Leon Thomas became a star on the back of his original cut of 'The Creator Had A Master Plan' recorded with Pharaoh Sanders. This success was consolidated with four studio albums and several live sessions recorded for Flying Dutchman. A year as a member of Santana brought him to the attention of an even wider audience. His yodelling style allied with deep blues roots has influenced several generations of jazz singers, most recently the Grammy Award-winning jazz star of 2012, Gregory Porter. ~ CD Universe
When Columbia released Land of Passion in 1979, the album received scathing reviews from jazz critics. They knew Hubert Laws for his work as a jazz instrumentalist, and for the most part, Land of Passion isn't instrumental jazz -- it isn't hard bop, post-bop, or even fusion. The main focus of this LP is mellow, mildly jazzy R&B/pop (with the occasional instrumental). So serious jazz standards shouldn't be applied. Unfortunately, the critics who trashed Land of Passion did apply serious jazz standards, which is sort of like a food critic lambasting an Italian restaurant because it doesn't provide Vietnamese or Cambodian cuisine. Land of Passion needs to be judged by R&B/pop and quiet storm standards, and when those standards are applied, one has to say that this record is likable but not mind-blowing. Laws was obviously going after the quiet storm crowd when he recorded gentle tunes like "Music Forever" and "We're in Ecstasy." Arguably, quiet storm music falls into two main categories: R&B/pop vocals (Luther Vandross, Phyllis Hyman, Anita Baker) and R&B-minded crossover jazz (Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn, Lonnie Liston Smith). For the most part, this LP (which had yet to be reissued on CD when the 21st century arrived) falls into the former category, although it does contain two gently funky instrumentals: "We Will Be" and "Heartbeats." Neither are masterpieces, but they have a lot more substance and integrity than the sort of elevator Muzak that Kenny G and Richard Elliot were known for in the 1980s and 1990s. Not one of Laws' essential releases, Land of Passion must be taken for what it is: a pleasant but unremarkable collection of mood music. ~ Alex Henderson
Fresh Steps are a collective of musicians/writers and producers from the south coast based in and around Brighton,Eastbourne and Hastings. The collective includes the production team Blackfly, singer Laura Holding and Jazz musician Oli Briant and a number of others. Fresh Steps have cut their teeth in various bands, playing at and running some of the coolest clubnights on the south coast As the Fresh Steps collective, The Sound of Urban Soul/Jazz Vol. 1 is their first official project together and takes contemporary tracks from the likes of Rihanna, Jessie J, Lady Antebellum, Pink, Alisha Keys, Lady Gaga and tears up the rule book, delivering a number of excellent soul-jazz renditions. ~ CD Universe