Month: December 2017
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Belgium Review: Lindsay Bellows “Wake To Dream”
http://www.keysandchords.com/album-review-blog/lindsay-bellows-wake-to-dream
LINDSAY BELLOWS: WAKE TO DREAM
13/12/2017
Translated:
The miracles are not out of the world. Any healthy-minded individual who dared to claim less than a few days ago that your reviewer would venture to the same R & B picture up to five times in the near future was considered ready for collocation. However, the miracle has happened. More than that, there is no “Wake to dream” of Lindsay Bellows, a young wench with dark, curling locks, who can access the CD-device on duty. Before your thoughts run wild, we call (royal plural) mitigating circumstances: the discussed work is a piece of cake.
Five numbers that undoubtedly can count on a lot of support in hip-and-trendy lounge bars. At least this is what your reviewer suspects. In the foregoing, exact science must make the thumbs up against the intuitive assumption. Subsequently, apart from a lack of expertise in R & B, there is no affinity with lounge bars of the hip-and-trendy caliber. Some research into the style of Miss Bellows, however, teaches us that she would prefer to categorize her musical adventure as folk pop with R & B vocals. If the child only has a name. This notwithstanding – the self-willed stubbornness of your servant takes the upper hand – the picture evokes associations with ‘Irreplaceable’ from Beyoncé rather than – I call it – ‘How Long Will I Love You’ by The Waterboys.
Interesting fact for the musicians among us: the graceful Bellows is a proficient user of the loop station. Layer-after-layer, with her own voice, she builds backing tracks, about which she sings the final leads. No rule without exception, for ‘Wake to dream’ Lindsay surrounded himself and assisted by a group of skilled musicians. The result is full and very professional sounding songs.
Honest … although underwriting is rather R & B-unworldly (understatement), the debut of Lindsay Bellows charmed. The fact that the disc is going to be turned gray is pulled by the hair, but it can count as an approach to the genre.
Jan Coonen (3 ½)
‘Lindsay Bellows can be described as the perfect blend between Beyoncé and KT Tunstall, looping her Beyoncé-like voice into soulful pop songs’
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Polish Review: Michael Tracy “Still Got Soul”
Artur Chachlowski , 12/20/2017
Tracy, Michael – Still Got Soul
Michael Tracy is still little known in Poland, but it’s quite well-known in his homeland American artist. His works are part of the musical trend developed by performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp. He appeared on the same stages as Bon Jovi, Styx, Foreigner, Dokken or Jefferson Starship. And I think that these names and the aforementioned names are a good indication of the style in which our hero’s work is written.
In mid-November, a new, fourth album by Michael Tracy was released, entitled “Still Got Soul” released by the newly created TW Music Group label. After three previous records, Michael decided to take matters into his own hands and he was looking for a competent producer who would give his compositions an appropriate old school rock and roll cut. Luckily, he met Bob Marlette and Sahaja Ticotin from Los Angeles, with whom he built a strong bond and started working with them on the new album material. The first effect of this cooperation was the Christmas issue, composed the previous year, entitled “Poinsettia Red”. This piece, in the form of a slightly humorous bonus, closes the program of the album “Still Got Soul”, on which we can also find 10 other recordings with a clearly song character. They fit in gracefully into the atmosphere of American stadium rock. And so they are full of pleasant melodies, incredibly catchy choruses and simple but sometimes pompous arrangements. The most interesting fragments of this release include “Laughter”, “Call Me Wild”, “Sweet Smile”, “No More Waiting” ballad or perhaps the most interesting in this set the title “Still Got Soul.”
Belgium Review: Jennifer Saran “Soulful Christmas”
http://www.keysandchords.com/album-review-blog/jennifer-saran-soulful-christmas
JENNIFER SARAN: SOULFUL CHRISTMAS
5/12/2017
American singer Jennifer Saran lives in Hong Kong. Jennifer was born as Jennifer Hill in Washington DC, but spent her childhood in Chicago. Soon her voice was noticed, after which she went to boarding school in Switzerland. There too she sang in the choir. Then she moved to Alexandria, and later to Cairo. Although she dreamed of singing, she stayed away from music, married, raised children, moved to the Philippines, Singapore and finally Hong Kong. In 1992 she joined a choir as a mezzo-soprano. Five years latershe set up a choir herself with a few other members. In 2015 her debut album ‘Merry Christmas, You Are Loved’ was released. The following year she released the successor ‘Walk With Me’, both produced and co-written with the legendary Grammy and Emmy winning Narada Michael Walden, whom you may still know from collaborations with, among others, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Sting, George Michael etc. In the summer of last year Jennifer added the single ‘Wake Up’, together with the South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo and guest star Carlos Santana. This single came from her third album ‘Wake Up’, which came on the market last summer.
And now another Christmas CD has been released, with the double single ‘Soulful Christmas’ / ‘Merry Christmas to You’. But first and foremost is the atmospheric single ‘Christmas Lover’, on which none other than the legendary Temptations sing along. The classic ‘Sleigh Ride’ gets a swinging jazz arrangement, and there are also a lot of beautiful, original tracks, which she wrote together with Narada. For example, the “traditional” ‘Soul Cake’ is dedicated to Sting. Furthermore an instrumental cover of ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ and of ‘Frosty the Snow Man’. And on ‘Christmas Delight’ Cornell sings “CC” Carter. There is already a jazz CD in the pipeline, which should be released in the spring of 2018. A very nice, soulful Christmas CD!
Patrick Van de Wiele (4)
US Review: Jennifer Saran “Soulful Christmas”
http://www.antimusic.com/reviews/17/Balsam_Range,_Sha_Na_Na_and_Jennifer_Saran.shtml
Jennifer Saran
Soulful Christmas
Tarpan Records
Saran’s 2015 holiday album Merry Christmas, You Are Loved was so successful that here she is quickly back with a new set of standards and originals. As with Merry Christmas, Saran again teams up with Narada Michael Walden who co-writes, produces and plays various instruments throughout, and he does all of those things on opening track “Christmas Lover,” a cut that features the legendary Temptations. The song is a slow jam that’s custom made for a hold-me-tight dance under the mistletoe or snuggling on the couch. “Sleigh Bells” is a jazzy ride embellished with a horn section, “Swinging at Christmas Time” moves to a finger-popping beat and girl group recalling vocals while the album’s title cut is a quiet, R&B-flavored pop cut that revels in the joy of spending the holiday with a special lover. Saran also has fun with a take on the traditional cut “Soul Cake” which she dedicates to Sting, and perhaps the best of her co-writes with Walden, the sensual “Where Are You Christmas.” Get it here.
