Tag: soul

Lalah Hathaway – Live!

“LIVE, was the product of a special show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the same venue where my father recorded Donny Hathaway Live. That night changed me. It was total exposure for me. There were moments during the making of that record… on that day… in that room… on that stage… where I felt like I needed to detach. I had to hide. What I was experiencing was so intense and unchartered I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me when I really engaged. That was the moment I stopped hiding myself. I realised I was stepping into a light. I was literally and figuratively, taking a step into a new place, a new space where I could no longer hide. The record is not perfect. I didn’t fix every little thing and that was liberating. I submitted myself to the truth of the moment.”

Joomanji – Manj

The creation of Manj took place over a 2 year period. The resulting track list is a reflection of the ongoing evolution of our creative pallets over that period. Manj was recorded at the UC Santa Cruz Electronic Music Studios and CalArts Dizzy Gillespie Studio, then mastered at Waterland Studios in Venice, Italy.

Boonie Mayfield – Boon Documented, Vol. 2

“Solomon Vaughn aka Boonie Mayfield has never culled “a little bit of this, a little bit of that” as an attitude in his creations. From his lush studio instrumentation to the committed, experimental shamelessness of his raps and beats, Boonie has always explored music-making unapologetically, at the risk of radically revising his sound despite its reception on each new occasion. And so he has come thus far with an adventurous, high-flying model of producing music. He transcends genres; he twists and turns styles, always searching for every possible creative edge, no matter how elusive that may prove to be. He has released singles, EP’s, mixtapes and albums, stylistically diverse between them, but always with one common goal in mind – being the best he can be…by his own standards, and means.

Lack of Afro – Music for Adverts

Music for Adverts is Lack of Afro’s fourth studio album on Freestyle Records. Lack of Afro is a multi-instrumentalist who has a knack for pushing the boundaries of music genres. Starting off as an alternative dance producer, Music for Adverts showcases his inner Isaac Hayes (production). The album features wonderful collaborations with Jack Tyson-Charles, Wax & Herbal T, EOM and Juliette Ashby, all of who layer the album with their own distinct brand of soul.

Lee Fields & The Expressions – Special Night

“There are a few terms that get thrown around loosely, two of which are legend and retro-soul. One of these fits Lee Fields hand and glove, one of these doesn’t fit at all. Very few people in music have both earned the status of legendary and continue to solidify it. 50 years in the game and only getting better, gaining more fans, and evolving his sound on each album, Lee is in fact a Living Legend. This brings us to the misuse of the term “retro-soul” when talking about Mr. Fields. You don’t have to look far to find a younger generation emulating the essence and styles of an era the’ve only experienced through music and movies. It seems unfair to tag Lee with a term that implies imitation when he is part of the generation that actually defined the genre. Plain and simple, this is not that. “Special Night” is a masterclass in soul music past and present.”

Mark de Clive-Lowe: Live at the Blue Whale

“Mark de Clive-Lowe delivers an outstanding 4 track EP recorded live at Los Angeles’ Blue Whale jazz club. The EP finds MdCL revisiting the grand piano, putting his first instrument front and center with his technological world of keyboards and electronics. It’s his signature amalgamation of acoustic sound sparring with new technology, joined by a world-class crew: Josh Johnson (Miguel Atwood-Ferguson/Wayne Shorter) on sax and flute, Brandon Eugene Owens (Robert Glasper/Terrace Martin) on bass and Gene Coye (Thundercat/Flying Lotus) on drums.