True
Vibe Records Releases Follow Up to Landmark Recording,
Lead by "Squash it!" The Anti-Gun Violence Single
(Click on the photo below to preview video)
Sounds of
Urban Life Soldiers
S.O.U.L.S.
Bill Jackson
Producer
On Tuesday, March 25th, 2008, True Vibe Records released Jazz
Funk Hip HoPoetry-Phaze 2, the follow up to the
highly-acclaimed CD Paradise Presents Jazz Funk Hip
HoPoetry.
The Phaze 2
release, a CD double set, will also be the debut for Oakland
Ca.-based spoken word/hip hop group Sounds Of Urban Life
Soldiers or S.O.U.L.S., as the acronym is spelled
and their bulging fan base refers to them as. The group members
and song writers are poets Raquel Ramsey, Keith Thompson,
and President L. Davis, rap and hip hop
artist Keldamuzik and songstress Shavone
Pickett. Together, they have a very unique and
diverse blend.
According to True
Vibe Records owner and producer Bill Jacksonregarding
Phaze 2 he says, “as the genesis of the first CD was my
pilgrimage to Senegal’s Goree Island (a United Nations
historical site in West Africa which was a holding pen for
slaves), this music was born from the compelling social concerns
that continue in America and is musically upbeat funk with jazz,
hip hop, R&B and Caribbean influences.”
The lead single Squash It! featuring Keldamuzik with
guests D Labrie and Rufus Wonder
certainly supports the concept of “social concerns” as it
addresses the grave problem of violence in America’s urban
cities, and from early indications this seems to be the song
that radio will embrace and help Squash It! be a
part of the solution! Following that theme is On The
Street, outlining the conditions and perils in some of
our urban communities.
There are lighter
more playful moments on the CD as with All The Above
that again features Keldamuzik at the mic running
down a love and relationship theme. Then there is the
Caribbean-flavored I Can with vocalist
Shavone Pickett delivering a very tender vocal with an almost
dancehall track. Associate ProducerJam G "JR" Tallintensifies the groove with his lead guitar riffs. (He
also was the chief sound engineer for this album.)
The jazz lover isn’t
forgotten here with contemporary tracks like The Man
Upstairs with its hip hop /trip hop feeling and a
scorching tenor sax lead from guest artist Ben Ball and thepulsating drum work from Lorca
Hart, son the legendary drummer Billy Hart, and on What kind Of Dreams Have You whichfeatures guests such as the smooth-talking percussionist/spoken word artist Bill Norwood,
renownedguitarist Calvin Keys,
pianistextraordinaire Michael “Spiderman” Robinson, tenor saxman
Ben Ball again,and veteran drummer
E.W. Wainwright. This isa track that
swings with the best of them!
All three poets are
full of fire and earth moving emotion here addressing issues
such as fatherhood with the piece The Role of Men
by Keith Thompson and coming of age with
Rites of Passage by President L. Davis,
while Raquel Ramsey delivers supremely and
passionately with a piece titled Connections and
again on the exalting Apology, a duet with bassist
Nelson Braxton (Braxton Brothers). There is more
contemporary conscious-raising spoken word from the three poets
of Sound Of Urban Life Soldiers on other tracks as
well.
This album also
showcases the talents of a host ofhighly-talented
and dynamic guest spoken word artists such as Roxanne
Hanna-Ware and poets Big Dan and
Alejandra Mojica running down a Latino perspective.
Jazz Funk Hip
HoPoetry- Phaze 2 is a well-balanced, well-crafted, and
cleverly-written collection of urban life experiences and
feelings delivered with the often pulsating bass line that locks
everything in place and drives it home. With all the tracks
above and more this will no doubt be a radio, retail and down
loading favorite!!
___________________________
This is what Urban Buzz Internet magazine wrote:
"Sounds Like Life.
'Squash It!' is the anti-gun violence
single by Sounds Of Urban Life Soldiers 'Squash It!' is getting
airplay at WJJN, KWZA, KJMH, WESE, WBAI and more!
Plus new this
week at WLYX! 'Squash It!' is from the forthcoming CD,
"Jazz
Funk Hip HoPoetry"-Phaze 2 on True Vibe Records."
