Neo Soul — In Stock — CDs

Maybe the best album so far from Benny Sings – a lean, clean effort that's got a sound that's even more compact than before – but which suits Benny's vocals wonderfully! There's maybe a bit more electricity on the record this time around – and the style's got touches of 80s ... read more CD

Bilal gets some amazing help this time around from super-hip producer Adrian Younge – who really helps the singer reinvent his sound! The album's got a funky depth we've never heard from Bilal before – lots of those old school, 70s-styled soundtrack funk touches that Younge's so great ... read more CD

Maybe the best album to date from Italian singer Mario Biondi – and easily his most soulful set to date! The album's got Mario moving past some of the retro jazz modes of his earliest records, to emerge as this universal soul star with a hell of a sound – a voice that easily moves past ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

Solid hip hop soul by BJ The Chicago Kid – featuring support from a star-studded guest roster that includes Chance The Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Big Krit and more! It's fitting that BJ should get a high profile headlining effort of his own – on Motown, of all labels – after years of ... read more CD

The debut CD from Juewett Bostick – a singer, arranger, and producer who's worked in the background of the music industry for the past two decades, finally stepping out here on his own! Juewett's not going it totally alone, though – as he's got some wonderful assistance on the set from ... read more CD

An album with a very classic look on the cover – and an equally classic sound to match – one that takes us back to some of the hippest, coolest work by early 60s singers like Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye! Both artists are a good comparison here, as Leon Bridges is unabashedly in the same ... read more CD

A beautiful setting for trumpeter Till Bronner – a set that has the German musician stepping out on a host of famous film themes, with backing from a larger orchestra that creates a wonderful backdrop for his solos! The style's very different than some of Bronner's more groove-oriented sets, ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

Cool, catchy soul from Matt Cab – a soul singer with American roots, but one who's been making much bigger waves recording albums like this for the Japanese scene – where he seems to be creating quite an audience for his music! Matt's got a style that could be huge if he were given ... read more CD

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D'Angelo comes back after many years awol from the studio – and the result is a stunning new step in his music! We've loved the man from day one – and some folks could well say that he really helped reinvigorate soul back in the 90s – and all his time away from the studio has ... read more CD

D'Angelo comes back after many years awol from the studio – and the result is a stunning new step in his music! We've loved the man from day one – and some folks could well say that he really helped reinvigorate soul back in the 90s – and all his time away from the studio has ... read more CD

Dam Funk does it again – really blowing us away with his crispy fresh version of funk – one that's a perfect fusion of old school modes from the 70s and 80s, and some of the more cosmic touches of the current century! The approach uses lots of splash on the keyboards and beats – ... read more CD

The first-ever full length presentation of a legendary live set from D'Angelo – recorded early in his career, and working through a host of classic tunes that really add in a nice layer to his own great music! D'Angelo's caught here in the legendary temple of groove – London's Jazz ... read more CD

The title definitely gets it right – as there's a special sort of crackle to the music of Anthony David here – maybe a bit more power than before, and a focus on beats and fuzzy guitars that kind of ill things in around the edges! The sound's definitely not too smooth – and David ... read more CD

Robert Glasper takes on the music of Miles Davis – in a set that's way more of Glasper's own than you might guess from the presentation! True, the tracks are all based around Miles Davis material from the Columbia Records vaults – but Robert really opens things up right away with his ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

A brilliant debut for singer Andra Day! Ms. Day, as you're surely aware if you've read any of her press, is profoundly influenced by classic soul, but believe us, she's got style, confidence and a voice – wow, that voice – that truly transcends retro revivalism. This is truly one of ... read more CD

A hell of a soulful record from composer/arranger Greg Dean – a real up-and-coming star on the contemporary soul underground – getting help here from an equally great array of other talents – including an amazing array of singers that includes Gordon Chambers, Eric Roberson, ... read more CD

A special project from the great Will Downing – the male soul singer's tribute to all the great female artists that have inspired him over the years – a lineup that includes Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carn, Randy Crawford, Deniece Williams, and others – all of whom get a nod in the song ... (Soul, Neo Soul) read more CD

One of the more unusual artists on the Philly-revival label Society Hill – a singer who's younger than most of their roster, and who also has roots in the Caribbean too! Production and arrangements are by Butch Ingram, who gives the set a similar modern soul update to other projects for the ... read more CD

We haven't heard from Shaun Escoffery in years – but damn, it's really been worth the wait! This album really knocks it out of the park from the very first note – and pushes Shaun way way farther than his previous work, which we really loved a lot – into some kind of sublime ... read more CD

Another solo masterpiece from Peven Everett – underground soul at its finest, and a hand-made album by this unique artist who refuses to be held to the rules of the record companies! This set's much more uptempo than Peven's Speed Of Light album – jumping along in a lively groove with ... read more CD

A very unique project from underground soul maestro Peven Everett – a selection of shorter tracks that work almost as songpoems – written by Peven and Chris Ellis, and spoken over backings that have the mellow groove of Peven's other recordings. There's a great late night style that's ... read more CD

Genius work from Peven Everett – one of the greatest talents of the soul underground! The album's perfect all the way through – a sublime blend of house beats, jazz riffing, and Peven's incredible soul vocals – a tremendous style that calls to mind Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, D'A ... read more CD

A beautiful little record from pianist Jesse Fischer – and one that's got a much warmer sound than you'd expect from the piano key skeleton on the cover! Jesse's very well-schooled in different modes of souful expression – which means that he can create magic on an acoustic piano, but ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

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The deepest work yet from Foreign Exchange – and as hard as it is for us to believe, a record that unofficially kicks off the second decade of the one-time transatlantic partnership of Nicolay and Phonte – which has evolved into a bonafide indie soul supergroup with Zo!, Tamisha Waden ... read more CD

Tremendous material from Robert Glasper – a set that takes us back to the brilliance of his first few releases for Blue Note – while also encompassing all the changes he's gone through in recent years too! There's definitely some vocals on the record – but this time around, ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

Tremendous material from Robert Glasper – a set that takes us back to the brilliance of his first few releases for Blue Note – while also encompassing all the changes he's gone through in recent years too! There's definitely some vocals on the record – but this time around, ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

Macy Gray in a whole new setting – working here with a small jazz combo, in a mode that's definitely as stripped-down as the title implies – and which really gives us a new way to focus on her famous vocals! The group's a quartet – with the great Wallace Roney on trumpet, plus ... read more CD

A real old school set from saxophonist Arno Haas – recorded with a vibe that recalls that special moment when jazz could be smooth, but still funky too – never too over-polished, or sanded down for the mainstream! Haas blows in modes that bring to mind the sharpness of Grover ... read more CD

Heavy sounds from Anthony Hamilton – a record that's still got all the warm flourish we love from his other work, but which also seems to have a bit more of a bass on the bottom! The production is by Mark Batson on most tracks – and the team of Salaam Remi and James Poyser on a few ... read more CD

Harleighblu's vocals are in some wonderful company here – a host of different guests and producers who each give the individual tunes a special flavor – while still allowing the soulful lady to very much do her thing! The vocals are maybe even bolder than on the previous record – ... read more CD

Mayer Hawthorne just keeps on rising and rising with each new record – to a level where he's not just sounding like those 70s influences that have always been a force in his music, but actually manages to fit right in alongside them with a seamless sound and completely confident vibe! The ... read more CD

The full length debut of Mayer Hawthorne for Stones Throw – with both classic Motown and 60s & 70s Detroit indie soul influences, done the right way, and all of it wonderful and true to his heroes – after some promising early singles, we can now say emphatically that Mayer Hawthorne ... read more CD

Derrick Hodge blows our mind yet again – and reminds us with this set that he's way more than just a bassist who's known for his earlier work with Robert Glasper! Instead, Hodge takes on a whole host of different instruments – and often provides most of the music on most of the tracks, ... (Jazz, Neo Soul) read more CD

The great James Hunter – sounding even better than before – thanks to sock-solid soul production from Daptone Records! James already recorded at Daptone Studios before – for his previous record – but this set's completely in the hands of the label, from top to bottom – ... (Deep Funk, Neo Soul) read more CD

Incognito never lets us down – and records like this keep us listening strongly year after year! The set's got all the core brilliance of Incognito at their best – a really classic approach to jazzy soul, served up with top shelf instrumentation by the group – and sent home ... read more CD

Three great albums from Incognito – served up at a mighty nice price, and with bonus tracks too! Who Needs Love is a gem from over a decade ago – and Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick pulled out all the stops on this set – working with a range of vocalists that includes Joy ... read more CD

Incognito hardly need to go off in search of better days – as all the many years they've given us music, the days have always been pretty darn great! Yet the title's also a great reminder of the group's unflagging positive energy and optimism – a quality that made them one of the key ... read more CD

Pure wonderfulness from Internet – a group who seem to bound forward strongly with each new release! These guys are easily one of the most compelling mainstream soul acts we can think of – still very lean, and working with an indie-level vibe – but also able to focus in on hooks ... read more CD

A great new chapter in the career of Jose James – and a record that really seems to take his already-amazing vocals to a whole new level! In a relatively short career, Jose's already been turning a lot of heads with his work on other projects, his jazz-based recordings, and his debut for ... read more CD

Jose James sounds even deeper than ever here – really moving forward with that amazing voice, and really finding a special space between all the jazz, soul, and funk projects of previous years! The album has James almost emerging as a singer who can span genres and reach out to new scenes ... read more CD

Were the Jazz Invaders ever this soulful before? We don't seem to remember that – as they come on totally strong and wonderful here – with a groove that might even rival the best previous work by big-name combos like Incognito or Brand New Heavies! Like both those groups, the Jazz ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

Were the Jazz Invaders ever this soulful before? We don't seem to remember that – as they come on totally strong and wonderful here – with a groove that might even rival the best previous work by big-name combos like Incognito or Brand New Heavies! Like both those groups, the Jazz ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

That's Sly Johnson – not Syl Johnson, the Chicago soul singer – but this Johnson's definitely got an approach that lives up to the classic soul style of the cover! The music's a wonderful mix of deep soul vocals and contemporary production that owes a fair bit to hip hop as well – ... read more CD

Ronny's groove is firmly in place here – and the album's one of his strongest in years! The record still has plenty of numbers that follow in Ronny's "hip hop meets jazz funk" mode – but there's also some sweet NuSoul production on the best cuts, really letting the guitar ... read more CD

The spacey look of the cover is a great fit for the music – a set of keyboard-heavy club instrumentals, which often come across with a 70s sort of cosmic disco vibe! The performance is as spare as the album's title – usually just basslines, rhythms, and loads of great keyboard lines on ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

One of the deepest records we've ever heard from UK soul singer Beverly Knight – a set that was recorded in Royal Studios in Memphis, with a much more down-home vibe than any of her other music! Knight's always had a fantastic vocal approach – but here, she maybe gets the setting she's ... read more CD

William Kurk's always given us plenty of great music on his own – but this time around, he pays tribute to a host of classic talents in soul music – with performances of tracks by artists who include Harvey Mason, Leon Ware, Donald Fagan, Michael Jackson, Chick Corea, George Duke, ... read more CD

A stunning full length debut from Lady Wray – a voice you might know from her previous collaboration in the duo Lady – but one that's even more amazing out front here on her own! The album's got a rock-solid, totally classic vibe – thanks to Leon "El" Michels – ... (Deep Funk, Neo Soul) read more CD

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It's taken us a bit longer than expected to get this second installment in Maxwell's Black Summers' Night series – but it's been well worth the wait, given the greater depth in the music! All that we love about Maxwell's previous records is alive and well here – but there's also kind ... read more CD

There's nobody better we can think of to pay tribute to Donny Hathaway than Frank McComb – given that both Frank's wonderful vocals and keyboard work draw a lot from Donny's originals of the 70s, but have always taken his inspiration in really rich new directions on McComb's recent albums! ... read more CD

The first properly put-together album by Frank McComb in years – and a wonderful summation of all the fantastic energy he's put into some of his more homegrown records of the past decade or so! Frank's always been one of our favorite soul talents of the 21st Century – and here, with ... read more CD

A trio of lovely ladies from the Philly scene of the 70s – heard here in a surprisingly great contemporary recording! The Mellow Moods grew up in the same generation as bigger Philly female trios like First Choice or Three Degrees – and although they never hit the heights of those ... (Soul, Neo Soul) read more CD

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Really really wonderful work from Moonchild – even better than we remember from the first time around! The group have this perfect balance of vocals and jazzy instrumentation – played by a trio who handle all the instruments themselves, then produce the whole set – in support of ... read more CD

Tremendous work from Ed Motta – a record that not only lives up to all the promise we've found in his music over the years – but which also goes way way beyond, and really knocks it out of the park! The title here is no lie, as Ed's a huge fan of AOR modes from the 70s – ... read more CD

Ed Motta knocks it out of the park with this one – taking things in an even more soulfully classic direction than on his killer AOR album – and giving us key proof that he's one of the most important soul singers of the 21st Century so far! Ed's got a way of opening doors wherever he ... read more CD

That magical Musiq voice is firmly in place here – and maybe even more electric than ever, as Mr Soulchild slides right in alongside the keyboards and grooves, with a sound that's almost more early 80s west coast funk than some of his earlier material! That blend makes for a magical flow ... read more CD

Brilliant work by one of our favorite NuSoul singers! N'Dambi's moving way past her Little Lost Girls Blues album on this set – a beautiful 2CD set that showcases a much more expansive musical vision than before! The set's got the feel of a laidback studio session with N'Dambi – as ... read more CD

Timeless club soul from Kyoto Jazz Massive groover Shuya Okino – who recruits an all star line up of guests for Destiny – and crafts dancefloor ready, string-sweetened soul and jazzy boogie styled numbers that are nice as just about anything he's done to date! Most impressively, Okina ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

The title's an apt one – as the record's the most earthy and stripped-down effort we've heard from Jair Oliveira so far – a real change from his more beat-centric albums for Trama, and a set that unlocks an especially soulful side in his music! In a way, there's a style here that's a ... (Brazil, Neo Soul) read more CD

A killer set from Omar – an artist we've loved right from the start, and someone who's never ever let us down! The record's got a great lean feel – almost a return to the modes that Omar first released on his classic material for Talking Loud – that tight, no-nonsense approach to ... read more CD

The long-overdue release of an album that should have been a Neo Soul classic! The team of Otis Cooper and Shugg David recorded this gem of a set back in the mid 90s along with help from longtime friend and producer Raphael Saadiq – but due to shifting priorities at the major label, the set ... read more CD

The first new album in years from UK soul chanteuse Mica Paris – best known for her early 90s efforts of pure soul vocals backed by popping, synth rich productions – and carrying that vibe very handily a few years into the new millenium! Mica has the class to avoid the overreaching ... (Soul, Neo Soul) read more CD

Not Pizzicato Five, but Pizzicato One – a much more intimate follow-up project from this famous Japanese group – reduced just to founding member Yasuharu Konishi, who makes some really beautiful music on the set! The record's got the sort of private, quiet vibe you'd expect from the ... (New Grooves, Neo Soul) read more CD

Wonderful work from Gregory Porter – easily one of the best new jazz singers to emerge in the past decade or so, and one whose approach is soulful enough to rival the greats of the 70s! There's echoes here of Bill Withers, Gil Scott-Heron, and Al Jarreau – and like all those artists, ... (Vocalists, Neo Soul) read more CD

Wonderful work from Gregory Porter – easily one of the best new jazz singers to emerge in the past decade or so, and one whose approach is soulful enough to rival the greats of the 70s! There's echoes here of Bill Withers, Gil Scott-Heron, and Al Jarreau – and like all those artists, ... (Vocalists, Neo Soul) read more CD

Yolanda Rabun's got a great groove here – a sound that's even tighter, warmer, and jazzier than on her previous album – with all the poise and class you'd expect from her image on the cover! The instrumentation's nice and laidback – plenty of keyboards, and less of the beats that ... read more CD

A wonderful blend of acoustic soul, gentle jazz, and bossa – a beautiful little album from Ann Sally, who you may remember as the sublime vocalist on Soul Bossa Trio's Dolphins album! The record has Ann working with small combo backing that features an acoustic guitar in the lead – ... read more CD

A pretty wonderful retrospective of Jill Scott's years at Hidden Beach – timeless, richly emotional neo classic soul from one of the leading lights of her generation! We've been fans of Jill's from the first album onward, and if you're a younger fan, this excellent collection is a great place ... read more CD

Jill Scott's a singer with a mighty generous spirit – and in addition to her own (all too few) recordings over the years, she's made some tremendous appearances on records under the leadership of other artists – a good deal of which are included in this set! Jill's not the kind of ... read more CD

Sexy soul from Rhonda Smith, a singer who's also got a great talent for playing the bass – and who brings in some great jazzy touches to this set! Rhonda's work on the bass makes the set a lot more strongly rhythmic than the work of some of her contemporaries – and often gives the best ... read more CD

Snarky Puppy find a whole new global current here – coming together in a style that mixes their usual soulful funk with a range of interesting percussion elements – in styles that sometimes remind us of our favorite creative sounds from the Brazilian or Afro Funk instrumental scene, but ... read more CD

Snarky Puppy serve up a second family dinner – and this time around, their sound is even more expansive than before – still strongly done in that warm, tight blend of live instrumentation, but also augmented with a host of global elements as well! The core style is still very soulful, ... read more CD

Snarky Puppy serve up a second family dinner – and this time around, their sound is even more expansive than before – still strongly done in that warm, tight blend of live instrumentation, but also augmented with a host of global elements as well! The core style is still very soulful, ... read more CD

Esperanza Spaulding looks more striking than ever on this album cover, but not as striking as the music inside – co-produced by Spaulding with Tony Visconti – the longtime David Bowie collaborator who really brings a sharp sort of focus to the set! Although Esperanza began as a jazz ... read more CD

Esperanza Spaulding looks more striking than ever on this album cover, but not as striking as the music inside – co-produced by Spaulding with Tony Visconti – the longtime David Bowie collaborator who really brings a sharp sort of focus to the set! Although Esperanza began as a jazz ... read more CD

The debut of a great singer on Blue Note – and one who plays her own piano and Fender Rhodes as well! Kandace Springs has a gentle style that's part soul, and part jazz – as expressive as the former at most moments, but with a lot of jazz-based phrasing in the instrumentation, which ... (Vocalists, Neo Soul) read more CD