Donald Byrd & 125th Street N.Y.C. / Gerald Levert [2024] - Everyday / The Top Of My Head [Jai Alai #JAR #14]

The second Jai Alai release this month is an unlikely and perhaps unusual combination. 

The top side is "Everyday" from Donald Byrd's "Words, Sounds, Colors & Shaped' album from 1982 with 125th Street, N.Y.C. The album was produced and arranged by Isaac Hayes. 

For more info on Byrd we did a Donald Byrd Profile for what would have been his 90th birthday in Dec 2022.

The flip side is "The Top Of My Head" by Gerald Levert from his seventh solo album "G-Spot" in 2002. Tragically, Levert died of an accidental overdose of prescription and over-the counter drugs aged just 40 in 2006 but not without leaving a huge legacy of music with his brother Sean and Marc Gordon in Levert, eleven solo albums and three LSG albums as a member of supergroup Levert, (Keith) Sweat and (Johnny) Gill.

Available now from Soul4Real.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Jazz Funk / New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Jai Alai
Cat No:	JAR14
Date:	17/04/2024
Price:	£1

Copyright © 2009-2024 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Jaheim [2023] - Just In Case / Diamond In Da Ruff [Jai Alai #JAR11]

Jaheim H. Hoagland from New Brunswick, NJ, is the grandson of singer Victor Hoagland, aka Hoagy Lands, known well to the Northern Soul community for his classic tune "The Next In Line" (Laurie 1967) in particular. Lands was born to an Afro-Cuban father and Afro-American mother of American Indian descent. His singing career spanned the late 50s to the mid 70s.

Jaheim grew up in a New Brunswick housing project, (176 Memorial Parkway Home). His father died when Jaheim was just two years old. At 15 he was a three time winner of the famed Apollo theatre talent show. Just two years after that his mother also died but he persevered and continued winning talent shows and four years later (around 1999/2000) submitted a demo tape to Kay Gee's (aka Kier Gist a founding member of Naughty By Nature) Divine Mill label (distributed by Warner Brothers). 

Divine Mill released his debut album "Ghetto Love" in 2001 and followed it in 2002 with "Still Ghetto". A third with a Ghetto title, "Ghetto Classics", appeared in 2006 which debuted at #1 on Billboards Top 200 album chart. He has released a further four since making seven albums to date, his last "Struggle Love" in 2016. Only a couple of singles have materialised since.

Soul4Real has selected a track from each of his first two albums for release on 7" on their Jai Alai imprint: "Just In Case" from "Ghetto Love" (which gained some spins on some of the hipper modern soul rooms on release) and "Diamond In Da Ruff" from "Still Ghetto". Both have seen previous 12" releases but appear on a 7" for the first time.

The single is available to pre-order from Soul4Real with a release date of 14 Oct.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Jai Alai
Cat No:	JAR11
Date:	14/10/2023
Key/BPM:	8B/101 / 2B/91
Price:	€14

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

21st Century Soul - 2002 (The Best Of)

Artwork by Roger Williams

Continuing a series highlighting top tracks for each year throughout the 21st Century on a week by week basis, here's this weeks selections for 2002.

Previous Years

2000

2001

As with previous selections, you may know many of them but, hopefully, there will be a few surprises that you may have missed or forgotten about. The ones available on Spotify are included in playlist below those not are highlighted in red below.

Steve Aggasild is absent again as he has spent the last week in hospital, thankfully getting the all clear on Monday, so once again SoulStrutter has stepped in to fill the void. There is a monster playlist of 84 selections but, as this is my last day before an Easter vacation, there wasn't time to filter it.

The playlist is simply alphabetical by artist against each individual who selected them. 

Artist	Title (Album)
Kevin Oxberry	Starpoint Radio
Conya Doss	You Really Hurt Me (A Poem About Ms. Doss LP)
Cunnie Williams	Love Or Drug (Night Time In Paris LP)
D'Influence feat. Belle Montenegro	All I Need (D'Influence pres. D-Vas LP)
Donnie	Do You Know? (The Colored Section LP)
Frayne	Aphrodisiac (Frayne LP)
Helen Baylor	Harambee (My Everything LP)
Kim Sledge	The World Is Watching (Peaceful LP)
Kloud 9	Never Know (On Kloud 9 LP)
Maysa & Phil Jackson	Angel (Club 1600 - Ridin' High LP)
Syleena Johnson	Tonight I'm Gonna Let Go (Chapter II - The Voice LP)
The Chestnut Brothers	Travelin' On (Peace Suite LP)
Tina Novak	Summertime (Been Around The World LP)
Wade O. Brown	You're So Beautiful (Complete LP)
Paul Goldsmith	Starpoint Radio
Beverley Knight feat. Musiq Soulchild	Beautiful Contradiction (Who I Am LP)
Gerald Levert	All That Matters (G-Spot LP)
Joe Sample	In A Heartbeat (The Pecan Tree LP)
Karen Clark-Sheard	Brand New Day (2nd Chance LP)
Kim Prevost	Talk To Me (Talk To Me LP)
Yolanda Adams	A Song Of Faith (Yolanda LP)
Roger Williams	Starpoint Radio
Bob Baldwin feat. James Robinson	Stay (For You LP)
Braxton Brothers feat. Ledisi	Better Than Nothing (Both Sides LP)
Camiel	Follow Her (Sunset LP)
Conya Doss feat. Zero	Heaven (A Poem About Ms. Doss LP)
Deborah Cox	Giving It Up (The Morning After LP)
Donald Lawrence	Miracle (Go Get Your Life Back LP)
Donnell Jones	You Know That I Love You (Life Goes On LP)
Fertile Ground	Seasons Change (Seasons Change LP)
Gerald LeVert	All That Matters (The G Spot LP)
Glenn Jones	Every Time (Feels Good LP)
Glenn Lewis	Don't You Forget It (World Outside My Window LP)
Glenn Lewis & Amel Larrieux	What's Come Over Me (Barbershop LP)
Jazzyfatnastees	Tumbling (Tortoise & The Hare LP)
Lathun & India Arie	When Love Came In (Fortunate LP)
Lori Jenaire	For Love's Sake (Within Reach LP)
Michelle Williams	Heart To Yours (Heart To Yours LP)
Peggi Blu	Can't Wait (Livin' On Love LP)
Ray Chew & The Crew	Feelin' It (Feelin' It LP)
Rod	She (Chameleon LP)
Seek	Everafter (Surrender LP)
Sirius B Project	Always Remember (Love Soul LP)
Sugar & Silk feat. John Reid	Love Will Follow (Duality LP)
The Bad Boy Family	You (Wow Gospel 2002 LP)
Truth Hurts	I'm Not Really Lookin' (Addictive LP)
SoulStrutter
Al Jarreau	All I Got / Feels Like Heaven (All I Got LP)
Ann Nesby	Seasons (Put It On Paper LP)
Ashanti	Foolish / Happy (Ashanti LP)
Black Coffey	Spill (Motown Advance LP)
Blaze	Breathe / One World (Spiritually Speaking LP)
Conya Doss	You Really Hurt Me / Starship (A Poem About Miss Doss LP)
Corey	Ghetto Superstar / All I Do (Feat. Michael Jackson) (I'm Just Corey LP)
Cunnie Williams	Love Or Drug / My Philosophy / Hold On (Night Time In Paris LP)
Deborah Cox	The Morning After / Givin' It Up (The Morning After LP)
D'Influence	Taste of Bitter Love (ft Romina Johnson) / La Dee Dah (ft Dee C Lee) / Dreams (ft Julie Anne Evans) / Wishing Back My Love (Ft Deed) (Present D'Vas LP)
Donnie	Do You Know / Heaven Sent / You Got a Friend (The Colored Section LP)
Elisha La'Verne	Skin (Brownsugar Mix) / Morning After The Night Before / Caught Up (Sensuous LP)
Fertile Ground	Freedom / Like Poetry / Seasons Change / The Moment (Seasons Change LP)
Floetry	Getting Late (Floetic LP)
Gerald Levert	What A Night feat. Roy Ayers / Raindrops / Backbone / All That Matters (G Spot LP)
Glenn Jones	All That You Need / In Your Eyes (Feels Good LP)
Hil St. Soul	Alright / Blue Tears / For The Love Of You (Copasetik And Cool LP)
Kelly Price	Strong Man (Jeff in C Minor) (Priceless LP)
Kem	Miss You (Kemistry LP)
Koop	Summer Sun (Waltz For Koop LP)
Laurnea	Keep Your Head Up / I Like It (New Territory LP)
Maysa	Friendly Pressure / Blue Horizon / Family Affair (Bonus Track) (Out Of The Blue LP)
Michael B. Sutton	Noboby (Hopeless Romantic LP)
Next	Brand New (The Next Episode LP)
Norman Brown	I Still Believe / Won't You Stay / Just Chillin' (Just Chillin' LP)
Oliver Cheatham feat. D-Train	Never Too Much
Pamela Williams	I Am Love (feat. Teena Marie) (Evolution LP)
Park Place	Crying For Love / Send My Baby Back (ft. Latoya London & Donnie Williams) / April Fool (The Invisible Man LP)
Peggi Blue	Go Away Little Boy (Livin On Love LP)
Raphael Saadiq	Sky, Can You Feel Me (Instant Vintage LP)
Remy Shand	The Way I Feel / Everlasting / Take A Message (The Way I Feel LP)
Ruff Endz	Sure Thing (Someone To Love You LP)
Sounds Of Blackness	Don't You Ever Give Up (Soul Symphony LP)
Syleena Johnson	Faithful To You / If You Play Your Cards Right (Chapter 2: The Voice LP)
Toni Braxton	A Better Man (More Than A Woman LP)
Tweet	My Place / Best Friend (feat. Bilal) (Southern Hummingbird LP)

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Norman Hutchins [2023] - I Really Love You / God's Got A Blessing [Izipho Soul #ZP083]

Izipho Soul has two new vinyl single releases available to pre-order which will be released on 1 Mar '23. The first is a pair of tracks by Bishop Norman Hutchins taken from two albums. 

The A side is an extended mix of  "I Really Love You" from "Where I Long To Be" (JDI Records 2006) paired with "God's Got A Blessing" from "Nobody But You" (JDI 2002) (which is incorrectly titled "Norman Hutchins" on Discogs)

Norman Earl Hutchins was born in Delaware in 1962 and started his solo music career in 1992 with the release of an eponymous album. He proceeded to release at least another eleven albums over his career with his last album released in 2013.

He started preaching at the age of 8 becoming ordained at 12 and later, aged only 19, the preacher of Hope Church of God in Christ in Delaware. When he relocated to L.A. he became music minister for COGIC before returning to Delaware to start Frontline Ministries.

His first two albums ("Norman Hutchins" (1992) and "Don't Stop Prayin'" (1993) failed to chart. After six years his next album "Nobody But You" appeared on L.A. based JDI where he would release five albums, the first three charted ("Nobody But You" and "Battlefield" in 1999 and "Emmanuel" in 2001) but the last "Battlefield: The Sermon" (2002) and "Where I Long To Be" (2006) didn't.

In 2008 he signed with IR Records for the releases of "Spontaneous Praise, Vol. 1" (2008), "God Is Faithful" (2009), "If You Didn't Know...Now You Know" (2011) and his last album "Hosanna" (2013). All charted on the Gospel Albums chart.

Hutchins has received eight Dove Award nominations and eight Stellar Award nominations, along with Grammy Awards nominations.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul / Gospel
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Izipho Soul
Cat No:	ZP083
Date:	01/03/2023
Key/BPM:	9B/94 / 12A/95
Price:	£12

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

K-Rob [2022] - 2Nite [Self Released]

A forthcoming single from K-Rob "2Nite" which has been delivered with two versions a US and UK mix ... now if I were to be being picky then the UK one should be titled "2Night" 😉

K-Rob is Keith Robertson and his last single was a cover Isley-Jasper-Isley "Caravan Of Love" which was 'controversially' covered by The Housemartins as an acapella in the UK in 1986 and was a Christmas #1 whilst the original version reached only #52 the year before. The video for it states that Isley-Jasper-Isley were his uncles and it appears that he is related to the Isleys.

The new single was in fact featured on his 2006 self-titled album and also appeared on an earlier album "2Nite" and was released with multiple versions on CDS in 2002 as his debut single and did well in the UK first time around.

The promo didn't come with any information, so whether these are new mixes for 2022 or reissues, I don't know without comparing all previous versions, but the song lengths received on promo are identical to the tracks featured on his 2006 album so I'm assuming they are reissues.

Incidentally there's a good version of Stevie's "Golden Lady" on the album.

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

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

Radio Edit US Version

UK Version

Details

Rating:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Reissue?
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	TBC
Key/BPM:	9B/102 / 9B/102
Price:	£TBC

Copyright © 2009-2022 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

The Rance Allen Group [2021] - Stay With Me / Living Witness [Jai Alai #JAR01]

Jai Alai (pronounced Hi-Uh-Li) is a new label set up by Alex Subinas who also runs Soull4Real.  Two new 45s have just been released. The first from The Rance Allen Group, the other by Ursula Ricks which I'll post separately.

The two tracks selected for release on vinyl come from their, CD only, 2002 album on Tyscot "All The Way".

"Stay With Me" has been an in-demand modern soul tune in the UK for many years and is now available for the first time on vinyl 45. It has been coupled with "Living Witness".

To order please contact Alex at soul4realrecordlabel@gmail.com

Big thanks to Alex Subinas for uploading the full versions on his YouTube channel so we can listen to the track in full.

Details

Rating:	8.6
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul / Gospel
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Jai Ala
Cat No:	JAR01
Date:	20/10/2021
Key/BPM:	N/A
Value:	€13 + postage

Tashan [2021] - This Could Be / After Hours [Cordial]

I'm a bit behind the curve on this reissue from Tasha which was released, both digitally and on 7" vinyl, on 14 Jun 2021 by Cordial. Both tracks ("This Could Be" and "After Hours") are taken from his CD only album" Life Goez On" from 2002 which now sell for around £50. (NOTE It is available digitally from his website (Web link below) as he released it on his own label Power Kingdom. You need to scroll down the page quite a bit to find it. All his albums appear to be available there).

Tasha Rashad (aka Thomas Jerome Pearse) from New York, debuted in 1986 (is it that long ago?) with his album "Chasin' A Dream" which got heavy rotation at the time and is regarded as a classic album which was ahead of it's time. If you are not familiar with the album you can listen here. I tried to embed a video of him performing one of the killer cuts "Thank You Father", which still sounds great after 35 years, but embedding is disabled for it but you can view it here.

These are two great sides which still stand up almost twenty years on. I think I slightly prefer "After Hours" but they are both good. They are only available to download on BandCamp but you should be able to get the 7" from vinyl dealers even though they are sold out on BandCamp.

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

Details

Rating:	8.7
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital/7"
Label:	Cordial
Cat No:	None
Year:	14/06/2021
Key/BPM:	N/A
Value:	£2 / £11