JAMES & BLACK – How Long Is Now – CD

Label: Brixton Records (Soul series)
Code: BRSO-003-CD
Format: compact disc, album
Release: 31/07/ 2015

‘How Long is Now’ is the debut studio album by the Texan trio JAMES & BLACK. The album was recorded at Auase Studios in Genoa (Italy) with producer Luigi Macchiaizzano over the course of two sweltering weeks. The blend of Southern Soul and Hip-hop that the band has been crafting since their formation in 2011 has crystallised into the cohesive and complete sound you can hear on this album, in which the harmonies and storytelling of Bruce James and Bella Black remain at the heart of the band’s sound.

James and Macchiaizzano have painstakingly crafted the musical foundations that form the bedrock upon which the songs flourish, allowing the vocal work and lyrics to take centre stage. The band’s third member, DJ Phil Ross, in addition to his turntablism (one of the trio’s hallmarks), provides the tracks with incisive and funky samples.

The album features Genoese guitarist Paolo Magnani as a guest on most of the tracks, contributing greatly to creating that soulful texture. The fresh rhythmic texture of the album’s opening track, “The Days”, features a collaboration with Rocky Marsiano from the Lisbon-based hip-hop collective Microlandia; the upbeat “Everyday (Walking In Sunshine)” could be the perfect single; Micha den Haring, guitarist with the Dutch band T-99, lends his gritty slide guitar to an emotional track by Bella Black about a runaway slave, “Whicha Way to Go”… There’s plenty to discover on “How Long Is Now”