Column

The Andy Davies soul column (February)

No column from me last month so I'll start by looking back at the Blackpool Hilton Luxury Soul Weekender held in early January.

BLACKPOOL HILTON LUXURY SOUL WEEKENDER

Now established as one on the leading events on the soul music calendar the hotel was packed with around 1200 people who had come to hear DJ's & see live acts. The Lounge, Springs Nightclub & the Queens room were all packed most of the weekend!! sometimes you could hardly get any more people in!! The music encompasses all types of Soul & the special Jazz session on the Saturday afternoon in the Queens was very busy this time. Jean Carn & Michael Henderson were the Saturday night live acts & Al Olive was the Saturday afternoon PA. I love Al's voice & he was excellent! He was enjoying the whole event & I think he loved being in the rooms hearing all the tunes! I believe there are plans from other promoters to bring him over here again this year so hopefully we will see him with a full band at some point. Starpoint Radio were broadcasting live DJ sets all throughout the weekend so If you heard some of them you will probably not want to miss this gig next year! A complete success again & the Birmingham Hilton will be back this year over the May Bank Holiday Weekend 27th-29th no live acts announced just yet but the booking number is 08431 760066

THE TORQUAY JAZZ DANCE WEEKENDER/
PRESTATYN 10TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKENDER

Two up & coming weekenders are firstly the Torquay Jazz Dance Weekender from Feb 25th-28th which takes place in the Victoria Hotel Belgrave Road Torquay. DJ's are Snowboy, Bob Jeffries, Bob Jones, Colin Curtis, Chris Dinnis & Perry Louis. I will also be DJ'ing there as I'm doing a special Saturday Afternoon Soul Session with Bob Jones & Colin Curtis. Weekend passes are £90.00 for event only & you can contact Tony Morrison for tickets at info@latinfest.co.uk and on 07966 390802.

The Prestatyn 10th Anniversary Weekender runs from 10th-14th March at Pontins Prestatyn. Live acts are Jesse James on the Friday & Cool Million on the Saturday Afternoon. Once again lots of DJ's including Soul Sam, Steve Hobbs, Mick Farrer, Ivor Jones, Mark Randle, Colin Curtis, Bob Jones, Fish & many more. Contact number for bookings is 0844 5765949.

ESSENTAL TUNES/STREETSOUL NEWS

I'm still loving the John Stoddart track More Than You & Me which is taken from his album Faith, Hope, Love it's been around for a while now but I think it's a future classic! My Streetsoul Records label will be releasing another 2 tracks from the Jerline & Friends album Best Of Friends the A side will be the album title track The Best Of Friends & The B Side will be an unheard version of Open Up Your Heart which has been extended by Neil Thompson. First time on vinyl 45 for these so once again it will be a limited press & will definitely become a collector's item. Neil & I are also working together to release his ReGroove version of C&C Music Factory's Share That Beat Of Love on vinyl. I am at present in negotiations with the record owners to license this for release hopefully towards the end of February.

Vicky Martin's I Can't Wait is a killer Soulful House tune that is working for me at gigs right now. A fantastic vocal with a slow intro that builds up into a brilliant dance tune. It's one to make sure you get hold of & it's still on Traxsource as a download.
The wonderful Susu Bobien also has a great tune out called I Got My Pride. I prefer John Mateo's New York Mix but as usual the vocals are sublime & gospel influenced so you can make your own mind up as to which track works for you.
I also love Neil Pierce's new track Get Out Of My Head feat Dawn Tallman. It's the Original mix I've gone for of this one and I just can't stop playing it at the moment. A cool chugging bass line and seriously good vocals.

Monique Bingham You, Me, World is getting spins everywhere at the moment & the Ralf Gum Gogo music vocal cuts it perfectly because it's subtle & I can see the Soul scene embracing this one as well as they have done with Ralf's mixes in the past.

Also, It's great to see the West Coast Soulstars Show Me Love now out on a vinyl 45. The label is WCM & one to grab if you are a vinyl junkie!

SOUTHPORT WEEKENDER MOVES TO MINEHEAD

The Southport Weekender which runs from May 6th-8th has now been moved to Butlins in Minehead for this & future events. The move will enable a further 1500 people to book for the event which was previously sold out at the Pontins venue. I suggest you get tickets now as this will surely sell out once again. Booking number is 0844 879 7210 or southportweekender.co.uk DJ's representing the UK Soul Scene are Myself, Bob Jeffries, Mike Stephens & Terry Jones.

WILLIE CLAYTON/HESTON RELEASES

Willie Clayton's recent album on U Turn Records The Voice has some great Real Soul tracks included, stand out tracks for me are Wonderful & My Everything. Also, the new album from Heston on Dome records Warm Human, Cold World features the Marvin esque My Kinda Lady & some other very strong tracks, my favourites being Outside Your Window & Greatest Lover. Nice to see album of quality Soul on the market & I'm sure this will be a very strong seller.

REVIEW

Reel People - Golden Lady (Reel People Music)
Release date: 28/02/11

Kicking off 2011 with an almighty bang, Reel People make a welcome return with a brand new and brilliant long player titled Golden Lady. Golden Lady is a collection of fantastic soulful songs brimming with new and exclusive material from Reel People featuring the heavyweight vocal talents of Tony Momrelle, Darien and Shezar. This soulful gem also includes an exciting variety of tracks from Reel People Music’s label artists and cohorts including Choklate, Simon Grey, Renn, BSTC, and Phi Asher’s new project, The Restless Soul Fun Band.

The opening track Love It is a nice jazzy style tune from BSTC feat JL. Star is an excellent up tempo tune that features Tony Momrelle on vocals. Tony also sings lead vocal on a good cover of Stevie Wonder's Golden Lady. The Restless Soul Fun Band follow up with a solid track called It's Hard which almost sounds like it was recorded in the 70's & has that Ghetto kind of feel! Sure featuring Darien is a tune that has been getting spins lately at various venues & is a definite grower from the first time you hear it. London singer Shezar joins Tony Momrelle on 80's Love & Choklate also has The Tea included here which was a very successful 12" issue last year. Tell Me Why is a stand out track for me with once again Tony Momrelle doing a great job on this mid tempo winner! 10 tracks in all on the album with faster funky /jazzy cuts The Galactic Suite from Simon Grey & Renn Nights In Africa finishing the set off. Highly recommended.

Andy Davies

If you have any product you wish to be included in the reviews in this column please contact me on the email addresses below:
andydaviesccl@hotmail.com or mail@streetsoulrecords.com