Top soul stylist MARILYN ASHFORD-BROWN (remember her 'Just Doing Me' album?) is currently working on her new long player – a tribute to the late, great PHYLLIS HYMAN. In the meantime, MARILYN has just released a lovely little five track sampler which both looks forward to the new set and harks back to some of her earlier finest moments. The EP opens with a special remix of her last big floor-filler 'I've Got A Feeling' – some really tight beats in there. Next up is a melodic mid-tempo groove – 'You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Me)' which is followed by a cut from the last album – 'Respect Me'. The set's fourth tune is a sparkling cover of Ms. HYMAN'S 'You Know How To Love Me' and proceedings end with a great memory jerker – a version of 'Can You Handle It'. The song, of course, will forever be associated with SHARON REDD, but as a member of the group SASS, Ms. ASHFORD-BROWN made the original version – producers replaced the SASS vocals with SHARON'S just prior to release.

The EP is simply called 'Marilyn Ashford Brown – Mix 2010' and is available at CDBaby and ready to download on iTunes and Amazon. For more details go to www.marilynashford-brown.com

Motown artist KEM (remember his stunning 'I Can't Stop Loving You'?) has just released his third album – 'Intimacy'. The LP's title is spot on. The music IS intimate, relaxing and so, so easy on the ear... but it's not easy listening! Outstanding cuts include the opener 'When I'm Loving You' and the Maze-flavoured 'You're On My Mind'. Good to know that the Motown execs are keeping faith with proper soul artists for their iconic label. You can catch an in-depth review of the album on TOBY WALKER'S excellent site www.soulwalking.co.uk  – same site will give you the lowdown on DORIAN WRIGHT'S fine 'Mind Full Of Music' album – which is shaping up to be one of the year's best –along with KEM and 100s of others of course!

Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 18:11

October sees the release of the fourth volume in the Motown/Universal 'A Cellarful Of Motown' series. The new double album features 50 previously unreleased Motown cuts from right across the Motown artist spectrum – STEVIE WONDER, the TEMPTATIONS, the FOUR TOPS, MARVIN GAYE, the SPINNERS, the ORIGINALS, DAVID RUFFIN and many more – including obscure artists like the BLACKBERRIES, the UTOPIANS and the VERSATONES. You also get a hugely rare outing from ROBERT DOBYNE –who went on to join Chicago's the ARTISTICS. As ever the set comes with full track annotations and wonderful archive pictures ... in short unmissable

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Last Updated on Monday, 30 August 2010 09:10

'Soul Boy' is the title of a brand new British movie, due to hit cinemas very soon. The film is set in 1974 and takes place (chiefly) in Stoke On Trent and Wigan. The story's heroes are Joe and Russ (played by MARTIN COMPSTON and ALFIE ALLEN) who, when they become involved with feisty hairdresser Jane (NICOLA BURLEY), get caught up in the magical (and sometimes seedy) world of Northern Soul. The new musical passion of JOE puts his relationships to the test and forces him take some difficult decisions.

The film is supported with a breathtaking soundtrack of 50 Northern Soul classics from the likes of AL WILSON, the DELLS, GLORIA JONES, JACKIE WILSON, BARBARA RANDOLPH and DOBIE GRAY. There's also a brand new recording of 'On A Magic Carpet Ride' from GABRIELLA CILMI.

It remains to be seen whether the SHIMMY MARCUS-directed movie authentically recaptures the authentic feel and atmosphere of the Northern scene, but the music is certainly bob on. 

The 'Soul Boy' album is released at the end of August on Universal Records while the movie is due very soon – watch your local press and listing sites for details.

Californian keyboard maven, GEORGE DUKE, has successfully straddled the divide between the worlds of jazz and pop for almost 40 years now. Born in San Rafael, 64 years ago, Duke began his career in the late-'60s as a dedicated jazz piano player before making an unexpected left turn into the world of jazz-rock and joining Frank Zappa's groundbreaking Mothers group in 1970. After an eye-opening stint with Zappa – "Frank tore the musical elitism out of me" says Duke, who also started playing synthesisers during that time – the keyboard player joined his hero alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley's band for a couple of years. He also found time to cut some solo albums for the German MPS label before rejoining Zappa for a couple of years.

In the mid-'70s Duke joined forces with powerhouse drummer Billy Cobham for the Billy Cobham-George Duke Band and in 1977 signed to Epic where he recorded a slew of successful jazz fusion albums (including 'Reach For It'). After a long spell at Epic, in the '90s he joined Warner Bros (five of his Warner albums have just been reissued in Rhino's 'Original Album Series'). In addition to his own recordings, Duke collaborated with bassist Stanley Clarke on three albums (under the name The Clarke-Duke Project) and established himself as a major (and also Grammy winning) jazz and R&B producer, helming tracks for artists like Dianne Reeves, Deneice Williams, Anita Baker, Regina Belle, 101 North, Jeffrey Osbourne and many others.

More recently, George Duke signed to Heads Up, releasing 'Dukey Treats' in 2008. His second album on the Heads Up label is the about-to-be-released 'Déjà Vu,' due in the shops on August 30th. SJF's Charles Waring recently caught up with this versatile and highly respected musician who talked about his new project as well as reminiscing about some of the major highlights of his long and fruitful career.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 20:38