Smoove & Turrell and Jalapeno Records are on a winner with this new album; their seventh (wonder)!
You might recall our surprise/delight that Ronnie Foster (Blue Note legend) was on the single 'The Light' (see review HERE) and there was 'Violet Hour' / 'Echoes' (see review HERE) and your thinking, can they keep this up for a whole album? Well, they bloody well can.
'IGOTCHA' is in the 80s disco/funk/soul style that superfan Craig Charles loves so much and proves you can have a clever lyric in a dance tune. And then they excel themselves with 'Mary's Song' and 'Empty Bottle Serenade'.
This 'deeper' element is no doubt due to inspiration for the title of the album; Northern eastern heritage of Labour politician Ellen 'Red' Wilkinson who was an important element of the Jarrow March and post-war 'new world' thinking - something we'll be needing again soon as current events we're not envisaged when the wrote the album and title track; as the old saying goes, the only thing we learn from history is .... nothing.
On a brighter note, the other thing that we know for sure is that "Music is the healing force of the Universe" and I'm up for their explosion of summer love in 'Joy!', 'Waiting For Your Call' and 'Geno's Discotheque'.
It must be said the John Turrell's vocals are a focal point but this is very much a collaboration and the musicianship is superb.
Artist: Smoove & Turrell
Title: Red Ellen
Release date: 27th October, 2023
Label: Jalapeno Records
Cat. No: JAL431
Format: Bandcamp / Digital
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