The Dirty Dozen - The Best Of 2022... Part 15 (Apr 2022 Wk 15) Spotify Playlist

SoulStrutter selections of the best releases this week 

(Apr 2022 Wk 15)

In no particular order other than tempo. 

I'm still catching up on the weekly selections (having taken some time off) so here's last weeks (i.e. week 15 w/e/ 17 Apr 2022). Hopefully I'll have this week's (wk 16) posted later and be right up to date. 

There wasn't a lot of great stuff around for week 15 so I haven't split them as with previous week's so there won't be a separate Neo playlist. There's a mix of everything i.e. neo, traditional, covers and retro in this playlist.

From a Neo soul perspective my pick would be AmarisJ "Seraphic Pasion" which seems to have gone by unnoticed, so highlighting it here might change that.

A real grower is the first single for a while from Meli'sa Morgan which will probably do well as it is being promoted by Gary Van Den Bussche so will have been serviced to hundreds of DJs and will no doubt feature in the UK Soul Chart in due course, and rightly so. 

Therefore, a song posted from promo on 1st Apr, released on 15 Apr on Blair Bryant's "Red  Dragon" album, which is a cover of Sade's "Kiss Of Life" featuring Beth Griffith-Manley, is this week's choice for SoulStrutter Selection of the Week as I think it may need a bit more of a push with it being buried on an album.

I've just realised that an omission from the playlist was at least one track from the Samuel Archer album "Soul Music Vineyard". However, whether this can be classified as a new release or not is debateable as it was released on Bandcamp on 1 Oct 2021 and posted on the blog on 1 Nov 2021. So is this really a reissue or a first wider issue? It is certainly getting plenty of love and is a new entry on the UK Soul Chart this week (25 Apr) at #13, so must be getting a lot of exposure after only a week from (re)release on 15 Apr.

2022

Pt 01, Pt 02, Pt 03, Pt 04, Pt 05, Pt 06, Pt 07, Pt 08, Pt 09, Pt 10

Pt 11, Pt 12, Pt 13, Pt 14

2021

Pt 46, Pt 45, Pt 44, Pt 43, Pt 42, Pt 41

Pt 40, Pt 39, Pt 38, Pt 37, Pt 36, Pt 35, Pt 34, Pt 33, Pt 32, Pt 31

Pt 30, Pt 29, Pt 28, Pt 27, Pt 26, Pt 25, Pt 24, Pt 23, Pt 22, Pt 21,

Pt 20, Pt 19, Pt 18, Pt 17, Pt 16, Pt 15, Pt 14, Pt 13, Pt 12, Pt 11, 

Pt 10, Pt 9,Pt 8, Pt 7, Pt 6, Pt 5, Pt 4, Pt 3, Pt 2, Pt 1

Playlist:

Luna Elle - Why (15 Apr)

AmarisJ - Seraphic Passion (13 Apr)

Meli'sa Morgan - Footprints Of An Angel (15 Apr)

TIME 2 B - Untouchable Lover (11 Apr)

Alyze Elyse - Breathe (14 Apr) 

Robert IMtume Owens - Don't Give Up (11 Apr)

The Terri Green Project & Randy Hall - Turnt Up Tonight (11 Apr)

Monophonics & Kelly Finnigan - Love You Better (12 Apr)

Blair Bryant Feat. Beth - Kiss Of Life (15 Apr)

Otis Kane - Free (15 Apr)

T-Groove & George Kano Experience - Lady Champagne (13 Apr)

Jayna Blackwell - That's My Song (Extended Version) (14 Apr)

NB You must be logged on to Spotify to listen in full

Bella Brown & The Jealous Lovers [2022] - Get Mine / I'm Gone [LRK Records #LRK-14]

A promo sent last week by Liam Kenney of LRK Records which I haven't got around to posting yet is forthcoming in June with pre-orders being taken in May for two sides by L.A.'s Bella Brown (Carol Lynn Hatchett)  & The Jealous Lovers.

Her website states: "Imagine a band that is Sharon Jones meets James Brown while putting a modern twist on 70s soul and funk music".

To date they have released two EPs "Get Mine" (2018) which contains three original songs and two covers "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" James Brown and "Shake" Sam Cooke. Similarly their second EP "Rocket" (2021) has two covers "I Can't Get Next To You" Temptations and King Floyd's "Groove Me".

The two tracks chosen for vinyl release are the title track from "Get Mine" and "I'm Gone" from Rocket".

I made a flippant comment to Liam that it was a shame that "I'm Gone" wasn't a cover of Eddie Parkers impossibly rare Northern Soul classic.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Nu Soul/Funk / Reissue
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	LRK Records
Cat No:	LRK-14
Date:	06/2022
Key/BPM:	8A/150 / 5A/188
Value:	£1

Elaine Stepter [2022] - Come See About Me / What Am I To Do [Jai Alai #JAR05]

The second release today from Jai Alai is from Elaine Stepter who is from L.A. and released a couple of singles "I’ll Always Be A Part Of You" (1986) and "The Sweetness Of Your Love" (1990). She had another track "Good Love" featured on "The Meteor Man" soundtrack in 1993.

She toured with Rose Royce as a backing vocalist between 1997-2007 and released her debut album "The Woman I Am" in 2007 followed by a live album "Live At The Hollywood Park Casino" which consisted on mainly Rose Royce covers. I found a live video from 2012 on YouTube of her performing Jocelyn Brown's "Somebody Else's Guy" (below).

Both tracks featured on the Jai Alai single are from her debut album. The top side "Come See About Me" on which she sound a tad like Chaka Khan and the smoky jazz flip "What Am I To Do".

Orders being taken via soul4realrecordlabel@gmail.com €14 plus postage

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul / Jazz
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Jai Alai
Cat No:	JAR05
Date:	25/04/2022
Key/BPM:	4B/94 / 11B/31
Value:	€14 plus postage

Sir Wick [2022] - Seal My Heart / I Love You [Jai Alai #JAR04]

A couple of new releases from Alex Subinas' Soul 4 Real imprint Jai Alai are released today (JAR04 and JAR05).

Jai Alai was set up last year to reissue 21st century CD only releases, or tunes completely missed, on 7" vinyl. Alex wishes it to be known that the correct pronunciation is "hi-uh-lie".

The first of the two latest is from composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Chad  'Sir Wick' Hughes from Detroit who has released two albums "An Interpretation Of A Universal Language" in 2007 and "A Tale Of Two Fools: A Novical Soundtrack" in 2017. 

This single takes a track from each. "Seal My Heart" from his debut which features Sedalia Marie and "I Love You" from his second which features Anthony Saunders from Kansas City on vocals.

Steve Hobbs writes in the promotional material that "A Tale Of Two Fools" was started in 1996 and intended as a operetta but not completed until 2017. It features a full orchestra comprising eight woodwind parts, full strings, big band brass, and seven-piece rhythm section.

Two superb sides, I hope you'll agree, which are limited edition and will be sure to sell out quickly like previous releases so grab one quickly to avoid disappointment or being held to ransom on Discogs when they're all gone!

Orders being taken via soul4realrecordlabel@gmail.com €14 plus postage

Details

Rating:	8.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Jai Alai
Cat No:	JAR04
Date:	24/04/2022
Key/BPM:	3B/105 / 5B/72
Value:	€14 plus spostage

Davion Farris [2022] - Bad Guy [Hillman Grad Records]

Davion Farris may or may not be a name that you're familiar with as he's not released a great deal of material himself, two albums and only five singles, but he's written songs recorded by Mary J. Blige, Jaheim, Trey Songz, Tyrell and more recently for Joyce Wrice on her "Overgrown" album last year.

His latest single "Bad Guy" is a couple of weeks old now, released 8 Apr 2022, and is a good soulful R&B tune.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	Y
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul / R&B
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Hillman Grad Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	08/04/2022
Key/BPM:	12A/94
Value:	£1

Desmond Parson [2022] - Resoulution [Self Released] (Full EP)

Released today (25 Apr 2022) is a three track mini EP, "Resoulution", by Desmond Parson from Washington, D.C. One track ("Possibly") was available (and posted) on pre-release from Bandcamp last week.

He's featured a couple of times on the blog with his singles "Sideline" (Apr 2021) and "Turn It Off" (Jul 2021).

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/04/2022
Value:	£2.97

Roger Williams [2022-04-24] - The SoulSorts Podcast [Podcast #04]

Roger Williams returns with another 3 hours of Soulsorts grooves. Roger has dug back through 10 years of music for some indie soul gold, forgotten and even unheard gems and skimming through the playlist there are certainly plenty of tunes new to these ears. Enjoy!

It's another walk no talk poddy letting the music do the talking!

All podcasts are available from Podomatic, Mixcloud and Amazon

Current show Podomatic, Mixcloud, Amazon

Playlist:

Dilouya feat. Omar – Over the Sun

Jarrard Anthony feat. Lonnie Liston Smith, Monet, Patrice Covington – I Love You

DamonReel – Let The Music

Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks – Get Up Lift Up Yourself

David P. Stevens feat. Tesa Williams – Play It For Me

Ann Nesby – One Of A Kind

Conya Doss – Don't Change

Anthony AK King – I Just Lose Control

Sugafunk – You're Not The One

Rob Lewis – Angel

Adrian Murray – Time to Worship

Brian Courtney Wilson – Storm in Mind

Mel Holder – Just The Two Of Us

Angel-A – Come Sunday Morning (Original Radio Edit)

Tammy Jones – God's Word

De-Ann Lott feat. Titus Starks – Top of Your Mountain

Tina Jenkins Crawley feat. Paulinho Garcia – Set You Free

Tatiana Ladymay Mayfield feat. Joel Cross – Distance

Lindsey Webster – Free

Wincey – I Remember

Marcy Brown – Tell The World

Tony Carbone feat. Lauren O'Keefe – Who's Loving You

2nd Nature – Fly Away

Temika Moore – Is It Really This Simple?

Devan Blake Jones – Should've Been Me

Xantoné Blacq – Goodbye 

Tavis Minner – Oh My

Will Downing – One Step Closer

Titus Jackson – Take It Back

Sean Hardin – Hold On

Sean Cos & The Solid Smoke – Coming Back to Me

Toney Rhodes – Therapy

Tony McLendon – Smile

Quentin Moore – Wouldn’t Give Us Up (Vday Edition)

HavMerci – Father

The A-Beez feat. Melissa Bolling – Right in Front

Djoog Music – Answer

Mike Blankenship feat. Sy Smith – I Can't Help It

Nicholas Cole – So Good

Maurissa Rose – Game

Herb Middleton feat Carol Riddick & J Wright Middleton – Beautiful Woman 

Cassandra Reaves – Stay (With Me)

Robert E. Person feat. Allyn Johnson – Come Sunday