Soul Strutter: 05/09/24

Thursday, 9 May 2024

Fred White feat. Tia P [2024] - People Make The World Go Round [Self Released]

Fred White may not be a name that you are familiar with but he has a wealth of experience dating back to the 80s.

He's toured with Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin as well as pop artists such as Phil Collins, George Michael, Rod Stewart; recorded with Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Teena Marie, Patti Austin, George Benson, Phyllis Hyman, EWF, Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Johnny Mathis, Patti LaBelle, Oleta Adams, Kirk Whalum and written songs for: Diana Ross, Oleta Adams, Patti LaBelle, Howard Hewett and even Smokey Robinson.

He now has his own single out, a cover of the Thom Bell and Linda Creed song "People Make The World Go Round" feat. Tia P first recorded by The Stylistics' in 1971. The song has been covered many times since, first by Michel Jackson and then by others such as Stevie Wonder, Phil Perry, Angela Bofill and perhaps most recently by Raquel Rodriguez & Stan Taylor on their "Sunday Best Volume II" in Feb '23.

It's not yet available on the main DSPs but you can purchase it direct from Fred White's website.

UPDATE: 10 May It is now available on the main DSPs.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.1
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Cover Version
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	02/05/2024
Key/BPM:	9A/75
Price:	£1

BJ The Chicago Kid [2024] - Noochie's Live From The Front Porch Presents: BJ The Chicago Kid

One of our favourite songs of 2023 was an album track "Never Change" by BJ The Chicago Kid on his "Gravy" album (9 Nov '23) which featured Phillip Bailey (EWF). So it was a pleasant surprise to come across a live performance of it included on Noochie's Live From The Front Porch Presents: BJ The Chicago Kid along with four other songs:

Never Change 0:43

Church 4:57 (In My Mind 2016)

Smooth 7:00 (Three EP 2021)

Turnin’ Me Up 8:58 (In My Mind 2016)

Turn Your Lights Down Low (Bob Marley cover) 11:48

BJ has recently opened for Ledisi on her "The Good Life Tour" and is currently touring with "The Gravy Tour" (dates/tickets in link) promoting his "Gravy" album which kicked off in Washington D.C. where he recorded this performance.

BJ The Chicago Kid is 38 year old Brian James Sledge, not surprisingly from Chicago, who has been active since 2001 co-writing David Hollister's "For You". His vocals first appeared on Kanye West's "Impossible" in 2006 to promote the movie "Mission Impossible III".

His debut solo album "Pineapple Now-Laters" didn't materialise until 2012 which won him a contract with Motown. He has subsequently released a further two albums, "On My Mind" in 2016 and "1123" in 2019, both on Motown and "Gravy" last year.

As Bailey doesn't actually appear on the live video, and because we love the song so much, we've included the official visualiser video for "Never Change".

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

Details

Rating:	N/A
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Live
Media:	Video
Label:	N/A
Cat No:	None
Date:	06/05/2024
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£N/A

Lisa Jacobs [2024] - Lowkey, right? [The Tune Park Records]

New UK based artist born in Amsterdam with German-Norwegian roots, Lisa Jacobs, releases her second single, "Low key, right?", on 3 May following her debut single, "Wildflower" (1 Mar), which has a jazz guitar solo towards the end.

Both have that blue-eyed neo soul vibe.

She is currently working on a debut EP due later this year.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul / Blue-Eyed
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	The Tune Park Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	03/05/2024
Key/BPM:	1B/87
Price:	£1

Brownstone [2024] - Stand by Me [WIRF MEDIA]

Brownstone were formed in L.A. in 1993 consisting of the trio of Monica "Mimi" Doby, Nicole "Nicci" Gilbert, and Charmayne "Maxee" Maxwell. Their debut single "Pass the Lovin'" hit the R&B charts, but the follow-up "If You Love Me" became a big hit, reaching #8 on Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for a best R&B performance Grammy Award.

Their first album, "From the Bottom Up", went platinum. Additional singles "Grapevyne" and "I Can't Tell You Why" (an Eagles cover) also did well and they had two further hits, "5 Miles To Empty" and their last in 1997 "Kiss And Tell" (music video below).

Mimi left the group in 1995 due to health problems and was replaced by Kina Cosper. Their second album, "Still Climbing", was released in Jun 1997 (and contains a nice cover of Alicia Myers (One Way) "If You Play your Cards Right" never released as a single). Maxi died in Feb 2015 from an accidental fall.

They released their first new music in 25 year in 2022 with the single "All I Want" and now a new single, "Stand By Me" (not the Ben E. King song), which we believe is an unreleased song that first saw light of day in 2012 as a remix on Soundcloud and sounds very MJB'ish to our ears!

There are two versions, the main and a Radio Edit, which are both the same length so one may be explicit but the Radio Edit sleeve also states that it's remastered, so we've posted that version.

The current line-up is Nicci Gilbert, Arin Jackson, and Alexis Jones who joined in Dec '22. They are working on a third album "Back Again".

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.1
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	WIRF MEDIA
Cat No:	None
Date:	03/05/2024
Key/BPM:	4A/100
Price:	£1

T.J. Wilkins & Bubbs [2024] - Spring Will Never Be The Same [SWNBTS Music]

A fine, timeless, soul ballad, "Spring Will Never Be The Same", from T.J. Wilkins & Bubbs was released at the end of April and is similar to the sound created by October London on "Rebirth Of Marvin". It's the lead single from an EP of the same name due on 14 May.

If you don't get this on first listen then we urge you to persevere as we really hope that it grows on you as it has us and we can't stop listening to it!

Both artists are from L.A. and not surprisingly T. J. Wilkins (Trijean Wilkins) cites his influences as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Usher and Elton John. He was a finalist in The Voice season 6 in 2014 mentored by Usher. Since the show he has worked with Stevie Wonder, The Jacksons and Beyonce and now strikes out on his own with a debut album, "Feature Presentation" released in Jan '22.

T.J. is also a stage actor currently starring as Barak Obama in "44: The Obama Musical".

Producer, multi-instrumentalist Bubbs (aka Gabriel Steiner) comes from a background in jazz and soul and has been releasing his own music since 2019. An early collaboration was with Stan Taylor (Raquel Rodriguez) and their single "Since I Had You" has received approaching 4.5m streams on Spotify alone.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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

Details

Rating:	8.75
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	SWNBTS Music
Cat No:	None
Date:	23/04/2024
Key/BPM:	3B/128
Price:	£1