Chalky

Soul Music Legend Leon Ware is making three appearances in the UK in early 2013. The venues are London's Islington Assembly Hall on Friday 1st February, Manchester's Band On The Wall on Friday 8th February and Newcastle's Hoochie Coochie Club Saturday 9th February 2013. Some info taken from the Band On The Wall website: http://bandonthewall.org/events/3709/ The great American soul singer Leon Ware visits Band on the Wall celebrating 50 years of producing hugely influential and beautiful music that's been etched into the hearts of fans of superbly crafted, timeless love songs across the world. Ware’s gorgeously romantic groove and timeless vibe has been seducing lovers’ earlobes over the generations and has been the songwriter of choice for some of the globe's biggest stars - think Michael Jackson crying his heart out on the AM radio gem and Ware penned I Wanna Be Where You Are from his very first solo LP. Indeed it gives you a sense of the his longevity when you realise 2012 marks that particular music milestone’s 40th Anniversary. Marvin Gaye defined seduction and desire on the Grammy-nominated masterstroke I Want You, a song suite — also featuring After the Dance, Come Live With Me Angel and Since I Had You — which was originally a Leon Ware album that Marvin begged to be his. From Minnie Riperton’s rapturous Inside My Love to Donny Hathaway’s reverent I Know it’s You, Ware’s magic carpet ride of influence resonates right on into today - whether collaborating with Quincy Jones on Body Heat (also featuring If I Ever Lose This Heaven - both sung by Leon) or Maxwell on his sumptuous debut Sumthin’ Sumthin’, rap icons 2Pac and A Tribe Called Quest sampling his Wares, jazz giants Gato Barbieri and Fourplay melting into his melodies, and pop-rock superstars Madonna and Todd Rundgren covering his classics. Add to these the acclaimed album recordings of his own including Musical Massage, Love’s Drippin’, Taste the Love, Moon Ride, Candlelight (with jazz man Don Grusin) and the provocatively prophetic Rockin’ You Eternally, and you realise Leon Ware has an immensely impressive back catalogue to draw upon for this much-anticipated anniversary tour. Draw the blinds, pour the wine, pull back the bed sheets and head down to Band on the Wall to fall in love with this wonderful artist all over again. Advance booking strongly recommended. This event will begin at 8.30pm but our Picture House Cafe Bar is open from 5.30pm for delicious food and drinks. For tickets for Islington visit: http://www.songkick....n-assembly-hall https://agmp.ticketa...ents/leon-ware/ For tickets for Manchester visit: http://bandonthewall.org/events/3709/ http://www.songkick....and-on-the-wall For Newcastle's Hoochie Coochie Club visit: http://www.hoochiecoochie.co.uk/event/artist/leon-ware/

Tucked away on the Ace subsidiary and sister label to Kent is a Funk compilation by Dean Rudland that may have slipped under the radar of many. Titled Royal Grooves the compilation is made up of 23 tracks from the famed Cincinnati King label. Funk might not be to everyone's taste but the cd does contain some great vocal performances, Barbara Burton and The Messengers and Willy Wiley's early 70's outing "Just Be Glad" two personal favourites. Gloria Edwards should need no introduction with the excellent (Need Nobody To help me) Keep up With My Man" and Connie Austin and the superb "Ball Of Fire" two more artists that should be well known to the wider Soul Scene and to the Northern Soul Scene, the same also for the Coasters with a funked up latin take of "Cool Jerk". Overall the cd is an excellent introduction to this genre and more than worth the 10 or 11 quid it will take to purchase. As you would expect from all ACE releases there are comprehensive sleeve notes from Dean Rudland, I would pay for the sleeve notes as they are always a really good and informative read. I do wish Ace/Kent and the related labels would put a book out containing the sleeve notes of all the releases, it would be essential reading and a great history of some of soul musics greats as well as the many lesser known soul artists that have played their part in R&B and Soul Music. Here is what Dean says about the release; In the late 60s King Records was in the midst of a funk revolution. This upheaval was spearheaded by James Brown who, on his return to the label in 1965, after a couple of years away, had changed the course of music with the groundbreaking single ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’. This may not have been pure funk but it was certainly a large step towards it. Over the course of the next two years he honed the style until he stormed to an R&B #1 position (and Top 10 Pop) with ‘Cold Sweat’, the opening salvo in a torrent of hits that marked him indelibly as Soul Brother #1. He became the only artist that really counted at the label. If King wasn’t releasing records by Brown himself, they were releasing the work of his entourage, or records that were trying to sound like him. King became the home of funk with a healthy dose of soul and the label never really recovered when he left to join Polydor. “Royal Grooves” examines this latter period of King’s existence, from the glorious point in the late 60s when the money from their most successful artist allowed a vast array of records to be made and released, to the desperate search for the next big thing in the early part of the next decade."¨"¨The collection contains James Brown productions by Wendy Lynn, Kay Robinson and Leon Austin which have had collectors salivating for years, and even harder to find unrelated 45s by artists such as Elaine Armstrong, whose ‘Sad But True’ has only recently made it onto the radar. We also have a spectacular single by the Brownettes (previously and subsequently known as the Jewels) and a couple of 45s from the Indiana funk-masters the Presidents. If you’ve heard King Coleman’s ‘Boo Boo Song’ and thought it was a mindless novelty, you have the chance to check out ‘Pt 2’ and change your mind. "¨"¨From the post-James Brown period we have the Coasters with their latin-ised version of ‘Cool Jerk’ and the wonderful Texas soul of Gloria Edwards. Best of all is Barbara Burton & the Messengers who as the Messengers Unlimited and with Sonny Morrison as lead singer released the rare “Soulful Proclamation” album. For their one single on De Luxe Barbara was put upfront on ‘Love’s Sweet Water’, a smouldering funk masterpiece. "¨"¨King was a label of many facets and we try to cover most of them here. This is high quality soul and funk. "¨"¨By Dean Rudland CD Description: * In the late 60s King Records were buoyed and inspired by their number one artist James Brown. The recordings that went down at their Cincinnati headquarters were a vibrant expression of funk & soul captured in BGP's 23-track compilation. * Many of the tracks BGP have selected had direct James Brown involvement. Productions by him or his team include the super-rare single by the Brownettes, Clay Tyson's proto rap `Man On The Moon', the brilliant Wendy Lynn's `I Can Remember' - direct from master tape. In addition we've included classics by Kay Robinson, Hank Ballard, King Coleman and Leon Austin that have become increasingly difficult to find. * Pure funk by Kastle, the Presidents and Bill Doggett show the funk influence went further than James Brown and his crowd. BGP are especially pleased to be able to include a couple of super-rare singles issued on DeLuxe: `Do What You Wanna Do' by Frank Howard & The Continentals and Barbara Burton & The Messengers' `Love's Sweet Water'. This is so rare that it may never have been issued officially and it's such a great piece of groovy soul. Buy the CD: Buy from Ace Free delivery in the UK Listen to a sampler of tracks 4, 12 &14: http://soundcloud.com/chalkster/royal-grooves-sample 01. Getting Down With Hoss - Kastle 02. Love's Sweet Water - Barbara Burton And The Messengers 03. Lord Will Make A Way (Pt1) - Kay Robinson 04. Sad But True - Elaine Armstrong 05. Baby Don't You Know - Brownettes 06. Somewhere Down The Line - Albert Washington 07. Shoe Shine (Inst) - The Presidents 08. Do What You Wanna Do (Pt 1) - Frank Howard & The Continentals 09. Man On The Moon - Clay Tyson 10. Steal Away - Leon Austin 11. I Can Remember - Wendy Lynn 12. You Keep Me Hanging On - Bonnie & Sheila 13. Ball Of Fire - Connie Austin 14. Just Be Glad - Willy Wiley 15. (Need Nobody Help Me) Keep Up With My Man - Gloria Edwards 16. Cool Jerk - The Coasters 17. Peter Rabbit - The Presidents 18. Looking For A Woman - Robert Moore 19. The Boo Boo Song (Pt 2) - King Coleman 20. Unwind Yourself - Hank Ballard 21. Shoe Shine - The Presidents 22. Wet & Satisfied (Tk 5) - Bill Doggett 23. Push And Shove - Willy Wiley http://acerecords.co.uk