Tyme recently suprised us with her very inspiring debut album A Matter Of Time. If you’re looking for soul music with a purpose with political and in your face lyrics then it’s time for Tyme. But enough of the pun, here’s the jazz-not-jazz interview with Tyme.

Q: Please tell me something about your musical influences, where you’re coming from and how and why you’ve decided to pursue a career in the music business?

Tyme: Some of my musical influences are Marvin Gaye, Jill Scott, Musiq, Billie Holliday, The Jones Girls, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles…I have a lot. Anyone that has a message in their music intrigues me.
Music has been a part of me since I was a child. It was very hard to try to pursue a career in anything else. When I first went to college, I was a biology major. By the end of the first semester, all of my classes were in music.

Q: Songs like Shorty or Momma offer some food for thought. Please tell me more about the stories behind these songs and what inspires you to write your lyrics in general.

Tyme: Shorty is a song I wrote on the plane ride back from Pennsylvania after my younger brother was killed. We kept talking about him coming to stay with me in Los Angeles but unfortunately he never made it. Momma is a song that actuall happened to a member of my family. Anytime I write it is going to be a story. Life inspires me.

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Courtesy of Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk here are four album reviews (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):

V/A – Soulsearching: The Compost Radio Show Vol. 1 (Compost)

Today, web radio is not afforded the same cult status as its speech and music transmitting elder brother. However, jaw-dropping shows, such as this from Compost, are the jewel in the crown of a service that is, so far, still invisible to many music lovers. Compiled by dedicated sound explorer and show presenter Michael Rütten, this album serves as an unbelievably heart-stopping survey of lo-fi and hi-fi soul imbibed creations, taking in downbeat wonders, guitarry inclined numbers and a few housed up and jazzy leaning lovelies. The 2 Banks Of 4 Remix of Build An Ark’s “You’ve Gotta Have Freedom” sees stinging beats line up with insecure chords and a surly bassline, as mechanised vocals and piano keys from the original rise as if sprung from a captors grasp. Sleepwalker are awoken from their wandering slumber on “Into The Sun” by Bémbé Ségué, whose vocals dazzle over a radiant sax and ambitious keys. Benny Sings presents us with “Make A Rainbow”, whose righteous keys, pitter-patter percussion and charming vocals make the track an ideal singalong finale piece for a musical where children were the target audience. It is extremely rare to find a compilation like this, where every track is brilliant. See compost-records.com for details of where to find the show on the web. [note: you can listen to the Compost Radio Show on the same web radio station where you’ll find the jazz-not-jazz show: radio42.com]

King Britt – This Is…King Britt (V2/Nurture)

To go by the name King Britt, one must be rather convinced of their ways with aural textures. Britt’s self-belief is certainly not misplaced, as this assortment of proper songs and remixes show the ability of his highness to fashion engaging musical masterpieces across a range of tempos and styles. On “The Reason”, vocalist Vicki Miles tries to express the heart-warming thrill of being in love in words, backed by the ruler’s grinning keys, gold-tinted trumpet and frank percussion. Whining animal call type sounds, vivid acoustic guitar work and a vulnerable bass provide a perfect environment for Alison Crockett’s tearful vocals that recall a summer affair, on Britt’s “Seasons Change”. The remix disc has an uptempo scope, and features a satiny keyed overhauling of Michelle Shaprow’s beguiling “If I Lost You” and the synth kissed all-consuming re-rub of Soul Dharma’s “Flowers”. A selection fit for a monarch.

V/A – The Original Rare-Groove Selection (The Original Selection)

Taking in soul embracing numbers, discoish foot tapers and jazzy bouncers and funk exhibitors, this is a collection of gorgeously infectious music. The Jackson Sisters hope that everything will go according to plan on “I Believe In Miracles”, as their enrapturous vocals glide over glistening guitars and reliable drums. Maceo & The Macks drop “Across The Track”, where provocative brass teams up with business meaning drums and a sideways moving bass. “Ordinary Joe” places perky guitars and tap hit percussion under Terry Callier’s cheery vocals. One perusal of this comp should leave listeners with a beaming smile.

Kohei Mihara – Cocolotica (Grand Central)

Maybe it was Mihara’s readiness to fuse dreamy reflective ambiences with hoppy percussive techniques that got him signed up to a label not previously noted for their passion for such avant-garde electronic soundscapes. To be honest, Kohei’s music is at its most moving when he drops the head-nodding Hop styled beat pretence, and lets the affecting melodies sear over conventional electronicy percussion. “Sense of distance” creates an appreciation of space using only stirring guitars and percussion with its feet fixed firmly on the ground. The strings on “Imitatrix” will make you flinch, whilst high key sparks blind and a bass terrifies. “Agalychnis Callidryas” watches a fragile key melody weep over ensnaring percussion and a murky bass. Enchanting!

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 Friday you can listen to some old, now more or less obscure songs and new tracks from albums recently reviewed on jazz-not-jazz or soon to be reviewed like the Soul Movement and H₂O Productions.
Just a few words to some songs I haven’t reviewed on this site…Jhelisa offers a very dramatic acoustic version of Death Of A Soul Diva with Carleen Anderson on background vocals…Jhelisa’s new album will hopefully be released this September.
Mr. Alexander had a nice album out in 2000 which sounded a bit like Maxwell with a rough edge.
The Winter In America album by Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson was actually a fulfilled wish from my wishlist (thanks Yiannis!)…and I wonder why I haven’t it bought it myself before.
Nu Soul Habits show us that the term nu soul is actually, er, quite old and in fact just another marketing invention. Unfortunately I haven’t heard anything from Nu Soul Habits (which were the duo of Tonye Hilmon and Eddie Towns Jr) besides their Motown album from 1994.
Kwesi is another artists who seems to have appereared on the scene for only one album. And he was one of the first British artists to be sold as nu/neo soul artist.
While Try My Love by the late Lalomie Washburn sounds a little bit dated today she still delivers a fine vocal performance on a song she wrote with Michael McEvoy.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who Jon Lucien is…otherwise have a closer look here.
On the endless lists of where are they now? Davina shouldn’t be missing. Unfortunately I never heard of her again except for a song she had done with Val Watson for her debut Urbal.
The Basement Boys give Ultra Nate’s How Long a great soul-funk feeling with their Philly Cream Mix and of the ten versions available on the 5″ CD-single it’s the one that still sounds the best.

Jhelisa: Death Of A Souldiva (from Galactica Moods EP - Dorado Records 1995)
Naima Shoumburger: You And Me Against The World (from A Blossom Sings - Shambones 2002)
Brigette: Take Me (from Starlite Lounge - Expansion 2005)
Gary Jenkins: One And Only (from The Other Side - Expansion 2005)
Soul Movement: See Me (from Get Away - soulmovementmusic.com 2005)
H₂O Productions: I Dare U To Stay ft. Eric Roberson (from While U Wait - H₂O Productions 2005)
Mr. Alexander: Mrs. Alexander (from From Friday Night ‘Till Monday Mornin’ - Plutonium Rock 2000)
Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson: Rivers Of My Fathers (from Winter In America - Charly 1973)
Ty Causey: Love’s Messin’ With Me (from Love Notes - Ty Causey 2005)
Nu Soul Habits: Meant To Be (from Meant To Be - Motown 1994)
Tyme: Shorty (from A Matter Of Time - Tyme Entertainment 2005)
Kwesi: Heavenly Daughter (from Testimony - Sony UK 1997)
Lalomie Washburn: Try My Love (Full Length) (5″ CD - Conscious/4th & B’way 1991/1992)
Jon Lucien: Would You Believe In Me (from Rashida - RCA 1973)
Davina: After The Rain (from Best Of Both Worlds - Loud/RCA 1998)
Ultra Nate: How Long (Philly Cream Mix) (5″ CD - Warner Bros 1994)
Bah Samba: Calma (Louie Vega Remix) (5″ CD - BKO 2005)
Kloud 9: So Many Reasons (Copyright Mix) (from Yearning 2 Love - Expansion 2005)
Jonnie Polyester & K-Boy: Ten Percent (Exposed 2 Timing Vocal) (5″ CD - Blackbooty Records)

I’ve mentioned Naima Shambourguer earlier on jazz-not-jazz in my review of The Book Of Tia, the debut album of her niece Tia Imani Hanna. With her second album A Blossom Sings having arrived lately in my mailbox, it’s time to introduce you to Naima herself. She may be the best kept secret of her hometown Detroit, but believe me, she has all the right ingredients it takes to be a truly great jazz songstress. She has a clear, rich and warm voice, the right, sometimes debonair, phrasing and she has chosen just the right musicians and mixture of cover versions and original compositions to deliver a mesmerizing jazz album.
Like any gifted jazz singer Naima really adopts a cover version makes it her own song, whether she adds her own lyrics to the tune (like on the album’s opener Jeannine, a tune composed by Duke Pearson with new vocals written by Naima herself, or on Felton Spark’s Puerto Vallarta) or simply delivers an impressive update of a song. The midtempo Hello Like Before, originally done by Bill Withers, is a good example. Or take Miles Davis’ evergreen So What that features some fine scatting by Naima.
My personal favourite cover here is the epic version of You And Me Against The World, originally recorded by Helen Reddy. The song is done with a slight latin twist with percussion by Juma Santos and guitar by Vaughn Klugh and it is just nine and a half minutes of pure heaven.
Music In The Air, an uplifting dance groove, is a inspiring example of Naima’s composing skills. And it’s the song on which her fellow musicians like Pam Wise (piano), Marion Hayden (bass) or GayeLynn McKinney (drums) get a chance to show their talent with solos in over eight minutes while Naima only sings at the beginning.
Also worth mentioning is Naima’s beautiful tribute song to the late Sarah Vaughn, A Blossom Sings. Actually Naima’s paean to Sarah Vaughn sounds much more convincing and better to my ears than Dianne Reeves’ I Remember Sarah from her album The Calling - Celebrating Sarah Vaughn from 2001.
In fact I could recommend vitually any of the thirteen songs, they are all very good. In a nutshell, A Blossom Sings is a great, timeless jazz album.

Tracklisting of A Blossom Sings 1. Jeannine/ 2. Hello Like Before/ 3. So What/ 4. Lazy Afternoon/ 5. Rhythm-a-ning/ 6. A Blossom Sings/ 7. Land of Illusion/ 8. You and Me Against the World/ 9. Tristee/ 10. Sands of Love/ 11. Puerto Vallarta/ 12. Solitude/ 13. Music In The Air | released 2002 Shambones Music

For more infos visit naima.mybesthost.com and cdbaby.com.

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

You certainly remember my pleasant surprise that I finally had Come On Through My Door, an album by Ronee Martin, in my own hands after her MoJazz album never saw the light of day.
In the meantime you’ll find some more information on Ronee’s own website or you just continue reading the jazz-not-jazz interview about her love for music, singing and the risks she had to take to finally release an album that’s really available for everyone who loves good music and want to invest a few dollars..

Q: Please tell me something about your musical background. When did you start singing and who or what inspired you to pursue a professional career? And which artists inspire you today?

Ronee Martin: I started singing in church at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Columbia, Virginia (USA). (However, prior to that, I received my formal vocal training rehearsing from the radio in my grandmother’s bedroom.) I actually grew up on country “western” music, which is what it was referred to when I was a child. However, when we were able to get soul music on the radio in the area where I lived as a child, I was instantly inspired by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick and I continue to be inspired by that music and those artists even today. There are some current singers that I think are great, but that initial inspiration is what keeps me going today. And the person that gave me my first push towards it all was a guy named George Parker. I met George when he was performing with “Act I”, a local group from Washington, D.C., with a classmate and friend, Agnes Johnson that was visiting from Virginia. George invited Agnes and I to the park with some of his friends and one of the other members of “Act I”, Chet Fortune had his acoustic guitar with him. Chet started to play and we all started singing some of our favorite songs and George immediately wanted me to join a female group he was producing at the time. And that’s pretty much how it all started. I joined “Ethereal Life” with Scarlet and Elaine and I learned so much during that period and enjoyed it so much that I knew I would always be involved in music somehow.

Q: In 1987 your Sensation album was released as promo only and the same thing happened some ten years later with Soul Of Heart on MoJazz. Please tell me why your music was never fully released and how did you feel at that time about it?

Ronee Martin: Well I certainly am a believer that all things happen for a reason, some of which I don’t know the reason (smile). In both of these incidents, I’m not sure of what happened, but I do know that I enjoyed the process and the experience. There is such a demand for commercial music and then there is also the political arena that none of us can control except those that are at the top, so perhaps those could be some of the reasons - politics and perhaps it just wasn’t my time and also it may not be how I’m suppose to fulfill my dreams.

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That was quite fast. As you may have noticed it usually takes some time until an interview is posted after a review (well, actually my fault since I always say something about no deadline, take your time answering etc.), but the Kendall Duffie from the Kloud 9 twins answered my question in just a day.
So here’s the notorious jazz-not-jazz email interview with Kloud 9 about their recent release Yearning 2 Love, their daytime jobs, their childhood and more…

Q: You also pursued a career in the music buisness as managers since the release of your debut album On Kloud 9. Please tell me more about these jobs.

Kloud 9: Well we’re actually record executives not managers and it’s something we’ve been doing for quite some time. Kelvis has actually been with Sony/BMG/Verity Records as the National Director of Radio Promotions for over 10 years and Kendall has worked for various companies as the A&R head.

Q: Why don’t you release your music on the labels you work for?

Kloud 9: We actually both work for Gospel record companies that exclusively promote and distribute Gospel music and Kloud 9 is smooth R&B/Soul.
However that label Kendall is with now Alliant Music Group/D3 entertainment is doing other things outside of Gospel through Koch distribution and we’ll release “Yearning 2 Love” through that system in March 2006.
Also Kendall produced a compilation last year entitled “Soul Sophisticated” which featured music from Kloud 9, Maysa, Laurnea and others through a division of one of the labels he was working for at the time. So whenever it makes sense we do things for the labels we work for.

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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 Down To The Bone Time. With a recent review of DTTB’s new release Spread Love Like Wildfire and an interview with Stuart Wade I think it’s a good idea to dig into my record collection and come up with two hours of music by Stuart Wade. Most of the songs are actually recorded under the DTTB moniker but you will also hear some earlier stuff by the New Jazz Hustlers, Think Twice and songs Stuart co-wrote for the NFL Horns Project. Enjoy!

Think Twice: Waiting For You (DTTB mix) (12″ EMI UK 1994)
NFL Horns Project: 390 West (from Triangle Below Canal Street - Internal Bass 1996)
New Jazz Hustlers: Afro Vibe (from New Jazz City - Internal Bass 2000)
Down To The Bone: My One And All (feat. Hil St. Soul) (from Crazy Vibes And Things - GRP/Verve/Universal 2002)
Down To The Bone: Carlito’s Way (from From Manhattan To Staten 1996)
Down To The Bone: Mystic Samba (from Spread Love Like Wildfire - Narada Jazz 2005)
Down To The Bone: Down In The Basement (from Cellar Funk - Narada Jazz 2004)
Down To The Bone: Vinyl Junkie (feat. Reuben Wilson) (from The Urban Grooves - Internal Bass 1998)
Down To The Bone: Soul Brother No. 1 (from Spread The Word - Internal Bass 2000/2001)
Down To The Bone: Angel Baby (feat. N’Dambi) (from Spread Love Like Wildfire - Narada Jazz 2005)
New Jazz Hustlers: El Loco (from New Jazz City - Internal Bass 2000)
Down To The Bone: The Flow (feat. Flora Purim) (from Cellar Funk - Narada Jazz 2004)
Down To The Bone: Touch Of Voodoo (from From Manhattan To Staten 1996)
NFL Horns: Split Milk (from Triangle Below Canal Street - Internal Bass 1996)
Down To The Bone: Bump’n'Hustle (from The Urban Grooves - Internal Bass 1998)
Down To The Bone: Cooking With Gas (from Crazy Vibes And Things - GRP/Verve/Universal 2002)
Down To The Bone: Downtown Shuffle (from Spread The Word - Internal Bass 2000/2001)
Down To The Bone: To The Bone (from The Urban Grooves - Internal Bass 1998)
Think Twice: Don’t Blame Me (from Joy Is Free - Internal Bass 1996)
New Jazz Hustlers: New Jazz City (from New Jazz City - Internal Bass 2000)
Down To The Bone: Little Smile (from Cellar Funk - Narada Jazz 2004)

Every now and then an album comes along that makes you discover a musical instrument in a different way. Tia Imani Hanna’s The Book Of Tia Chapter One was such an album for me that introduced me to the violin in a different way than I’ve heard it before. And then there’s Tia’s voice of course. Lucikly she wants to extend her singing on her sophomore set Everything I Hear, which is scheduled for a release in summer 2006 as she mentiones in her interview with jazz-not-jazz.

Q: Please tell me more about your musical background. What was it like to grow up in a family with renowned musicians?

Tia Imani Hanna: Truth be told, it was a lot of fun and hard work. We were all musical. Music was always in my environment. The nature/nurture argument rears its’ head here because, yes, I have in my genes the seeds of musical greatness, but I think it was more important to be constantly exposed to music in many different genres and work helleva hard on technique on a daily basis. My parents sang and played music and my brother and sisters and I all took music lessons. I was a very lucky child because my parents loved music and wanted us all to be exposed to it. The stereo or the radio or practicing was always heard in our house. I remember my brother and I breaking a piano bench because we both wanted to practice at the same time. I remember our next door neighbors had a baby grand piano that I could see from my living room window and whenever I went over to see the neighbor kids I would ask to practice on their piano. I remember my siblings and I being taken to Saturday music lessons at Wayne State University community music school. We would be there all day long. My dad would drop us off and go grocery shopping and in between lessons we would hang out at the Detroit Institute of Arts or the Main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Culture was coming out of our ears. I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Well done Mom and Dad.

Q: Why did you pick the violin as instrument? What makes it so special for you that you decided you wanted to learn this particular instrument?

Tia Imani Hanna: As I mentioned earlier I played the piano as well as the violin and I sang. I owe my playing the violin to the Detroit Public School system music program in the 1970s. The string ensemble in my elementary school was recruiting new members so they went from classroom to classroom playing a few selections and passing out permission slips to study music. They played a particular piece of music that used the plucking of the strings called pizzicato and I was hooked. I just thought it was one of the coolest sounds I had ever heard. It took me a long time to learn to love the thing though. Piano was definitely my first love because I could play all of the sounds of a symphony with two hands unlike the violin with its single one-dimensional tones. I was 32 years old before I understood how to make that violin and my voice mesh into it’s own unique sound and appreciate how single lines can have just as much depth as chordal sound. Maybe even more because it was a way to speak my truth on my terms with my voice.

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Calma was the first song that features another singer (Isabel Fructuoso) than Alice Russell, who usually is the voice of Bah Samba. Including other singers and non-English lyrics is something Julian Bendall (keys, co-writer and co-producer) wants to extend in the future and hopefully there will be a whole album with Isabel Fructuoso he’s working on. But before that happens, we get a great remix package of the latin dance tune Calma from Bah Samba’s 4 album. Louie Vega of Masters At Work fame liked the original version so much, that he insisted on remixing it for BKO and will release it on his own Vega Records in the USA soon. Louie’s version turns Calma into a summer house favourite.
Quentin Harris adds more bass to the mix to provide us with a very good underground house version. As if that wouldn’t be enough there’s also Bah Samba’s own Beach Mix. This version puts Isabel’s vocals to the fore with a lovely acoustic guitar and some sparse keys. An impressive chill out version. Again, an essential single release by Bah Samba with versions for (almost) every occasion.

By the way Bah Samba will perform live at the Jazz Café in London, Wednesday 21st September 2005, with Maxine Braham as support act.

Tracklisting of Calma: 1. Louie Vega Remix/ 2.Quentin Harris Re-Production/ 3. Bah Samba Beach Mix/ 4. Album version/ 5. Louie Vega Remix (Instrumental)/ 6. Louie Vega Remix Radio Edit | released August, 22th 2005 BKO Productions

For more infos visit bahsamba.co.uk.

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

Fans of old disco chestnuts will recognize the title Ten Percent at once as on of the biggest hits for the legendary Salsoul label. In fact, Double Exposure’s Ten Percent was the first commercially released 12″ ever. The Philadelphia natives Jimmy Williams, Joe Harris, Chuck Whittington, and Leonard Davis, surfaced in in 1968 as United Image. In the early 1970s they recorded African Bump for Stax Records. Their first release as Double Exposure for Salsoul Records was also the first commercial 12″ single ever released in 1976. Almost twenty years later Jonnie Polyester & K-Boy give this classic mirror ball favourite the house update. The Exposed 2 Timing Vocal is a nice tribute to the vintage disco sound with driving house beats, a little filtering and the vocals we all know. The Dirty Double Dub makes clever use of the bassline to guarantee even more hot dancefloor action. Although actually I think it’s a little bit bold from Jonnie Polyester & K-Boy to release this without mentioning Double Exposure.

Tracklisting of Ten Percent: 1. Exposed 2 Timing Vocal/ 2. Dirty Double Dub | released September, 12th 2005 Black Booty Records

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

Love Notes is already Ty’s second album release. Shame on me that I’ve missed his first album since this one is a really good one. Ty captures us with his warm and rich voice and his soulful self-penned songs. The music on Love Notes hardly leaves the down- and midtempo range and evokes sweet memories of Gary Taylor or Leon Ware.
Alexander O’Neal once sang, I didn’t write the book of love but I try my best to read it everyday, and it looks like Ty has chosen this as a motto for Love Notes. Like the album’s title suggests Ty gives us a reading from the book of love and its ups and downs through his eyes. There are songs for those, who find themselves lost after love has gone, like the wonderful midtempo Life On Track with its bluesy underpinning. Love’s Messin’ With Me is a song for which Ty puts back the blues into soul/Rhythm & Blues music in a moving vocal performance. I Miss You deals with the same topic of a lover who’s gone, but the music has a more confident approach that things will work out again.
Songs like the uptempo Breathless or Falling For You describe the sensation of falling in love while the soul-jazz song Part Time Lover finds a self-confident Ty, who doesn’t want to play the second fiddle. Don’t Change and Keep On Lovin Me sees Ty pleading for his lover not to alter her feelings for him.
The album’s closer finds Ty ready to Settle Down in the shape of a beautiful ballad with some marvelous piano touches by Eric Clancy.
If Ty had changed the tracklisting a little this could’ve been a great concept album about the beginning of a love affair, the struggle of being together, the separation, the reunion and the happy ending. So it’s just a great album full of stunning soul tunes with a jazzy and sometimes bluesy feeling.

Tracklisting of Love Notes: 1. Life On Track/ 2. Don’t Change/ 3. I Miss You/ 4. Step Out Tonight/ 5. Breathless/ 6. Love’s Messin’ With Me/ 7. Keep On Lovin Me/ 8. Visions Of Love/ 9. Falling For You/ 10. Part Time Lover/ 11. Heart To Heart Forevermore/ 12. Settle Down | released 2005 Ty Causey

For more infos visit cdbaby.com.

[If you want to discuss Ty Causey’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:

Courtesy of Jon Freer from mosoul.co.uk here are seven 12″ reviews (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):

Solu Music feat. Kai Martin – It Ain’t Love (Solu Music)

Quentin Harris has had the NY House faithful dribbling over their decks and mixers for the past few months, courtesy of a string of dancefloor arresting remixes and original productions. Here, he sends Solu’s ode to being spurned to new heights, with the help of some aggrieved keys, sulking strings and a flying sax. Joey Youngman’s mix is held aloft by some strong-armed synths, whilst the original is a jubilant saxer, with grinning keys and sedated guitars.

David Borsu – Reminiscent EP (Counterpoint)

Jazz fanatic David Borsu follows up his near perfect “Monster EP” with a slightly less fiendishly titled, but impressive EP of hard-hitting floor directed Jazzed up grooves. “Late Nite Swing” will make most shake a leg or two, courtesy of true jazzual keys, a lounging sax and romanticizing vocals that urge a Mr. ‘Right’ to enter the singer’s life. “Reminiscent” uses luminous keys, shuffling drum percussion and a trumpeting tirade to create that sense of déjà vu. “East Beaumont” takes a gargling rotund bass, vitalising brass crescendos and bongocentric percussion on a funked out journey. “Coltrance” sees a sax with two sides expose both slimness, and paradoxically, a full figure, over cymbadelic beats and a fuzzied bass.

Jonathan Krisp – Tangible Gains (Flevans RMX) (Cookshop)

Tru Thoughts artist Flevans gives model car-racing fan Jonathan Krisp’s philosophising “Tangible Gains” a forceful shove in the right direction. Shakers, destructive cymbal smashes, a distressed flute and a hard as nails bass guitar combine on this first-rate revision.

Daníel – If You Leave Me Now (One Little Indian)

This release from former GusGus guy Daníel contains two tracks that are the musical equivalent of glass, which are somehow fragile yet sturdy at the same time. “If You Leave Me Now” is a fed up number, with a muddied bassline, courteous strings and sketchy percussion. “Someone Who Swallowed A Star” is suspended in water, as elegant strings swim gracefully alongside genteel vocals.

Ying Yang Twins – Wait (The Whisper Song) (TVT)

Rude murmured chat up lines are the order of the day on this release from Atlanta based rapsters, the Ying Yang Twins. The finest version of “Wait(The Whisper Song)” sees Lil Scrappy, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot join the dirty south twosome for some filthy flirted fun, backed by an inverted bass and the occasional moan and groan. The similarly smutty original version is also featured, alongside the brutal bass driven “What’s Happnin’”.

Jazzy Eyewear – Doin’ Wrong (Nordic Trax)

Jumpy House guy DJ Mood brings Canada’s fine Nordic Trax imprint a double helping of intricate dancefloor pleasing musica. “Doin’ Wrong” features a rubbery bassline, pinprick keys and violent synth stabs, which sit under throaty vox snippets. “Take Control” sees headbangin’ beats, backwards keys and petit acid bass slurps do just that.

Hystereo – Validity Revision / Resistance (Soma)

Hystereo sound like the spawn of Daft Punk, if the Robotic duo had offspring in the 90s, at the time they couldn’t make up their mind if they wanted to make full-on Technoid bangers or filtered House groovers. “Validity Revision” is a hard-hitting cut, where possessed strings and jumping keys dance over a confusing bassline and hitting beats. Clasped closed to chest guitars, slammed beats and distinctly French-sounding synth loop work meet on “Resistance”, which really sounds like it was a product of the mid 90s Parisian House scene!

I must admit that I never was a big fan of the boy group Silk back in the 90s. Ok, I have their Silk album from 1995 and one or two 12″es but on the whole their music was a little bit too polished and MOR for my taste. Luckily, Lil’ G doesn’t want to revive the so called good ol’ days when he was part of the commercially successful group Silk. On the contrary, with The Other Side Gary Jenkins shows that there’s a life after Silk and makes a step toward an earthier, heartfelt and passionate sound with 14 self-penned songs and a cover version.
The opener One And Only is a fine example of his sound. A classic Rhythm & Blues song (this time I really mean the good ol’ days when R&B was simply soul and not black pop like it is today) with that old school Memphis Soul/Al Green feeling.
The Southern soul influences are picked up to good effect on the following midtempo songs Ev’rybody Dreams and The Door.
Gary’s talent also shines on the ballads like Lovin’ U, Make The Sound or So Sexy, the latter evokes memories of Al Green again with Gary doing some vocal acrobatics from low to high pitch and back again.
The song that really convinced me what a fine songwriter/singer Gary Jenkins can be is Moved On. Gary gives us a very moving performance on this song about his anger and frustration as a child when his mother had to deal with a straying husband and had to raise her children on her own.
There are some cliché riden songs like Friday Night (weekend’s coming, let’s have some fun and a party…you know this kind of songs) or the latin tinged Dance With Me that fail to impress me but tunes like U Keep On, the 80s/Prince/electro funk inspired Goes & Comes or a good cover of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come make up for it.
To sum it up, The Other Side is a fine debut album with many impressive and soulful songs.

Tracklisting of The Other Side: 1. One And Only/ 2. Ev’rybody Dreams/ 3. The Door/ 4. Friday Night/ 5. Boojyghettoness/ 6. Dance With Me/ 7. Lovin’ U/ 8. Goes & Comes/ 9. Make The Sound/ 10. So Sexy/ 11. So Free/ 12. Moved On/ 13. Change Gonna Come/ 14. The Other Side/ 15. U Keep On | released 2005 Expansion Records

For more infos visit expansionrecords.com, cdbaby.com.

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