Genesis of Groove

This collection of recordings on the Velour label is by artists who are all from all from the Big Apple. They all inhabit various ends of the great nu soul and groove spectrum that is taking that city by storm at the beginning of the 21st century, and is also making a big mark in Japan -- which is where Velour is located. The tunes range from the nu soul balladry of the octet Topaz on "Peyote Eyes" (featuring Rozz Nash's stunningly beautiful vocals) to the house breaks on "Marblewash" by Multiball to the stripped-down, badass hip-hop of Shuman on "Encore." There's also the nu jazz stamp of the Squad's groove jazz on "The Anthem" and the breakbeat soul shimmer of "Sugar" by Kudu, with Sylvia Gordon sounding like Roberta Flack in overdrive. Other notables include the gorgeous "Catch You" by Ekene & the Source, with Eric Krasno's virtuoso guitar playing backing Ekene's diva vocals. The disc's finest moments, however, are on the two live tracks: Lettuce's absolutely stunning version of Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and Soulive's "Turn It Out." On the latter, which closes the album, the B-3 funk and groove & roll trio comes from Chicago, but the track was recorded in New York and, man, with the evil greasy soul they have happening in the cut, they might as well be from NYC. This is a solid comp that sheds light on a scene that, if there were any justice, would be as huge as the retro-punk things that seems to be the "official" underground music of the new millennium so far. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide