VARIOUS - THE AROCK & SYLVIA STORY (CDKEND 212)

We dig deeper! This might be the motto to advertise Ady Croasdell's Kent imprint. This time we focuse on NYC sophisticated soul delivered by Arock and Sylvia, two labels founded in the 60s by famous tenor sax player Al Sears. Once again plenty of unreleased tracks came out from the vaults and we must thanks Ady for his hard work. As new discoveries are getting scarcer these days, the future of the scene is right here (check out Tutti Hill's great "Handful of memories"). Add a bunch of dancefloor favourites like the Corvairs "A victim of her charms" (if you like the Drifters will dig this too!) and Tutti Hill's "He's a lover", a fabulous beat ballad, and you have another good compilation for your soulful collection. Joan Moody classics "We must be doing something right" (manic uptempo!) and "Don't do me that way" (midtempo magic!) are two favourites of mine. Even if Garrett Saunders's "A day or two" sounds very close to Chuck Jackson's "Any day now", it's pretty cool too. Following today's wider tastes, Billy Washington's "Later for romance" and Marie Knight & Junior Lewis's "Better wait and see" are two solid R&B. Needless to say, buy it blind!