Cassandra Wilson; Travelling Miles: I know some people will think I'm crazy,
but this just didn't do it for me. Her delivery has gotten slower and
slower, so to hear her on a fast old song like "Seven Steps" does nothing,
as she's too sleepy to swing. Of course she's better on the atmospheric
stuff, but her countrified music now ALWAYS sounds like it was recorded on a
porch in Lousianna; not bad, of course, but as a tribute to Miles, the
ultimate urban dweller, it didn't reach me.
Curtis Mayfield; Gospel: Oh my LORD it can't get no realer than this! For
everyone who thinks "Voodoo" is a classic, check yourself until you put this
on autoplay for a day.
"Jesus" sounds about like it could have been recorded yesterday, and
achieves a funky soulful sweetness D' has not approached yet. (I played it
last nite for a sista who's a big D fan, and she had to hear it 7 times in a
row!) "Love to The People" is the definition of badness. If Voodoo is
Billboard number 1, this should be number... 0?
Admittedly there's some less than great trax in this compilation, (some of
the Stylistics cuts are dated, but even so, is it too much punishment to
listen to the original "People Get Ready?) but 3 or 4 on here are so
fabulous it makes no difference. As for vocals, in a fair world, the Artist
and D'Angelo should have had to pay Curtis at least $1,000,000 a year just
for general rip-off royalties.
The Jazzyfatnastees. "The Once and Future." Hey, with a name like that, you
know what's on the bill. You guessed it, this is some Philadelphia butter
showing the real smooth side of ?estlove and Hub. Personally, I've had about
enough of those guys in the last couple weeks, but on this, I have to give
them their props. They can cover all the styles, as can Rhodesman and
sometime Root Scott Storch, who produced. Is it as sweet as Sylk 130? Not to
me. 2 ladies with decent, but not fully memorable voices (kind of that
Grenique thing, vocally) fail to propel the buttery tracks to the next
level. Definitely better than average, and some may fully dig it.
Also bought Angie Stone and gave it a quick listen. Similar sounds, but I
don't know what it is, in the shadow of Curtis, the new soul, while
perfectly recorded and expertly played, is missing something for me. I
wonder if it's the fact that Curtis was so much freer with his song forms
and production. Or, he was just a genius of the highest order. Gotta go.
Curtis is breaking off a live version of "Amen!"
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Feb 22 2000 - 18:40:53 MET