Neo Soul — All Formats  

Genius work from a singer who makes us proud to live in the Windy City – vocalist Milton Suggs, who emerges here as a hell of a writer and arranger too! Milton's easily one of the best new voices in jazz we've heard in years – filled with a rich sense of imagination on his lyrics and phrasing, and a depth of soul that makes sure that his music and movements are always right on the money – a sound and style that puts him the company of a rare few in jazz – a short list that might include Jon Hendricks, Gregory Porter, Kurt Elling, and Mark Murphy! Yet like all those talents, Suggs has a sound that's uniquely his own – a way of putting over a tune that's tremendous – especially when he takes musical inspiration from others, and makes it something all his own – as he does here with core compositions by Wayne Shorter, Belly Golson, and Roy Hargrove. The Shorter inspiration is especially strong – which is great with us – and the album also features great instrumental accompaniment as well. Titles include "Jayme's Song", "Walking Out", "Only A Memory", "Side By Side", "Die Laughing", "Will You Fly With Me", and "Joy Enough To Spare".

Ten years since his underground Headphone Masterpiece and Cody Chesnutt is finally back with a proper follow up – one that has a more fully-fleshed out production – and it’s pretty damn great! There's some striking differences in approach, but thankfully, the idiosyncratic creative bent remains! Where Headphones Masterpiece was a mind-bogglingly ambitious low fi bedroom production, this one was at least partially recorded at Willie Mitchell's legendary Royal Studios in Memphis, with a great group of studio musicians. This one is also more focused – and features a tight batch of 12 songs – as opposed to the sprawling double album debut. Cody's ear for classic southern soul craft informs this one – but his raw lyricism and great voice are still the focus, and that ultimately makes it another near-classic! We hope it won't take 10 years to make another record, but we're sure glad we finally got this one! Includes "'Til I Met Thee", "I've Been Life", "That's Still Mama", "Don't Follow Me", "Everybody's Brother", "Love Is More Than A Wedding Day", "Under The Spell Of The Handout", "Don't Wanna Go The Other Way", "Where Is All The Money Going", "Scroll Call" and more.

Ten years since his underground Headphone Masterpiece and Cody Chesnutt is finally back with a proper follow up – one that has a more fully-fleshed out production – and it's pretty damn great! There's some striking differences in approach, but thankfully, the idiosyncratic creative bent remains! Where Headphones Masterpiece was a mind-bogglingly ambitious low fi bedroom production, this one was at least partially recorded at Willie Mitchell's legendary Royal Studios in Memphis, with a great group of studio musicians. This one is also more focused – and features a tight batch of 12 songs – as opposed to the sprawling double album debut. Cody's ear for classic southern soul craft informs this one – but his raw lyricism and great voice are still the focus, and that ultimately makes it another near-classic! We hope it won't take 10 years to make another record, but we're sure glad we finally got this one! Includes "'Til I Met Thee", "I've Been Life", "That's Still Mama", "Don't Follow Me", "Everybody's Brother", "Love Is More Than A Wedding Day", "Under The Spell Of The Handout", "Don't Wanna Go The Other Way", "Where Is All The Money Going", "Scroll Call" and more.

A beautiful debut from Frank McComb – a singer we've really grown to love and know well from his indie releases of the 21st Century, but who surprisingly got his start on a major label! The album's near perfect all the way through – as wonderful a mellow soul document as you could hope for from 70s Marvin Gaye or Leroy Hutson at their best – and Frank's got an amazing talent for blending together rich vocals and lush arrangements, yet somehow never making the whole thing too sleepy or slow. We've still never been sure as to why Sony never decided to do more with Frank at the time – and after falling in love with this album, if we ever happened to run into the exec who let McComb go, we'd certainly give him a talking to! Titles include "Looking At You", "Gotta Find A Way", "If This Is Love", "Love Natural", "Future Love", "Wasting Your Time", and "Listen To Your Heart".