Soul Express CD Review

This is NOT a general release but a deliberate promo from the legendary Steve Harvey to assess the market for the wealth of superb music that he has to offer which has been recorded over the years.  I cannot recommend this CD enough and I strongly recommend that you get in touch with Soul Brother Records in London who have limited stocks of this brilliant compilation as soon as you can.  Steve Harvey is a hero of mine and I will be speaking with him about his exciting new works and projects in a future edition of Soul Express Magazine.

This CD is a real showcase in two respects; it highlights the various super-talented Ladies that Steve has worked with over the last 13 or so years, and it illustrates in the best possible way how Steve has developed his style over the same period.  As we will see, the work that he has done and is doing with Impromp2, Frank McComb, The Temptations and the upcoming N'Dambi album is very much a complete turn of the wheel and has Steve's style return back to the basics; the real roots of soul.  Astute as ever in this age of rap, rap and more rap, Steve Harvey has acknowledged that we need to get back to the bare bones of Soul music, and that is REAL singers, REAL instruments and REAL songs.  Amen, brother!  I have also often bemoaned the fact that there are so few quality female vocalists in the arena today, so along comes this CD CRAMMED with them.  I could not ask for more and so recommend the following as essential examples of quality modern soul. 

Regular listeners to Mike Stephens' essential Sunday morning soul show on Solar last summer will be aware of the chunky, funky summer vibe of Ashley Ta'Mar and "Honey Dew Sweet" from 2002 with a Michael Jackson "I Can't Help It" kinda bassline.  A tasty morsel indeed to kick off with!  More funkiness abounds with the superb "Do What Comes Natural" from Silee.  Nice flute touches there and very much the great vibe that quality UK artists had in the early 90s - think Closer Than Close / Beverly Skeete / Fokus / The Bygraves and you will know what we are dealing with. 

One of the album's showstoppers is Bridgette Bryant and her GORGEOUS "So High"; a recent favourite on Richard Searling's Soul Sauce show on Smooth FM.  More organic than the previous cuts and follows nicely from Impromp2's "You're Gonna Love It" CD and Bridgette McWilliams' "Too Much Woman" album.  Shanna and Whitney Houston deliver a great light summery tapper with "Its Alright".  Obviously, this is the best thing Whitney has recorded I years.  We have a touch of Barry White's harpsichord with the sassy "Treat You Right" by Denaine and should get the old steering wheel bongos going.  Watch the toe tapping, though! 

Fans of The Sounds Of Blackness' "Optimistic" will embrace the loping, skippy beats of Bridgette McWilliams' "Fear" which treads similar territory.  The song that almost had me drop my paintbrush on first listen was the KILLER song from Marva King.  Marva is an old favourite of mine and this inclusion is sexy, sultry and seductive in the extreme.  This sexy Lady oozes class on this dark, moody slice of erotic moody soul.  This song makes me shiver and I cannot thank Steve and Marva for this awesome, awesome piece of SOUL. 

The final cut is another classic Harvey production from 1994 - "Human Kindness" by Renee Geyer is worth the £14.95 price tag alone.  There is not a bad track to be had on here, and the thought of a second volume fills me with much anticipation.  PLEASE do not allow this CD to slip away.  This is priceless stuff indeed.


- Barry Towler