Soul Express CD Review

Facially, Chazz Dixon looks a little like Gavin Christopher … vocally, Chazz sounds a LOT like my hero, Smokey Robinson. In fact, I would wager that the unaware would be fooled into thinking that this was a new Smokey Robinson CD. There is, in fact a cover of "If You Can Want" on here! Much mischief could be made on radio with this, and probably is. Here therefore I lay bare my bias. I LOVE Smokey's vocals - no, in fact I ADORE them, and the fact that these two men are so similar swayed me in the first instance. Even the soulful inflections are there, but without overtly trying to mimic the great Motown legend. Not unlike the Gary Brown CD, this is a very worthwhile effort and is another CD I can recommend.

The beats are sparse, the keyboards ethereal and this is just right for spotlighting the sublime nature of Chazz's floating, lilting vocal athletics. The chunky hip-hopish tapping beat and keyboards lead into a telephone monologue that allows Chazz to outpour his soul onto this more-ish groove. The soulful, early 90s independent sound of "Turned Around" seriously displays Chazz's vocal skills, and I think you'll agree that these really are quite fine. "Have We Lost It" could almost spring from the L.R. Superstars or Anthony & Danette albums and should please those who bought these sets. "Him Or Me" has a great, lazy guitar and warm, summery feel and Chazz sounds less like Smokey throughout this than the aforementioned tracks. I get the feeling of the tunes on Kevin "Love Man" Nash's album on this song. A fun midtempo stepper can be found in "My Frame Of Mind" and would not be far separated from the quality numbers that were around in 1987. This is an artist to keep an eye on. Da'Soul are building up a nice little stash of artists here and it will be interesting to see how this develops.
- Barry Towler