Valerie June – The Moon and Stars

 

Title: The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers
Artist: Valerie June
Label: Fantasy
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: March 12, 2021

 

Valerie June’s The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers is an amalgam of genres, referencing 1960s psychedelia, 1980s pop, gospel, Americana, and especially Memphis soul. The connection to Memphis, where June began her career, is evident throughout, from an appearance by Carla Thomas to sessions recorded at Sam Phillips Studio and Royal Studios. Like this album, Memphis is a melting pot of styles, and the instrumentation on The Moon and Stars is just as diverse as its stylistic influences—from lush strings to horns, pedal steel, and banjo. Jointly produced by June and Jack Splash (Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, John Legend), the fourteen tracks of original music have all of the elements necessary to guarantee success.

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Judith Hill – Baby I’m Hollywood

 

Title: Baby I’m Hollywood
Artist: Judith Hill
Label: Regime Music Group
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: March 5, 2021

 

Many may be familiar with Grammy-winning artist Judith Hill through her work with Michael Jackson, or any number of other artists ranging from Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder and John Legend to the late Andraé Crouch. Hill was also one of the featured backup singers in the Academy Award winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (2013), and that same year she made it to the finals on The Voice. Yet despite these successes and a debut album co-produced by Prince, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is still struggling in her pursuit of a career in music. Hill’s new project, Baby I’m Hollywood, speaks to the highs and lows of life in the spotlight, and so much more.

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Dominique Fils-Aimé – Three Little Words

 

Title: Three Little Words
Artist: Dominique Fils-Aimé
Label: Ensoul Records
Format: CD, LP, Digital
Release Date: February 12, 2021

 

JUNO Award-winning singer-songwriter Dominique Fils-Aimé expresses her eclectic interpretation of soul music in her latest album, Three Little Words. Produced, arranged, and mixed by the acclaimed producer Jacques Roy, this project combines a multitude of sounds, themes, and cultures, creating a album that is both powerful and thought-invoking. The 15 tracks feature heartwarming melodies, inspired lyrics, and beautiful arrangements that provide a window into Fils-Aimé’s soul while also seeking to enrich the soul of the listener. Scheduled to release during Black History Month, the album is the final installment in the artist’s trilogy exploring the roots of African American musical culture.

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December 2020 – January 2021 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released December 2020 and January 2021 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.

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Sade – This Far

Title: This Far
Artist: Sade
Label: Legacy
Format: 6-LP vinyl box set
Release Date: September 2, 2020

This Far, the new Sade vinyl box set, offers brand new half-speed masters, courtesy of Miles Showell at Abbey Road. The first of its kind, this set includes all six of the soul singer’s acclaimed albums on pure 180-gram black vinyl. Showell worked from high resolution digital transfers of the stereo master mixes and from the original analog studio tapes, resulting in exceptionally clean and detailed audio that remains faithful to the band’s intended sound.

Reviewed by Chloe McCormick

Aloe Blacc – All Love Everything

 

Title: All Love Everything
Artist: Aloe Blacc
Label: BMG Rights
Formats: CD, Digital  
Release date: June 25, 2020

 

Platinum-selling singer, songwriter, producer, and activist Aloe Blacc has released his fifth and latest studio album, All Love Everything. Full of warm, nostalgic sounds, soulful vocals, and an inspiring chorus, Blacc delivers heartfelt, yet grounded, melodies that pull the listener into emotions of love, loss, and many of the in-betweens.

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Valvin “V” Roane – Image a Nation

 

Title: Image a Nation
Artist: Valvin “V” Roane
Label: BBE Music
Format: Digital  
Release date: October 2, 2020

 

Philadelphia R&B/soul singer, songwriter and producer Valvin “V” Roane is making his return with Image a Nation, his first full-length project with Barely Breaking Even (BBE Music) in 15 years. In collaboration with production partners Jontae Slade, Andre Capers and Yameen Allworld, V creates an album that colorfully illustrates the changes in the world around us through both the lyrical and melodic structures within the project.

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The Staple Singers – Let’s Do It Again

 

Title: Let’s Do It Again
Artist: The Staple Singers
Label: Omnivore
Formats: CD
Release date: June 5, 2020

 

In June, the reissue label Omnivore released four expanded editions of classic albums by the Staple Singers, including Family Tree (1977), produced by former Chi-lite Eugene Record; Unlock Your Mind (1978), produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett at Muscle Shoals; and Pass It On (1976), produced by Curtis Mayfield. The fourth release was another Curtis Mayfield production—the soundtrack to the 1975 film, Let’s Do It Again, which featured an all-star cast led by Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Ossie Davis and Jimmie Walker. Recorded three years after Mayfield’s critically acclaimed soundtrack for Superfly, Let’s Do It Again used many of the same personnel from his Curtom house band: Mayfield on lead guitar, Joseph “Lucky” Scott on bass, and Master Henry Gibson laying down the funky conga and bongo parts. The album represented the Staple Singers’ first post-Stax Records release, and features five songs and three instrumentals that Mayfield composed for the film.

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Maceo Parker – Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo

 

Title: Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo
Artist: Maceo Parker
Label: The Funk Garage
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: July 10, 2020

 

Saxophone legend Maceo Parker returns with his first album in eight years, Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo. Parker is best known for his work with the James Brown band and later with Parliament/Funkadelic. Although his solo recordings date back to the 1960s and 1970s, his current solo career really begins with the release of the Roots Revisited album in 1990.

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Chris Jasper – For the Love of You

 

Title: For the Love of You  
Artist: Chris Jasper 
Label: Gold City 
Formats: CD, MP3 
Release date: June 1, 2020 

 

Keyboardist, songwriter, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Chris Jasper has had a very extensive and successful career, recording 12 albums as a member of the Isley Brothers, in addition to 16 self-produced solo albums. Jasper has now taken a step back to reflect on some of the greatest compositions he wrote for the Isley Brothers from 1973-1983 in his most recent solo album, For the Love of You. This project is comprised of some of the group’s biggest hits, such as “I Once Had Your Love,” “Go For What You Know,” and the title track “For the Love of You,” a smooth and romantic rendition of the original mid-tempo track. The album also contains covers of R&B and pop classics including Sam Cooke’s “Nothing Can Change This Love,” Marvin Gaye’s “God Is Love,” Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately,” Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful,” and Diane Warren’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”  

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Summer 2020 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during June, July and August 2020 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.

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Mourning [A] BLKstar – The Cycle

 

Title: The Cycle 
Artist: Mourning [A] BLKstar 
Label: Don Giovanni 
Formats: Limited ed. CD, LP, Digital 
Release date: May 5, 2020 

 

The Cleveland, Ohio-based funk and soul collective Mourning [A] BLKstar is a “multi-generational, gender and genre non-conforming amalgam of Black Culture dedicated to servicing the stories and songs of the apocalyptic diaspora.” Boldly confronting themes of racism, oppression, and injustice, the group’s albums reflect the reality of living in a world that is all too frequently hostile to people of color. Their previous release, The Garner Poems (2018)was a eulogy to Eric Garner and the many other victims of police brutality past and present. M[A]B’s new double album, The Cycle, is yet another epic and thought-provoking addition to the group’s catalog. Set as an 18 movement song cycle featuring vocalists James Longs, Kyle Kidd and LaToya Kent, the group envisions the work as “a humble addition to the long legacy of James Baldwin’s adage of the artist as witness.” 

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May 2020 Black Music Releases of Note

Following are additional albums released during May 2020 across multiple genres—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves.  

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José James – No Beginning No End 2

 

Title: No Beginning No End 2  
Artist: José James  
Label: Rainbow Blonde  
Formats: CD, LP, Digital 
Release date: March 6, 2020  

 

José James’ No Beginning No End 2, a sequel to his 2013 Blue Note debut album, resurrects the eclecticism audiences first fell in love with. Back then, the singer-songwriter was transitioning from Verve Records to Blue Note, and the new release finds James shifting to his own Rainbow Blonde label. ”There’s this beautiful cycle that’s happening again,” James explains. “This essence of it is what I wanted to get back — the idea of courage, freedom, real quality music that’s made without boundaries but still had a cohesive quality. That’s what I did on the first (No Beginning No End), and this one feels the same way.” With No Beginning No End 2, James pays homage to a multitude of musicians who inspired him.   

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