Way back in January of 2013, Vodka reviewed a sunny bit of Winter warmth from CosmoSoul called Sunny Days from the band’s 2011 long-player, Sunrise. The band, with beautiful soul and r&b vocals provided by Alana Sinkëy, is still out there and released their third long-player, Walk, in 2017. On The Road (seen/heard here) gives you a snap-shot view of that long player and the diversity of the music within. Alana’s vocals here are as wonderful as ever, but listen to the music! On The Road’s instrumentation owes as much…
Read MoreMusically accompanying a 1963 short film by Roman Davydov called “Shareholders” The Souljazz Orchestra, offering up an additional socio-economic and political commentary of their own, hammer home a decidedly poignant opener to their latest long-player, Under Burning Skies (September 2017) with Dog Eat Dog. Musically powerful and funky, this band is making a danceable statement about our world gone horribly wrong-not in 1963-but today. The Souljazz Orchestra has been making great music for 15 years. Their sound is a blending of soul, jazz, afrobeat, and more. The Canadian six-piece,…
Read MoreSon 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…
Read MoreSomething that may not have been talked about much on Vodka is the resurgence of soul music, packaged in the influences of today’s genre’s hair-splitting nuances. Yep. Edmonton Canada’s own Tanika Charles sings soul music. She has the pipes and conviction to sell it as soul. It encompasses so much more than just that one genre’, but in the final analysis, it is soul, and soul that you can get your mind around. Here on the title track to Ms. Charles first long-player, Soul Run (April 2017), she…
Read MoreNew Venusians (self-titled long-player March 2017) combine alternative sensibilities with funky beats and a hip-hop soul to create a truly fresh sound, fronted for the most part by the beautiful high soprano vocals of talented Meklit Kibret. On their debut release, the beats and bass are a powerful influence, providing an ever-present metronome to the infectious melodies here. Present, too, are elements of vocal and instrumental jazz, making the overall sound complex but very accessible. You can find information on New Venusians from their Facebook about page. They do…
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