From: Bob Davis (earthjuice_at_prodigy.net)
Date: 2005-09-28 14:24:46
**Spirit of Life Ensemble: A Little Oasis
(Straight No Chaser Jazz)
Formed in 1975, Spirit of Life Ensemble (SOLE) is under the leadership of multi-percussionist
Daoud-David Williams. I happened to spend an afternoon recently with Mr. Williams during a
North Jersey recording session and during the course of the afternoon he gave me a copy of the
latest CD from the Spirit of Life Ensemble entitled "A Little Oasis".
This is a really nice Jazz CD. I listened to it with my headphones on and just like the title
implies, the album provides you with an "audio oasis". It's a very relaxing CD, the type of
thing that you want rolling thru your head, while you are reading a book or working at a
computer. The music itself is straight ahead with a tinge of Latin. A few of the standout cuts
on the album are "It's Raining", a funky little joint called "Baila Plena (Plena Funk)" and
the Miles Davis flavored "Baku & Bismarck".
The Spirit of Life Ensamble was established in 1975 and is a is a multi-cultural collective of
some of the world's greatest jazz musicians, many of whom have performed with the likes of The
Ellington Orchestra, The Basie Orchestra, The Hampton Orchestra, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie,
Kenny Barron, John Hicks, Nancy Wilson, Ahmad Jamal, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Buddy
Rich, and many others.
Well worth checking out if you are looking for some nice (non smooth) Jazz.
**Herbie Hancock - Possibilities
(Timeless Pop Music)
Miles Davis was probably the greatest trend-setting artist I have ever seen. Every time it
seems that Miles Davis changed his musical direction, he ended up literally creating, new
genres of music. And in the course of doing so, each time he expanded the overall audience for
his music. Of all the “students” of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock was perhaps the best learner.
Over the years Herbie Hancock has gone off into some radical musical directions as well. And
each time he has done this successfully and at the same time expanded the overall audience for
his music.
Doing an album with the likes of: John Mayer, Santana, Angilique Kidjo, Christina Aguilera,
Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Sting, Johnny Lang, Joss Stone, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Raul
Midon, Stevie Wonder, and Trey Anastasio on the surface sounds like a mistake for Herbie
Hancock, doesn’t it? Seems like Herbie might get “lost in the sauce”, doesn’t it?
Well it isn’t, this is in fact a BOLD move, and it works beautifully!!!
This album is truly a great listening experience. True this is not a FUNK album (like
“Headhunters” was); it wasn’t intended to be one. Nor is it a Jazz album (like Maiden Voyage”
was), nor is it what it was intended to be. It’s not even a wild fusion of Hip
Hop/Jazz/Electronica (like “Rockit” was). What Herbie Hancock has done here is to create a Pop
music masterpiece and in doing so will probably create millions of brand new Herbie Hancock
fans. And personally I think that is a great thing.
The album itself is a pop music masterpiece. It is an album strictly for "grown folks", with a
similar vibe to the CD by Louise Perryman called "Whisper My Name" that we have been featuring
here on Soul-Patrol. And that seems to be what the intent was right from the start. What he
has done was to bring in great talent, and allow them to do their own thing, under his
direction. There is no attempt here to make the artists sound like Herbie or make them re-do
his songs from the past. In that sense it's more like a compilation album of songs that have a
similar vibe, done by a wide range of different artists. So to me it's more like the type of
album that Quincy Jones was doing 15 years ago. What will happen is that this album will be
embraced by an audience who wouldn't normally buy an album by Herbie Hancock, but who will buy
his next album. And to me that is really what this is all about from a musical perspective.
It's more about finding a new audience for jazz itself and helping to correct this whole
tragedy called "smooth jazz" in the long run.
Because ever since the death of Miles Davis, jazz music has been dying a slow and painful
death (just listen to your local “smooth-jazz” radio station for about a ˝ hour to learn the
specifics). The creation of millions of brand new Herbie Hancock fans can only be a good thing
for the future of Jazz music. These are the people who are going to buy the next Herbie
Hancock album. And they are going to buy the next Herbie Hancock album, because they are going
to buy millions of copies of this one. And they are going to buy all of those albums, because
this album is a masterpiece. I can’t help but think that Miles Davis is looking down (or
perhaps up……lol) at this and smiling…
**Nicole Wright: Fire
Soul/R&B/Gospel/ Hip Hop
NYC native and Indy artist Nicole Wright's new CD called Fire is a mixed bag that fuses
together Soul, Dance, Gospel, Hip Hop and Neo Soul in a very listable pop music mix. For
example the album gets off to a rousing start with a slamin song called "Do It" which is
modern day update to 70's classics "Do It Anyway Ya Wanna" (Peoples Choice) and "Do It Fluid"
(BlackByrds). Other strong tracks on this album include: We Can Share the Love, Ladies Anthem,
Something About You, Long Ride, Lift Them Up, Here Comes the Sun. Reaching back to the "old
school" for inspiration should come as no surprise since Nicole is the daughter of Ernest
Wright of the legendary Rock/Soul/Doo Wop pioneers Little Anthony and the Imperials. Overall
this music is uplifting and positive, frequently bouncing back and forth between the secular
and the sacred. In addition on her website Nicole counts artists like Earth, Wind & Fire,
Chaka Khan, Hall & Oates, U2, Sade, Prince, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston as
her influences.
(In the interest of full disclosure Nicole Wright is the cousin of both the owner of
Soul-Patrol and the Los Angeles Soul-Patrol Coordinator. We believe strongly in "nepotism":))
Take a listen to some of the sound bytes at her site
http://www.nicolewrightmusic.com
(and let us know what cha think???)
**Bettye LaVette - I've Got My Own Hell to Raise
(Soul/Pop/Bacon Grease on Top of the Stove)
Another “radical move” by a classic artist, here is the formula for success…
Great Classic Soul Shouter + Great Pop Songs + Great Band
Sounds like the formula for Tina Turner as a solo artist, doesn’t it???
Well maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t, however that is EXACTLY what is happening here. You
take Ms. Bettye LaVette, perhaps the greatest unknown SOUL SINGER of her generation and use
this formula to propel her straight out of “white boy blues heaven” and into the stratosphere
where she truly belongs. A few years ago I stated in a review “Bettye LaVette’s voice occupies
the space right between Aretha Franklin’s voice and Etta James voice”. Now isn’t that one hell
of a thing to say? I made that statement about her LIVE “tour de’ force” entitled “Let Me Down
Easy”. Since that time of course Bettye LaVette has gone on to win a WC Handy Award and to
become a fixture on the modern day blues circuit around the country and around the world.
http://www.soul-patrol.com/soul/lavette.htm
But wait…Bettye LaVette isn’t a “Blues singer”, I mean she is stone cold hardcore Detroit, not
Mississippi. Blame that on the way that Soul Singers have to be marketed nowadays. They have
to be marketed as if they are “Robert Cray”, when in fact they should be marketed as if they
were “Barbara Streisand”!!! Chalk that one up to the reality of demographics and marketing of
the current century we are in. Give her some songs written by the cream of the crop of the
best female pop song writers of the past 20 years (Sinead O’Connor, Lucinda Williams, Joan
Armatrading, Sharon Robinson, Rosanne Cash, Cathy Majeski/John Scott Sherrill, Dolly Parton,
Aimee Mann, Toni Brown, Fiona Apple) and just let Bettye WAIL AWAY, while she is backed up by
a super nasty band.
And that is what this album is. Nothing more and nothing less, right???
Ah….But there is more to the story, because what Bettye does with these pop songs is literally
steal them from their authors and make them her own and that’s the magic of this album. I
probably shouldn’t say that. But it’s the truth, and I’m told that the truth will set you
free. Much like Jimi Hendrix took any damn song, written by another artist that he covered and
took complete and total ownership of it, that is what Bettye LaVette does on the CD entitled
“I've Got My Own Hell to Raise”. And “raise hell” with these songs is EXACTLY what she does.
I saw Bettye LaVette sing these songs LIVE @ Joe’s Pub in NYC just a few weeks ago and she
turned in one of the best LIVE female SOUL performances that I have seen in a while. I
probably shouldn’t say that either. But it’s the truth, and I’m told that the truth will set
you free.
You wanna be free? Then you need the TRUTH
Then do yourself a favor, don’t sleep on this album
--------------------
Bob Davis
earthjuice_at_prodigy.net
--------------------
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