Son Little makes wonderful rhythm and blues and soul. He’s grown from the seeds that he planted with his 2015 debut self-titled long-player, which heralded the roots of this music, to construct new funky soundscapes for his sophomore effort, New Magic (due out September 2017). Blue Magic is from that soon-to-be-released LP. Working as both a singer, songwriter and musician as well as a producer, Son Little has toured with diverse acts such as Shakey Graves and Mumfort & Sons to name just two. In 2016, his production talents won…
Read MoreAnderson East combines his gravelly voice to rhythm and blues on Learning and what you get is a moving (as in “keeps your feet moving”) horn-filled phenom. Learning is from Anderson’s fourth-coming sophomore long-player, Southern Family, preceded by the wonderful Delilah. It’s been a while since Vodka has been excited about an artist on a major label. Often, it seems that artists get picked up by major labels only to disappear or become less accessible. It’s always a disappointment for me to follow an artist who struggles along making great music, have…
Read MoreSemi-frequent visitors to Vodka are Snarky Puppy, who play a very special combination of mostly jazz with pop styling thrown in that is simply wonderful, are back. Here from their latest long-player, We Like It Here, (February 2014) is the wonderful Latin and rhythm and blues flavored Shofukan. I encourage you to visit other Snarky Puppy tracks on Vodka; The track that got things started for me, Thing Of Gold and the more recent Amour T’es Là, from the wonderful Family Dinner –…
Read MoreCombining rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, funk and hip-hop styling may sound crazy, but The Lonely Biscuits make the blending of these styles into a style all its own on Butter. To say that it works is an understatement! Butter’s 3:20 seconds seem incredibly short, because you want more when it’s all over. Originally formed in 2011 as Gravy and The Biscuits, The Lonely Biscuits sound fresh and new. They also are amazingly accomplished, from the beat-poet in Grady Wenrich (a.k.a., Gravy…
Read MoreEvery once in awhile on Vodka, you are going to get a surprise. For instance, Pharrell Williams is not one of the struggling artists that we normally feature. Mr. Williams is a successful, Grammy award winning musician, beat maker, entrepreneur and force for ecological change. In short, he’s made a name for himself and probably doesn’t need my promotion. That said, Happy (the single from Despicable Me 2) is so fun, so friendly and so, well, happy, that it deserves special mention. Pharrell Williams…
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