Jessie Ware’s ‘That! Feels Good!’ Is Horny and Accomplished
Jessie Ware has continued her disco success with That! Feels Good!, which is somehow even more potent than its predecessor.
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Laura Nyro’s Springtime Gem ‘Nested’ at 45
Recorded while pregnant with her only child, Laura Nyro’s Nested is an unabashedly feminist and feminine work of laid-back, springtime bliss.
Kimi Djabaté’s African Pop Moves Hearts and Hips on ‘Dindin’
Kimi Djabaté’s Dindin is an invitation to fellowship for Africans and beyond and a call to take care of unfinished business with kindness and compassion.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones Confront Fatherhood with ‘Angels in Science Fiction’
St. Paul & The Broken Bones’ Angels in Science Fiction confronts the idea of being a father and bringing a child into a world as frightening as ours.
William Bell Continues Creating Timeless Soul Ballads
Soul legend William Bell sings and writes about love and relationships in a traditional way that reveals the constancy of the need for human connections.
Booker T. & the M.G.’s Defined Themselves with ‘Green Onions’
Soul/funk group Booker T. & the M.G.’s might have stumbled onto their best song with “Green Onions”, but this album defined the entire Stax Records sound.
Barbara Blue Sings the Blues for These Times on ‘From the Shoals’
Barbara Blue’s From the Shoals is your basic gutbucket, spill my heart on your sleeve blues, recreating Memphis blues with a cosmopolitan sensibility.
Rock ‘n’ Stroll: Robert Cray’s Blues Stormer ‘Midnight Stroll’
Robert Cray plays subtly with basic blues convention on Midnight Stroll, turning it into a brand-new face for listeners who have heard it all before.
Jarrod Dickenson Does More Than Talk the ‘Big Talk’
Jarrod Dickenson points the way to a better world over a country rock soundtrack. His music suggests we can all boogie to wherever life takes us.
Ruthie Foster Sings to the Choir and with Them on ‘Healing Time’
The desire for personal love, secular community, and religious redemption make for a powerful package on Ruthie Foster’s Healing Time.
Parliament’s Peak: ‘Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome’ Turns 45
The climactic album in Parliament’s space opera about Starchild, Dr. Funkenstein, and Sir Nose d’Voidoffunk, Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome, remains their best work.
British Jazz Artists Offer Takes on Blue Note Catalog with ‘Blue Note Re:imagined II’
Blue Note Re:imagined II 2022 showcases a diverse cast of young British soul, R&B, and jazz artists drawing inspiration from past masterworks.