Tuesday, September 16, 2014

NEW RELEASES: GREGORY PORTER - ISSUES OF LIFE: FEATURES AND REMIXES; A HOT DAY IN HARLEM; RICARDO SILVEIRA ORGAN TRIO

GREGORY PORTER - ISSUES OF LIFE: FEATURES AND REMIXES

A great companion to all the full length albums from the mighty Gregory Porter – as this special set brings together his side projects, appearances with other artists, and remixes as well! We love Porter's own records – and honestly feel that he's one of the freshest jazz vocal talents to come along in years – but he's also great when working in new formats too, and really brings his a-game to just about any other setting he approaches! Most of the music here is still in the jazz-based style of Porter's other records, but a few tracks are a bit more groove-heavy too – yet never in a way that's disrespectful of the vocals, or Gregory's core contributions. Titles include "About The Children" and "Be My Monster Love" done with David Murray, "Moanin (radio)" with Paul Zauner's Blue Brass, "Issues Of Life", "She's Gone", and "Just In Time" with Zbonics, "Song Of The Wind" by M1/Brian Jackson – plus remixes that include "1960 What (Opolopo kick & bass rerub)" and "She Danced Across The Floor (Automart rmx)". ~ Dusty Groove

A HOT DAY IN HARLEM (COMPILATION)

Funk, soul, and plenty more too – a massive batch of work from the legendary All Platinum label – the pre-hip hop chapter of the Sugar Hill Records scene! The work here nicely runs the gamut – as the set features lots of the great funk you'd find on All Platinum 45s, mixed with some warmer soul tunes, and even a few ballads too! We love the label (and all it's related imprints) to death – and it's been years since anyone's brought out so many gems like this from the New Jersey powerhouse of soul. And even though the title is oddly misleading – this isn't really a Harlem collection at all – we love the results of the whole thing – a smashing array of 70s soul cuts that includes "Ton Of Dynamite" by Frankie Crocker, "Beautiful Summer Day" by Mother Freedom Band, "Stand In For Love" by Pandella Kelly, "Home" by Gloria Barnes, "3 Minutes 2 Hey Girl" by George Kerr, "Hot Day In Harlem" by Rimshots, "Chance With You" by Brother To Brother, "She Comes Up" by Storm, "Too Sweet To Be Lonely" by The Internationals, "Young Bird" by Soul Generation, and "The Prime Of Love" by BBP. ~ Dusty Groove


RICARDO SILVEIRA ORGAN TRIO WITH VANESSA RODRIGUES AND RAFAEL BARATA

A whole new side of the talents of guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and a great one too – a Hammond-oriented trio outing that's quite different than any of his previous projects to date! We've grown to love Silveira for his sensitive shadings in Brazilian or acoustic projects – but he's a very different player here in an electric setting – maybe even more inventive and expressive, with a range of sounds and care of phrasing that's completely sublime – as is the organ work from Vanessa Rodrigues, a player we've really got to learn more about, because her waves of soul and blocks of sound here are really tremendous – and a very fresh take on this decades-old instrument. The group's completed by Rafael Barata on drums – a nicely subtle player who really lets the guitar and Hammond handle most of the record's creativity – and the 2CD set presents one studio session from the group, and one live outing too – with titles that include an incredible version of "Canto De Ossanha", plus "Cochise", "A Medida Do Meu Coracao", "Batucada", "Amazon River", "Polo Pony", "Eu E A Brisa", and "One Eyed Monster". ~ Dusty Groove


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