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Albums of The Month – July 2016

New Releases

Gregory Porter’s label-mate Kandace Springs heads our top albums of July with a soulful jazz debut while Incognito are back with exactly the kind of set you’d expect from these funky, jazzy soul veterans: lots of uptempo feelgood grooves and some classy mid tempo moments too. Will Downing’s silky Soulful voice lends itself to this album featuring 10 classic Smooth Soul cuts while Maxwell returns with the 2nd installment of his BlackSummersNight trilogy. For fans of Memphis soul don’t miss the William Bell and Beverly Night albums, while those looking for an aural challenge the Laura Mvula and Jacob Collier albums are diverse and modern. Eli Paper Boy Reed has unleashed a phenomenal album of red raw, gritty funk and R&B that is rooted in gospel and sounds like something excavated from 1962 America, James Day contrasts this with some super slick, well produced new soulful dance while jazz is again well represented by the likes of Warrne Wolf, Kenny Garrett, the threesome of Murray, Allen & Carrington and Kim Waters among others.

Reissues and comps

Our own Wood, Brass And Steel reissue is out now (vinyl only though a CD issue is coming out later from the original label) good two-on-ones come from Mass Production and The Dells while Barry White/Love Unltd’s soundtrack ‘Together Brothers’ is well worth a look, as are the Azmuth, Ohio Players and Undisputed Truth CDs. Harry Beckett’s ‘Still Happy’ (Vinyl only) is unmissable for funky jazz fans while the late Chicago Soul historian known to most as ‘Boba’ is remembered through the excellent ‘Sitting in The Park’ compilation lovingly crafted as ever by Numero. Chris Sullivan’s ‘The Wag’ compilation is an epic 4cd set spanning the myriad musical styles played at the club while Soul On The Real Side returns for a 5th volume with another classy selection of latter day and current modern soul.