Thursday, July 10, 2014

New Releases: Jean Wells - Here Comes Jean Wells; Step Inside My Soul: Rare 70's And Modern Soul; Jesse Green - Nice And Slow

JEAN WELLS - HER COMES JEAN WELLS

Some of the greatest work ever from Jean Wells – a 60s soul singer who never fully got her due, but really shines here in the company of some top-shelf Atlantic Records talent! The album's a great mix of deep soul vocals and tighter uptown soul production – with sublime arrangements from Horace Ott, Bert DeCoteaux, and Chris Towns – all of whom really know how to let the personality of the lead lady come through, but also keep things tight enough to make the album fit together wonderfully! The great Clyde Otis produced – with the same sort of hip soulful flair he brought to his best work for Mercury – and although Jean's vocals are always great, on this set they're really set up in some wonderful arrangements that totally let her do her thing! Titles include "What Have I Got To Lose", "Broomstick Horse Cowboy", "Have A Little Mercy", "Try Me & See", "Our Sweet Love Turned Bitter", and "I Feel Good".  ~ Dusty Groove

STEP INSIDE MY SOUL - RARE 70'S AND MODERN SOUL (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Stunning soul from the 70s – a host of rare tracks that mostly appeared as short-lived singles on Polydor – really lost to the shifting sands of time amidst the bigger acts on the label! The work here rivals the best of the best from the time – particularly the east coast groups who were getting bigger play on smaller indie labels – or some of the best Chicago acts of the time, who were helping to forge a new wave of modern soul! Production is never too slick, or uptight – and every single track is a mellow soul treasure that's brimming over with sweet vocals and laidback grooves – all hand-picked by legendary soul collector Bob Abrahamian, who also wrote some very detailed notes for the collection too. One of our favorite mellow soul collections ever – with tracks that include "You're Hardly Gone" by Tyrone Thomas, "The Goodbye Song" by Vaneese & Carolyn, "Step Inside My World" by The Reason Why, "Say You Will" by Mojoba, "All Alone By The Telephone" by The Checkmates Ltd, "We're Gonna Make It" by New World, "Sooner Or Later" by Alvarez, "Love Market" by JJ Williams, "Say Yeah" by Sam Dees, "I'm So Glad" by Prime Cut, and "I Just Want To Thank You" by Jules Johnson & The Dynamics.  ~ Dusty Groove


JESSE GREEN - NICE AND SLOW

A classic set from Jessie Green – the singer's biggest album ever, and a great blend of 70s soul with deeper Caribbean roots! Jessie hails from Jamaica, and got his start in reggae – but by the time of this record, he was reaching out with a wider, global sort of style – one that has island rhythms bubbling amidst warmer modern soul arrangements – all in a blend that's completely sublime, and which has some of the same tight-grooving appeal as the best Miami soul of the TK Records scene! The set features the classic "Nice & Slow" – a tune that's more midtempo than you'd guess from the title – and lots of other great tracks that include "Don't Do it", "Will You Won't You", Come With Me", "Flip", "The Greatest Love", "Don't Knock My Love", "You Came You Saw You Conquered", and "Let's Go". CD features bonus tracks – "Flip (alt version)", "Don't Know My Love (alt version)", "Don't Let Me Down (alt version)", "Nice & Slow (12" disco)", and "Flip (12" disco)". ~ Dusty Groove


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