 One of the beautiful things about music is the collaboration between its artists. Collaborative efforts have the ability to take performers from different backgrounds and music experiences and transform them into a singular, unified artistic music concept. With the merging of über session and background vocalist Vivian Sessoms and musician and producer Chris Parks, the soul music world has expanded with the creation of Albright. The duo, with Sessions holding down the bulk of the writing and strutting her stuff on vocals, and Parks manning the music instruments and production, bring a warm, inviting, organic groove and vibe with their debut CD, “Sunny One Day.”
With “Sunny One Day,” Albright (the band is named as a tribute to Sessoms’ maternal grandmother) branches out to show you a broader range of the talents of two respected artists that are better known for working in the background, either in the studio or live, with other artist on their respected projects. But as Albright, both Parks and Sessoms stretch out, with Vivian’s vocals ranging from cool to sassy to soulful, while Parks shows his versatility as a skilled musician, writer, and producer. With “Sunny One Day,” Sessoms and Parks have arrived as a tight unit as Albright. “We had been producing and writing for a number of artists, and there was a good amount of songs we had that weren’t being used for anything,” Parks says. “So we figured we should put out our own CD, maybe to use as a calling card to showcase our writing and production skills.”
Mission accomplished.
All of the songs on the album have an organic vibe, one that puts you in the frame of mind of waking up to a beautiful overcast day and playing the project, yet there’s nothing but blue skies by the time the last track ends. But there’s never a convoluted feeling with the songs, each track has a distinct vibe, with flowing melodies, smooth guitar arrangements, and tight groove production by Parks. Sessoms’s writing is right on with lyrics that never fail in reminding us that people do matter in the world. “In my mind, I wanted [the record] to be beautiful but I also wanted to talk about things that matter to me and my generation,” Sessoms says. “I wanted it to feel old school, but be modern at the same time.”
The album features some of the hottest musicians and vocalists on the soul scene putting it down on the project. Artist like Casey Benjamin (of Heavy), Wondress Hutchinson, Eric Brown (of Black-I), and Darius Booker among others all lend their talents to the album. While most of the songs are live instrumentation, there are a couple of songs that feature interesting samples from other artists, such as “Tainted” which the band remade into their own vibe, while paying homage to J-Dilla’s production of the Slum Village track. Other standout tracks include the title track, “Oh Baby,” “Love Can Turn You Around,” “In Between Worlds,” and “Faith”.
Rating: 8/10
Gabriel Rich for Soulinterviews.com
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Albright Official Site
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