Mayfield-R

Jimster

Liking it. WARNING : Contains fire and soul. Anyone else familiar?

fishmongerfunk

i just youtubed some of that stuff and it certainly sounds very interesting. completely obscure song selection too.

mrmatthew

Posted on this a while back.
Definetly feeling it!

If my local shop has a copy, im planing on grabbing myslef a copy after im done buying gifts this weekend.

Jimster

Yeah, there is real depth to this. At times pound-your-fist testifying, at times mad, at times both. Perhaps a bit too jazzy for the strictly soulful palate but a lot more interesting that the stuff I've come across recently. Gets better every play, for me.

Jimster

Here is what them what gets paid to write sez:

"never less than vibrantly alive and utterly suffused with joy."
???THE WIRE, Phil Freeman

"As epic, exciting and life-affirming as any CD set you???re likely to find, this year or any."
???ALL ABOUT JAZZ-NEW YORK, Jeff Stockton

???I wish I could've seen some of these performances in person, because the amount of energy the band packs into them surely must have flowed right into the crowd. Even here, pressed onto little plastic discs, the band practically explodes toward you. .. immense thought and planning clearly went into these arrangements. To pull and stretch these songs so much and still preserve their essential identity is a true feat of art.???
???PITCHFORK, Joe Tangari

".. the essence of the originals, a surging, triumphant life-force, deep-seated humanity and the will to survive that defined Curtis Mayfield's music, also defines these versions. At times we get gospel-tinged uplift, at times we get soulful swing, at times tight soul groove and at times full-blown freak-out, but what never falters is the clear-eyed joy and righteous purpose that has defined the music of both Mayfield and Parker throughout their careers."
???OTHER MUSIC, Josh Madell

"Brilliant, positive, enlightening, spirited ??? this record is a celebration of life. Highly recommended."
???Monsieur D??lire blog, Fran??ois Couture

"..a musical amalgam both earthly and not of this world. The ground this set covers is considerable, as is the divide it bridges. The fact that it does it with such cathartic joy is extraordinary."
???ALL ABOUT JAZZ, Nic Jones

"Parker's muscular bass forms the central golden thread embroidered through these performances, for the most part swinging with wild abandon, but periodically erupting into spectacular displays of kaleidoscopic bowing, like that which closes out the title cut. .. the uplifting, irrepressible spirit with which Parker [and band] imbues Mayfield's tunes never flags, amply satisfying both head and heart."
???ALL ABOUT JAZZ, John Sharpe

"This full-blooded celebration of Mayfield's oeuvre, complete with an all-star cast, of which vocalist Leena Conquest is on imperious form, interprets several of the most emblematic numbers in his timeless songbook and largely takes them 'outside' of the original form as it endeavors to get right inside the spirit of the music. All of which means that the sturdy, funk backbeat on which so much of Mayfield's music was anchored, often drifts out to a whirlpool of swing which in turn bubbles into some very turbulent free improv. While the rhythm section loosens up, the vocal arrangements heartily uphold Mayfield's roots in gospel, and the use of the choir is strikingly effective ... [oh, and] the use of ripe, rotund Jamaican dub and rippling African balaphone rhythms work a treat on the hypnotic and deeply humane 'New World Order.'
???JAZZWISE (UK), Kevin Le Gendre