Meet: Jacob Banks

Early this year on one of my frequent visits to the MOBO website I came across Jacob Banks. He had just won the MOBO UnSung prize for Birmingham and so was one of the featured artists on the subsequent tour. I clicked play on the video for 'Kids on the Corner' and heard  husky, warm, soulful vocals reminiscent of John Legend, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. I should have placed a cushion on the floor to break the fall of my jaw: The talent of this 20 year old Birmingham native is way beyond his years. He sounds like an artist straight out of the motown era and he is fast creating a buzz on the live music scene having recently supported Daley at the Jazz Café and performing a string of other dates over the summer. Keep an eye out for this guy and if you can catch him live do so while its cheap because I predict that somewhere in the near future you'll be paying through the nose to see this young gentleman. The Jacob Banks EP entitled 'The Monologue' is due out soon. Remember, I told you.

Josh Osho At The Jazz Cafe

Last night (25/06/12) Camden Town was buzzing with it's usual current of creativity and freedom but yesterday a bit of that buzz was created by south London singer Josh Osho. It was his first headline show at this renowned live music venue and was to celebrate the release of his debut album L.I.F.E (Learning Is For Ever), which came out that day. The album is a blend of folk, blues and soul. He combines these musical styles with telling lyrics that document the experiences his life growing up.

Inside The Jazz Cafe events were kicked off by BBC 1Xtra DJ, CJ Beatz, who hosted the show and treated the crowd to some new and classic urban floor fillers. This was very well received and some members of the audience even took to the stage to demonstrate their dancing skills. With that, the tone was set and the message was clear: prepare to party!

Rax Official was the first support act of the night and he continued what Beatz had started with his own brand of  London Hip Hop which was a delicate fusion of lazy London rap vocals over a US dirty south sounding rhythm. The second act Marcus Bonfanti brought us some straight up London blues and some serious guitar skill too! These two very different acts represented Osho's broad musical tastes and his efforts to unite elements of the two sounds within his own music.

Shortly after this, Osho took to the stage like a rocket! He was clearly full of energy and rearing to go. Guitar in hand he worked through each song with conviction, purpose and poise. He started with 'Ebenezer Hotel', a jaunty blues song in which he describes his experiences living at a hostel after leaving home aged 16. He followed with 'Footprints' which maintained the high energy level with it's feel good pop-African beat. He was full of boyish charm and enthusiasm whenever he addressed the crowd. Whether it was to stir up the atmospshere or to give thanks, Osho displayed natural charisma and grace.

He took the tone down a few notches with 'Wishing Well'  and 'Highlight of  My Day'. And then there was S.O.S:  For a moment, all the crazy energy in the room was focused as if funnelled down into this one quiet moment. The audience were gripped, almost entranced by the hypnotic guitar melody of this beautiful ballad and for this time they were still, calm and contemplative.  His performance of this song was truly a brilliant moment.

But after that, it was back to the business of celebrating. Osho rounded off his show with  the two singles from the album 'Redemption Days' and 'Giants'. The audience responded by singing along in full voice! Osho exited the stage to raucous applause then returned to perform his version of Kanye West's 'Jesus Walks' for his encore song.

At heart Osho is a storyteller,  who makes the kind of music you want to hear live and last night he made it clear that we were there to celebrate and enjoy life in all it's glory and even in it's torment. This was a man on a mission and he put on a great show making sure  no one present that night will forget that learning is for ever: L.I.F.E 

Resurrected Four Your Listening Pleasure: The Element of Freedom

Released in 2009, Alica Keys' fourth album is a collection of songs that explores the joys, sacrifices and uncertainty of new found love. Alicia Keys knows how to put her heart into her songs without revealing too much, she gives listeners enough to relate these emotions to their own lives. Her trademark throaty vocals sound amazing on the lead single 'Doesn't Mean Anything' . She goes for a cool retro, groove with a pounding bass line on 'Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart' and the triumphant optimism on 'Wait Til You See My Smile' is truly infectious. 'Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down' is probably the album's most recognisable track. The songs' original release features Jay-Z rapping over a 90's sounding Hip Hop beat with Keys singing the anthemic hook. However, the version featured on the album is Keys' personal, piano led ode to her hometown, New York. The song serves as a fitting way to end an album about love; clearly New York is one of the big loves in the life of Alicia Keys.

Daley at the Jazz Cafe

I was so excited about seeing Daley Headlining his own tour at last! I first came across him when I saw him perform with Wretch 32 on 'Later... with Jools Holland'. He looked intriguing in a long black jacket, thick rimmed glasses and fantastically coiffured hair, but the thing that got me was his voice- he sounded amazing- I had to hear more! I You Tubed just a couple of performances but that was enough- this guy had me, hook, line and sinker. Daley has a smooth soulful voice with a killer falsetto! I downloaded his EP 'Those Who Wait' and it was everything, I didn't even know I wanted to hear from a new R&B album.  My top three stand out tracks are:

The title track, 'Those Who Wait': A coming of age/coming of music song with a nostalgic kind of laid back groove.

'Game Over': A "player" in love promises his new love that he has quit the "Game". The song has a cool, catchy, summer vibe.

'Spent'- This is a musically stripped down song that uses a money metaphor to detail the wake of turmoil left by a failed relationship.

Loving Daley's EP, as I do,  I decided to go to a few shows where he was either a featured artist or a support act. I found that after each performance I wanted to see more- do people still shout 'Encore'? Because I REALLY wanted to at times! So, you can see why when I found out about the 'Those Who Wait' Tour I was more than overly excited!

The Jazz Cafe was the perfect venue to play this sold out gig and Daley was on top vocal form. He sang most songs off the EP, plus three songs taken from his forthcoming debut album. There were also a couple of surprise treats too: He gave Usher's 'Climax' the Daley treatment and he did his version of Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' to raucous applause from the crowd, who, (like me), I suspect, believe that this is the best version of the song. He also, interluded his own song, 'Game Over' with Rufus ft Chaka Khan's 'Sweet Thing'- and this was indeed, a very sweet thing! He ended his set with 'Alone Together', which is fast becoming a classic among Daley fans. It was one of those "lighters in the air moments", although, with the smoking ban in force, I believe that the use of lighters indoors is also prohibited- but you catch my meaning. It was the perfect way to end the show- Daley left me and the rest of the crowd wanting more, (yet again). But I think this is how it should be, artists should leave their audiences fulfilled yet still wanting more!

Daley's endearing personality gives him effortless charm and a quiet showmanship. The audience connected really well to the performance: constantly clapping along, mouthing the words to all the songs and whooping and hollering their delight at virtually every note he sang. It was clear that Daley was preaching to the converted, I doubt there was a person in there who didn't already love him- but if there was, I'm sure they do now!

Some say that R&B is dead. But I think that the David Guetta era of R&B is moving on.  People are growing tired of feeling like they want to do a gym workout to every song that comes on the radio. Don't get me wrong, I will happily admit to enjoying a bit of Euro-pop-infused R&B every now and again... Granted, it's usually when I'm on a treadmill, but hey...! Daley's music nods to classic R&B while offering something new and I'm excited about that- can you tell?!

Check out the vids below! You can download Daley's EP, 'Those Who Wait' at  www. daley.tv

Resurrected For Your Listening Pleasure: Justified

I've been listening to Justin Timberlake's 2003 debut album 'Justified' all day! It almost slipped my mind, just how great this album is! With the help of some big name producers such as Timberland, Pharrell Williams and Scott Storch, Justin created a collection of songs that showcased his vocals on ballads, mid-tempos and up-tempo tracks. The album was popular in the mainstream but also respected on the 'urban' radio stations too. The accompanying videos show off his natural charisma and showmanship. This was a fantastic debut, Justin shed his slightly cheesy boy band image and became the new cool kid. There still isn't anyone who does it quite like him! check it out: Resurrected for your listening pleasure.