Emmer found a special pair of vocalists

Producer-composer Stephen Emmer has gathered and found a special group of soul vocalists (male and female) for his latest project. With voices that, in his opinion, could lend the right power and conviction to his songs, which address the current times in which the world is plagued by conflict and racial and migration issues.

You can hear the classic symphonic soul of someone like Isaac Hayes reflected in the lush but never bombastic compositions.

It is the voices of Patti Austin, Chaka Khan, and especially Andy Bey, among others, that command the most attention. Sometimes a bit stiff, as if they are singing their lyrics from a script, but Frank McComb swings like Stevie Wonder in his heyday. Meanwhile, Dwight Trible (see review of his own album on this page) is the right man for the funky, Shaft-esque Everybody's Movin'.

[De Volkskrant - Gijsbert Kramer]