher me in” from Cristal Smith’s album “Favor of god”, her voice is quite superb and the production is top notch. If you like your soul music Shirley Brown/Millie Jackson style then look no further than the download by Joy titled “Gotta find me a good love”, a mid tempo funky sassy dancer that will have

you up and at it. I was disappointed with the Ryan Shaw album, his voice is stunning but unusually for him the tracks lacked depth and the production was poor, once again only saved by one solitary track, the excellent “Real Love”, this really was a disappointment, I expected another blockbuster of an album, oh well he’ll be back that’s for sure. An album that passed me by when released earlier in the year was Leon and his “Chocolate” set, just after xmas I was listening to my mate Bob Semple, his “Back to basics” soul show is always worth listening to, he played the track “My Muse” and I was hooked, a compulsive strolling head nodder , anyway the album landed and it really is a cracker, he a French blackman with the kind of voice we all love to hear, not a million miles away from the excellence of Cunnie Williams and Lawrence Beaman, on some tracks he flits between French and English but it all works so well, all tempo’s are here, mock motown, steppers and strollers and a couple of killer ballads make this a very interesting and enjoyable album. Donnie Ray is a monster in my house; vocally he’s a giant and on every one of his albums he manages to create something special and timeless, well his “I’m going back” set continues in that vein, go straight to track 5 and play “A secret is so hard to keep”, a toe tapping stunner that has Donnie in vocal overdrive and the storming “She was at the hideaway” which is simply the perfect dancer with a cracking slipping around storyline, once heard it will be rattling around in your head for days. The album has other worthy moments too and is by no means a two tracker. The group SoulTrend came a went without too much ballyhoo, but the very classy dancer “So hurt inside” has been in and out the laser flicker on and off for the past 7 months or so. The album is titled “Groovy Nights” and is a mainly uptempo affair. If you’re a Bobby Womack fan then you can be forgiven for thinking its all over, his album “Bravest Man” has our hero embedded in a very modern synthesised backing and vocally its obvious he’s struggling too, but with some perseverance the album grows on you and I for one would rather have Bobby in this setting than not at all. Incidentally did you see him on Jools Holland, very classy but totally upstaged by Betty Lavette who sang a near perfect “Let me down easy” and Ruby Turner was her usual brilliance. Time for the purists to go and sit in there record room now and smell there fave vinyl 45 whilst I talk R Kelly, his voice for me is like fine wine, its maturing with every release and on his album “Write me back” he’s back to his uptempo best, at times the album feels very philly and “Lady Sunday” is straight out of the Lou Rawls, MFSB camp. Grab a listen if you can. OK you can all come back in now. Some download only tracks that have entertained me are Jon Bibbs and his very HI sounding “Gone” and Billy Lee with his “Beside myself”, two simply stunning examples of new soul music and when I hear tracks of this quality I can only shake my head in total disbelief when I heard two quite hi profile collectors on the radio telling everyone that outside of Lee Fields and Queen Emily there isn’t much new soul music being made. T Honey Brown “You fooled me” got massive plays everywhere and has featured in so many end of the year lists, I played at SE30 and had Fraser Dunne ‘racing’ to the decks for a looksee. And finally blues man Charles Woods has given me two of the finest remakes in recent times, his versions of “Rainy night in Georgia” and “Harry Hippie” are scintillating examples of modern day soul music, he really has added his own stamp on these classics. An album that has given me immense pleasure this year was Michael Kiwanuka and his “Home Alone” set, if Terry Callier is your thing then you will cream your pants when you get to hear this, but the track to look out for is the dancer “I’ll get along” as soon as the drums hit you your hooked, his vocals really are the business and I think he’s suffered simply because he arrived from no-where with a major deal and loads of the album sitting on High St shelves. Listen I really do have to stop now, once again I haven’t even scratched the surface but finally I have to thank Mark Merry and Mick O’Donnell for the two finest soul music radio shows on air today, you have put me onto so much good new music this past year, thank you, again.