Last week I received a CD album from John E. Bell for a review. This is John E. Bell's debut album and is called 'Special Occasion Tribute: From Soul To Soul' and is released in 2010 on Excelsior Aliquippa Publishing Company Records. The album is recorded in the Royal Studios in Memphis. This ten track album has some really great soul tunes on it. The more you listen to this album the better songs get. On this album you can hear a mix of slow and mid-tempo soul/gospel songs. For the dutch visitors or foreign visitors, who are in the Netherlands on Tuesday 29th November 2011 at 11:00pm, Dr. John E. Bell is performing live in the WCC Muziekcafé. in de Pijp, Amsterdam.

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It starts with the track 'I Want To Be Close To You' one of my favourites of this album. Another one with a fantastic soul sound is the second track 'Good Thing'. Both consist of nice string sounds an of course Bell's voice. 'Trying Not To Hurt Me By Not Hurting You' is a great slow-jam equal to Levert type of songs (Fav). 'Faking it' has a sixties feel vibe sound. The wah wah guitar on top of great strings and bass are the musical ingredients for the title track 'Soul To Soul'. For the next track 'Thinking About You' the organ is the most importent instrument. 'Cold Feet' is a tune on a nice analog bass synth sound with perfect guitar/synth licks (Fav). Strange title though ;-) Track number 9 is a steppers mix of the song groove me, in the break you hear a nice piano solo on the groovy bass line (fav). The last track is a gospel song.


Mark Berbiers