Something For The People, Steve Butler’s debut album, has the same intention like Stewart McKenzie’s Chicago Soul Session album and that is showing us what great music can come out of the Windy City aka Chicago.
Steve Butler teamed up with veteran trumpet player Ron Haynes to record a very impressive debut record. Although this album is mainly an instrumental album with a few vocal snippets on every other track it just oozes soul and brings back memories of soul music’s golden days. Echoes of Earth, Wind & Fire, Tom Brown or Curtis Mayfield can be heard throughout the album. Even though this album has a retro feeling it still sounds very much up-to-date.
With Change and Giving My All To You there are also two vocal cuts. And what soulful gems they are. Change features Mauri Sevier singing about a change that’s gonna come (remember Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come?) over warm keys enriched with bass (Will Howard) and congas (Eric Yoder) and of course Ron Haynes on trumpet. Giving My All To You features Joaquina Mitchell on a lush, relaxed midtempo groove. Both songs are a very good reason to get this album but you get much more good music. There’s the midtempo funker Windy City with a repetitive Windy City vocal sample by Mauri Sevier and a tight and crisp brass section [besides Ron Haynes there are also Johnny Showtime (trombone), Skinny Williams (alto and tenor sax), Johnny Cotton (trombone), and Milton Ware (alto and tenor sax)]. And it’s that brass section that breathes life into the funky album’s title track Something For The People or into the groovy Shakedown.
All in all a great debut album that comes just in time to provide us with a tasty soundtrack for this summer with its funky and soulful vibe.

Tracklisting of Something For The People: 1. Windy City/ 2. Something for the People/ 3. Change/ 4. Lets Go to Work/ 5. Giving My All to You/ 6. Shakedown/ 7. Tonight’s the Night/ 8. Bronzeville/ 9. Windy City (extended mix)/ 10. Shakedown (extended mix) | released 2005 by Pull ‘Em Up Records

For more infos visit cdbaby.com, pullemup.com and ronhaynes.com.

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