BSTC – Music For A Saturday Evening
When it comes to really representing the classic retro 80’s soul sound & a hint of the disco flavor of the 70’s, My hats off to this fine group of players that make up BSTC – Blackstone Theater Collective. The brainchild from Andy C. for S.O.U.L. Music (And he means the word Soul folks.) brings together a generous collective effort from numerous vocalists & members who have collaborated from over the years with the likes of ‘Janet Jackson’, ‘Tom Tom Club (Genius Of Love)’, ‘Patrice Rushen’ & many more.
The project, “Music For A Saturday Evening” is festive for the Back In The Day crowd, without compromising today’s R&B listener. To make it plain & simple, BSTC offers up another opportunity to keep your Saturday Night Dancing pleasure in check. Whether it be at your house, your friend’s houseparty, the community center throwdown or club spot. They came prepared to re-ignite the reasons why you need to celebrate the Saturday nightlife, by any means necessary.
Track Listing:
~ Intro
~ B.S.T.C.
~ Love It (Featuring JL)
~ Get It (Feat Keanna Johnson)
~ Fresh Love (Feat Keanna Johnson)
~ Venus & Mars
~ Fly Away (Feat Keanna Johnson)
~ Aqua De Beber (Water To Drink)
~ LOve And Lust (Featuring Russoul)
~ Afrika (Interlude)
~ Suffering And Smiling (Feat Yaw, Corey Wilks & Maggie Brown)
~ Jazz In Outer Space
~ Forty Days (Feat ZZaje)
~ Mr.AC (Feat ZZAJE & Low Down Brass Band)
It seemed like these guys had a whole lot of fun on stage or in the studio while the project was being arranged & produced. The later back in the day mystical energy was prevalent throughout the disc. Although some songs registered very closely to a little bit of a Brand New Heavies sort of groove. It all, still, complimented each track by sequence.
Take for example, ‘B.S.T.C.’. This one quickly reminded me of the days of The earliest S.O.S. Band compositions. When the whole group would just simply jam without any vocals coming from anywhere; ‘Get It’ feat Keanna Johnson highlighted a very funky grooveline from bass player Marshall Knight, a real sounding horns dept from The Lowdown Brass Band & a very decent guitar waa-waa sound from Steve “Funkworm” Butler. This song jammed, but was limited or restricted to only 4 minutes & 3 seconds of total track time. What’s up with that?
Keanna Johnson comes right back in ‘Fresh Love’ & relates to the same grooveline from ‘Get It’. Now stop for a second. It’s just a matter of time before you realize these players came to dim the lights & get the party started. Fellas, grab your handkerchiefs. Ladies, find a spot to drop your purse. Its’ On!
Andy C. doesn’t let you up for air with ‘Fly Away’. It seems like whenever he features Keanna Johnson on this album, the magic appears. ‘Fly Away’ spins the bottle & points its way back into a 70’s era sound.
Guest trumpet player Corey Wilks walks onto the set & graces ‘Suffering & Smiling’. Yaw & Maggie Brown added the vocals & this composition showcases the overall production gifts Andy C. brings to your kitchen table. Corey doesn’t mess around neither music listeners. He added a little bit of spice & ingredients to an otherwise well put together creative soul piece. Slightly jazzy on one end, but soulful on the other.
For some reason of another, I was left with a feeling Andy C. could have came out with more tracks for this fine LP. I should call this an LP, BTW, other than it being a CD or MP3 release because that’s the way BSTC’s music played back to my ears. As if it was spun directly from the turntable. You can tell these guys had a lot of fun playing, singing, putting together a well rounded soul project. A recommendation goes to the hard soul bop, keepin’ it steady for the dancefloor players & listeners out there. Soul music wasn’t only being highlighted from the old school era. Some very legitimate, constructive jazz influences had played itself into some arrangements, enhancing many of those tracks flavoring with additional musical gifts from the fine artists Andy C. brought with him. And BSTC brought it out in full detail. Which would cause me to also drop the recommendation shout out to those be-bop, soul/funk jazz listeners on the scope.
Cheers to BSTC for keeping the creative juices flowing.
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T
The Urban Music Scene