Customer Reviews

Rhythm & Blues

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This could be one of my Top 5 "Putumayo presents..." CD samplers, ranking up there with the underrated "swing Around The World". There's not a dead moment amount the 13 tracks featured here. Not all the artists are as well known as Sam Moore (here joined in a super session by Keb' Mo' and Angie Stone on Koko Taylor's hit "Wang Dang Doodle") or Irma Thomas (on a 2008 track backed by NOLa pianist Henry Butler), but Putumayo is about discovering lesser-known - but equally talented - artists.

I'm a big fan of Catherine Russell and James Hunter, both of who had one-hit albums so far, and Ruthie Foster's first CD blew me away. But with groups like Cracked Ice and the Quantic Soul Orchestra - the latter fronted, and named, by a mathematician - there are always new discoveries.

All the tracks were recorded and released in the last decade except the 1972 track from the three sisters who form The Emotions. Catherine Russell's track could have been recorded at the same time as The Emotions, but it wasn't. It just recalls that period of R&B.

The liner note (in English, French and Spanish) are more detailed than some of the Putumayo releases (nice touch!) and the last page of the notes provides the source of the tracks so you can hear more of any artist you really like. (heck, I like them all!)

Steve Ramm

"Anything Phonographic"

Libraries seeking to include accessible, classic rhythms of retro R&B will find this CD the perfect introduction to sixties-style R&B (known then as soul music). Modern interpretations - some as good as the originals - pack a CD where the big find is the Quantic Soul Orchestra featuring 'Kabir', a singer very much in the style of Bobbie 'Blue' Bland. Some folks on this CD were there in the sixties: for instance, Irma Thomas is here paired with pianist Henry Butler. Other groups made up of younger folks let us know this style of music isn't about to die yet!

Have several CDs by this company. I really like their selection of songs and artists whatever the style of music. This is no exception. Always a good listen!

Unlike most compilations that serve as record label promotion, Putumayo has always favored themed releases with tracks licensed from other labels. Rhythm & Blues documents R&B's mid-period between its jump blues origins and today's polished, quieter urban variety, and it emphasizes the newer cats who carry on the retro tradition. No theme is ever perfect, and in this case it could be argued that New Orleans' soul queen Irma Thomas, the late, great Snooks Eaglin (who does a magnifcent reading of Earl King's "A Mother's Love") and the late Rockie Charles are not part of any new breed movement since they never changed their style to be fashionably hip. When it comes to collections like these, any selection from Brit blue-eyed soulster James Hunter won't come as a surprise, but those from the charismatic Cracked Ice and Quantic Soul Orchestra featuring Kabir certainly will. As a whole, Rhythm & Blues is analogous to good FM radio programming with a well-designed fow.--OffBeat Magazine, April 2010 issue