Today is Friday, January 27th, 2012

MUSIC REVIEWS from T-Mad’s Music

This is not your typical music review section. Since this site deals with classic soul and funk and so forth, I will feature either a new or recently released CD or an older release which I consider good music that may have slipped under the radar and was ignored when originally released.

BETTY WRIGHT & THE ROOTS
Betty Wright: The Movie
© 2011 Ms. B Records

The return of Florida-based soul vocalist Betty Wright, and a solid return it is.

Backed by Philadelphia-based hip hop/neosoul band The Roots, Betty Wright checks in with a CD chock full of soulful and funky nuggets. Fourteen, in fact — taking up almost the full capacity of an audio CD.

The opener is a nice ode to her “roots”, if you will. Old Songs pays homage to classic soul and funk music and talks about the days of enjoying them on 8-track and vinyl (I know — foreign items to anyone younger than thirty).

Real Woman is a message to the brothers to get themselves a real woman so they can be real men. It features a very short but unobtrusive rap from Snoop Dogg which fits right in the pocket.

Don’t Change The Play (In The Middle Of The Game) is typical Betty Wright, which is nice and funky. Next is Surrender, a song that could easily have fit in any of her seventies output. A true testament to the soulful playing of The Roots.

Grapes On A Vine follows and talks about how people should not give up on each other just because other people want to gossip about you. This song has a short rap in the middle which I could have done without.

Folks, Betty Wright doesn’t need rap in her music to sound good. But, again, it is for the most part unobtrusive. This shows that she is being allowed to be who she is as a soul artist and that no one is trying to change her sound or her style, which is good.

Next is Look Around (Be A Man), a moderate tempo funk jam that could have worked easily in the eighties but does not sound dated at all. Tonight Again follows and I surmise that it is intended to be a modern follow up to her 1978 classic Tonight Is The Night (That You Make Me A Woman). A nice, funky groove.

Next comes Hollywould (not a typo), which has a rolling, soulful groove and deals with a girl named Holly who is lost to the streets. This song also features a rap which fits in very well.

Whisper In The Wind is a nice, moderate tempo jam where she says is that all our love has been, a whisper in the wind. Next, she checks in with a mellow, soulful ballad with The One. Again, my hat is off to The Roots for some truly nice instrumentation on this one. Truly, they know their subject well on this collaboration.

Now it’s time to get funky again with a nice duet, Baby Come Back, complete with some funky drumming. So Long, So Wrong follows and sounds like it could have followed such classics as No Pain, No Gain and After The Pain.

You And Me, Leroy follows and is another soulful, moderately funky masterpiece.

The CD closes with a live performance from last year by her, simply titled Go!, about abuse in a relationship. A near-ten-minute opus from her which sounds hauntingly wonderful.

Simply put, this CD is 100% solid from beginning to end, and it’s not often that I can say that about CDs today any more. There is not one single filler song on this CD whatsoever.

GO BUY THIS CD!!!

MUSIC-RELATED LINKS

This section will now feature ten random music links for you to check out.

Dead Rock Stars Club
A very tasteful and reverent tribute database of thousands of deceased stars involved in music in one capacity or another whether it be as singer, songwriter, musician, famed promoter, label owner, band manager, or famed talk show host with ties to music. Well organized, been around for a long time. Accepts feedback if you have info on someone who passed away that is not on the database and, upon validating the info, promptly adds it to the database site.

Marlon Saunders on MySpace
My wife and I greatly enjoyed seeing and interacting with this neosoul singer, who started out with the band Jazzhole. Check out a soulful talent.

N’Dambi’s MySpace Page
She started out as Erykah Badu’s backup singer before coming onto the scene as a solo artist in the late nineties. Now on her third CD, check out soul singer N’Dambi, who I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with, at MySpace.

Tammy Harris of RootSoul
R&B singer Tamara Harris recently graced the pages of the blog area at T-Mad’s Music. She is a great talent in the 21st century with a new CD out titled “Natural Vibe”. She first came onto the scene in 2004 with the CD “Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down”. Check out her website.

Soulive on Soul Patrol, Co-Hosted by T-Mad
Yours truly, T-Mad, had the pleasure of co-hosting the Labor Day Weekend edition of Soul Patrol’s Internet radio program with “Nighttrain” Bob Davis. The featured artist is jam band Soulive, who have joined the newly relaunched Stax record label. Listen to the hour-long show here.

Soul Patrol
From the ancient to the future. Get some enrichment about Black music and culture at this site from a fellow classic soul and R&B lover—music, news, and more.

Dawn Silva/Brides Of Funkenstein on MySpace
An old friend of T-Mad’s Music from the early days of the website (and current friend on MySpace), P-Funk alumnus Dawn Silva has been giving the funkateers what they want when they want it and they want it all the time! Check out her MySpace page for the latest happenings with her.

Official Stevie Wonder Site
Follow the “innervisions” of this beloved Motown legend.

PianoPlayerWorld.com
Teach yourself how to play the piano with downloadable lesson eBooks and a series of lesson CDs.

Official Jennifer Hudson Site
Let’s show some love for the one-time American Idol contestant and current Dreamgirl. She’s a Screen Actors Guild winner, an Oscar winner, a Golden Globe Award winner, and a Soul Train Achievement Award winner. Find out the latest about Jennifer Hudson.