Welcome to Soul-Patrol Newsletter:

1. Soul-Patrol and The Mass Media - Earlier this summer I spent some time out in Pittsburgh. While I was there Deborah M. Todd, about Soul-Patrol for the New Pittsburgh Courier, interviewed me. The name of the article is "Funk Music With A Revolutionary Mindset". Take a look and let me know what cha think?
In recent months we have been getting a lot of mainstream press coverage. If you are a member of the press and are interested in doing an interview with us, contact me via email.

2. Soul-Patrol.com Website - On the Soul-Patrol.com website, you will notice that the ALL of the advertising banners of our sponsors now rotate on each page of the website. This means that you will get to see their banners on EVERY PAGE of the Soul-Patrol.com website. Take a look at the new format and let us know what you think of it? This is significant for our sponsors, because now the exposure that they will get on our website will increase dramatically. Hopefully this will also cause you all to click on their banners and go to their websites more frequently. Remember, each time you visit the websites of our sponsors; it helps us to continue doing what we do here as an independent entity. So if you like what we do and would like to see us continue, visit our sponsors and tell your friends about them also.

3. Soul-Patrol Newsletter - we are experimenting with something a little different. We have all of the concert reviews in this issue actually posted on our website and just a small portion in the body of the email, you have to click thru to read the entire article. We are trying this because it allows us to actually put more articles in the newsletter (we have 7 in this issue). Let me know what you think of this experimental format?

4. Email Blasts/Special Editions - As you all know an email blast is a special issue of the Soul-Patrol Newsletter, where we focus on a single topic. Coming in September we will be doing email blasts for Felton Pilate (co-lead of ConFunkShun) and for one on emerging soul music superstar star Sonny-Boy. In October we will we doing one for one on emerging soul music superstar star Marlon Saunders and another for the big Doo Wop/Variety Show in NYC. In November we will be dong one on Motown and one on emerging soul music superstar Nicole Wright. I know that a number of artists and other entities are interested in Soul-Patrol doing email blasts. Do the math, if you were interested in email blasts, contact me asap because the schedule is quickly filling up for the fall.

My hope that you will find this issue of the Soul-Patrol Newsletter informative and share it with your friends and family on the internet.

Thanks in advance….


--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net
609-351-0154

1. Commentary: What's in A Name? (Neo Soul, Organic Soul, Alternative R&B, Smooth Jazz, etc)  

I have been asked many times in interviews why I am a fan of "Nu Soul". I also get a lotta email from people who are very concerned with terminology like "Neo Soul, Organic Soul, Alternative R&B, Smooth Jazz, etc", that have begun to pollute our thinking about what this music truly is and what it is not.

Regardless of what name the mass media tries to force down our throats, we know what kind of music these artists are putting out. We also know that it's not as homogenous as the powers that be would have us believe. Each artist is influenced by what has come before them and sometimes in a very conscious manner, they have gone about the business carrying their respective influences forward into the future. One of the reasons why I like so much of this new music is because many of the artists have immersed themselves in the musical styles of the 1970's so much that a 1970's kid (like me) can't help but like the attempt (and in some cases the end result). For me these folks get much respect for using the music of the 1970's as an inspiration and jumping off point for their music. Presented below is an attempt to break it down.

Here is the breakdown, using some of the artists that we are currently (or perhaps are about to) play on Soul-Patrol.Net Radio (along with a few "knee-grow radio" favorites) as examples

* The Curtis Mayfield/Gil Scott-Heron/Roy Ayres/Norman Connors Style ("kozmic funk"):

Examples: Donnie, Andreus, Marlon Saunders, Julie Dexter, Fertile Ground, Cooly's Hot Box, Oktobrworld, Mia Miata, Jazzhole, etc.

* The Jimi/Sly/Shuggie Style ("black hippie"):

Examples: Nadir, Victor Wooten, Sonny Boy, Martha Redbone, Martin Luther, Like So, Amp Fiddler, Adriana Evans, Susaye Greene, Scott Free, etc.

* The Marvin/Stevie/Donnie/Bill Withers/EWF Style ("singer/songwriter pop star"):

Examples: Frank McComb, Anthony David, Ascendant, Gordon Chambers, Rahssan Patterson, Alicia Keys, Wade O. Brown, John Legend, Desi Hill, Brian McKnight, Nicole Wright, Eric Robeson, Louise Perryman, etc.

* The Al Green/Chaka/Womack Style ("soul shouter"):

Examples: Anthony Hamilton, Leela James, Angela Johnson, Angie Stone, Matte', Sharon Lewis, Mighty Sam McClain, etc.

* The P-Funk/Ohio Players/Prince/Time Style ("funkateer"):

Examples: Slapbak, Weapon of Choice, Clones of Funk, Freekbass, RioSoul, John Hickey Band, Rapheal Saddiq, AfroFunk Experience, Stozo Da Clown, Unified Tribe, MFA KERA/Mike Russell, etc.

* The Betty Wright/Marlena Shaw/Millie Jackson Style ("stay away from me if you know what's good for you, it's my time of the month"):

Examples: Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Alison Crocket, Saundra St. Victor, etc.

* The Barry/Isaac/Teddy P/Lufa Style ("love man on the make, in trouble if they approach the above"):

Examples: Will Wheaton, Tyrone Causey, etc.

* The CTI/GRP Style ("phunky jazz"):<br>
Examples: Cassius White, D-Erania, Skip Martin, Monet, SounDoctrine, Kne-O'Chaw Hampton, Eban Brown, Phat Funk Clique, etc.

The artists listed are just loose examples, of course these stylistic categories do overlap, and I restricted the list pretty much to artists with new albums available (and who are associated with Soul-Patrol) but I'm trying to make a point. And that is for the first time since the "mainstreaming of hip hop" in the 1990's, we now have a large body of artists who paint with a pretty wide brush against the landscape of the 1970's and who can serve as credible "replacements" for the aging group of artists who defined Black music in the 1970's. That makes me happy because that means there is a strong likelihood that there will be a large body of people still making the kind of music that I grew up listening to, still doing so far into the future (probably after I pass on).

However there are a couple of issues:

1. The Mass media (and therefore a "brainwashed" public) seems to be only focused on just two of the "styles" that I Identified above ("The Betty Wright/Marlena Shaw Style" and "The Marvin/Stevie/Donnie/Bill Withers/EWF Style "). And in my view that is a bad thing, because it prevents many good artists from being heard.

2. One thing that distressed me as I compiled this list was that there is a significant stylistic category missing. Where have the Black male vocal groups gone???
(I have a few theories....)

This whole conversation is truly fundamental to understanding the economics of the history of black music. The reality is that long ago we abdicated the ability to define what our music is in the commercial marketplace. Hell, not only did we abdicate the definition of it, we even gave to someone else the ability to even give it a name. This shouldn't exactly be a surprise that this has happened with music.

Hell we even gave up the ability to even give ourselves a damn name. Hence even in the year 2005 we answer to any of the names "Black", "Negro", "Colored", "African American", "N*gger" or whatever other people decide to call us on that particular day. Why then suddenly are we so upset about white folks giving a name to our music, when we care so little about what to even name ourselves???

Music is no different. In the middle of this century the record industry decided to use the term "R&B" to replace the previous term "Race music" to identify "our music". We have never had any control over what to call it. I grew up in an era when the terms "Soul" or "Funk" were all you needed. However times have changed. It is no longer 1975 and it never will be again, regardless of how much I might want it to be. Terms like "Soul", "Funk", "Jazz", Blues", Rock", "Rap" and even "Neo Soul" are all terms that have been either appropriated from us or forced upon us as the "name for our music", by an industry we created, but reap little of the economic benefits from.

When I first created the Soul-Patrol website, the original name for it was...
"Great Black Music From The Ancient To The Future". The url would have been
www.GreatBlackMusicFromTheAncientToTheFuture.com

And when it came time to register that url, my brother convinced me of the folly in doing so and we ended up with www.soul-patrol.com
and
"Great Black Music From The Ancient To The Future" ended up as the sub title for the site

That's why terms like "Neo Soul, Organic Soul, Alternative R&B, Smooth Jazz, etc" don't bother me anymore. I have come to the realization that we aren't going to get to have the chance to provide a meaningful name for the music. We have never been given that ability in the past and we won't be given it in the future. And although I have struggled with the term "neo soul" internally for many years, today for me it's a minor issue, I'd rather focus my energies on other things. I don't ever use the term when I write, but the term no longer makes me cringe when I see it.

Today I have indeed come to grips with terms like "Neo Soul, Organic Soul, Alternative R&B, Smooth Jazz, etc". Maybe in some sense it's better that we don't truly have a meaningful name for the music. It keeps the white folks guessing, at a time when they think that they have us completely figured out?

Any thoughts on any of the above???? Hit me back via email and let me know what cha think


--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net

2. Concert Review: Phunk Phamily Affair In Los Angeles SLY STONE EMERGES (8/15/2005)

....A little while later Sally tapped me on the shoulder. She had a big grin on her face and pointed up to the second floor right above my head. SLY WAS THERE!!!!! He was wearing a white outfit and hat and was wearing sunglasses. He looked at me and smiled, and I was in heaven! It was like I was floating for the rest of the show......

Click here for more of Soul-Patrol's exclusive coverage of the re-emergence of SLY STONE in Los Angeles....writen by Jose Munoz

3. Concert Review: Donnie @ the NeoSoul Explosion in Chicago

The energy coming from Donnie and his two very on point vocalists had me about to pop out of my seat. I had no idea that his songs taught on so many issues like loving our blackness, to not judging each other...and so on. Great!! Inspiring! He ended the show and walked off to the side of the stage, my guess is that he was asking if he could do one more number because he was pressed for time in the first place. He came back out and he and the two dynamic vocalists did an acapella song called China Doll; a song about how adults molest children because they were treated the same way when they were kids. My goodness...it brought tears to my eyes......

Click here to read the rest of this review of emerging soul music superstar DONNIE'S performance at this year's NeoSoul Explosion in Chicago, written by Aleta Holloway of Ascendant...

4. Concert Review: Barbara Mason Turns Out NYC @ Joe's Pub 8/12/2005

My thanks to NYC Soul-Patrol Coordinator Cheryl Russell for organizing this show as a Soul-Patrol Event. Thanks to Barbara Mason for doing a "meet and greet" with the Soul-Patrollers after the show.

The show starts...Barbara's band (including members of Billy Paul's band) started off the show with a few "smooth jazz" covers and then the fabulous Ms. Barbara Mason steps on to the stage. She starts off appropriately (since we are in NYC) with her rendition of the Drifters/George Benson's "On Broadway"

AND THEN CAME..."THA BOMB"....

When Barbara Mason sang "OH HOW IT HURTS", my pants got tighter and my heart turned to jello...What can I say...(I'm just a "slow jammin fool"......lol)

Click here for the complete review of a rare nightclub appearence by Soul-Patrol's very own LIVING LEGEND: BARBARA MASON in NYC @ Joe's Pub on 8/12/2005


--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net

5. Concert Review: Mandrill The Afro centric FUNK BOMB @ Carter Baron In Washington DC

Funky Music fans, I guess I am now "the cat". Last night I met the cat who knows the cat which of course makes me "the cat"! I've been talking on the phone and in email to Soul-Patrol founder Bob Davis for several years. Last night at the Mandrill show at Carter Barron Amphi-Theater in DC I finally met the cat. We had a sho-nuff funky good time in DC last night! And when I say he knows the cat, this is no joke. Bob knows everybody and everybody loves Bob (even more than Raymond). When it comes to Mandrill, Bob is like the "5th Beatle". Mandrill was the first Soul-Patrol sponsor and hanging backstage with Bob I was able to to meet and greet the entire Mandrill family.

I go way back (like a car seat) with Mandrill....

Click here to check out the rest of "Dr. G's" review of this live set by Soul-Patrol's very own MANDRILL THE AFROCENTRIC FUNK BOMB (w/Clones of Funk) from Washington DC's Carter Baron Ampitheater....

6. Concert Review: Mighty Dells BLOW UP Philly @ Dell East (8/12/2005)

When was the last time anyone heard a group or act of any kind (outside of James Brown) do a 10-minute overture BEFOR you even hit the stage??????? That was worth the price of admission alone. Always Together never sounded better...and neither did Marvin Junior. Even though my man appears severely hobbled by arthritis (knee replacements?) he has lost at least 100lbs.; don't look sick behind it; and sounds like he can/could out sing anything or anybody out here today. Unfortunately his competition ain't that stiff. However listening to Marvin's baritone I'm sooo reminded that there just are no more shouters/growlers/singers who grab the mike and proceed to stomp a hole right daid-in-your-chest like he does. It also reminded me from whence young Theodore of Pendergrass got most of his influence.

You ever get slapped so hard by yo mamma that it stuns you more than it hurts,yet your eyes well up anyway? That's the way I felt the whole night listening to you guys. I screamed like a white woman when ya'll hit Stay In My Corner. DAAAAYYYUUUMMMM!

Click here to check out the rest of "ELP56's" review of this live set by Soul-Patrol's very own MIGHTY MIGHTY DELLS....

7. Concert Review: Bustin Loose, Ya'll...Chuck Brown And The Soul Searchers In NYC...

I tell you from the moment he and the band hit the stage, you could tell they were out to take prisoners... they played HARD AND STRONG AND LONG!!! They dropped that go-go beat and went straight through a 2 hour set with it, performing original and cover versions of some great R&B classics. It was a PARTY ya'll.

For openers, CB and the SS hit us with 'Life in The City sliding on into 'Hoochie Coochie Man'leading on down to 'Chuck Is Here'...and this is where CB/SS blew up the spot for that moment, a go-go version of 'I Dont Mean a thing, If It Aint Got that Swing'. Do wop do wop do wop do wop do wop do wop do wop do WOW! Well the seasoned folk in the park got off on this one, with the rest of us. But Chuck just kept it a -go-go -ing...He flipped into 'Midnight Sun' and from there made the crowd 'whoop' again with a go-go version of Moody's Mood for Love. He scatted the HECK out of that joint. He sang it like he composed it. As he kept the beat go- go -ing on this tune, he paid a visit to cartoon land and had a version of the theme from 'The Woody Wood Pecker Show'.
*HOT DAMN* I tell you it was HOT up in there! That has got to be one of the most creative medley's I heard in a long time.

Click here to check out the rest of "DyvaNaye's" review of this live set by the "godfathers of GoGo", CHUCK BROWN AND THE SOUL SEARCHERS...

8. Concert Review: Bettye LaVette Terrorizes NYC @ Joe's Pub

By definition, a terrorist inflicts damage. Bettye LaVette inflicted some serious damage to the little box that all of the "black music experts" out there would like to keep Soul music inside of. That "little box" is now battered, disfigured and perhaps changed forever. (PS look for upcoming articles in Playboy, Esquire and other mainstream publications soon)

What a GREAT night for Bettye LaVette!!!!
She truly rocked the house. It was PACKED. Lots of journalists and celebrities were in the house also. My thanks to everyone involved in putting together tonight's show. Thanks to Joe's Pub for providing the perfect venue to launch Bettye's new CD. We met lots of old friends and some new ones as well. The highlight of the evening was of course when Bettye sang Happy Birthday to Soul-Patrol's own Cheryl Russell.

I just wanted to let yall know what a great time I had at this show.

That's right; she came to Joe's Pub and…

::SHE CAME::
:::::SHE SAW::::::
::::::SHE CONQURED::::

Bettye LaVette made a grand entrance to the stage with her slinky and yet shapely body squeezed into a "f*ck me dress, shoes to match, ready to take on all comers…". In other words it's one of those kind of nights that 10 years from now, 100,000 people will say they were at, but we all know that would have been impossible…..lol. Bettye LaVette did everything but actually light the match that would have burned Joe's Pub down to the ground last night my friends.


Click here to read the rest of this review of soul music superstar Bettye LaVette's awesome show at Joe's Pub in NYC.....

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If you have a news item, update, review, commentary, etc that you would like to submit to the Soul-Patrol Newsletter, please send them via email for consideration to:

earthjuice@prodigy.net

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Hopefully you enjoyed this edition of the Soul-Patrol Newsletter.
We will be back in about two weeks with the next edition, with any email alerts for local events, Soul-Patrol website updates/chat sessions or breaking news in between, as required.

If you have any comments, questions, etc feel free to drop me an email and let me know what's on your mind.

Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net

Soul-Patrol Email Blast/Sponsorship Oppurtunities:

If you or your organization is has a need to reach Soul-Patrol Newsletter readers (Soul, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Rock n Roll fans) on a worldwide basis, then you may be interested in talking with us about doing a targeted email blast. They are inexpensive and highly effective for announcing a new CD, concerts, website launches, new products, new or existing businesses, etc.
We also have sponsorship oppurtunities available for Soul-Patrol's Website, Soul-Patrol's Daily Interactive Mailing List and the Soul-Patrol's Newsletter.
Contact us for the current rate schedules via email.


Bob Davis - Soul-Patrol
798 Woodlane Rd
Suite 10264
Mount Holly, NJ 08060
609-351-0154

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The intent of Soul Patrol , is to be a celebration of Great Black Music From The Ancient
To The Future. It's all about Soul, Jazz , Blues, Rock, Funk, and about the culture they
have evolved from.

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