Friday, April 6, 2012

Lee Fields & The Expressions - Faithful Man (2012)


Since the late sixties Lee Fields has amassed a prolific catalog and has played and toured with such legends as Kool and the Gang, Sammy Gordon and the Hip-Huggers, O.V Wright, and many more. With a career spanning 43 years, it’s mind-blowing that the music he’s making today with Brooklyn’s Truth & Soul Records is the best of his career. While drawing comparisons to The Moments, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, and—of course—James Brown, Faithful Man is able to create a space of it’s own due to the group’s desire to interpret and further the formulas of good soul music rather then imitate them. Chalk that up to Truth & Soul producers and co-owners Jeff Silverman and Leon Michels. These are the same individuals that co-wrote, produced, and played on Aloe Blacc’s global smash I Need A Dollar, and have provided the back drop for records by Adele, GhostfaceKillah, and Jay-Z to name a few. “The older Fields becomes, the closer he gets to perfecting the sound of soul” said DJ Oliver Wang about Fields in an NPR feature. Faithful Man is the next step towards perfection. A step that will find Lee Fields & The Expressions finally being bestowed the contemporary soul music crown.

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