samedi 27 décembre 2025
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Jean Carne - Closer Than Close (1986)
Closer Than Close is the sixth studio album by American singer Jean Carn, released in 1986 on Omni Records.[1] This album peaked at No. 9 on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.
Jean Carn - Trust Me (1982)
Jean Carn's lone Motown effort reunites the singer with producer Norman Connors, whose mid-'70s dates for Buddah effectively launched her solo career. Trust Me proves some distance removed from the jazz-funk context of their previous collaborations, however, instead couching Carn's potent vocals in a slickly commercial, radio-friendly setting that casts neither artist nor producer in a positive light. The album's biggest chart hit, a cover of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes classic "If You Don't Know Me by Now" that features the Temptations on backing vocals, exemplifies all of Trust Me's flaws: Carn and Connors rely on safe, conventional material and saleable gimmicks that render the music absolutely faceless. The album's title is sadly accurate. Rather than going for broke, Trust Me plays it far too close to the vest.
Jean Carn - Sweet and Wonderful (1981)
Sweet and Wonderful is the fourth studio album by American singer Jean Carn, released in 1981 on the Philadelphia International Records label. It includes the track "Sweet and Wonderful", a duet with Glenn Jones, produced by Norman Connors.
The album incorporates elements of soul, jazz and R&B, and was produced by Norman Connors with McKinley Jackson, Frank Smith, Bill Bloom and Carn herself.
Jean Carn - When I Find You Love (1979)
When I Find You Love is the third studio album by singer Jean Carn, released in 1979 on the Philadelphia International label.
Andrew Hamilton of AllMusic gave special recognition to the production talents of Dexter Wansel, Jack Faith, and the duo of Jerry Butler and John Usry, stating their tracks "...scored on many different levels. "My Love Don't Come Easy," with its come-hither groove, was a mid-charting R&B favorite. "What's on Your Mind," "Give It Up," and particularly "Was That All It Was" became dance club hits."[1]
While lauded by Billboard for its "gently clipped disco shuffle", lead single "My Love Don't Come Easy" peaked at No. 43 on the R&B chart and did not cross over to the dance charts.[2][3] A trio of second singles including standout "Was That All It Was" peaked at No. 22 on the dance charts.
Jean Carn - Happy To Be With You (1978)
The transformation of Jean Carn from jazz vocalist to mainstream artist continues on her second Philadelphia International LP, originally released in 1978. She does an interesting remake of hubby Doug Carn's "Revelation/Infant Eyes." The most successful track, "Don't Let It Go to Your Head," missed the R&B Top 20 by more than 30 rungs, despite its enormous charm. "There's a Shortage of Good Men" and "You Can't Come Back Now" are dancefloor fillers, while the ballads are beauties, especially "Together Once Again" and Jean's classy rendition of Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life."
Jean Carn - Jean Carn (1976)
Jean Carn is the self-titled debut album by American singer Jean Carn, released in 1976 on the Philadelphia International label.
Ed Hogan of AllMusic stated that "Jean Carn's self-titled debut for Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records could be subtitled "Philly soul at its best."[1]
Two singles were released from the album. The lead-off track, "Free Love", peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart in April 1977.[2] The second single, "If You Wanna Go Back", failed to chart.[3] The two songs, along with the track "You Got a Problem", had received enough combined play in dance clubs to peak together at No. 18 on the National Disco Action chart in February 1977.
Doug Carn & Jean Carn - Revelation (1973)
Doug and Jean Carn's 1973 album Revelation was their final Black Jazz collaboration. Its seamless integration of modal jazz, funk, and spiritual soul in Doug's expansive compositions and Jean's iconic singing register far beyond the boundaries of genre purity. The lineup includes trumpeter Olu Dara, saxophonist Rene McClean, bassist Walter Booker, bass trumpeter Earl McIntyre, guitarist Nathan Page, and drummer Buddy Williams.
Opener "God Is One" is a brief yet glorious benediction. Its modal vamp and chant were inspired by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme." Page's soloing on the edges adds textural support to bridge Jean's singing with the band's spirited Eastern groove. "Power and the Glory" is among the finest tunes in Black Jazz's catalog. A punchy Rhodes piano moves across droning chord progressions as Page's Wes Montgomery-esque tone offers snaky improvisation while simultaneously engaging in syncopated interplay with the rhythm section. Jean soars above, framed by tonally contrasting horn-section accents. Doug's harmonic approach on B-3 and Rhodes juxtaposes soul, gospel, and modal jazz, adding a funky dimension for Jean to play off. Horns introduce the soulful "Revelation"; Dara and McClean sing call-and-response harmony (Philly soul style) underneath Jean's flowing, gospelized soul as Rhodes, bass, and snare breaks bubble underneath. A lilting reading of Coltrane's "Naima" features Jean's overdubbed vocals engaging in harmony with one another. McCoy Tyner's "Contemplation" weds modal jazz, gospel and blues as Jean swoops, growls, and declares the lyric, exhorting the listener toward inner exploration. "Fatherhood" is a hard-grooving soul-jazz jam. Doug's organ dialogues with Page as the rhythm section comp and wind around them. "Feel Free" is the set's longest track. A Rhodes introduces the modal theme before Jean's resonant vocal floats soulfully around Doug's upper-register melodic fills that contemplatively frame the space behind her. Page's slow, angular solo crisscrosses post-bop, R&B, and the blues with fleet yet knotty arpeggios. Dara's loping solo guides the rhythm section as breaking snares, hi-hat cymbals, and syncopated tom-toms shift tempos before Jean winds it all down. "Time Is Running Out" is an urgent meld of hard bop and soul. Jean warns about the wages of institutional racism in a throaty contralto as Doug adds spiky synth lines and a snarling organ solo to the driving tempo. McClean's massively funky "Jihad" closes the set. His harmonic palette grafts angular Eastern modalism onto finger-popping post-bop and pulsing progressive funk (think Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"). Booker's bassline drives singer and horns, adding woody accents to each line as Doug, Page, and Williams pulse aggressively underneath. The composer's sax solo lands somewhere between Coltrane's outward expansions and Stanley Turrentine's seismic soul. While their two earlier recordings, Infant Eyes and Spirit of the New Land, were among Black Jazz's best-sellers, Revelation is arguably the strongest of the three. It showcases the full blossoming of the duo's explorations and integrations from previous outings, and stands as one of the label's true classics.
Doug Carn & Jean Carn - Infant Eyes (1971)
Though composer and multi-instrumentalist Doug Carn cut a hip organ trio record for Savoy in 1969, it's 1971's Infant Eyes, his Black Jazz debut with vocalist and then-wife Jean Carn, that endures as a spiritual soul-jazz classic and arguably created the genre. Though the Carn composition here is "Moon Child," he penned killer lyrics for Jean inside compositions by John Coltrane, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, and Horace Silver. Further, his complex harmonic charts made his sextet sound like an orchestra, establishing him as an arranger. This set also marked the recording debuts of drummer Michael Carvin and bassist Henry Franklin (who would issue The Skipper for Black Jazz the following year). Other players included veteran saxophonist/flutist George Harper, trombonist Al Hall, Jr., and trumpeter Bob Frazier.
The album opens with a brief read of John Coltrane's "Welcome" as brass, reeds, winds, modal and Rhodes piano, bass, and drums all enter on a crescendo before Jean wordlessly soars above them. Hutcherson's "Little B's Poem" commences as a swinging, soul-jazz groover, led by Carn's whimsical Hammond organ and swinging hard bop drums. Jean nearly scats the lyric before the horns surround her in a waterfall of cadences, underscoring her souled-out delivery. Shorter's title cut is a long spectral ballad. Electric piano and cymbals whisper in the vamp before Jean deliberately and artfully articulates the melody through Carn's life-affirming lyrics; the band hovers and floats like a jazz chamber group behind her, providing her freedom to improvise. Carn's "Moon Child" offers humor as the piano playfully apes Traffic's vamp to "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" in the intro) before the horns enter in procession. Franklin walks them along the gradually unfolding modal groove while Carvin fills and rolls around them all. Harper's tenor break channels Coltrane, Shorter, and Sonny Rollins. McCoy Tyner's "Passion Dance" (from 1967's The Real McCoy) is rendered ingeniously; Carn employs the B-3 to wed driving hard bop to soul-jazz. Franklin's furious bassline, Harper's roiling sax, and Carvin's skittering, break-laden kit work push Carn toward modal exploration with expansive chord voicings punctuated by speedy single-note runs. Carn never sacrifices the swinging, songlike structure while underscording the complexity in Tyner's harmonic inquiry. The "Acknowledgement" section of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" is rendered with elegance and spiritual soul in Jean's delivery. The familiar bass and piano theme buoys her. The horns gather force and cascade under and around her as Carn lays down fat, open-ended chords for the rhythm section to play off. His lyrics are full of optimism and spirituality. Horace Silver's "Peace" closes. Carn's chart showcases an elegant interplay between bass and Rhodes piano as Jean expresses the lyric with nuanced resolve and resonance while the trombone emerges as a second voice. All of Carn's Black Jazz titles are influential, but Infant Eyes arrived at a special cultural juncture. It balanced accessibility with adventure and established both the label and the Carns as co-creators of a brand new, specifically Afro-centric approach to creative jazz.
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MEMBERSHIP BENTLEYFUNK 2026 / LAST PLACES
The blog will remain open to everyone for a few more days this month, exclusively for the holiday season.
This gives those who are interested time to sign up for a permanent membership! Enjoy the albums and access to the second private blog with all the latest news and compilations.
Next year it will be too late!
Registration is only possible by email and requires a one-time contribution.
bentleyfunk@hotmail.com
samedi 20 décembre 2025
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Creative Source – Consider The Source (1976)
Creative Source was formed in 1972 by several veterans of the West Coast recording studios. They were managed by Ron Townson, who was a member of The Fifth Dimension.[1] Their first chart success was 1973's "You Can't Hide Love", but their biggest hit came the following year, a cover of the Bill Withers tune "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?". Four albums were issued by the band in three years, but their later singles were less successful, and by 1977, after having lost their recording contract, the group disbanded.
Creative Source – Pass The Feelin' On (1975)
Creative Source was an American R&B group from Los Angeles, who had several funk and disco hits during the 1970s.
Creative Source - Migration (1975) Recorded 1974
Migration is the second album by Los Angeles, California-based R&B group Creative Source. This was their last album on Sussex Records before moving onto Polydor Records in 1975.
Creative Source - Creative Source (1973)
Creative Source is the self-titled debut album by Los Angeles, California based R&B group Creative Source. Released in 1973, this album charted at number twenty-one on the R&B albums chart in 1974. It includes the original version of "You Can't Hide Love" that Earth, Wind and Fire covered a couple years later in 1975.
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