DJ Grizz- Disco Soul part 2

OK, I know I'm posting on a Monday again but I've no work today! So... seemed a good time to share some soul, then have a big fried breakfast, jump in the motor and off to do some vinyl diggin' in the record shops of London! Thats what passes for a perfect day in my book!!

Following on from Mr SoulNRnB's suggestion I've dug up some of that soulful boogie/disco stuff myself to give you 'Disco Soul part 2'. No Bee Gees here though, these are all bone fide heavy underground soul club 'get down' boogie tunes from back in the day.

The mix features amongst others- The Players Association, Samona Cooke (daughter of soul legend Sam) covering the Real Thing, and Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes as no disco soul section would be complete without some Phillidelphia Records offering.

SoulNRnB's back at the weekend with some upfront gold and I'll return next week with some quality 60's movers 'n' shakers.

Grizz

http://rapidshare.com/files/369525431/discosoul2.mp3

Tracklist in comments.

SoulNRnB's Disco Soul

OK, so Grizz goes and strays into modern territory with his New Funk Special (Check it out BTW) and so I go and stray into an area he knows all too well. DISCO.

Not that cheesy, cowbell ringing stuff, but the Soulful stuff that made people want to dance and sing back in the day. Listening to this shows you where the influences for most of todays Soulful House tunes came from.

So, forget about Boney M and the like and give this mix a go. A great version of Ashford and Simpsons "Bourgie Bourgie" (Made famous by Gladys Knight), a classic tune from the Salsoul Orchestra and the great NYCC with "Ill Keep a light in my Window" and much more.

Im hoping that Grizz will take up the mantle and give you a Volume 2 of his own as there are many many nuggets stored up in that mans crates!!

Tracklist in Comments

SoulNRnB's Disco Soul

Some new stuff from me next week, then something special the week after. Till then, Grizz will keep you satisfied!!

DJ Grizz- New Funk Special

And now for something completely different! Not only am I posting a day early (I'm off to the game at West Ham tomorrow night) but I'm posting some upfront tunes!!!

Now I'm known as a bit of a musical snob amongst my music digging mates 'cos although I've amassed many thousands of Soul/Jazz/Reggae LP's, 45's, Cd's & MP3's its virtually all from the mid 60's to the early 80's. The whole New Jack, House, Hip Hop, Garage, RnB etc scenes just passed me by despite Mr SoulNRnB's sterling efforts to keep me knowledgeable.

There is however one recent musical trend that has perked my ears up and got me buying stuff from the noughties and that's New Funk. Bands that have gone retro, can play a bit and bang out some solid tunes with a heavy nod to their 60's n 70's influences. The likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Bamboos, The Soul Investigators and many more have taken up the torch and all feature in this one off special mix.

Now that I've left my musical comfort zone for once I wonder what Mr SoulNRnB has in store later this week???

Grizz

http://rapidshare.com/files/366781565/newfunk.mp3
Tracklist in comments

Introducing...............Maria Bentley.

Special post this weekend!

Got an email regarding a new UK artist asking me to check out some tunes.

Now, this blog is all about helping new artists, especially from the UK, but the music's GOTTA HAVE SOUL. So...took a listen, and let me tell you, I was mighty suprised.

5 top tunes, full of soul, Maria's vocals reminiscent of a more soulful Macy Gray.

"Back to me" bounces on a jazz/soul groove whilst "Do you think of me" rides on Gene Harris' "Latin Funk Love Song". "Dont wanna Talk" and "Fallouthematics" are nice mid tempo soul tunes.

So, decided to put up a special post for you all to check out with the lady's blessing, see what you think. Comments appreciated, and understand, these are demo's (Unfinished masters) so allow some of the raw production qualities.

Maria is performing live next on March 28th UKSoulJam Easter Special at Jazzcafe, London, UK.

More info on this gig is on:

GiG Info


Heres Maria's tunes. Enjoy and comment!

Introducing.......Maria Bentley

SoulNRnB's Great Producers SIX: Leon Ware

As promised, another delve into the crates for more great production, composing and arranging from a seventies Icon thats still working to this day.

Leon Ware was a prolific writer producer for Al Wilson, Syreeta, Jerry Butler back in the day, but he really hit the heights with his writing and production work on Marvin Gaye's seminal "I want you" LP.

Classic song writing and production followed, and Leon still works to this day as proved on his collaboration with Steve Spacek as shown on this mix.

If I was to say that this man has been in some way involved with the following songs, you may understand my gushing:

Minnie Ripperton - Inside My Love

Michael Wycoff - Looking Up To You

Leon Ware - Rockin you Eternally..................to name but three.

This mix explores just a few of his tunes from the 70's, to the 80's, to the 90's (For Maxwell) to the present day.

Tracklist in Comments

SoulNRnB's Great Producers SIX: Leon Ware

DJ Grizz- Soul Niceness 12

The 12th installment in the niceness series and the quality ain't letting up, trust me! Jean Carne, Isley Bros, and Leroy Hutson all making an appearance. Also the Philly duo- Bell and James with a track that was covered by Me and You and had a big UK reggae hit with it.

Feel free to leave your comments, requests are welcome... if we've got it- we'll post it!

Grizz

http://rapidshare.com/files/364187768/nice12.mp3

Tracklist in comments

James Poyser - SoulNRnB's Great Producers FIVE

In my last post I mentioned that James Poyser had produced Erykah Badu's new single. Thought I would put a mix together to show off the talent of one of Neo Souls inventors...and probably somebody people have been unaware of?

James Poyser's name first got bandied around for his work with The Roots and Common, Hip Hop acts with more soulful credibility than most RnB acts of today. His soulful productions for them were simbiotic - His Soul productions carried that Hip Hop flavour or aesthetic.

Productions on Erykah Badu and D'angelo LP's followed, and his part in the Neo Soul movement (A very un-hip tag nowadays it seems) is now part of History.

James has worked with some of the great Soul artists of our day: this mix includes Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Will Downing, Eric Benet to name a few. I couldnt run a series on great producers without adding him to the list as number 5.

So, thats James Poyser, Marc Mac, Raphael Saadiq, Kashif and Jam and Lewis. Looks like I need to go back in time to the 70's for the next one.......Grizz - Get the DeLorean Ready!

Tracklist in comments.

SoulNRnB's Great Producers FIVE - James Poyser

DJ Grizz- Mellow Groove 2

For those of you who appreciate their soul and jazz on the chilled side and following on from Valentine Soul Mix, here's Mellow Grooves 2. Contains laid back tunes from Earth Wind and Fire, The Dramatics, and Sharon Jones (yes a recent track from Grizz!!!!) plus the usual smattering of hard to find 70's/80's goodies.

See ya next week (tracklist in comments as usual)

Grizz

http://rapidshare.com/files/360941314/mellowgr2.mp3

PS Get well soon Mr SoulNRnB, hope Mrs SoulNRnB is waiting on you hand and foot!!

SoulNRnB's Street Sounds Sessions Volume ELEVEN

As promised a few posts back, a real hot mix of up to date tunes.

Included is the brand new Erykah Badu joint, Window Seat, where she gets back to the vibe of her first 2 LP's - Produced by James Poyser (Who worked on those classic LP's).

As if that weren't enough - How about some nice RnB from Joe, Beyonce (Some decent unreleased stuff from her has been floating about), and Ne-yo.

For the more soulful, there are great tunes from RL (A doozy), Rico Love, and a Jay Dee produced track from Ishe.

Ive said it before, there's not much in the way of soul in modern black music, but we will do the digging and you lot can enjoy!

Tracklist in Comments.

SoulNRnB's Street Sounds Sessions ELEVEN.rar

DJ Grizz- Jazz Juice Special

After the Northern Soul and Soul Boy/Jazz Funk scenes of the 70's and eary 80's came another underground movement based on good grooves - the jazz dancers. From the late 80's through the early 90's London clubs like The Wag, Dingwalls, Blue Note, to name a few, played jazz-funk, fusion, latin and old hard bop tunes to a an eager crowd including some wicked dancers.

Capturing the big tunes on the scene a series of LPs came out- Jazz Juice 1 - 8, and heres my mix of my favorites from those albums.

Enjoy!

http://rapidshare.com/files/357941681/jazzjuice.mp3

Grizz

Tracklist in comments.