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Lee Fields - Emma Jean (2014) [Retro-Soul]; FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Funk, Soul, R&B
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Mike1985
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Lee Fields - Emma Jean (2014) [Retro-Soul]; FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Unread postby Mike1985 » 09 Jun 2017, 08:38


Artist: Lee Fields
Album: Emma Jean
Genre: Retro-Soul
Label: Truth & Soul
Released: 2014
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
  1. Slipped Disc
  2. Begin The Beguine
  3. Don't Be That Way
  4. Running Wild
  5. St. James Infirmary
  6. Yesterday
  7. Sing, Sing, Sing
  8. Woodchopper's Ball
  9. My Inspiration
  10. Goodbye
  11. A Funeral In New Orleans
  12. When The Saints Go Marching In

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    Personnel:
  • Lee Fields - vocals
  • Leon Michaels - flute, guitar, keyboards, percussion, saxophone, backing vocals
  • Toby Pazner - keyboards
  • Russ Pahl - guitar (acoustic), pedal steel
  • Dan Auerbach - guitar, backing vocals
  • Thomas Brenneck - guitar, backing vocals
  • Vince John - guitar
  • Jacob Plasse - guitar
  • Max Shrager - guitar
  • Mike Buckley - sax (baritone)
  • Dave Guy - trumpet
  • Ray Mason - trombone
  • Nick Movshon - bass, drums
  • Homer Steinweiss - drums
  • Néstor Villa - congas
  • The McCrary Sisters - backing vocals
  • Monika Christodoulou - backing vocals
  • Richard Swift - backing vocals

Though he's been recording intermittently since 1969, the gritty, James Brown-inspired sound of soul man Lee Fields has undergone a bit of an evolution since he released My World in 2009 and 2012's equally fine Faithful Man. Part of that has to do with the fit he has with the Expressions, his much younger backing band and one of the brightest units on the retro-soul scene. They not only back the singer, but push him into exploring the full range of his voice, exploring colors he hasn't before as he declares, pleads, testifies, and cajoles. Together, they're a force that doesn't so much imitate Motown, Fortune, Stax, and Philly International, but rather creates a music that logically descends from those lineages. Emma Jean -- titled for Fields' late mother -- is a seamless collection of 11 tracks led off by second single "Just Can't Win," a midtempo groover commenced with a backing chorus and a slippery B-3 as well as a slew of funky breaks. When Fields enters, he finds his space between Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore, and Brown. Despite the bass and drums, the music is dreamy, almost elegant, but never loses its grit. Two tracks here celebrate Tulsa, Oklahoma's contribution to R&B. First single "Magnolia" is a classic ballad by J.J. Cale. Fields' version is slightly faster, its arrangement fuller. Introduced by a gutbucket bassline, a snare, and sonorous B-3, the music swoons and bubbles. Fields' delivery is impassioned yet sensual, highlighting the humid, summery feel in the lyric as trebly guitars punctuate his lines. A pedal steel slips through just atop the backing chorus. The Tulsa connection is deepened by a stellar reading of Leon Russell's "Out in the Woods" (as "In the Woods"). It's rumbling, slow, gospel-infused, call-and-response funky soul and Fields swaggers through the mix. The band cooks on a walloping, all-but-instrumental showcase in "All I Need," as layers of percussion and wah-wah guitars highlight an expanded horn section -- Fields doesn't enter until the last 30 seconds. He does indulge his Brown worship in the uptempo funk jam "Talk to Somebody," but fine though it is, it's the outlier here and takes a back seat to the slow-to-midtempo cookers. On Emma Jean, tracks like the singles "Paralyzed," "Eye to Eye," "Talk to Somebody," "Stone Angel," and the rousing country-soul scorcher "Don't Leave Me This Way" engrave a particular Lee Fields & the Expressions signature, leaving no one in their league. Emma Jean even stands out from its excellent predecessors in performance, arrangement, production, and inspiration.
Review by Thom Jurek
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puw
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Re: Lee Fields - Emma Jean (2014) [Retro-Soul]; FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Unread postby puw » 24 Apr 2022, 21:36

Thanks Mike - can't fault his output - old & new :)

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