Home Of The Brave
|
Please click on
|
Martha Redbone is not a name that
many in Europe will be familiar with, but through the technology that is the Internet I
had come across it on several occasions previously. I
was delighted therefore when this CD landed on my doormat giving me the opportunity to
discover what this rising star is all about. Its
front cover is quite simply a lovely photograph of a very lovely girl. Clearly she is black but with something oriental
about her features. She is wearing a simple
white woollen hat and bearing the most delightful smile.
She immediately struck me as exotic and virginal, but she is blessed with
more than just good looks. Every song on the
album she has written herself, in collusion with her co-composer A. Whitby. There are two things about modern
soul that drive traditionalists like me to distraction.
The first is the contemporary practise of “oversouling”, artists who
over-screech and over-wail or excessively use melisma as a substitute for genuine feeling. There is not even a hint of this practise in
Martha’s laid-back approach. Quality
singers don’t need such devices and Martha’s appeal is that she doesn’t
waste any time with any of them. The second
is the use of programmed music to replace true musicians.
On this album Martha employs four guitarists, a drummer, a bass player, trumpeter,
a keyboards player and a strings player. There
is evidence of programming, but it is all tastefully done and blends with the real
musicians very well. My only complaint is
that she doesn’t employ a saxophone, surely the most soulful sounding of
instruments. Cotemporary black artists like to
experiment with blending different genres of music, so it is very rare to hear a pure
sound with any singer these days, and so it is with Martha, but there is certainly enough
soul and R&B influence to justify an inclusion in these pages. The theme of the album is mainly concerned with
the relationships between men and women, but she spices this old chestnut up nicely by
focussing on how outside influences can interfere with, or even destroy them. The exceptions to this norm are
‘Vineyard’, ‘Underdog’ and ‘Free’ which deal with human
reactions to the hardships of life. Sometimes the songs are funky, sometimes they are bluesy. ‘Liar’ and ‘Superman’ have a 50’s R&B feel to them. ‘Say U Love Me’ reminds me of late Philly when R&B was on the cusp between soul and disco whilst 'Sarsaparilla' has a definite Latin feel to it. Martha’s beautiful clear voice is at home with them all. I cannot believe that she is not destined to become a major artist in contemporary R&B and the sooner her exposure to the world is increased, the better.
|
|
Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
|
the category you wish to choose from the options
below
