Alabama Shakes, the blues rock band, broke out in 2012 with their critically acclaimed debut, "Boys & Girls". After an extensive tour to promote that album, the group's follow-up, "Sound & Color" helped make Alabama Shakes even bigger. The album debuted in the US at number one, reached the top ten in several countries and won the band four Grammy Awards.
Following all of this success, the band's dynamic guitarist and lead vocalist, Brittany Howard decided to take a step back and put the band on hiatus so she could explore her own musical pursuits. She and her wife, Jesse Lafser hit the road, traveling around the country to experience modern-day America. This road trip lead to the Southern-based singer's first solo album, "Jamie" with the title named after her sister who passed away from a rare form of cancer as a teenager. With this record, Howard was inspired to go deeper in to her personal history and viewpoints to create her music. She also incorporates a little jazz, funk and hip-hop in to her songs. This is an exciting and bold new work from Howard. Here are a couple of tracks including the funky single, "Stay High" with the music video featuring actor Terry Crews:
RAPHAEL SAADIQ
One artist who I think is vastly underrated is r&b singer, musician, writer and producer, Raphael Saadiq. I don't think this incredibly gifted performer has gotten nearly enough attention that I think he deserves. The Oakland-born Saadiq (birth name Charles Ray Wiggins) began his career as part of the '90's neo-soul group, Tony! Toni! Toné! with his brother, D'Wayne Wiggins and their cousin, Timothy Riley. After they disbanded in 1996, he continued to create music as part of the short-lived r&b super-group, Lucy Pearl while co-writing and producing tracks for such artists like D'Angelo, Jill Scott, The Roots, Q-Tip, Joss Stone, Mary J. Blige and John Legend. Saadiq released his first solo album in 2002 with "Instant Vintage", a classic work yet not fully appreciated at the time.
For his fifth solo project, "Jimmy Lee", Saadiq has created a concept album that is deeply personal. The record is named after his brother who had contracted H.I.V. and later died from a drug overdose. The songs, inspired by other family losses in his life from addiction and tragedy, features the inventive production you expect from Saadiq yet the lyrics have a deep emotional complexity that you don't usually find in his work. Here is the clip for the single, "Something Keeps Calling" featuring Rob Bacon and a mini-documentary with Saadiq discussing the creation of his art and latest album:
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