Shakura S'Aida - Brown Sugar is straight ahead sassy blues with a rich sound; Shakura's vocals take you to the depths of blues despair with a smile on your face. 

Shakura S'Aida - Brown Sugar                  

Brown Sugar: Mr. Right; Walk Out That Door; Gonna Tell My Baby; (Did It) Break Your Heart; Angels On High; Chasing The Sun; Missing The Good and the Bad; Sweet Spot; Brown Sugar; This Is Not a Love Song; Anti Love Song; Outskirts of Memphis            

Personnel: Shakura S'Aida: Vocals; Donna Grantis: Guitar; Lance Anderson: Organ; Rick Steff: Keyboards; Steve Potts: Drums; Dave Smith: Bass; Background Vocals on (Did it) Break Your Heart and Chasing the Sun: Troy Adams, Shannon Maracle; Background Vocals on Angels on High and Missing, and The Good and the Bad: Vicki Atkins: Amyee Bragg, Stan Crouse            

Shakura S'Aida - Brown Sugar was produced by Jim Gaines and released on the Ruf Records label. Starting young and honing her craft over time, Shakura has learned how to engage an audience through her successful acting career and as the front man for numerous bands over the past 20 years. Brown Sugar marks her second release and vaults her into the echelons of blues singers, and accompanied by blues guitar extraordinaire Donna Grantis, this duo is a force to be reckoned with. They are tireless performers who enjoy the energy from a live audience, so check your local jazz scene calendar to see when they will be in town.

The release opens with Mr. Right and Donna grinds out some heavy blues licks setting the pace for Shakura's vocals "You can't be my Mr. Right cause you doing me wrong;" Mr. Right is playful blues. The track, Walk Out That Door, features Lance Anderson on organ in a mix of blues, rhythm and blues, and pop showing us the versatility of Shakura and her band. Gonna Tell My Baby is down and dirty blues and Shakura hunkers down and shimmies her way through this track.

(Did It) Break Your Heart is a soul and pop track where Shakura's velvety vocals coo their way through this touching track. Angels on High is a beautifully performed song, a soft and soulful rendition that will touch the listener's heart, and for each purchase of this track Shakura will donate her proceeds to Free The Children, a Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund.        

The track Chasing the Sun is a clean rhythm and blues song that features some great harmonies and a solid bass line. Missing the Good and the Bad is jump blues taken to new heights with a touch of organ and a driving bass before it transitions into funky blues driven by Donna's guitar work. The track Sweet Spot is funky blues with a touch of rock and roll framed by the hard driving combination of the drums and guitar.

The track Brown Sugar is an animated track that glides over a bruising blues and rock arrangement. This is Not a Love Song is a beautifully arranged and performed song that allows Shakura to open up her vocal range. The closing tracks are Anti Love Song, a sassy song with a lighthearted arrangement, and Outskirts of Memphis, a deep blues song that closes the release like it started with the one-two punch of Donna's guitar work and Shakura's bluesy vocals.      

Websites where you can procure Shakura S'Aida - Brown Sugar are Ruf Records, Amazon, HB Direct, and Barnes & Noble.

© May 2010. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.