Soul Strutter: 05/14/24

Tuesday, 14 May 2024

R.I.P. - Jimmy James (13 Sep 1940 - 14 May 2024)

We have received more sad news, Jimmy James (of Jimmy James & The Vagabonds fame) has died today aged 83. No further details are currently available.

Born Michael James Francis in Kingston, Jamaica in 1940, he recorded in Jamaica in the early 60s and had a local hit with a self-written song "Come Softly To Me" in 1962.

The Vagabonds were formed in 1960 and James joined them in 1964 and they set off to the UK, initially for a six month tour but ended up staying. They were signed to Pye Records and within a matter of weeks released their first single. An album, "The New Religion", followed in 1966, essentially an album of cover versions. Several tracks from it have featured on Northern Soul dancefloors over the years, particularly "This Heart Of Mine", a Barrett Strong song originally recorded by The Artistics on Okeh in 1965.

Their first hit came in 1968 with a cover of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" which peaked at #36 on UK pop chart (a big hit for UB40 in the 80s of course). It was another eight years before their next with "I'll Go Where The Music Takes Me" (#23) and "Now Is The Time" (#5) both in 1976. However, by this time it was a completely different set of Vagabonds as the original group disbanded in 1970 and were replaced by white musicians.

The group supported many acts in the mid 60s including The Who, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Sonny & Cher. Their second album was a live album recorded at The Marquee Club with The Alan Brown Set. "London Swings - Live at the Marquee Club". They continue to perform to this day undergoing various changes in personnel.

One of Jimmy James' favourites on the Northern Soul scene is "A Man Like Me" produced by Biddu and released on Stateside in 1972. Below is a live recording of it from 2004 along with a limited playlist as his digital material is scant but there was a recording "Live On Air 1966-1969" which sounds like live radio broadcasts, from which we've taken a few cover versions.

We found footage of him performing in May 2022 at a weekender at Butlins, Minehead, performing a cover of The Tams "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" at a spritely 81 years of age.

UPDATE: We have subsequently found a 2003 compilation "Sock It To 'em J.J. - The Soul Years" which appears to have most of his 60s and early 70s recordings, 49 tracks in total including 7 live recordings.

Bilal feat. Questlove, Robert Glasper & Burniss Travis [2024] - Something To Hold (Live) [ONErpm]

The upcoming album from Bilal is a live recording of a set he did in Dec '23 at The Glasshaus, NYC, in front of 100 invited guests but it was also live streamed.

The set consisted of reimaginings of songs of his career performed alongside Robert Glasper, Questlove, Common and bassist Burniss Travis

The album, "Live At Glasshaus", is due for release on 14 Jun but in the meantime he's released “Something To Hold (Live)” as the lead single along with a live video recording of it.

Bilal began as a member of the Soulquarians collective. He recorded a demo tape which secured a recording contract with Interscope. His breakout single, "Soul Sista", (included on the new album) was his first release for the label and reached #18 on the Billboard R&B chart in 2000. He released his debut album "1st Born Second" in 2001.

His sophomore album "Love For Sale" (recorded between 2001-2003) was a departure from his last and Interscope refused to release it and ultimately it resulted in the parting of ways. However, an unfinished mix of the album was leaked in 2006 and gained an underground following but has never been officially released.

The new album (including "Love For Sale") will be his sixth and first since "In Another Life" in 2015. The lead single is from the unreleased "Love For Sale".

He has announced a North America Fall Tour today which consists of 16 dates in October. (dates and venues on image below). Tickets go on pre-sale on tomorrow (Wed) 10:00 (EST) and general sale on Friday 10:00 (EST).

Album tracklist:

01 - Something To Hold (Love For Sale 2001/03)

02 - All Matter (Airtight’s Revenge 2010)

03 - All For Love (Love For Sale 2001/03)

04 - Reminisce (1st Born Second 2001)

05 - Funky For You (Common's "Like Water For Chocolate" 2000)

06 - Soul Sista (1st Born Second 2001)

07 - Interlude: Questlove’s Story

08 - Sometimes (1st Born Second 2001)

09 - Interlude: Common’s Gratitude

10 - Humility (new song)

11 - Levels (Airtight’s Revenge 2010)

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

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

Click to enlarge

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	ONErpm
Cat No:	None
Date:	10/05/2024
Key/BPM:	3B/94
Price:	£1

DJ Niceness [2024-05-14] - Neo2soul Playlist The Vibes 49 (Female Takeover Pt 47)

We find lots of new music daily but don't have the capacity to post them all. So, we've begun collaborating with DJ Niceness (aka Godfrey Fletcher) on his Neo2soul podcasts passing weekly playlists of neo soul releases we have found, some posted but many not.

Godfrey creates a regular 3 hour neo soul podcast that is syndicated around the world:

WVRO (USA) Mon/Wed/Fri 6 pm UK (weekly)

WHTL 95.2 FM (USA) Mon - Fri 9:30 am UK (weekly)

Golddust Radio (UK) Sun 2 pm UK (Monthly)

Pulse Int'l Radio (USA) Thur & Sat 4pm (weekly)

It's impossible, with the number of releases each week, for anyone to find everything so hopefully we can help provide some that perhaps he may have missed for inclusion so that they gain exposure.

Here's his latest selections:

Playlist:

Artist	Title
Bianca B-Lo ft J Soulja	Keep On
DionRacii	Party Don't Start
Stina Flamingo	All I Need
Sio	Autumn
Casaundra	Mama
Carrie Baxter	Woman
ZYAH	Let Me Want You
Noa Lauryn & Maddy Moreah ft DAVIES	Ringing With Love
Iris Moon	Mystery
Kristal	Here & Now
Aalina Tabani	I'm Onto You
G.E.S	Burdens
Laricia	Stop Writing Love Songs
TAYLOE	FREAK'n
Grace Ajilore	Tit for Tat
MiXXi	Room Service
The KYN ft Brionne Aigné	Kiss Me
Kaiit	Space
Savaiah	old routines
Jayh	Janeè...Letting Go
Yaya Bey	Iloveyoufrankiebeverly
Skye & Caleb	Snow Days
Honey Blu	Through
aylexxi	iwasntgondoitthough
Lisa Jacobs	Lowkey, right?
9days	MOROCCO
Ariel & Relyae	Time
Myea	HANDS ON
Raveena	Pluto
Angie Petty	Many Onlys
Cyd Chevaghn	Solitude
SAFA ft Jwalt	Casual
Aaria Tae	P.O.F
K.$OUL ft Mahogany Jones	Crown
HNY	Interstellar
B Alyse	Wishful Thinking
Moody Bank$ ft Kaelin Ellis & Xar	Love Me
IBI HAN	talking to myself
RUVA	Far Away
MALIYA	Just like that
Bee-B	I Feel Good
Sharin Attamimi	Nothing's Wrong?
Yaznia	Tender
Emalia	U.F.O.
Amber Lee	Race
Jewel Chang	Desperate
fraen	help yourself
Kai Azana	Sinking
Sophia Bromberg	chili
Talibah Safiya	You're Ok
MAKI ft Jaja Soze	REDDOTS
Spring The Artist	WhatchuOn
Ari Skies	Ghost
Crate Classics & Nia Chennai	Silly Littles Lies
DWN	Run
Solfe	goodbye love
Anna-Marie Johnson	Mr Elusive
London Mckoy	Numb
Aunt Comet ft Jesse James Solomon	Play Pretend
CALIGUZ ft Béatrix Kiddo	Good
Siobhan	I Need
Dani Dash	Session 148
MEI-LI	Waiting
Nao Yoshioka ft Jarreau Vandal	My Love

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

Only last week we posted the title track ("Spring Will Never Be The Same") from this new 7 track EP by T.J. Wilkins & Bubbs released today.

In addition to the title track, "2 Good" has also been released as a single on 2 April. The title track is still our standout but hot on it's heel is "Come On Back" and "Fantasy".

Both artists are from L.A. and T. J. Wilkins (Trijean Wilkins) 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:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	EP
Media:	Digital
Label:	SWNBTS Music
Cat No:	None
Date:	14/05/2024
Price:	£6.93

Frase [2024] - Can't Stop the Rain [Self Released]

Frase is singer, DJ/producer & multi-instrumentalist Fraser MacDougall from Montreal.

He released his debut album "Daggers & Shields" in Sep 2015 and has since released two more, the latest "Good Dreams" in Nov '23.

His first new music since then is a single "Can't Stop the Rain" released today which is a blue-eyed, pop soul/funk tune influenced by Daft Punk.

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:	7.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Blue-Eyed
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	14/05/2024
Key/BPM:	6A/112
Price:	£1

D.Yale [2024] - A Time To Bloom [Self Released] (Full EP)

Following her first album "Love Inflection" in Oct '23, D.Yale has released four songs individually as singles today, but on her website they are bundled as an EP "A Time to Bloom".

D.Yale is Danyale Williams Davis from Mobile, AL, and the songs on her first album were a reflection of her published book of poetry and prose "Lyrical Inspiration".

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:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	EP
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	14/05/2024
Price:	£4