Customer Reviews

Keep Reachin' Up

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

no, you have not stumbled upon a lost millie jackson or martha & the vandellas album...this is pure nicole willis at her finest. though she's long been grouped with other british vocalists-for-hire, such as shara nelson and carleen anderson, _keep reachin' up_ finds willis stretching her soul/funk wings and taking flight. if i'd not known, going into it, that this were a nicole willis album, i'd have been racking my brain trying to figure out which 70s funkstress to credit for this gem. while the music is 100% old-skool soul, her vocals recall everybody from dionne warwick to adeva, demonstrating the incredible emotional range willis brings to the table. willis howls ("keep reachin' up"), coos ("blues downtown") and wails ("no one's gonna love you") with the best of them, it's just too bad she doesn't get more props, on this side of the pond.

This is a very enjoyable cd. New material with a great appreciation of motown and funk, with a euro groove. Will definitely put a smile on your face and a nod to your neck.

Yeah I know I have over a hundred jazz only reviews but really like this CD.If your into the neo-R&B/retro-soul revival Nicole Willis has a fine efort.A cross of of Motown and Atlantic with Brit twinge this is a really good album.If your into Budos Band or Sharon Jones and Dap Kings this one will light your wick.Not that Willis has a voice to equal the best of crossover pop (Erykah Badu or Angie Stone say) it's flexible and the band can remind of everything from funk to muscle shoals to aforementioned sources and newer hip hop grooves.It's a real melange and a fine LP.One hopes that they bring out more.
Peace
Chazz

To hell with anybody who'd review this disc less than a five, listen to it twice and I think you will agree, Nicoles vocals are those of the underdog. She perfectly scores the neosoul soundtrack that you wish would accompany your life in a biopic. The arrangements are lush and funky, and Nicole baby, you are sweet as honey!!!

This was recommended to me by a store clerk when I picked up the latest album by the Budos Band, The Budos Band II. Open to trying something new, I picked it up. The instrumentals started out promising, but Nicole's vocals -- up front and largely unadorned -- must be an acquired taste. Uncertain, often off-pitch, occasionally shrieking (as in the title track), they made it impossible for me to love this album. And the lyrics! "He's my four-leaf clover / Lucky that he walked over" and "He's my baby / No, I don't mean maybe". I'm sorry, but lyrics that sound like they're straight out of a 7th-grade rhyming dictionary just don't do it for me. So, I have to pass on this one.