Past Reviews from SoulTracks

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...

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...

Jill Scott - Hidden Beach Presents the Original Jill Scott From the Vault, Vol. 1

Contrary to what fans, publicists and the artists themselves may tell you, divas aren’t made----they’re born.  And while their degree of talent (or even the existence of said ‘talent’) might be questionable, the traits that distinguish them from the pack are not ambition, audaciousness, a knack for self-promotion and a passion for their purpose that compels anyone in their path to see them and hear them (usually at center-stage). The most important quality---consistency---is what sets them apart among those who twist with the trends, a truth demonstrated with artful aplomb in Jill Scott’s new compilation, Hidden Beach Presents the Original Jill Scott From the Vault, Vol.1. More...

Eumir Deodato - The Crossing

Brazil bred keyboard wizard Eumir Deodato arrived on American soil at the perfect time. With his musical roots in Rio de Jenario’s bossa nova scene, Deodato quickly broadened his style by leaning heavily toward the new jazz sounds spewing out of New York in the early ‘70s. The shift from bossa to fusion led to a record deal in 1972 with Creed Taylor’s CTI label, yielding his magnum opus, a jazz-fusion interpretation of Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (his entitled “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2010)”). More...

Kindred the Family Soul - Love Has No Recession

When the money is right, the family is tight and it’s all good in the world, it’s pretty easy to love one another and thrive as couple, a family and a community. But when the pink slips go out, illness arises or there’s a personal crisis, well ….as the hip-hoppers say, “**** can get real out here.” We may not be able to control all of the factors impacting our lives, but what we can do is keep keeping on, acknowledge uncertainties and refuse to lose sight of one another in the process. And that's what the husband-and-wife duo known as Kindred The Family Soul demonstrates so eloquently on their fourth CD and most cohesive release yet, Love Has No Recession. More...

Brian McKnight - Just Me

He’s tall, dark and handsome, with a voice like crushed velvet, an ability to play almost a dozen instruments and a profitable proclivity to write lyrics that have earned him millions in album sales. Not only has he amassed an impressive list of songwriting, production and collaboration credits, his name has become all but synonymous with romantic R&B. Thanks to his longevity (nearly twenty years worth) and versatility as a performer (stage productions, Broadway, and radio show hosting, etc.), Brian McKnight couldn’t be blamed if he decided to fall back a bit; but instead, the melismatic maestro puts that name and reputation on the line in an effort to include the newest McKnight generation, returning ----with a pair of his musically-inclined sons in tow---for his eleventh CD, the dubiously-titled Just Me. More...

Rahsaan Patterson - bleuphoria

He’s been flirting with the edges of left-wing R&B for years, but bluephoria may be the first complete plunge Rahsaaan Patterson has made into this pool since his unorthodox holiday album, 2008’s The Ultimate Gift. With bluephoria, Patterson extends the atypical verse sections of 2007’s Wine and Spirits to wholeheartedly embrace the electronic elements of progressive and electro-soul, turning in an album too melodious to be experimental but too bold for casual consumption. In an act of moxie, or possibly fool-heartiness, Patterson also places auto-tune and electronic effects on his trademark elastic voice on songs like “God” and “Ghost.” More...

Marsha Ambrosius - Late Nights, Early Mornings

The 2000s was a decade filled with exhilarating highs and devastating lows for the England duo known as Floetry. After combining their mutual flair for lyrics, vocals and rhymes, Natalie "the Floacist" Stewart and Marsha "the Songstress" Ambrosius cut their teeth in London clubs before moving to the US in 2000. Penning tunes for some of music's best and brightest (Jill Scott, Glenn Lewis, Bilal and Michael Jackson) paved the way for their 2002 debut, Floetic, which sold nearly a million copies with its infectious title cut and a pair of sexy slow-burners, "Getting Late" and "Say Yes."

A handful of Grammy nominations and two other CDs followed, but by then, personal dramas silenced their partnership, the duo essentially reduced to a solo act (Ms. Stewart was briefly replaced by MTV2 VJ Amanda Diva, also known for recording an underground rap hit, "40 Emcees"). After collaborating with multiple artists (Hi-Tek, Nas, Jamie Foxx, The Game, etc.) and dropping half a dozen mixtapes, Ms. Ambrosius' much-anticipated solo debut, Late Nights, Early Mornings, captures what is so intriguing about the triple-threat performer: her straight-forward sensuality, her emotional authenticity and the way she grafts those qualities together into melodic masterpieces. More...

Elan Trotman - Love and Sax

Some successful musicians cater to their audience to keep them satisfied .  Like the ever reliable saying goes: "Give the people what they want." Others prefer to tweak their musical game without particularly worrying about their commercial status -- but still somehow satisfy their core fans.   Jazz saxophonist Elan Trotman fits into the latter category, having quietly gone about his business as an independent, self-contained artist since his recorded debut, Memories, in 2001.  And this graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston has fully exercised his musicality -whether reaching back to his Caribbean roots, flexing funk and hip-hop or sharing his faith in Christ.  Trotman's saxophone influences run deep but it is especially his appreciation for Grover Washington, Jr. and Kirk Whalum that reflects in much of his playing. More...

Mary Mary - Something Big

There's a troubling irony that often comes into play where God is concerned: in spite of the fact that He's considered the Alpha and Omega who represents the truth in many forms to many people, some want to limit how He's praised and witnessed about to others (???). Ray Charles was one of the first musicians to earn flack for combining the secular and the sanctified, and today, some find Mary Mary's catchy and contemporary style of gospel to be just as troublesome.  If old-school hymns and harmonies are the only way some see fit to sing about The Lord, then Mary Mary's latest studio CD won't do much for them; but for others, the sisterly duo of Erica and Tina Campbell take it higher, further and grander with their newest offering, Something Big. More...

Stylistics - That Same Way

Though they haven't had a chart hit in 30 years, the Stylistics continue to be, for many, the personification of sweet soul music. Their early 70s work with producer Thom Bell yielded some of the most popular love songs of that era -- songs that continue to have an audience in 2011.  But the Stylistics are hardly thought of as a modern recording group, so it may be surprising for their legion of fans to find the group now releasing That Same Way, their first album of new material this century.  And it is even more surprising that this quietly issued disc is the quartet's finest release since their halcyon days of three decades ago. More...

Jennifer Hudson - I Remember Me

Before Jennifer Hudson stepped into the studio to belt her musical debut album, she racked up enough major ups and downs to cache her soul singing into cruise control. Take into consideration the spirited singer-turned-actress taking home an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her 2006 film debut in Dreamgirls, only to then face gut-wrenching agony after losing a mother and a sibling to domestic violence in just a matter of months. Although it seems as if her stint on American Idol was just a faint memory to those that can remember Idol's golden years, the Oscar gold was enough fuel to put Hudson on path to recording her official eponymous debut LP in 2008. Now with burdens lighter and with a drastic 80-pound loss, Hudson is mere inches away from flying like a bird. Hudson is spreading her wings once again for her sophomore project, I Remember Me. More...

R. Kelly - Love Letter

A return to old school fanfare seems to be the wisest decision for R. Kelly after Untitled, his ninth studio album, went nowhere fast. Hoping to regroup and reclaim his prominence in R&B, Kelly presents himself as a smooth talking gentleman on Love Letter, a homage dominated with classic ‘60s and ‘70s soul.

The album easily abandons the "bump and grind" mystique of his signature contemporary sound and the raunchy explorations of Untitled in exchange for a subdued restraint loaded with ballroom romanticism and apologetic pleading. More...

Deitrick Haddon - Church on the Moon

Futuristic, funkdafied and full of praise and worship: if you have a hard time connecting those adjectives with sanctified music, then perhaps you've never heard the phenomenal Deitrick Haddon. Ever since his professional debut in the 1995 with The Voices of Unity, the 37-year-old Detroit native has taken his elastic vocal range and enthusiastically-eclectic production style beyond his home church to a worldwide audience.

Church on the Moon, his first musical project in nearly three years, is one of Mr. Haddon's most imaginative offerings yet, blending spiritual and soulful messages of hope and healing that will move practically anyone within hearing range. More...

Sade - "Soldier of Love"

I find it interesting that Maxwell and Sade released albums within a few months of each other.  I can't say that Maxwell and Sade are exactly alike from a stylistic standpoint. Maxwell is the quintessential soul balladeer.  And while Sade can get romantic with the best of them - witness torch songs such as "Is It a Crime," "Love is Stronger than Pride," and jazzy mid-tempo tunes like "You Love is King" and "Paradise" - Sade is also known for her introspective songs and her brooding works of social commentary such as "Immigrant" and "Feel No Pain."

Sade and Maxwell are similar in terms of their status within the music industry. For one thing, both can take long hiatuses and emerge none the worse for wear. Both released well-received albums in the first years of the 21st Century, and then seemed to disappear. In the case of Maxwell, absence made the heart grow fonder as his popularly and critically acclaimed Black Summer's Night earned him Grammy awards. Radio is embracing the title track from Sade's Soldier of Love album, which drops on Feb. 9.  More...

Alicia Keys - "The Element of Freedom"

I keep on falling out of love with you. Sometimes I love you ("Teenage Love Affair"). Sometimes you make me blue ("Unbreakable"). Sometimes I feel good ("You Don't Know My Name"). At times I feel used (Almost all of the sharply sung As I Am). Loving Liking you darling, makes me so confused. That confusion doesn't end with this underwhelming album, The Element of Freedom, boasting the immensely likable powerhouse single, "Empire State of Mind."

How can such a good songwriter, such a phenomenal arranger, and delightful stage presence, so consistently under-sing, sing out of tune, or sing through her nose eight years after her debut? I know they have vocal coaches in New York. Certainly one is needed on the restrained to a fault, 80s pop calamity that is The Element of Freedom. More....

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