Sun Music Reviews from SoulTracks

Tavares - New Directions (Reissue)

It was 1982 and Tavares was lost. But how could this have happened? The five brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts had constituted one of the most consistent hitmaking groups of the 70s, with more than a dozen top 10 R&B hits. And though some critics complained that Tavares was merely a "producer's group" -- a faceless tool for whatever producer worked on a given album -- that criticism underestimated both the quintet's immense talent (particularly those gorgeous harmonies) and their uncanny knack for, album after album, finding exactly the right material and producers with which to work.
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Amber Bullock - Thank You

Sunday Best can be deemed in several ways; such as what elite wardrobe one puts on for church service or more recently a national TV spotlight in searching for the next gospel idol and recording artist. If one were to ask Amber Bullock what the popular BET show Sunday Best means to her, it would signify more than the expected career changing experience. The St. Louis born singer had a more than impressive music resume previously working with Kirk Franklin and Myron Butler & Levi, possessing a classically trained voice nurtured at Oakwood University and traveling to Europe with a gospel choir. More...

Rihanna - Talk That Talk

It seems as if the soul music community has a love/hate relationship with Rihanna. They criticize her underwhelming vocals, gripe about her electro-pop cadence and mock her questionable moral system on message boards. Yet, they sneakily download her songs behind their peers’ backs and champion her club-ready songs in the nightlife as if she’s the Donna Summer of the Twitter age. More...

Betty Wright - The Movie

Betty Wright is without a doubt one of the realest soul singers to ever hit the radio. With Lyn Collins’ ideologies and a contagious Mavis Staples’ fire, Betty Wright solidified her artistry using an “in-your-face” bravado with raw Stax soul on “Clean-Up Woman” and sexy slow jams like the 1978 two-part ballad “Tonight is the Night.” Although most of her treasured tunes are confined to her TK era, Betty Wright seems to somehow reemerge to the scene like a burning phoenix, constantly reinventing herself and her musicology with every passing decade. “No Pain, No Gain” gave her a major comeback in the late Eighties. In the Nineties, Gloria Estefan earned a No. 1 hit single with “Coming Out of the Dark,” thanks to Wright’s background vocal arrangements. In the 2000s, Wright contributed production work to Joss Stone’s Grammy-winning Mind, Body & Soul and collaborated with a long list of acts including Angie Stone, Diddy and Lil Wayne. More...

Maysa - Motions Of Love

Age can bring wisdom and time may bring closure, but that doesn’t prevent heartbreak from becoming an occasional stumbling block, even for someone as gorgeous and gifted as Maysa. Last year had been a banner one for the multiple-genre-conquering singer and songwriter, thanks to her critically-acclaimed eighth CD, A Woman In Love, and the rejuvenated love affair that helped the music sound all the more vibrant and real.  More...

Past Sun Music Reviews