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7/25/2004

Tonya Jameson

Artists renew classic genre

Young singers ignite style in 60s, 70s

TONYA JAMESON

Pop Culture Writer

In the mid-'90s, a young crop of black singers led by Erykah Badu and Maxwell reintroduced live instruments and sincere lyrics to bland R&B.

They burned incense and drank tea. Women wore natural hair, were independent and affirmed black men. Men wore afros, were sensitive and respected black women.

The music was called neo-soul. It was soulful like the songs of the '60s and '70s, but also contemporary like hip-hop. Today, as imitations of Badu and Maxwell inundate R&B, a new generation of young singers draws inspiration from soul icons to create retro soul.

Retro soul dispenses with modern production techniques, musically and stylistically, using vintage instruments and old arrangements.

These artists -- Joss Stone, the Bo-Keys, Ellis Hooks and Ricky Fanté -- are the freshest faces on a scene that has already yielded Charlotte's Anthony Hamilton and Monroe's Calvin Richardson.

Their gritty Southern soul style recalls the Stax era. Industry watchers excitedly compare the young performers to Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Booker T. & the MGs.

Bo-Keys drummer Willie Hall, who's worked with Stax veterans Isaac Hayes and members of Booker T. & the MGs, welcomes the fresh blood to deep-fried soul.

"The younger set, they understand good music," said Hall. "They understand the music that was done by Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes. It's solid gold."

Television has boosted interest in classic soul. On Fox's "American Idol," contestants often sing soul classics. On NBC's "American Dreams," Fanté played Wilson Pickett.

Gail Mitchell, Billboard magazine's R&B editor, is glad the singers expose young listeners to the pioneers, but she worries retro soul indicates a continued lack of creativity in R&B.

"I've heard so many people say, `We've already had a Sam Cooke, we've already had an Otis Redding, why do we need another one?' " Mitchell said.

North Carolina's Hamilton and Richardson capture Southern soul, but still sound original. Their vocal styles recall Bobby Womack, but their topics and musical arrangements are modern. They, unlike the latest retro soul artists, also have received substantial commercial airplay.

Charlotte's hip-hop station WPEG-FM (97.9) and classic R&B station WBAV-FM (101.9) both play Hamilton and Richardson. Operations manager Terri Avery says Fanté has the best shot of getting played on WBAV, but she hasn't added his disc to the rotation.

"You're hesitant to put it on," she said. "You don't know if the older audience will take to them because they're young, singing this type of music."

Stone and Fanté are the most likely artists to have success on commercial radio.

Stone is to soul what Norah Jones is to jazz. Both make old music sound fresh for an older listening audience. Stone is a 17-year-old white girl from England who sings soul music. She teamed with bluesy soul singer Betty Wright, underground famed session guitarist Willie "Little Beaver" Hale and Roots mastermind ?uestlove to create "The Soul Sessions." The album includes covers of Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses" and the Isley Brothers' "For the Love of You."

She teams with Wright and Beaver again for her next album, "Mind, Body & Soul," due in September. Stone has been called a cross between Franklin and soulful blues-rock singer Janis Joplin, but her style is most reminiscent of Wright.

With her shoulder-length blonde tresses, Stone is the poster girl of retro soul. The lithe Fanté, 26, pictured on his album in a turtleneck shirt and leather jacket, is the poster boy.

Before recording his debut album "Rewind," the most he knew about Redding was "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," Fanté swears.

"It just so happens that when I sing, that's the way I naturally sing."

It's a good thing, because his ragged bluesy voice on "Rewind" sounds as if the Maryland native is imitating the great Stax singer. "Rewind" is a collection of new songs written by Fanté and Jesse Harris, the Grammy-winning songwriter who worked with Norah Jones. But even the arrangements, with prominent horns driving the songs, echo Redding's studio prowess.

Fanté's next disc, "Fast Forward," will have a more modern sound, he says; "Rewind" was a tribute to Stax and Motown.

"I wanted to get into that classic soul," said Fanté. "I didn't want to do an album of falsetto."

Fanté isn't the only one looking South for inspiration.

Scott Bomar, 29, grew up in Memphis where the Stax sound was played on the radio and in bars. He taught in the Stax museum school program and got to know older musicians. He teamed with several of them to create the Bo-Keys.

The group's mostly instrumental debut "Royal Sessions" has earned the multiracial and multigenerational band comparisons to Booker T. & the MGs, the famed Stax house band. However, the prevalence of horns makes the Bo-Keys more comparable to the Mar-Keys, the first Stax house band.

Bomar is flattered by the comparisons, but the bass player insists "The Royal Sessions" represents the band's collective experiences as musicians.

"I can see why it's called retro," Bomar said. "For me it's just sort of what I came up studying and learned."

Ellis Hooks also plays the music he grew up hearing. The 13th of 16 children of an Alabama sharecropper, the 30-year-old guitar slinger growls with the determination of someone who's lived hard. His third album "Uncomplicated" recalls the Muscle Shoals sound. Threads of country and gospel bind stories of love and longing.

It's a thread that's been severed in today's R&B. Music is tightly categorized. These new artists refuse to be pigeonholed. Whether you call them imitators or creative risk-takers, they will undoubtedly give R&B a much needed shot of soul.

Music 101

Soul: A gritty blend of gospel, blues and country. Artists: Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes and Al Green.

Contemporary R&B: Originally daring soul influenced by blues, but today it's soul-lite. Artists: Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, Tamyra Gray, Carl Thomas.

Neo-soul: Soul with elements of hip-hop and jazzy instrumentation. Artists: Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Musiq, Dwele, Jill Scott.

Retro soul: Young singers who re-create the soulful sound of the '60s, often lyrically, musically and stylistically. Artists: Ricky Fanté, the Bo-Keys, Joss Stone, Ellis Hooks, Calvin Richardson.

Hip-hop soul: R&B songs that often use samples, computer-based beats and live instruments. Artists: Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Jaheem, Tank, Ashanti.