OK, bloggers, time for something a little more contemporary - Bigg Robb! This one is bound to get mixed reactions here. But if you have never heard of Bigg Robb, bear with me for just a bit. You may end up deleting these MP3s immediately after listening to them. Or you may end up on the dance floor with a new perspective on modern Blues and Soul. As for me, I've been on the dance floor with a new perspective from Bigg Robb for a number of years already.
I remember that, back in the 90s, they would sometimes refer to the blues/soul being played on the Chitlin' Circuit as music for the over-30 crowd. Well, now it is usually more like over-50, if not over-60. So what about the future?
Well, thankfully, there are some people making serious attempts to modernize the music for the new age, while still respecting the beautiful essence of classic blues and soul. I would put Bigg Robb at the front of this movement. In my mind, he has been suprisingly successful, artistically as well as commercially. Check out some of the youtube videos of live performances by Carl Marshal of Good Love Will Make You Cry (Included on this album). What a crowd of fans, a good number of which are decidedly under 50!
Bigg Robb has recently entered the over-50 crowd, himself. He comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, and began his career as a radio DJ, where he came into contact with Bootsy Collins. His primary mentor was Robert Troutman of Zapp. Robb's early interests were primarily in the emerging Hip Hop scene and deep funk. Gradually, he developed a major interest in old school blues, soul, and gospel, and has worked in recent years to produce a modern version of this music with the full palette of Hip Hop production techniques at his disposal. In my mind, Bigg Robb uses this palette with taste in a manner that complements rather than obstructs the soulfulness of the music. This is not a Hip Hop sampling of Blues & Soul. Blues and Soul are at the core here.
Blues Soul & Old School was a quite popular release in 2008, especially Good Love Will Make You Cry, which was the runaway #1 Southern Soul single in 2008. Not every track here reaches that level. But there are a number of other standouts, including Keep on Swinging and Grown & Sexy (one mix featuring another younger sensation of the Circuit, Sir Charles Jones).
