When last seen, Kevin Jenkins was playing bass with the Shemekia Copeland Band at the Iridium on their four night stand last week. I caught the last night of the show and Kevin gave me a copy of his debut album, Step Inside, a big time chunk of r&b and soul that may well take you by surprise.
It is very, very deeply felt soulfulness on “Flying” and a Jimmy Webb cover of “Wichita Lineman” before moving on to funk and soul. It moves on its stomach but never veers far from its calling card: Jenkins singing. And three years in the making, you can’t hear the strain, it is all of a piece and the piece is where r&b doesn’t really doesn’t go nowadays.
Whatever True Groove brings to the world, part of it is the family orientation wherein band members become band leaders, where difference musicians have their chance to shine, it is like a Socialist Monarchy!!
The two songs Kevin performed at the Doncker Bands Blue Note gig last week were highlights and on October 1st (a Tuesday), the Triad gig spotlighting the new album should be amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a record label quite like True Groove, the way switch roles, and sounds, but at their core remain the same. It reminds me of Motown. It reminds me of how Berry Gordy got his entire roster of artists in to a house in Detroit and had em record song after song after song.
So Step Inside is a very strong album, the set will absolutely kill and here is some more info:
Hi All,
I wanted to invite you to TRUE GROOVE Artist, KEVIN JENKINS’, ‘STEP INSIDE’ CD Release Performancethis coming Tuesday, October 1, 9:15 at Stage 72 at the Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street New York, NY 10023.
Further details here: http://stage72.com/ai1ec_event/kevin-jenkins/?instance_id
“Not everybody is cut out to be center stage. Some folks are better off in the background supporting the superstar in the spotlight. That is not the case for Brooklyn based R&B soul singer, Kevin Jenkins, who sadly has spent a three decade long career as the side man to such artists as Cyndi Lauper, Maxwell, Roberta Flack and Enrique Iglesias. Now I’m sure Jenkins has enjoyed traveling and performing around the world with those artists, but listening to an advance of his first solo effort as the main attraction, Step Inside, I can’t help wondering what great music we missed out on in all those years. The album is full of jazz and classic R&B rhythms that recall the heyday of a Bill Withers or Joe Cocker. Jenkins’ music – and this is truly meant as a compliment – is the smooth kind of listening you can turn on on a Saturday morning while cleaning the house and joyously bop around to.” – Spadaque Volcimus, mysocialist.com, August 16, 2013
For more information on Kevin: http://kevinjenkinsmusicgroup.com <http://kevinjenkinsmusicgroup.com/>
and to preview his songs: kevinjenkins.bandcamp.com <http://kevinjenkins.bandcamp.com/>
So come out, listen to some spectacular music, and join the True Groove Global Soul Family.
peace,
Tomás
GLOBAL SOUL IS:
the sound of our collective consciousness
the unified rhythm of heart beats
creating a positive, spiritually uplifting force for good
Musically speaking it is not genre specific, but In fact genre inclusive
it is the best of what we have to offer to each other
from Brooklyn
to
Ethiopia
and everywhere in between.