REVIEW: Rising Sun By Souljazz Orchestra

(Strut/Border)

**

Tepidly tepid, Rising Sun is the kind of album that you play at a cocktail party and girls come over and say, what is this shit pseudo Latin dance music we are listening to?

Tepidly tepid, Rising Sun is the kind of album that you play at a cocktail party and girls come over and say, what is this shit pseudo Latin dance music we are listening to? Seriously, in general, Strut Records is an impeccable record label, but fuck - what a snoozefest Rising Sun is. Overbaked, hyper extended song ideas, flaccid contemporary reformatting of classic soul, jazz, afrobeat and Latin musical modes - and, well, a general feeling that something just isn’t quite right. Time for some facts. Formed in 2002, the Souljazz Orchestra hail from Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. To be honest, as a city I’ve visited several times, it’s possibly the last place in the world I’d associate with raw and uncut black music. Despite having release two full length albums prior to Rising Sun, this is perhaps the fundamental problem with the Orchestra. You see, from a technical point of view, this six-piece plays very well. From a feeling based perspective though, the notes, rhythms and tones just fail to move. Something is missing. Something isn’t there, kinda like a soul band with no soul.

Martyn Pepperell