Joss Stone JOSS STONE SOUL SISTER by Jay S. Jacobs You can’t help but notice the voice. It is strong, sensuous, assured. It soars to a...

Michael McDonald - Motown (Motown) Michael McDonald does have one of the finest white soul voices in the world. With the Doobie...

Axelle Red – Alive Axelle Red – Alive (Virgin-France) I might have never heard of Axelle Red if I weren't channel surfing one August night last year in the Sofitel Méditerranée in Cannes. With my admittedly rudimentary skills in the French language, I was looking for something, frankly, which I could understand. That's when I stumbled upon an hour-long interview special with popular Belgian singer Axelle Red, which was peppered liberally with clips from her music videos and

Raphael Saadiq – Instant Vintage Raphael Saadiq – Instant Vintage (Universal) Raphael Saadiq has logged well over a decade in the music...

Rosey Rosey Real Wild Child by Jay S. Jacobs The dream isn’t an uncommon one. A young Connecticut girl gets a job working for her cousin....

Though it was not planned this way, this box-set seems to be a map of the diminishing returns that have been Rod Stewart's career. Much of the latter stuff is perfectly fine but formulaic music, but the grit and passion of the early stuff pretty much blow it out of the water.

Jill Sobule Jill Sobule Too Cool… by Jay S. Jacobs It’s Friday evening at the Upstage; a new Philadelphia venue built in a beautiful old...

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Webb All He Knows… by Ronald Sklar If you are under thirty and have even the slightest retro sensibility, chances are...

Peabo Bryson - Unconditional Love Peabo Bryson - Unconditional Love (Private Music) On the first new disk in five years by the soul...

Peabo Bryson Peabo Bryson Feel The Fire by Jay S. Jacobs The first time I listened to Peabo Bryson's music – I mean really listened to it – was the spring of 1984. I was at Pennsylvania State University on a date with Denise, a girl with whom I thought I might just be in love. Before going out, we stopped off in her dorm room. As she was getting ready, Denise slipped a tape of Peabo Bryson's latest album into a boom box. It was in that little room in Thompson Hall that I gain

Chuck E. Weiss Chuck E. Weiss Chuck E.’s In Love by Jay S. Jacobs “How come he don’t come and p.l.p. with me down at the meter no more…”...