Ed Motta is a remarkable man on several levels. Firstly, he's an accomplished singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, because of his stylistic versatility and chameleonic eclecticism, has been dubbed Brazil's answer to Prince. Secondly, he's renowned globally among fellow crate-diggers as an avid and obsessive record collector, who, at the last count, had in excess of 30,000 LPs propping up the walls to his house. And thirdly, he's noted for his passion for the good things in life, which include food and wine (for many years he wrote about viniculture in Brazilian newspapers and magazines). But that's not all, Motta possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of many subjects - he's an avowed cinema buff who loves old movies and is also fervent devotee of sci-fi novels and comic books. His talents and interests are multifarious and he's erudite to the extent that he could be declared an "expert" on many topics. He is, then, what many would call a "Renaissance Man."
Outside of his native Brazil, though, Motta's best known for his endeavours in the field of popular music. He's been making albums since the late 1980s (initially as part of a group, Conexão Japeri) but like the fine wine that he loves so passionately, he's begun to mature nicely during the last five years, releasing, arguably, what can be regarded as the most accomplished and satisfying albums of his career. His releases had been remarkably varied up until 2013 when he changed direction and released 'AOR,' his painstakingly stylish homage to American Adult Oriented Rock, a set that contained palpable traces of Steely Dan in its musical DNA.
Motta continued to follow a similar trajectory with the superb 'Perpetual Gateways' in 2015, though it was the first album where he handed over the production reins to someone else. Fast forward to September 2018 and the Rio de Janeiro-born polymath has just unveiled his latest LP, 'Criterion Of The Senses.' It is arguably Ed Motta's masterwork and the culmination of what he set out to do with 'AOR' five years ago when he first explored the world of that much-maligned genre, "Yacht Rock."
'Criterion Of The Senses' is to Ed Motta's catalogue what 'Aja' is to Steely Dan's - sonic perfection. Every facet of it functions at an optimal level - from the vocals, lyrics and song arrangements right down to chords and even the placement of individual notes. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is superfluous. Every piece fits. Though it's a relatively short album by today's standards (eight songs with a running time of 34 minutes), as an artistic statement, it's complete. But that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows Ed Motta. He obsesses about perfection in everything, as he tells SJF's Charles Waring...
Last Updated on Friday, 28 September 2018 12:17
Last time we spoke with the genial PAUL CARRACK was in 2013. It was on the back of the release of his 'Rain or Shine' long player... we asked him then how and why he kept going after such a lengthy and garlanded career... five years down the line, Sheffield's finest is still hard at work. He's just released a new album, 'These Days' and he's lining up another lengthy tour. So when we met up we posed the same question... what's the motivation to keep going, to keep writing/recording and touring? Why not retire and buy that speed boat on the Isle of Wight (the one pictured on the cover of the new album) and live comfortably..... you must have a few bob by now?
Depending on which generation you belong to and where your musical allegiances lie, keyboard legend Bob James is either the father of smooth jazz or the godfather of hip-hop. Though ostensibly a jazz musician whose breakthrough came at CTI Records in the mid-1970s when he pioneered an accessible, radio-friendly brand of jazz fusion, this genial Missouri musician discovered in the late '80s that his music was being plundered for samples by hip-hop producers in search of ready-made grooves and break-beats. To date, James is the 14th most sampled musician of all time (in pole position is James Brown, of course), something which he's simultaneously both mystified by and tremendously proud of. "I'm still shocked," laughs James, "but it's wonderful and a reminder to me that throughout my career as a composer who has attempted to handle my copyrights as well as I can, the more that you can keep control over your work, the better, because you never know when something is going to be at the right place at the right time." 
On August 24 Lucie Silvas will release E.G.O., her fourth album and her follow up to her critically-acclaimed and roots-infused Letters to Ghosts.
For the past few years San Francisco's CORNELL "CC" CARTER has emerged as a proper modern soul contender. The onetime session and bv singer (he's worked with people like Ray Charles, James Brown, The Whispers, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, Kool and the Gang and most recently Narada Michael Walden) has stepped out on his own and his album 'In The Moment' won him plenty of admirers and a selection of singles and their remixes scaled the all credible European soul charts. Then there was his mighty fine 2017 "covers" album – 'Vindicated Soul' – a tribute to many of his soul heroes.
