[acid-jazz] Quickie CD Reviews: Hugh Masakela, Cassius White, George Duke, Joe Quartermaine, Tim Terry, Leela James, Bee Note, King Powell,

From: Bob Davis (earthjuice_at_prodigy.net)
Date: 2005-04-17 20:38:16

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    Hugh Masakela - Revival
    (Jazz/Pop)

    I truly despise the term "world music". Whenever I hear it makes me think of things like
    colonial empires and the days when small european countries exerted an "iron rule" over the
    countries and people of the world of color. The term "world music" is the recording industry's
    way of saying "non american, non european, non white music that we like". Unfortunately this
    term, despite it's implications of colonialism is probably what you will have to look for if
    you are trying to find the new CD by Hugh Masakela called "Revival" in your local
    "wreckastow". And this indeed is an album that you should look for This is a
    vocal/instrumental jazz album with at least one song that could be a pop hit song if it were
    to get enough airplay (Woman of the Sun). So what we really have here is a typical Hugh
    Masakela album, full of slammin funky jazz and pop songs that are actually mainstream enough
    to make the R&B charts

    Cassius White - From The Inside Out
    (Soul/Jazz)

    When I first met Philadelphian Cassius White he described his new instrumental CD as "Smooth
    Jazz". I can certainly understand why he did that. After all I understand that from a
    marketing perspective, damn near anyone who has an instrumental album has to label it as
    "smooth jazz" in order to have any hope whatsoever of getting commercial airplay in the year
    2005. However upon closer inspection and some serious listening, it's obvious to me that it's
    quite a bit more than the overused and poorly understood phrase "smooth jazz". As I listened
    to the music during my daily commute another overused and poorly understood phrase comes to
    mind...."OLD SCHOOL". Not "old school" in the Tom Joyner sense. But "old school" from the real
    side. As I drive along in my car listening, the music forces my mind to drift back to the
    1970's to a time when driving a different car ("69 duce & a quarter"....lol), with the top
    down, speakers blasting the cool sounds of CTI as I was cruising around the streets in ghetto
    neighborhoods of cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, etc. looking for god knows
    what. That's what this album makes me think of...
    http://www.davisind.com/redirect/?d=newsletter_cassius
    <a href=" http://www.davisind.com/redirect/?d=newsletter_cassius "> CASSIUS WHITE: SMOOTH JAZZ
    THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE </a>

    Sir Joe Quartermaine & Free Soul - They Want Funky Music
    (Funk/Classic Soul)

    Back in 1969 (I think?) Sir Joe Quartermaine & Free Soul rocked the Soul music charts with
    what was probably the quintessential Black anti war/social consciousness song done to that
    point in time. I'm sure that yall remember "So Much Trouble In My Mind"? That song was
    historic enough (I always wondered if the song influenced Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"?)
    that if you go to any "oldies but goodies party" even today, you are likely to hear that song
    being played. Well Sir Joe Quartermaine & Free Soul are back with a brand new CD and it's
    called "They Want Funky Music" and it's a badd slama jama. This album doesn't make any
    pretenses whatsoever. It truly sounds like a "retro album", nothing "new" here at all, this is
    an album of 100 percent pure classic soul/funk. In fact the best way I could describe this
    album is that if you heard it and didn't know what it was, you might just mistakenly think
    that it was the electric southern fried funk of Johnny "Guitar" Watson. That is with the
    exception of one song...."I Want A Love I Can Wallow In", which sounds like doo wop influenced
    "east coast grind" material.

    The Tim Terry Experience
    (Soul/Nu Soul/Funk/Memphis Soul)

    Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that the legacy of the STAX record company had not
    been appropriated by John Belushi and Dan Ackyrod, but instead had continued thru the 70's,
    80's, 90's right up to 2005 and been entrusted in the stewardship of people who understood
    that the purpose of the record company was not to mimic (in whiteface) what the music sounded
    like in 1969. Assume for a moment that the people running things understood that the music of
    STAX in 2005 should be the same as the music of STAX in 1965. And that is a reflection of what
    current everyday life is like for Black people, done in a commercial pop music mode, with a
    little bit of FUNK and a whole lotta BBQ sauce & fatback thrown into the mix. Well if you were
    to wake up from this dream, you might just hear the music of Tim Terry playing in the
    background.

    Leela James - A Change is Gonna Come
    (Southern Soul/Slow Jams)

    Imagine if a major label decided that it would be in their best interests to hire a crack
    production team to take a young Black woman out of Cleveland Ohio with a POWERFUL set of lungs
    and create a piece of art that takes you back to the time when singers like Carla Thomas,
    Betty Wright, Mavis Staples and others ruled the charts? Now imagine this recording being
    created back in 2003 and sitting on the shelf till now? Do you like your slow jams dripping
    with a mixture of erotic love juices and BBQ sauce made for dipping your "biscuit" into? Well
    if u do (like I do) then you might just like this CD, scheduled for a June release.

    Bee Note - Bee Note
    (Funk/Dance/Slow Jams)

    This album is truly a unique package. The all star aggregation of artists on this album
    working under the umbrella of "Bee Note" includes Patrice Rushen, Philip Ingram, Kevin Toney,
    Dorian Holly, Tony Lewis, Larry Ball, Wayne Vaughn, Mumjungo Jackson, Alfonso Jones, Kevin
    Johnson. So what you have here is Patrice Rushen with members of Switch, Blackbyrds, Slave,
    Ohio Players, Zapp, Dynasty, Sun and Slave along with former background singers for Stevie
    Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Micheal Jackson (whew....lol). So what you have here is
    essentially an extremely diverse soul/funk/dance album made in 1999 that's worth a serious
    listen right now. I think that the funk cuts are truly SLAMMIN and so will you when I play
    them for you on Soul-Patrol.Net Radio. The ballads are top flight original pop songs that
    sound like they could easily appear on albums by Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Micheal
    Jackson. This album may have been recorded 6 years ago, but I guarantee you that it will still
    sound fresh 6 years from now.

    King Powell - King Powell
    (Jazz/Pop/Standards)

    At first blush this album sounds like something that you might hear playing on the stereo of a
    50 year old man. As I turn around and look at my birth certificate and notice that I have
    recently turned 48 it gives me cause to pause at that statement. Yes indeed the "baby boomers"
    (including myself) are growing up and it seems that standards of the past are becoming more
    and more popular. Now in my case it goes just a little beyond just being an "aging baby
    boomer", the reality is that one of my "dirty little secrets" has been that I have always been
    a big fan of this type of music. First starting with my introduction to the music of Billy
    Holiday via the soundtrack of the movie "Lady Sings the Blues", then later in the 1980's when
    I purchased the Linda Ronstat trio of standards albums, that she recorded backed by the Nelson
    Riddle Orchestra, in the mid 1990's with what is in my humble opinion the last great album by
    the Temptations called "For Lovers Only", right up to the 2004 release of the "Dana Owens
    Album" by Queen Latifah, I have pretty much always dug this type of music regardless of how
    old I am. The self titled CD "King Powell" is at the same time "lizard lounge music" and
    romantic music that certain brotha might put on as a part of a larger exercise in "seduction".
    The duo of Cathryn King and Patou Powell do a fantastic job of singing these classic songs
    accompanied only bass, piano and drums in a "sparse" mix that has actually been one of my
    secret pleasures since I first got it a few months ago. Of course my favorite song on the
    album is "Fever", featuring the sultry and seductive voice of Cathryn King. This CD is highly
    recommended for your Saturday night after midnight mix of music (even if you aren't a member
    of the "baby boom generation").

    George Duke
    (Jazz/Pop/Funk)

    George Duke is an artist who I truly love, however he has also been a disappointment to me
    from time to time. As we all know, he is one of the FUNK MASTERS that sometimes allows his
    music has a tendency to drift off into "elevator music territory". He avoids doing that with
    this CD and he uses artists like Ndugu Chancellor Airto and Sheila E to help out. This is a
    funky album and it has a few twists (for example he even samples the voice of Chuck D....lol).
    Another surprise is his cover version of Stevie Wonder's "Superwoman", it's so damn cool that
    I suspect that the "neo soul" crowd would eat it up. The song "Hybrids" sounds like it could
    have come off of a Miles Davis CD. There are many strong songs here that could easily be hits
    in various radio genres, but that matters little to me. It's going to be a hit record in my
    back yard this summer, so if you come over to my house, don't expect to leave without hearing
    this album at least once.

    Paul Jackson - Funk On A Stick
    (Stone Cold Booyah Tribe Natural Born Funk)

    This album is sooo STANK that I had to go and find my close pin and place it over my nose. I
    guess that my expectations were nothing less from one of the founding member of the
    Headhunters under Herbie Hancock. I saw Paul Jackson as part of the Headhunters back in 1974
    in what was the greatest funk concert I have ever seen (Herbie Hancock/Miles Davis). There
    isn't much more that I can write about this FUNK BOMB, but I guess I have to. It sounds to me
    like Return To Forever/Headhunters with James Brown, Oscar Brown and Chuck Brown speaking dat
    secret "Booyah Tribe Language" on vocals!!! (how's dat for a description???) Right now I am
    listening to it in my headphones as I type with the volume turned up to "ear bleed level". Are
    you a funk music fan???? (then this CD is essential for you to own) Don't look for it
    anywhere on commercial radio, Clear Channel, Infinity & Cathy Hughes won't allow you to
    listen to it there. However I do know of one place you will be able to hear it and that is on
    Soul-Patrol.Net Radio

    stay tuned....

    --------------------
    Bob Davis
    earthjuice_at_prodigy.net
    --------------------
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