| jbass |
SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2008
AMP FIDDLER & TORTURED SOUL
www.ampfiddler.com
www.torturedsoulmusic.com
8:00 PM - 12:00 AM
$20.00 | Advance Tix via TicketMaster or Mod Club
Mod Club Theatre - 722 College St. Toronto, ON
www.themodclub.com
presented by LIVE NATION in association with www.nufunk.ca
buy tickets: http://www.livenation.com/event/get...eventId/318563/
AMP FIDDLER
www.ampfiddler.com
www.myspace.com/ampfiddler
Joseph "Amp" Fiddler, originally a keyboardist from Detroit, is a funk and soul musician who has worked with Enchantment, the Dramatics, George Clinton, Moodyman, Jamiroquai, The Brand New Heavies, Fishbone and Maxwell.
Along with his brother, Budz, he realsed the album Mr Fiddler in 1990 on Elektra. His debut solo album Waltz of a Ghetto Fly was released in 2004.
The new album'Afro Strut' is the follow up to that record and a sign that his assured and open-minded approach to his own sound has engendered a stylistic leap forward, creating in the process a diverse and ambitious second album. As a man who has achieved almost every goal he has set himself, whether it be becoming a multi instrumentalist talent, joining George Clinton's Funkadelic, or developing a base for like minded musical luminaries to collaborate and create, it was always to be expected. 'Waltz...' was more of a vibe, a full stop on a long period of his life to that point and a drawing together of unfinished songs and feelings from his youth. 'Afro Strut' was to be the fresh start that sees Amp able to look further forward as well as back to his roots, and as a result has the feel of a more fully-realised vision.
The array of collaborators and contributors to the record further emphasises this approach. Opener 'Faith' sets the standard with Amp joined by Raphael Saadiq on a timelessly deep ode to spirituality of a different kind. The UK's Justin Crawford (one half of Manchester-based dj/production outfit Unabombers) is brought in for two of the standout disco-flecked cuts 'Right Where You Are' and 'Ridin'. Amp's Jazz heritage rolls to the fore on the uplifting 'If I Don't', recalling his days in doo-wop outfit The Enchantments as a teenager and laying open the musical make up of its creator.
The sadly departed Jay Dilla's group Slum Village, another product of Camp Amp, the basement recording studio at Amp's 7 Mile home that has also had local luminary Moodyman in regular residence, is represented on the bumping 'I Need You'. Tony Allen, the man accredited with creating afrobeat alongside the great Fela Kuti, provides the drums on Afro Strut and another great, Jay-Z collaborator, Grammy winning string arranger and former member of MFSB Larry Gold steps up on album closer 'Hustle.
By referencing many of the great contemporary black music movements be it Jazz, Doo-Wop, Afrobeat, soul or hip-hop, Afro Strut is, like its predecessor, without modern day comparison. The collusion of a lifetime of influences and experiences that are drawn on, used, discarded and Amp-lified across twelve rich slices of raw funk.
TORTURED SOUL
www.torturedsoulmusic.com
It would be an understatement to say that Soul Music and House Music have not always peacefully coexisted. To many Soul purists, House (like Disco before it) was like a musical one-night stand. It often tried to capture specific pleasurable elements of Soul but ended up gutting much of the emotional element that Soul brings -- you could dance to it, but you didn't feel it inside. And it didn't help that much of House was overtly mechanical and lyrically vacuous, removing the human and spiritual elements that were at the heart of Soul.
So it was with intrigue that I popped Introducing Tortured Soul into my CD player. I was intrigued because I was familiar with lead singer Christian Urich, one of the driving forces behind my favorite new Soul/Dance group, Cooly's Hot Box, and also because of the premise of TS: Live House Music. With Urich on drums and vocals, Ethan White on keyboards Jason Kriveloff on bass, Tortured Soul's goal was to bring additional Jazz and Soul elements to House (hence, the appropriate group name), and to move the genre beyond the mechanistic and into a more interesting and listenable blend.
Make no mistake, Introducing Tortured Soul is directly aimed at the dance floor, and that's okay. More importantly, though, TS has pulled off the impressive feet of making a disc that's engaging outside of the club. First of all, the band sounds great throughout and its jazzy touches provide a nice contrast to the overly programmed, impersonal sound of much of modern dance music. More importantly, the disc is chock full of great tunes, and Urich's soulful vocals (similar in many ways to Stevie Wonder) add a warmth rarely seen in House music.
Clubs were immediately attracted to the opening cut, "I Might Do Something Wrong," but I found the next trio of cuts, "How's Your Life," "Why" and "Fall In Love," equally danceable but much more soulful and appealing. Perhaps best of all is "Don't Hold Me Down," a duet with labelmate Monet that starts like Wonder's "All I Do" and transitions into a terrific jazzy dance tune.
Fact is, much as many dance music enthusiasts may not want to admit it, Introducing Tortured Soul is a dance disc with a soulful heart, and that makes for great listening. It is also further demonstration that Christian Urich is a first rate songwriter and vocalist and, like his Cooly's partner Angela Johnson, a important young artist worth watching.
"The future of house music...you have to hear them live."
[Giles Peterson, BBC Radio 1]
Tortured Soul [are] breaking some rules and keeping me as a musician interested. [Barry Manilow, The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, CA, Nov 04]
'Dont Hold Me Down sounds like a happy track Id wake up to on a Saturday morning when sun is coming through the window. I like the Roy Ayers feeling to it. [Lenny Kravitz, Vibe Magazine, Jan 05]
presented in association with:
www.nufunk.ca |
|
|
