Tyme Johnson cites Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu as her influences. And the influences of the neo-soul’s icons can clearly be heard in her music but she has more to offer than being just a copycat.
Tyme likes to dig a little deeper lyricwise than most other nu soul artists like to go these days. She brings up the subject of unrequited love between a child and its mother (Momma, a song from a child’s point of view pleading to its mother not to give it away) and the loss of a loved one (Shorty, Tyme’s tribute to her late brother who’s supposed to have committed suicide).
And it’s the message of her songs that’s important to Tyme as she sings in the simple and soulful I Don’t Mind (”I may never be a superstar, long as my message gets to where you are, I don’t mind“).
Of course Tyme also offers us her insight on love and interpersonal relationships like the midtempo groover I Luv Your Style or the splendid downtempo song Purest Simplicity.
By the way all songs were written and co-produced by Tyme, who’s also the executive producer together with Mildred Benton. So we get one hundred percent of Tyme on this labour of love.
It’s interesting how this album grew on me with repeated listenings. At first I thought it’s a pleasant nu soul album. But as I’ve listened closer to it I discovered more of the beauty of Tyme’s music and her story-telling soul. She has really learned from her influences, combined what suited her and came up with her own style. And there’s one song that shows that Tyme not only feels at home with soul music in its various disguises. Tyme delivers a great performance on the jazzy tune Mad Day (Jazz Version) that sounds like a mixture of Lucky Dayz by Adriana Evans (from the Hoodlum soundtrack) and Davina’s Crying Blues. I hope that’s a direction Tyme wants to explore further in the future.
In a nutshell A Matter Of Time is a remarkable and inspiring debut album.

Tracklisting of A Matter Of Time: 1. Shoes (Intro)/ 2. Shorty/ 3. Sunshine/ 4. Copper Penny/ 5. Momma/ 6. Shoes (Interlude)/ 7. I Luv Your Style/ 8. Clinic/ 9. Purest Simplicity/ 10. In Between Stuff/ 11. I Don’t Mind/ 12. People That’s Got/ 13. Mad Day (Street Version)/ 14. Shoes (In Your Closet)/ 15. Mad Day (Jazz Version) | released 2005 Tyme Entertainment/Jive Turkey Records

For more infos visit tymecd.com and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss Tyme’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Rob Thorsen is a renowned bass player in the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs area. I should emphasize this because his latest album isn’t an album that puts him in the spotlight with overlong solos or an over-exposure of his love for his instrument. And that’s just what makes Moon Ray so worthwhile. Rob Thorsen acts as a band leader giving more than enough room to showcase the talents of his band members: Randy Porter (piano), Duncan Moore (drums), Gilbert Castellanos (trumpet on three songs) and Allan Phillips (percussion on In Xingjiang Time). Something that reminds me of another bassist, Curtis Lundy. In fact, Rob - like Curtis - feels comfortable to swing with his fellow musicians instead of exhibiting gymnastic virtuosity. Like Rob mentions in the liner notes “Without mutual respect and complete trust of each other the music can never achieve a state of ‘oneness’. The great musical groups share this quality and this is what I have always strived for, like the give and take of a conversation that ultimately knows no boundaries.”
Moon Ray is like a conversation with an old and dear friend with whom you feel at ease and can talk about everything. It sounds familiar yet you can discover new aspects with each close listening.
There’s only one original composition (Mud Puppies) but that’s not crucial here because Rob didn’t include tried and tested songs only which we’ve heard umpteenth times. He even included a chinese folk song, In Xingjiang Time, in an impressive arrangement.
The title track, Artie Shaw’s Moon Ray gets redone with a nice latin touch with Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet. Rob’s tribute to the bassist Oscar Pettiford, Bohemia After Dark, is another moving piece of music. The band’s version of Hoagy Carmichael’s old chestnut Stardust is adapted in a more traditional way making this a late hour favourite.
Actually there isn’t a poor track on Moon Ray. The playing is always flawless and inspiring which makes this album perfect for listening to it from beginning to end and over again. Highly recommendable if you’re looking for music that finds its players in heartfelt communication.

Tracklisting of Moon Ray: 1. Moon Ray/ 2. Eiderdown/ 3. Mud Puppies/ 4. Chelsea Bridge/ 5. Bye Ya/ 6. Bohemia After Dark/ 7. Stardust/ 8. In Xinjiang Time/ 9. Baubles, Bangles, and Beads | released 2005 Bass-man Records

For more infos visit robthorsen.com and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss Rob Thorsen’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

There are instruments like the human voice, the trumpet, the saxophone or the piano that seem to appeal in an instant to jazz music fans and nearly every other music lover alike. And then there are instruments like the harp or the violin which offers an acquired taste as solo instruments and that aren’t as popular as they should be. While I always like a string section or a single violin or cello to give a song more feeling and depth (for example listen to the songs Monica Dillon did with her cellist on All I Have Is A Moment or to Regina Carter’s contribution to Carmen Lundy’s Something To Believe In album), I haven’t paid much attention to the violin as solo instrument yet. Until I’ve heard of Tia Imani Hanna that is.
To alter a phrase from the Frank Capra movie Arsenic And Old Lace: Musicality runs in Tia’s family, it practically gallops. She’s related to Naima Shamborguer (her aunt), the late Sir Roland Hanna (her uncle) and Penny Wells (her sister). Obviously Tia has chosen the hardest way of all her family members to pursue a career in the music business by choosing the violin together with her voice as instruments.
The first chapter of The Book Of Tia consists of six self-written songs. The first song was developed as a dialogue between Tia and the choreographer Andrea E. Woods for a film project called Inside. Waltz For Andrea shows Tia’s virtuosity on her instrument, the violin and is a good start for this mini album. Walking With My Soul is descibed by Tia as “reminder that the best of me comes from within” and it’s further proof that Tia’s also capable to handle her voice as an instrument.
Being one-sixteenth Scottish Fiona’s Cousin is Tia’s tribut to her European ancestors. Therefore the Solo Version sounds like an Irish/Scottish folksong. For me it’s the band version of Fiona’s Cousin that really hits home here. This version also pays tribut to Tia’s African roots and it is a very interesting musical experiment. The song starts like the afore-mentioned folk song from Europe but with its driving drum rhythm by David Pleasant it combines African influences as well. The result is a unique sound and an impressive piece of music.
These songs may not appeal to everyone since they are very different to most of the music you will find on records. But Tia is to applaud for being brave enough to take the risk and sticking to her heartfelt music. The remaining two songs are more suitable for a wider audience and I must admit that I liked Timeless and Brazil The First Time the first time I heard them.
Maybe the most traditional jazz song on this album is Timeless on which Tia captures us with her rich voice. This is the song fans of Carmen Lundy, Dianne Reeves, or Nnenna Freelon will love.
The album’s closer Brazil The First Time is another instrumental with a pleasant South-American vibe. Although you might not think of a violin when you think of Brazilian inspired music this works very well and the song just fits perfectly to this summer.
On the whole The Book Of Tia is a very interesting mini album from a musician who knows how to play the violin, can sing as well and who dares to be different and releases music that’s unique.

Tracklisting of The Book Of Tia Chapter One: 1. Waltz for Andrea/ 2. Walking with My Soul/ 3. Fiona’s Cousin (Solo Version)/ 4. Fiona’s Cousin (band version)/ 5. Timeless/ 6. Brazil the First Time | released 2002 Greenbow Music

For more infos visit tiaimanihanna.com and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss Tia Imani Hanna’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

In conjunction with radio42.com and rautemusik.fm jazz-not-jazz presents two hours of simply great music every Friday 19:00-21:00 UTC+1 (you don’t have to convert it for Germany…that’s Friday 13:00-15:00 in NYC, Friday 10:00-12:00 in San Francisco and Saturday 04:00-06:00 in Sydney). The links of the audio stream can be found on radio42.com or rautemusik.fm (look for #Musik.Lounge there).
This time it’s in conjunction with Favouritizm as well because we present you an one hour mix by Sir Piers, labelhead of Curious Records and well-known DJ/producer/remixer as well.
Plus you’ll can listen to a world exclusive track called Talking Drums done by a friend of mine who likes to keep his nom de plume deutscheunschuld. Fans of Teena Marie who own the Ivory CD may recognize the man who’s talking on this track.

Jazz-Not-Jazz: Free The Funk
Will Wheaton: Come On Everybody (Club Mix)
Anthony Nicholson: Thinking Of You
Simon Grey: Galactica Suite (original)
Monday Michiru: Sunshine After The Rain (MAW Remix)
Ten City: Nothing Changes (Joe Clausell Remix)
Osunlade: Same Thing
deutscheunschuld: Talking Drums
Sir Piers Radiomix:
    Frampton Comes Alive: Crowd Fx
    Karizma: In The D.ee.p (Kohesive Trybed Mix) - Recanstruction
    DirtDiggers vs Snoop Dogg: Let’s Get Blown (Crowd Pleaser Main)
    Sir Piers ft Monique Bingham: Fools Got Nothin (SP’s ‘curious’ Dub)
    Gil Scott-Heron: Bicentennial Blues
    Sir Piers ft Monique Bingham: Fools Got Nothin (SP’s ‘curious’ Original)
    Sir Piers & Los Amigos Invisibles: She’s Gone Away (SP’s ‘curious’ Main)
    Copyright: Essence Of Life (Copyright House Mix)
    Kerri Chandler: Bar A Thym
    Jason Jinx: Bring Back That Feeling (Accapella)
    Mr V: Jus Dance (SOLE Channel Mix)
    Back in Time (Accapella)
    DJ Gregory: Elle (EOL Ritual)
    DJ Jorj ft Carmen Hendrix: Till I See The Sun (Fanatix Remix)
    Frampton Comes Alive: Crowd Fx
    Stevie Wonder: Another Star (Knee Deep Remix)
    Frampton Comes Alive: Crowd Fx
    Jason Jinx: Bring Back That Feeling (Accapella)

If you’re reading jazz-not-jazz for some time now you hopefully remember my mention of the Motown Remixed album and the comment DJ Smash (aka Wayne Hunter who’ve remixed Stevie’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered I’m Yours on this album) wrote. I’ve also wrote an answer here and instead of doing this on and on, Wayne suggested an interview to tell you all more about this project and remixing in general. So enjoy the interview with the man who coined the phrase jazz-not-jazz.

Q: Please tell me how you got involved in the Motown Remixed project and how you ended up remixing Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered I’m Yours. Were you able to choose the song you wanted from Motown’s back catalogue or did the label come up with the songs?

Wayne Hunter: I got involved through fellow remixer Paul Simpson (who remixed “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye) and Harry Weinger (A&R and producer of the project). Since I was one of the first to be invited to participate, luckily, this song had not been chosen by anyone else yet.

Q: What is your general opinion about a label doing a whole album of remixes of vintage songs like the Motown Remix or the Mayfield Remixed albums or the Verve Remixed series? While I can’t argue with a good remix of an old song on a 12″ single here and there, I’m usually not very fond of a whole album especially if it’s released on a major label. For me this looks more like the label’s executives finally have run out of ideas.

Wayne Hunter: I have mixed feelings about it. Obviously it is easier to take one song by an artist and really focus on making that the best it can be than it is to take a whole batch of classics and try to make them all good remixes. It really depends on what the real message and meaning is behind the project. Major labels always follow and eventually copy or buy out what the underground is doing, so they don’t have many original ideas anyway. What they do have is catalog. Remember, Motown, Curtom (Mayfield’s label) Verve and many others were independent labels back in their day but have been bought out buy the majors, so in a sense, this was ‘independent’ music (when it was made) it is just now percieved as ‘major label’ music since that’s who owns it now.

>>>continue

Like Ronee Martin Will Wheaton is not a newcomer and though he had had a recording contract in the early 90s with MCA and even worked on an album with David Foster in 1995 he never released an album on the major MCA. But Will realized very early if nobody wants to release your music then start your own imprint and release your music on your own. That’s what Will did in late 1999 with the release of his album Consenting Adultz. While Consenting Adultz somehow escaped me I’m glad that Will’s sophomore album Old School Soul did not. If you an eager reader of liner notes you may also recognize Will as co-writer of Will Downing’s Come To Me (from his Invitation Only album) or as writer of Anastacia’s Not That Kind (together with Marvin Young aka Young MC - and actually there was a very good Kerri Chandler mix available).
Though the album’s title suggests that this may be a record full of old school soul it offers more than that. In fact this isn’t old school in the meaning of boring, heard it umpteen times and sounding dated. On the contrary, the music here sounds fresh with a more classic/timeless sound. Take the title track for example. Old School Soul is a great midtempo soul song with Will glorifying the music of all the great soul artists like Marvin, Stevie, the Isley Brothers, the Temptations or the late Luther. And on this album Will sometimes sounds very like Luther, which of course isn’t a bad thing. By the way Will is supported on the song Old School Soul by Marquis ‘Hami’ Dair who also appeared on the Ronne Martin album recently.
The greatest surprise for die-hard soul fans may be Come On Everybody. Together with Eric Wikman of Deepswing fame Will created a very good for-to-the-floor house song. If you are a regular reader of jazz-not-jazz you know that deep house is nothing less than today’s uptempo soul music. But still it doesn’t happen very often that you’ll find a genuine house song on a soul album that isn’t just a remix.
What makes this album worthwhile besides Will’s warm and rich voice and the simply good (often self-written) songs is the participation of fellow musicians like the afore-mentioned Marvin Young/Young MC, who co-wrote many of the songs and is also featured on the funky Heaven Tonight.
When Nobody Gave A Damn is a beautiful ballad with Bridgette Bryant Blades on lead and Peggi Blu on background vocals. Fans of Gary Taylor (who also did a duet with Bridgette on his The Mood Of Midnight album) will love this track.
David Thomas of Take 6 fame is featured as background vocalist on the mellow more acoustic Where Are You Now, maybe the one song on this album that’s the most neo soul influenced here. But if you listen to Old School Soul from beginning to end (and that’s what you should do because all the songs are remarkable and it’s hard to pick a favourite) you’ll find out that it’s rather meaningless to put a sub-label like old, new or neo on the music. It’s just great and quality soul music that Will has to offer and I’m sure his music will stand the test of time.

Tracklisting of Old School Soul: 1. Old School Soul/ 2. Come On Everybody/ 3. Never Meant To Hurt You/ 4. Heaven Tonight Featuring Young MC/ 5. Satisfy/ 6. Do My Thang/ 7. When Nobody Gave A Damn Featuring Bridgette Bryant-Blades/ 8. Just Can’t Get Enough/ 9. Where Are You Now/ 10. Any Other Way/ 11. Come On Everybody (Club Mix) | released 2005 Platinum Bass Records

For more infos visit willwheaton.com and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss the Will Wheaton’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Courtesy of Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk here are four reviews of just released and upcoming house 12″es (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):

Jon Cutler & Michael Watford – Watcha Gonna Do? (MN2S)

This straight-talking vocal outing from Cutler and Watford is God-fearing House of the tallest order. Watford’s uplifting vocals stride forward on a magic carpet made of pressing synths, romantic keys and tingling strings. The ‘Kings Of Soul Mix’ is a more ostentatious interpretation, where flawless piano keys hold the listener’s attention, whilst the ‘Reel Soul Mix’ sees the bass purr under the watchful ear of some beautiful keys.

Fanatix feat. Kele Le Roc – Lesson Learned (Osiris Music)

Ms. Le Roc gives the ’soul’ful House crew a real song in the form of this number, which suggests that recovering from a painful situation can only make you stronger. Jumping beats, silky keys and velvety guitars back Kele’s aggrieved words on the vocal version. A grimy bass, slammed beats and outer-planetary synths meet on the Dub.

Kings Of Tomorrow – Another Day (Defected)

Easily the finest offering on Sandy Rivera’s recent LP for Defected, the sweet “Another Day” finally gets a deserved single outing. A heart-warming bass, serene chords and marching beats hold up the hurt vocals on the original version. Fred Everything tightens the screws on his remix, where the synths morph continually and vocals are FXed nicely. The Fanatix version sees keyboards make eyes with flexing synths, over stealthy bass action and simple beats.

Andy Caldwell – The Waiting Game (Om Records)

Caldwell goes all digital on this analogue bass fuelled groover, which is fine as a dance-inducing tool, but isn’t anywhere near as god-damn essential as “I Can’t Wait”, his finest single to date. Affirmative vocals and sweet smelling strings coat the analogue grooves of the original, whilst a heavy bass and wavy synths dominate Ronan’s ‘Deeply Moody Remix’. Caldwell’s Dub employs strings and vocodered vocals from the Kraftwerk school of thought, as keys smile and synths attempt to apply the pressure.

In conjunction with radio42.com and rautemusik.fm jazz-not-jazz presents two hours of simply great music every Friday 19:00-21:00 UTC+1 (you don’t have to convert it for Germany…that’s Friday 13:00-15:00 in NYC, Friday 10:00-12:00 in San Francisco and Saturday 04:00-06:00 in Sydney). The links of the audio stream can be found on radio42.com or rautemusik.fm (look for #Musik.Lounge there).
Like last week I’ve featured music that has been reviewed previously on jazz-not-jazz except for three songs. The Ricky Dillard track is an almost ancient house record from DJ International, the Jeffrey Darnell song is from a Talkin Loud compilation (unfortunately I’ve never seen a full length album by Jeffrey himself) and Feel The Flow is an old release from the Bottom Line imprint.

Alison Crockett: Crossroads
Julie Dexter: How Long
Jersey Street: When Lovers Meet
Five Point Plan: Take Me
Oktbrwrld: Livin Like Wild Dogs
Ascendant: Illusions
Maya Ascuzena: Still Searchin
Martha Redbone: Future Street
MamaYo: No Tomorrow feat. Sean Escoffery
Nathan Haines: U See That
Blaze: Not Far Away (Shrine Vocal)
Aya: You’re Not The Only One
Satoshi Tomii: Inspired (Danny Krivit Edit)
Anthony Nicholson: Thinking Of You
Ricky Dillard: Love Injection
Marlo: Wait Until The Morning (Codee’s Chocolate Pudding Remix)
Jeffrey Darnell: Living On The Edge
Flow: Feel The Flow (12″ vocal)

I remember reading a review of an album called Soul Of My Heart in the late 90s in Vibe magazine. Soul Of My Heart was announced as a release on Motown’s MoJazz sublabel and the artist in question was Ronee Martin. Well, I’ve tried to track down this album over here in Germany because the review made me curious and I thought this may be a rewarding album for me. Unfortunately I’ve never got hold of a copy and haven’t read in any other magazine about it then. I guess Ronee’s album suffered the same fate like Trina Broussard’s debut album for Sony, i.e. that it was never really released except for some promotional copies.
So imagine my surprise when I saw the same Ronee Martin recently with an album release on cdbaby.com. It’s good to see that such a gifted singer hasn’t given up and finally has released an album that’s widely available and you don’t have to pay silly prices as for her Sensation release from 1987.
The album Come Through My Door has written class all over it. Actually this could easily be a major label release judging from the design and sound. I know I sometimes have my reservations about major labels but with Ronee being the executive producer (which usally means the one who gave the money) and co-writing most of the songs things are a little bit different here. Although Ronee’s sound can be a little bit too MOR-soul at times (Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight or Ann Nesby spring to mind) it’s the music she really feels and wants to do.
If you listen to soul music for a long time you may recognize some of the musicians Ronee has worked with on this album. For example the wonderful midtempo soul groover Get Real was written by Ronee and Valerie Pinkston (also known as Valerie Pinkston-Mayo and a famous session singer) and produced by Marquis “Hami” Dair. Hami was also the producer of the obscure soul duo 10 dB whose album Steppin’ Out was released in 1989 by Crush Music/Dominion/K-Tel, a company that’s notorious for bad compilations. Get Real is a future classic that marries old school soul with neo soul and would be worth the album’s prize alone.
But Ronee has more gems to offer like the album’s title track Come On Through My Door. This is an amazing intimate ballad with Ronee singing her heart out over Marquis Dair’s acoustic guitar play.
The show-stopping ballad I Wish You All The Best gives every so called soul diva a run for their money with Ronee’s heartfelt performance only accompanied by producer Byron J. Smith on piano.
Ronee’s self-written Giving Up is a pleasant mid-tempo song about a lost love with a slightly southern soul feeling.
The southern soul feeling gets picked up by the beautiful Little Sister, an encouraging downtempo song about friendship with inspiring vocal input by Ronee on lead and background vocals.
Even the more MOR orientated songs like Round And Round (co-written by Frank McComb) or the gospel inspired I’m Sorry For Leaving You work very well.
The only song that fails to impress me is Ronee’s cover of the Temptations’ My Girl here renamed My Guy. Her version isn’t bad but somehow she can’t win over the programmed beats by producer Daryl Smith.
Come On Through My Door is a very good album that offers something for fans of old school and new soul music alike and it’s a welcome return for Ronee Martin into the spotlight.

Tracklisting of Come On Through My Door: 1. Get Real/ 2. Giving Up/ 3. My Guy/ 4. Little Sister/ 5. Round and Round/ 6. Come On Through My Door/ 7. I Wish You All The Best/ 8. I’m Sorry For Leaving You | released 2005 BLTN Music

For more infos visit roneemartin.com and cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss the Ronee Martin’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

  

With four albums under her belt (Getting To Know You, Sunny, Rites Of Passage and Freedom Sampler) Sunny Sumter is hardly a newcomer but yet she’s a singer you may not have heard about before. And that’s such a pity because Sunny has an impressive voice and a great talent to use her voice as an instrument and to fuse jazz, soul and world music into her own sound.
Sunny’s real name is Cheryl but a bandleader once introduced her as Sunshine and the shortened version Sunny stuck with her. Sunny was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and grew up listening to Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway (not the worst musical socialisation one can have). And it was Sarah Vaughn’s live performance she saw at age nine that convinced Sunny that “jazz was in my future”.

Rite Of Passage was recorded four years ago in 2001 but it has lost nothing of its magic. Sunny has gathered musicians from Puerto Rico, Curacao, Brazil, Israel, Austria, Trinidad and South Africa to record this album. The diversity of musicians is reflected by the music. There are some straight ahead vocal jazz songs like the self-penned Nick Of Time or Peace. Then there are the Brazilian influenced songs like Never Let Go or Not Yet and the afro inspired title song Rite Of Passage (Travelin’ With Juju) and Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is. Plus Sunny also delivers memorable renditions of Abbey Lincoln’s Talking To The Sun and Jobim’s Dindi. All in all Rite Of Passage is a great and musically diverse album. If you’ve missed it four years ago then this is forgivable because it’s an independent release and lacked some exposure in the media. But now you know about Sunny Sumter, so you better not miss this album again.

The Freedom Sampler is - like the title suggests - a concept album that combines classical songs from the civil rights movement and original compositions by Sunny. In our apolitical times (at least in the music buisness) this is a welcome return to songs that really have a message.
While the world as a whole and especially western countries did make many improvements since the 60s, the struggle for freedom isn’t something that has ended when segregation was banned or anti-discrimination laws had been passed. Once you have a certain amount of freedom you have to fight to keep and extend it. Especially these days where western governments are eager to sacrifice fundamental rights in a reputed fight against terrorism. So the topic of the Freedom Sampler is very up-to-date.
Not only has Sunny reached a new stage in her artistry with the Freedom Sampler but also her sound has changed. Here we have a earthy, bluesy sound based on percussion, drums and guitars instead of the jazz setting of previous records. But the musical background supports the message of freedom perfectly and besides it’s always good to see an artist doing something new and watch and hear her grow. One of the highlights is Sunny’s cover of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come. Not only is Sunny’s plea for a change and better world credible but this is also one of the rare occasions where a cover surpasses the original version. Also impressive is Freedom, Oh Freedom with its epic eleven and a half minutes this is a tour de force funk rock song and never has a repetitive freedom sounded better. Another gem is Death Do Us Part with its slow percussive and mediative rhythms and Sunny singing Death Do Us Part as a mantra.
The Freedom Sampler is a very inspiring album for our trying times that defies musical borders and shows one again what an awesome artist Sunny Sumter is.

Tracklisting of Rite Of Passage: 1. A Little Bit Longer/ 2. Nick of Time/ 3. Never Let Go/ 4. Sister Cheryl/ 5. Rite of Passage -Travelin’ with JuJu (featuring Bro. Yao)/6. Talking to the Sun/ 7. Black Rose/ 8. Not Yet/ 9. Dindi/ 10. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?/ 11. Peace/ 12. Rite of Passage/ 13. Butterfly | released 2001 J Jordan Music

Tracklisting of Freedom Sampler: 1. For What It’s Worth/ 2. Get Together/ 3. Death Do Us Part/ 4. Reparation/ 5. Get Up Stand Up/ 6. Raise My Child/ 7. A Change Is Gonna Come/ 8. Freedom, Oh Freedom | released 2003 DCI Productions/ J Jordan Music

For more infos visit sunnysumter.com.

[If you want to discuss the Sunny Sumter’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

In conjunction with Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk jazz-not-jazz proudly presents a review of Southport Weekender Volume III.

The last instalment from Blaze and Joaquin Claussell may have delved a little deeper than many Southport fans like to swim, but this chapter should satisfy many more of the hordes that descend on Pontins twice yearly for a weekend of life-affirming soul-kissed dancing. Parisian style God Dimitri serves up mix one, a veritable banquet of good-natured disco and lovely house gems. Highlights of his set include the optimistically keyed club mix of The Sunburst Band’s “He Is”, and an exhilarating piano led epic from Jihad Muhammed called “Movement Blues”. Jazzie B rolls out the relaxed soul and groovesome funked out flavours on the second disc, where choice moments include the Young Disciples’ disenchanted “Apparently Nothing” and Wookie’s miraculous “Battle”. New York House man-of-the-moment Quentin Harris round off this impressive comp in style, with an energetic soulful selection. Key tracks on Quentin’s disc are Laid’s educational “Punch Up” and Quentin’s own glorious “You Can’t Have New York”, where Monique Bingham paints a negative picture of the big apple, over shape making strings and a liquidous bass. Outstanding.

Tracklisting of Southport Weekender Volume 3: not available | released 2005 by SuSu Records

(for more infos visit susumusic.com)

If you search the internet for Koren Washington you’ll find only a few links that point to the singer. But judging from her six track EP The Experiment this will hopefully change soon. Koren wrote, arranged and performed all songs on offer with the help of Tymm Oblique.
I suppose that Koren and Tymm had the same trouble like Olu with his recent album Beautiful Place and that is that you only have a limited low budget and have to stick with synthesizers/computers for the musical background. While real instruments can offer a rich musical vibe if used the right way it doesn’t mean that a simpler orchestration sounds per se worse. Olu and Koren prove that even “artifical” instruments can work extremly well.
The Experiment shows that Koren feels comfortable with various musical styles like the fast house track (Fallen)Star or the urban/R&B influenced After This. But for my ears she hits home with the slower songs where she can really show the beauty of her voice. The great jazz soul tune Fish Out Of Water is a good example. Imagine N’Dambi, Charisse or Cherokee (especially her Blue Bottle Aftashave) thrown together to get a notion of this heartfelt, timeless song.
Sway If You Can is another soulful highlight with its reduced rhythm and jazzy feeling. And it’s the sparse musical background and Koren’s voice that gives the songs a rather sad and bluesy feeling (the album’s opener Maybe is even dedicated to the lonely hearts).
This six track EP is a very fine introduction for Koren Washington and makes me curious about the new material Koren is currently working on.

Tracklisting of The Experiment: 1. Maybe/ 2. Fish Out of Water/ 3. Fallen Star/ 4. Sway If You Can/ 5. Silence/ 6. After This | released 2003 Koren Washington

For more infos visit cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss the Koren Washington’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Just in case you’ve missed something last month, here are some highlights that were featured last month on jazz-not-jazz:

Luther Vandross has died at the age of 54, two years after suffering a major stroke.
[edit: on David Nathan’s site you find a lengthy tribute article]