Ro James’ Eldorado, Random Thoughts

Jul 6, 2016 |

Our influences often subtly guide our decisions in and perspectives of the world. With musicians, being able to tap into influences without becoming imitations that fall short is a real challenge. Many an artist has floundered because they are unable to find their voice beyond the musicians that influence them. Ronnie James Tucker, known as Ro James, has been able to establish his space amidst the multiple and diverse people and sounds that have inspired him, from David Bowie, Prince, and Sly and the Family Stone to D’Angelo, Notorious BIG and Otis Redding. Born in Stuttgart, Germany to a...

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Digital Crates: DJ Mike Rizzy

Dec 24, 2012 |

One random evening, I was trawling though iTunes podcasts in search of a decent classic soul / R&B mix for bedtime – I generally need music to fall asleep and have even created sleep playlists for me to doze off to. I downloaded single episodes from different ones to get a sense of whether they were worth it or not. And then I came across DJ Mike Rizzy’s  and this has become one of my go-to podcasts  with wonderful mixes of hip hop, soul, R&B, 80s, reggae, old school and the like. Some of my favourites are below with his comments and track listing (Click on headings to link to actual...

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The Future Of Soul Music Is The Past

Aug 28, 2011 |

When one looks at / listens to the soul and R&B music that has been released in the last year, one cannot help but notice how much seems to be drawn from and inspired by eras of old. Melodic, rich and soulful, artists like John Legend & The Roots went the whole way, releasing an album primarily of covers of songs by everyone from Bill Withers to Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. R. Kelly, with the album Love Letter, finally showed us why he is considered by some one of the greater songwriters in the last 15 or so years and Raphael Saadiq continues to pay musical homage to the musicians that inspired him with an expansion on the Motown sound of his previous album.

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