"From Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and now Atlanta, Georgia Anna
Barnes is a RnB singer songwriter. Her music is similar to the styles of
Amy Winehouse, SZA, as she brings old school soul vibes with a new RnB
trap soul twist."
New album from Tonio Armani titled 'Intimacy' was released 1 Feb 2021 which is
predominantly R&B but does have a couple of tracks of interest to
'soulies', deep soul ballad 'Bring Your Love 2 Me' and neo soul/R&B '2
Be Loved'.
New forthcoming release on Miami's Mango Hill label from Thee Lakesiders is
due 26 Mar 2021, yet the 7" vinyl single is already sold out on pre-order!
It is 3 years since they started posting their music on YouTube. They released
their debut single in Aug 2018 with
'Parachute' on Big Crown.
It has come to my attention that YouTube videos don't play when viewing the
blog on mobile phones so now, wherever possible, I'll embed links to
Spotify, BandCamp, SoundCloud or other sources as these do seem to play on
mobiles.
After the latest release on Resense (Slick Walk - Young Jazzy which is a
reworking of Soulful Strut) I decided to investgate their back catalogue and
found this. It's another 'mash-up' released in 2007 which is essentially Johnny
Jones & The King Casuals 'jazzed up' and tagged as Jazz.K.Lipa.
'Purple Haze', of course, is a Jimi Hendrix psychedelic rock track released in 1968 on Reprise, the same year Jimmy Jones & The King Casuals recorded it.
It was an 'unlikely' Northern Soul monster sound c1975/76, so much so that it
was reissued twice in UK on Brunswick and Manchester's short-lived Cream
label in 76.
Here they are side by side for comparison.
Johnny Jones And The King Casuals [1968] - Purple Haze [Brunswick
#55389]
The King Casuals were orignally formed in 1962 as The King Kasuals by Billy Cox and Jimi Hendrix. Johnny Jones replaced Hendrix in the mid 60s.
There are stories that Jones was Hendix's mentor but the story changes between different sources so you can read and decide which story you believe. Ponderosa Stomp, Nashville Scene, Wikepedia.
I note from the label that it was produced by William Bell for his own, Atlanta based, Peachtree label. Their previous single was released on Peachtree and Brunswick, but as far as I am aware 'Purple Haze' was never released on Peachtree (and Cat. No.'s back that up) but may have been recorded there and nationally released on Brunswick only.
D'Influence
were a British acid jazz band and production team from the 90s (even though
they used the US spelling for Hypnotise). They had a UK Top 30 hit with a
version of Michael Jackson's
'Rock With You'
(written by Rod Temperton (Heatwave)) in 1998.
The featured track reached
#33 in UK pop chart in 1997 and was taken from the album 'London' which has
some other great tracks on it so is well worth checking out.
By now Brian Power and Lucy Jules will be riding high in UK Soul chart with
their version of Sounds Of Blackness 'Optimistic' from 1991. Here's a recent
version by Zepherin Saint (Dean Zepherin) Feat. Ann Nesby & G3 from 2015 which was only
available digitally.
Ann Nesby
was the original singer with Sounds Of Blackness before she embarked on a
solo career in 1996.
This is the shortened promo video version (4:10) released by Tribe
Records.
Originally released last year, and now remixed by Michael Gray, is a Rod Temperton written, Quincy Jones produced song which, of course, was a huge hit for George Benson back in 1980 from his 'Give Me The Night' album and was the follow up single to the album's title track. It is one of 3 top 10 UK hits for Benson, the other being 'In Your Eyes' in 1983.
This is the full length vocal remix, the other two mixes are the radio edit
and the instrumental released 22 Jan 2021.
Another new artist name to me, and more AOS / Deep Soul. All I can find
is that they are from Fresno, Texas, from their
Reverbnation
page which has four other tracks of the same ilk posted there.
Canadian singer/songwriter Sharon Musgrave, who had a UK Top 10 hit with
Bass-O-Matic 'Fascinating Rhythm' in 1990 (which she co-wrote), released a 5 track EP 'Jewelweed
Part 1' on 29 Jan 2021.
The standout track is 'A Whole New Bag'. If you head over to her
website
she is providing a free download of 'Giving You Everything (Original Mix)'.
Jazzy update to Young-Holt Unlimited's 'Soulful Strut' by Slick Walk
released 23 Jan 2021 and the 7" vinyl already sold out! ... so you know what
to do ... pay the 'ransom' on
Discogs if you want it on vinyl!
Written by Eugene Record (Chi-Lites) and Sonny Sanders and was, of course,
the backing track to Barbara Acklin's vocal version
'Am I The Same Girl'
(Brunswick #55399] the same year.
