Monday, August 10, 2015

NEW RELEASES: SYL JOHNSON – COMPLETE TWINIGHT SINGLES; BILLY WOOTEN - WOO HOO BIBI; FEELIN’ JAZZY (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

SYL JOHNSON – COMPLETE TWINIGHT SINGLES

All the incredible Syl Johnson cuts released as Twinight 45s back in the day – nicely assembled as an excellent 2LP compilation by the gentlemen of The Numero Group! If you have yet to take a dip into the Syl Johnson oeuvre, let us just say this is gritty, powerful vintage Chicago soul of the finest caliber, and would be a terrific first step into his kingdom. All cut over a 4 year period, written and produced by the man himself. Simply a stellar batch of one time overlooked, now justifiably revered Twinight gems – including the the sample classic "Different Strokes," strident soul gems "Is It Because I'm Black" and "Concrete Reservation" and many more – including "Going To The Shack", "Ode To Soul Man", "Sorry 'Bout That!", "Come On Sock It To Me", "Take Me Back", "Let Them Hang High", "Thank You Baby", "We Do It Together", "Kiss By Kiss", "Everybody Needs Love", "Same Kind Of Thing", "I'll Take Those Skinny Legs" and more. 29 tracks in all! ~ Dusty Groove

BILLY WOOTEN - WOO HOO BIBI

Heavy vibes from the great Billy Wooten – an album that's definitely right up there with the best work from this Indianapolis legend! Billy's vibes are out front in the mix, but they're also woven together with some sweet keyboards, tight guitar, and occasional reed parts too – most played by local contemporaries of Wooten on the Indy scene, and served up here with a nicely lean production style that keeps the whole thing sharp! All titles are originals, penned with that classic Wooten ear for a groove that's mellow, yet funky – and titles include "Oye Gina Este Son", "Jackson Melodia", "What A Day", "Squeeze Me Baby", "El Cayuco", "Light Of Mine", "Birth Of Pendanna Akina", and "Ooowee Baby Thinkin About You" – in both vocal and instrumental versions. ~ Dusty Groove

FEELIN’ JAZZY (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Feelin' jazzy, and feelin' pretty darn soulful too – as the set's a collection of excellent contemporary soul tracks from the global underground – including a fair bit of work by artists who've never issued a full CD! The set's very much ahead of the curve – and really does a wonderful job of bringing together work that definitely deserves bigger exposure – the next names in the Neo Soul underground, all linked together in a warmly flowing batch of grooves! The whole thing's great, and most of these names are new to our ears – titles include "Moonriver" by The Oldians, "I Recall" by Andre Solomo, "As Long As You're In Love" by Jasmine Nelson, "Breathless" by Gold Of My Own, "Colours" by Nia Andrews, "As One" by Low Leaf, "Trouble" by Daniel Crawford with Amp Fiddler & Monet, Guards Down" by Fridjolijn, "More Than A Million" by Paul Van Kessel, "Man In The Mirror" by Kasia Lins, and "Scary" by Alex Tait. ~ Dusty Groove



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