Welcome to blog post 32 and I would like to say thank you for all the support with getting near to 3000 views, its insane! Today I'll be celebrating with a fantastic jazz/funk band called Camera Soul and their latest album "Not For Ordinary People". Camera Soul are based from southern Italy (Bali), led by veteran composer brothers Piero and Pippo Lombardo and fronted with the vocals by the wonderful Serena Brancale.
Piero (one of the composers) messaged me and asked if I could review their latest album and of course I said yes, but I what was in store was about to blow my mind. My ears were in for a rare treat of just pure soul, jazz-fusion and funk from this band that are starting to become more popular across the world.
Camera Soul are inspired by legendary horn line, soul, R&B and jazz-fusion artists such as Earth, Wind and Fire, The Commodores, Tower of Power and Stevie Wonder. Put all of those together and you have this band. They certainly have a 'Jamiroquai' tone to them, but so much more purity to the sound.
One song I would recommend to you to sum this band up would be the second track "Mama". It just keeps my head bopping throughout the whole track and enterains throughout with drops and bridges and always has treats in store. The album is very well produced, since this is a large band its difficult to not get anyone lost within the music. They have balanced everything perfectly to make it such a crisp sound which is an absolute delight to the ears.
Piero and Pippo certainly know what sounds to create from each instrument at which point. You can sit back and really focus on the arrangement of the band and listen to each instrument. A personal favourite of mine is the jazz guitar and bass lines, it just holds it together and brings a lot of funk to the band. Its left so subtly in the background to just groove around the riff. A good example would be the verses in the song "I Don't Like Roses". Another head bopper might I add!
During the album you can start to hear some Italian characteristics come into the music. Whether its a certain riff from an instrument or genuinely just the feel, it gives the band that difference about them which every band looks for. The band have a great mellow tone during the verses and can really kick up a gear in the chorus. Enough to keep the song exciting to the listener, but not enough to try be too brash which is a nice change.
Their tight playing and soulful music is making a real dent in the music business and are certainly making a noise about it. In October 2013 this album was 2nd in the UK Soul Charts and spent a gigantic 15 weeks in those charts too which is a fantastic achievement by the band that is well worthy of its place.
The album has got the band a range of awards such as 'Best Instrumental Jazz Solo',' Best Engineered album', 'Producer of the Year', 'Song of the Year' & 'Best R&B Song'. Not a bad collection of awards, but boy do they deserve it. I would agree with all of these especially ' Best Engineered Album' for just the clear sound from every instrument on this album and how balanced everything is.
The songs that I recommend are 'Not For Ordinary People, 'Mama', 'The Happiest Day' and 'I Don't Like Roses'. The rest of the album is brilliant, but these are the ones to check out for a little taste tester first.
I hope you all enjoy the music and thank you for reading.
Until next time
Lewis
Website: http://www.camerasoul.eu/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Camera__Soul
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camerasoul?fref=ts
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