Soul Strutter: 02/01/23

Wednesday, 1 February 2023

The Jazz Ambassadors [2023] - A Change is Gonna Come [Video]

Today marks the start of Black History Month, a month of recognition established to honour the contributions of Black Americans to the United States.

The US Army Field Band, The Jazz Ambassadors have recorded a video of a cover of Sam Cooke's eternal classic " A Change Is Gonna Come" performed by Sgt. First Class Kyra Dorn.

Details

Rating:	8.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Classic Soul / Cover Version
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Video
Cat No:	None
Date:	01/02/2023
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£N/A

Remembering Dennis Edwards (The Temptations) (3 Feb 1943 - 1 Feb 2018)

Dennis Edwards was the replacement for the errant David Ruffin in The Temptations in 1968. He was born on 3 Feb 1943 and died on 1 Feb 2018 just two days before his 75th birthday. Before his death he performed as The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards originally called Dennis Edwards & The Temptations which was legally disputed by Otis Williams so the name was changed.

It has been reported that he died from meningitis but there has been some controversy / conspiracy theory over the cause of his death which I won't publish for legal reasons but a web search should easily find information.

He was born in Fairfield, AL, just outside Birmingham where other Temptations members (i.e. Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Kell Osbourne (who was a member of The Primes but left before the other members merged with The Distants to become the Temptations) hailed from. Also from the same vicinity was David Sea who joined Edwards in The Temptations Review.

Edwards moved with his family to Detroit aged ten and as a teenager joined The Mighty Clouds Of Joy (a local group Not the L.A. gospel group). He studied strings, harmony and saxophone at The Detroit Conservatory and between 1962-65 did military service.

Returning to Detroit he performed in clubs singing mainly Motown hits. He formed a group Dennis Edwards & the Firebirds and released a single on International Soulville "I Didn't Have to (But I Did)" / "Johnnie on the Spot" in 1966. The label was owned by Frank Brown and was the only release on the label. It was reissued on Soul City (UK) in 2004 to satisfy the demand from the Northern Soul crowd.

Whilst performing in clubs he met many Motown artists and Funk Brother bassist James Jamerson suggested he should audition for Berry Gordy. He attended an audition and Gordy liked what he heard but had no positions for him so signed him on a work contract, essentially a retainer, so he couldn't record elsewhere and would be available when a position arose. After a couple of years with no recordings Edwards asked to be released as Holland, Dozier, Holland had just left to set up Invictus and were keen to sign him. As it turned out Billy Gordon of The Contours had taken ill and was in hospital so Edwards was asked to replace him. That is Edwards' recollection but others say that Gordon got into trouble with the law and Levi Stubbs' (Four Tops) brother Joe Stubbs stepped in to record (what is now one of their Northern Soul biggies) "Just A Little Misunderstanding" before he joined The Originals and was then replaced by Edwards.

Whilst on tour with The Contours two of the members had been taking drugs in a hotel room and there was an altercation and someone was stabbed. The police were called and the whole group was arrested. No charges were pressed but Edwards told Motown that he could no longer perform with the group. He recorded only one single that was released, "It's So Hard Being A Loser" / "Your Love Grows More Precious Everyday" in 1967.

The following year in June he was recruited by The Temptations to replace David Ruffin after which The Contours disbanded. During this period Norman Whitfield and, the very recently departed, Barrett Strong started working with the group and introduced them to psychedelic soul. His first recording for the group was taking lead on Grammy winning "Cloud Nine", Motown's very first Grammy. They also won another for "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" on which he was also lead.

Edwards was fired from the group by Otis Williams in 1977 being replaced by Louis Price just before they left Motown for Atlantic. He attempted a solo career at Motown but returned to the group in 1980 when they re-joined Motown and stayed until 1984 until he was fired again and replaced by Ali-Ollie Woodson.

In Jan 1984 he released his first solo single with Siedah Garrett "Don't Look Any Further". It reached #2 R&B, #74 Hot 100 and was a big club hit in the UK reaching #45 on the UK pop chart. He followed it with "(You're My) Aphrodisiac" which got to #15 R&B but didn't cross over. Another single in 1984, "Another Place In Time" didn't chart and just two further solo singles followed in 1985 "Amanda" (#77 R&B) and "Coolin' Out" (#23 R&B). Whilst at Motown he released two albums on Gordy "Don't Look Any Further" (1984) and "Coolin' Out (1985)

In 1987 he re-joined The Temptations replacing Woodson who would then return in 1989 to replace Edwards.

Kendricks and Edwards recorded an album at Frederick Knight's studio in 1989 but the only song that escaped was "Get It while It's Hot" which featured a rap by DA Smart in 1989. Kendricks recorded a song of the same name in 1976 but it's not the same song.

At around the same time Ruffin, Kendricks & Edwards planned to tour together as the former leads of The Temptations. However, Ruffin died in 1991 of an accidental drugs overdose and Kendricks the following year from lung cancer.

From the 90s he toured as Dennis Edwards & The Temptations which was legally disputed by Otis Williams so the name was changed to The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards. The group still continue to tour as The Temptations Review with David Sea taking Ruffin's role. The group released a live album in 2001 "Live At Casino San Pablo".

In 1993 he also released an album, "Talk To Me", on Three Gems which was owned by Roy C Hammond (of "Shotgun Wedding" fame).

It is alleged that Edwards dated Aretha Franklin who broke it off when she discovered that he was having an affair with Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters who he married in 1977 and had a daughter (Issa) with in 1978. He later married his wife Brenda who he was with until he died.

Kent released a compilation of Contours and Dennis Edwards material which featured 12 unissued tracks "Just A Little Misunderstanding - Rare And Unissued Motown 1965-68" in 2014. The first half of the playlist below are taken from there, along with a few classic Temptations songs on which he was lead and some of his 80s solo material.

Ria [2023] - Take Me [Self Released] (Full Album)

An album, which according to the sleeve, was originally released in 1999 but all the DSP's are stating 2005. Ria (Curley) reissued "Take Me" on Bandcamp yesterday (31 Jan '23). This is possibly because she has some new material coming in 2023, an EP/album and singles before then.

Most of the songs still sound fresh, some more than others. Highlights, for me, on first listen include "Can You Bring Me Flowers?", the mellow "Ready 4 Luv", "Baby Do U Mi-is Me?" and a nice little jazzy stepper "Love In Your Eyes", but there are plenty of other good tracks.

Ria Curley is a singer/songwriter from New York and has been writing since the age 12 and performing from 15. She is married to jazz pianist/composer Chuck Lamb (Brubeck Brothers Quartet).

Thanks to Kevin Oxberry for bringing this to our attention to share with you.

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Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	31/01/2023 / 1999
Price:	$15

Steve Miggedy Maestro [2023] - Fool's Paradise (MS III Disco Funk ReSlap) [Miggedy Entertainment]

Multi-talented Chicago DJ, producer, singer, musician and label owner Stephen Maskall, under one of his aliases, Steve Miggedy Maestro, has come up trumps with a great new version of Rufus & Chaka Khan's classic "Fool's Paradise" (with a MS III Disco Funk ReSlap) which surprisingly was never released as a single featuring only on their second, self-titled, album "Rufus featuring & Chaka Khan" in 1975.

The song was written by Gavin Christopher who was a member of a group named Lyfe created by Cash McCall of which Chaka Khan was also member. It was whilst with Lyfe that she met, and later married, Hassan Khan. Apparently she was asked to replace Baby Huey in Baby Huey & The Babysitters after his death in 1970 but the group disbanded a year later. She joined Rufus in 1972 who caught the attention of Ike Turner who invited them to L.A. to record at his studio. Whilst there he asked Chaka to become one of his Ikettes but she declined.

Maskall is from Chicago, raised by his Belizean parents, and took guitar and piano lessons and sang in choirs until he was introduced to the Hot Mix 5 and Prince and strived to produce and DJ. He commenced his DJ career whilst in the Army also playing guitar, bass, keys and drums in many bands during his military career.

Returning to Chicago after his military service in 1991 he secured a mix show jock position on Chicago station WGCI in 1993. He later set up a label selling his instrumental downtempo tracks on CD. Upon the advice of a label executive he met who suggested that he set up a label rather than selling remixes he formed Miggedy Entertainment and released an EP "Belizian Voodoo Priest" in 2012.

He last featured on these pages last November under the alias Morttimer Snerd III with "Dance, Dance, Dance" which was a reworking of Archie Bell & The Drells' "Let's Groove".

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Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Classic Soul / 70s Soul / Remix
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Miggedy Entertainment
Cat No:	None
Date:	14/01/2023
Key/BPM:	2B/121
Price:	£1

David Brinston [2023] - Woman in Love [Delta Down Creations]

David Brinston was born in Marks, MS, in 1959 and grew up singing gospel with his siblings. In his thirties he started recording solo material. His first single seems to be "Love Maker" on Labro in 1992. Labro was a label set up by William Brown and only one other single released was by Carl Sim in 1988 but they released a CD album "Love Maker" by Brinston. Marshall Jones wrote/co-wrote five of the songs and produced the album. He also owned Memphis label Jomar where Brinston recorded a single and another two albums in 1995 and 1997. He has released many more albums since with fourteen appearing on Spotify and another from 1999 that isn't.

He signed to Malaco in 2005 after they heard him opening for Marvin Sease and they released "Rockin'" on the Waldoxy subsidiary. He later moved to Memphis based Ecko Records where most of his albums have been released since.

He has a new single "Woman In Love" self-released on 16 Jan.

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Details

Rating:	7.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Southern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Delta Down Creations / Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	16/01/2023
Key/BPM:	4B100
Price:	£1

Carlos Budd Ford [2023] - Across The Pond [The Secret Art Society] (Full EP)

Carlos Budd Ford featured here last Feb with two singles released on the same day (22 Feb '22) "Say Less" and "Side By Side". Prior to that he seems to have only released a soulful house tune "Set The Mood" and an album "There's Only One Me" from which it was taken in 2019. He subsequently released another soulful house style song "Life Is What You Make It" in Apr '22.

"Say Less", in particular, was well received 'across the pond' and in appreciation for the response he has received in the UK and Europe he has named the title of his new EP "Across The Pond" to be released this Friday (3 Feb '23) in advance of an album "The Definition of R&B" which is due in May '23. The six track EP contains the two singles "Say Less (Fleetwood Mix) and "Side By Side"

He writes:

"The concept for "Across The Pond" started with me wanting to show appreciation to the fans and DJ’s who embraced me along my musical journey throughout the UK and European entertainment scenes respectively. Whether it be radio play, interviews, streams or downloads, they came through for me in a big way. As an emerging artist from the U.S., the success I garnered from that region was exhilarating, well appreciated, and truly valuable. When we Americans generally speak of The UK and Europe, they are affectionately referred to as “across the pond.” I received so much love and support from them that I was inclined to give back. Thus, here we are. As we worked to complete this project, we began creating an array of different styles of music that touched on jazz, blues, R&B, and pop. This project of six songs is the setup for an album project entitled "The Definition of R&B" which we plan to release in May 2023. We are steadily creating and are looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on".

Carlos is originally from Kansa City but now lives in Toronto and was once signed to Uptown (MCA), producing for Jeff Redd, and Ruffhouse (Columbia) and was lead vocalist of a New Jack Swing group Four Sure with Joey Elias, Livio Harris and Damon Thomas (who was married to Kim Kardashian) who released an album "We Can Swing It" and a couple of singles from it in 1993. He has also worked with Adina Howard and CeCe Penistone.

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Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	EP
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	03/02/2023
Price:	£TBC