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Music guru Mark Ede starts explains why Soul music, in its widest sense, remains an important influence to us all.

Soul Music is in our culture. No longer merely the domain of African-Americans, the back beat of its influence can be heard everywhere from Abba to the Beatles, from the Arctic Monkeys to Radiohead. If, as the song says, we built this city on rock and roll, then rock and roll itself is a city built on rhythm and blues.

Soul retains a universal appeal – not least as a prompt for taking to the dance floor – and, whilst it arguably lacks the specific supporting infrastructure and profile of old, it’s not any less popular. Perhaps it’s now so ingrained in our day to day musical culture that its existence and influence are simply taken for granted.

Indeed, the term ‘soul music’ is an increasingly invasive term. And one ‘artist with soul’ – as opposed to an out and out soul act – is Dublin launched singer Foy Vance. On Saturday 22nd November Vance plays the intimate, but beautifully appointed, downstairs room at the Latest Musicbar (formerly the Joogleberry Playhouse).

Considered by The Sunday Times as ‘an unbelievable voice..in the premier league of British songwriters’ I personally would go further and say that Vance is truly one of most important artists working in the industry today. His debut album ‘Hope’ is as impressively powerful, moving, honestly raw and sincere a debut set as can be imagined.

As a writer, his songs are simply carved in marble and as a live performer he is a master craftsman at the very top of his game. Although far from unknown – his work has been played by such populists as Terry Wogan and Jonathan Ross as well as being variously featured on high rated US TV series – Vance is still first and foremost an ‘artists’ artist’. It is to our benefit that he still performs club venues where I, for one, will be catching him in November.

Visiting stars notwithstanding, the quality and quantity of UK Soul talent, however one defines the term, has never been stronger. And nowhere in the UK is there more young talent per square mile than in our fair city of Brighton. Acts like Chantelle, Laura Vane, Alice Russell, the Sarfas Brothers, Seeker, Oomph, Return of the Bump Squad, the Tin Cup Collective, the LMB All-Stars, Soul Reality, to name but a few…the list really does go on and on…can be found tearing up underground bars and clubs all over our city on a regular basis.

Young home grown musicians and singers who go out and more than do justice to a musical heritage which, for the most part, was formed way before any of them were born. Apart from honouring the masters, these guys also bring their own thing to proceedings, so much so that, in my view, Brighton is truly at the heart of both the classic and progressive/psychedelic UK soul movement… however one seeks to define the term… and however widely appreciated!!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.