A SoulNRnB K-Tel Mix - Butterflies

Whilst crate digging for tunes for another mix, i came across three tunes in a row that centered around the butterfly, including the excellent ballad from Bilal's new LP that features one Robert Glasper. Digging deeper I found that there were many songs that were based around the creature and decided to let that be the theme of this K-Tel mix.

Some absolute belters here, and stylistically we run the gamut of soul, jazz funk, house and boogie...... Just check out the artists featured:

1.Osunlade
2.Jamiroquai
3.Natalie Williams
4.Greg Diamonds Bionic Boogie
5.Kimiko Kasai Feat. Herbie Hancock
6.Monday Mirchu
7.MAW Feat Patti Austin
8.Myron
9.Sounds of Blackness
10.Eddie Henderson

Enjoy this random mix, I'm back with more upfront music for you next week.

A SoulNRnB K-Tel Mix - Butterflies

DJ Grizz- Soul Versions Rebooted

As promised- time again for a selection of well know tunes covered by quality Soul and Jazz artists.

10 tunes including a 1973 Isley Brothers version of the 1972 Doobie Brothers hit, MFSB founding member Norman Harris discos up Stevie, David T Walker does Sly Stone, a version excursion of one of my fave Bobby Womack tunes by Leo Muller and then a suprisingly good blue eyed soul take by laid back rocker James Taylor,  an original Ruby and the Romantics version of a tune made famous by both Eddie Holman and the Stylistics (so not strictly a cover but hey....!), and finishing with a Jazz take on an Earth Wind & Fire classic. Plus 4 more crate dug covers to explore.

See you for more Rare Groove- same time, same place next week after Mr S brings you bang up to date.

Grizz

 http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/95113468/file.html


Isley Brothers- Listen to the music
Norman Harris- I wish
David T Walker- Hot fun in the summer time
Leo Muller- Woman’s gotta have it
James Taylor- Woman’s gotta have it
Ramsey Lewis Trio- Got to be there
Ruby & the Romantics- Hey there lonely boy
Charles Hilton Brown- Aint no sunshine
The Two Things in One- Walk on by
John Tropea- Can’t hide love

SoulNRnB's Street Sounds Sessions 101

We've had Lovers rock, 80's, a Donald Byrd tribute, your great musical selections and much more in recent weeks. So how about we catch up on whats new?

Street Sounds 101 contains a great mix of known artists and newcomers; and whose better known than cover star Prince whose been releasing a few tunes of late, really harking back to his 80's work and "Breakfast can wait" is no exception; Bilal features with another track off his "Love Surreal" LP which is out next week; PJ Morton enlists the harmonica skills of one Stevie Wonder for the "Only One" and there's a remix of one of ZO's! tunes from the forthcoming Foreign Exchange remix LP "The Reworks".

Add to that new talent such as Rippy Austin's brokenbeat "L.O.V.E", new Gospel supergroup United Tenors that feature the likes of Eric Roberson and Dave Hollister, and Elli Ingrams great mashup of Kendrick Lamar's "Poetic Justice" with its Janet Jackson source.

A great showing of new music for you to all sink your teeth into until Grizz's Version excursion at the start of next week.

SoulNRnB's Street Sounds Sessions 101

DJ Grizz- Soulful 80's 18

Another week, another top notch mix full of the old school good stuff- its 80's 18.

Plenty of Soul music big hitters in this one. Kicking off with Mystic Merlin, includes a quality 2 stepper from Gwen Mcrae, 80's ever presents Denise Lasalle and Dynasty feature and finishes off with Grover Washington proteges Pieces of a Dream.

Mr S back midweek and i've another Versions mix up at the weekend.

Grizz

 http://www59.zippyshare.com/v/4823560/file.html

Tracklist in comments

The Soul Mixtape's #RequestLine

So we asked our Twitter and Facebook friends and followers to select some songs to feature on a mix as an experiment and you came up with something a bit special in my opinion. The problem was always going to be the diversity of styles and finding a common thread in the mix, so if that's lacking, its my bad.

Where there is no doubt is in the quality of the selections; Some suggested artists or producers rather than songs and I took the liberty of selecting a track. For example, @twaynamayne wanted something from producer ARIF MARDIN, and I selected a rare and soulful Chaka Khan stepper; @Bassheaddred selected a tune from Positive Flow we had already featured, so I selected another tune from the same LP; Ditto @elliotworldwide choice of an Anthony Hamilton tune; And @FunkyMusak just wanted something from producer/artist Leroy Burgess, so I chose again.

Hope you enjoy the mix, by our friends for our friends, and maybe we will try it again sometime this year? What you think?

The Soul Mixtape's #RequestLine

DJ Grizz- Soul Niceness 47

Morning Bloggers (well its morning in East London). Please help yourself to another installment of old rare groove and hidden soul- its Soul Niceness 47.

We kick off with 2 from the funk side in Van Scott and Funkhouse Express, big hitters Curtis and Smokey feature, 'Don't You Care' songstress Alice Clark chips in, and finishes with a nugget from Mixed Emotions.

Theres a little bonus extra on the Donald Byrd tribute post with a re-up of a Byrd mix I posted a couple of years back. I'm down with the 80's next week after Mr S' upcoming Request Line show.

Grizz

http://www46.zippyshare.com/v/46823623/file.html

Tracklist in comments section

RIP - Donald Byrd

You know I resisted. I don't like writing these RIP posts and Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, lead singer of the Ohio players passed away. I left it to others to sing his deserved praises. Then, earlier this week, Cecil Womack (One half of Womack & Womack, brother of Bobby, writer of Teddy's great "Love T.K.O") passed away. I succumbed slightly and tweeted the bad news.

But then, at the age of 80, One of my gateways into Jazz passes away. Donald Byrd. I can't let this one go silently.

An esteemed trumpeter, Byrd  joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at a young age, going on to perform with many leading jazz musicians of the day, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonius Monk, and later Herbie Hancock. 

But my relationship to Byrd is rooted more in his ’70s Blue Note recordings, especially when he hooked up with the Mizell Brothers on production. 

He teamed up with producer-writers Larry and Fonce for Black Byrd in 1973. It became Blue Note Records' highest-ever selling album. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Byrd, Street Lady, Places and Spaces and Stepping into Tomorrow, were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples for many Hip Hop tracks. Most of the material for the albums were written by Larry Mizell. In 1973, he created The Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music", "Walking In Rhythm", and "Rock Creek Park".

Although Donald continued his musical career thereafter, which also included teaching, it's his 70's period music that turned me onto jazz. A mixture of jazz, funk and soul, I'll be forever indebted to Donald and the Mizell brothers for expanding my musical horizons with such seminal works.

Below are a few of the classics Donald leaves for us. R.I.P Mr Byrd.

SoulNRnB

UPDATE:


Grizz has re-uploaded his Donald Byrd Artist mix. Get it here: Donald Byrd - Artist mix

The Artists - Blaze

Back in 1990, I was introduced to Blaze by one of the guys in my local record store. Initially, I was reluctant to listen to the LP he recommended, "25 Years Later", as all I knew of them where that they were "House" and that's not what I was into. And indeed, half the LP was House music, albeit more soulful than I had heard before, but the other side...... that was soul music proper. "All that I can say" just blew me away. Then I found out that they were signed to Motown which encouraged even more respect for the group. There started my love for the soulful side of house music, which led me on to others like Masters at Work, DJ Spinna, Nathan Haines, Elements of Life, Reel People etc etc. Looking through my record collection shortly after buying the LP, I realised that they had done a corking remix of Lisa Stansfield's "People Hold On".......

Blaze was formed by Josh Milan, Kevin Hedge, and Chris Herbert. Herbert introduced Milan, a member of his church choir, to Hedge, his childhood friend. Ironically, Herbert was the one who left the group in 1991, leaving Milan and Hedge to keep working together.

When the group started, Herbert was the singer, with Milan playing the piano, and Hedge on production. After Herbert left, both Hedge and Milan started to share production duties, vocals, and playing most of the instruments of the group's tracks and albums.

Blaze released its debut album, 25 Years Later, in 1990, after which Herbert decided to move to a more R&B-oriented career, while the two remaining members invested in the emerging club culture, opening a nightclub called Shelter. Remix duties on tracks thereafter were often named the "Shelter Mix".

Since then, Blaze released many albums, sometimes under other guises (James Toney Jr. Project; Underground Dance Artists United for Life), alongside many compilations of  productions and works and countless singles. The group also began working with other well-known names such as "Little" Louie Vega, Barbara Tucker, Jody Watley, and Full Intention.

Josh Milan has gone on to form the Honeycomb record label recently, of which the last compilation album featured on our best LP list of 2011.

Soulful House pioneers, mixing Gospel, latin, afrobeat and soul to a dance beat, Blaze deserve a featured place on our Artist mixes.

Grizz back with some rare groove on Sunday, and ill be showcasing the #RequestLine mix; Where our Twitter followers picked the tracks that feature. Very interesting stuff!!

The Soul Mixtape Presents - The Artists - Blaze

DJ Grizz- Lovers Rock22

In case you are looking for an excuse to do a little 'wind n grind' on an otherwise quiet Sunday - heres Lovers Rock 22.

10 more soul filled reggae tunes from the days of blues parties and dancing with your back against a wall. Kicks off with a Smokey cover by Sonia Ferguson, includes a trio of British Lovers Rock royalty in Dee Sharp, Paulette Walker and Janet Kay and topped off with one of the smoothest reggae singers of the 60's and 70's- Slim Smith.

Back next week with another rare groove installment after Mr S and a midweek artist mix.

  http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/7825862/file.html

Grizz 

Tracklist in the comments section