I’ve said this before, but most modern jazz and soul music suffers in comparison to the 60s and 70s heyday, those guys dug deeper and often had, if not god, then at least gospel roots on their side, not to mention some serious golden age musicians around the corner. Nine times out of ten if I need a classic soul injection I’m going to dip into my vinyl rather than hit play on Tidal, although I do have a soft spot for certain nu-soul artists who are at least taking things in new directions. Somehow The Mighty Tiny & The Many Few have managed to scratch both itches.
The project is a huge collective effort, uniting fifteen musicians from three continents with 4-6 composers and 3-5 producers on each track, so quite how a cohesive release emerged I’m not quite sure? Oddly, a lot of the musicians come from Denmark, hardly known for its soul scene, so kudos to Steven Jess Borth II and Walshy Fire - the main driving forces behind the project, and their wise choice in songwriters, composers and musicians.
Several of the main players either live or have roots in Jamaica which certainly has left its mark, not least with the island soul twang of Randy Valentine, who previously was better known for his reggae and mainstream urban endeavour, the boy’s got a voice and a distinctive vibe, I like him. And those Danes deliver, it seems Copenhagen might be the new Detroit?
Impressively as well for such a large collective the overall sound is pretty stripped back. The guitars, horns, keys drums, backing vocals and bass are all there but there is a distinctly less is more approach, everyone seemingly in no hurry to do there part, preferring to hang back and make it count when they do. Classic sounds, albeit with a refreshingly unpolished, slightly distant sound abound on the first four cuts. The LP kicks off with three quality slower jams before the deep disco, and tonight’s family dance tune of choice, “Young World“.
From there some modern studio trickery creeps in with “The Reward” going a smoother nu-soul route, even containing a spoken word meets spiritual dancehall verse. I’m not quite sure how you’d describe, “A Life Called River”, soul opera perhaps? It eschews groove for an uplifting, theatrical vibe and is the last uptempo hurrah before the sweet lover’s soul of “Revolutionary Love” closes the LP out nicely.
If you liked Sault then you’ll like this crew, personally I prefer them.
Playlist Companion
Find The Mighty Tiny & The Many Few sitting pretty in the
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