Any soul fan worth his/her salt knows and reveres the Bar-Kays’ iconic and mold-breaking instrumental ‘Soul Finger’. Their brass-fuelled romp has fired-up dance floors ever since its 1967 release… and rightly so!
Now though there’s a new SOULFINGER on the block (yep it’s all one word now!) and despite modern technologies and the digital onslaught, this new Soulfinger has a reassuringly old-fashioned feel about it.
Soulfinger is a music production team whose aim is to pay tribute to the great songwriters of the classic Soul era. Their idea is to highlight and re-record B-sides of lesser known soul music gems from the late 60s up to the mid 70s, and to invite a variety of contemporary artists to perform on one song each. Amongst the project’s vocalists are Leela James, Teedra Moses, Jaguar Wright, Kathy Sledge, Joi, (from Lucy Pearl), Anthony David, Syleena Johnson, Stephanie McKay, Angela Johnson and Sara Devine. Amongst the chosen songs are ‘All I Do’, ‘Turn Back The Hands Of Time’, ‘Sara Smile’ and Van Morrison’s ‘Tupelo Honey’… maybe an odd choice for a soul set but, yes, it has been covered by soul singers.
Sadly we @ SJF are unable to tell you about the quality of the music because we’ve only heard the briefest snippets. To access it properly you need to be a “project backer”… pledge some financial support and the set can be all yours. Soulfinger, you see, is being marketed in a totally new way…. “Buy before you try!”
But we’re assured that the music of Soulfinger will be top notch and what’s more it will come in “extraordinary luxury packaging”. It will be a “super-limited, hand-numbered collector’s edition”. Moreover, we’re told that nothing will be released in digital form … no iTunes, no Amazon, no Spotify!
The principle, we guess, is an old one. Great soul is a work of art which should be valued and cherished. That’s why this record will only be available to the people backing up the project with cash via a web site called kickstarter.
If you cherish soul or are even mildly intrigued find out more @ www.soulfingermusic.com
