Washington DC- born CLIFF BEACH is a Berklee College trained, indie soul, jazz and gospel singer/songwriter. We’ve followed his varied career since 2013 when he released his imaginatively titled EP, ‘Who The Funk Is Cliff Beach?’ which was followed by another EP, 2022’s ‘Son Of A Beach’! Then, this February, something very different – an album tribute to the music of Ella Fitzgerald.
This new album goes back to where he came in. ‘Beach Please’ is a concise 11 tracks of soul, jazz and funk. The album was flagged by the single ‘The Work’. The song encapsulated Mr B’s philosophy – there’s nothing wrong with hard work and getting what you want by having a go-getter attitude – put your head down, make the effort, and relentlessly hustle to achieve your dreams! The urgent soundscape was tight and funky – in your face even! And if urgency’s your musical thing, there’s plenty of big, brash sounds here – try the opening salvo – ‘Crush On You’ and ‘Gotta Have That Girl’.
However, for this listener at least, the album’s best moments are the more subtle tracks. ‘Stuck With You’ really sticks out – gentle and soporific. There’s more of the same understated charm on ‘It’s All My Fault’, the bluesy ‘Reminds Me Of You’ and the jazz-flecked ‘Final Goodbye’. All original songs – indeed there’s only one cover version and it’s both interesting and intriguing. Here Cliff is brave and confident enough to tackle Michael Jackson’s ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and he produces something that all covers should be – i.e. he’s created something very different to the original. He slows things down somewhat to craft a slinky, jazzy groove and it’s all topped with a tasty horn solo. Like we said, interesting and intriguing.
(BB) 4/5
