"NO TIME LIKE TODAY" (single)
Excerpt from TAXI review
“No time like today” by Royal Jones
A memorable hook…first line makes you want to hear more…communicates emotion to the listener. .this is a great sounding recording...background singers are also great... a fun enjoyable listen
great idiosyncratic funk - soul
by steve s.
REally cool jazzy funky original voice with lots of attitude - just what we need in the 21st century!
from AM NEW YORK publication
ROYAL JONES ~YOU BROKE THE CIRCLE
You wouldn't guess it from the album art,but this guy is a MOTOWN soul
machine, and totally danceable.
Yes, the strangely soulful falsetto of Royal Jones really does come from a middle-aged, blue-eyed, white guy. Think Nina Simone mixed with Mick Hucknall. In fact, much of the well-produced "You Broke the Circle" sounds like "A New Flame"-era Simply Red, especially on "Epiphany." .... he's a man doing his own thing, modern tastes and musical fads be damned.
Artist: Royal Jones
CD: You Broke The Circle
Home: New York City
Style: Soul/Pop/Dance
"Cheer up, Mr. Jones, you've made a great CD."
You need to fling yourself down the rabbit hole to prepare for this one. Why? Three words: Rick Astley Syndrome. Remember hearing "Never Gonna Give You Up" back in the 80s and thinking "Luther Vandross," and then turning on MTV and thinking "Good Lord, someone gave Howdy Doody a recording contract"? Well, this collection of stream-of-consciousness Motown dance hip-hop comes to you courtesy of a guy who looks like he's here to fix the refrigerator. Actually, going strictly by the CD cover, he looks more like someone who's about to hurl himself off a subway platform. Cheer up, Mr. Jones, you've made a great CD.
This CD has one of the most credible street vibes I've heard in a long time. This man leads a colorful life. He opens the CD with "Sylvia of Boston," a morning-after voice mail message from someone who's been rode hard and put up wet. Then the music kicks in. Brace yourself. We're going underground and experiencing what made Sylvia sound that way.
You Broke The Circle is a trip through dance clubs and time itself -- on "Echo," we fade into old-fashioned dance hall cha-cha-cha. On "Confused," Jones gets so incredibly Motown, I could swear I'm listening to Gladys Knight and the Pips. And I really mean Gladys Knight. Jones sings like a Motown queen. I could have sworn this was a female singer if it weren't for the occasional dip into bass territory.
My favorite track is "Ride Out of Control," a tribute to 70s funk, complete with a horn section and lazy, drawling rapping. The hook is the refrain, "If I ever come down, I'll behave, I'll be good." I can easily imagine Chef from South Park taking on this one. Somebody get me Matt and Trey.
The bottom line is that you will move to this. Yes, it's sample-happy and completely synthesized, but it's bursting with soul. Make it your soundtrack for a Saturday night and see if you don't sound like Sylvia from Boston the next morning.
What would you do if you were blessed with a four octave vocal range? Royal Jones uses his to make some of the most off kilter, unique, and fractured funk and soul songs around. He cites Martha Reeves as a big influence and his vocals show an obsession with soul divas, but the New York City vibe of his music is light years away from the Motown Sound. It's electronic funk music for dancing in the clubs, but possessed of a chilled out ghostliness at times that makes you wonder who let the trip-hop in the door.
Skip the intro cut and head straight for the title cut and you're quickly swept up in a weird world that's like a kissing cousin to the stuff that Antony & The Johnsons are doing. "Echo" has a sort of creepy bossa nova ambience perfect for this post-modern film noir world. I dig the guitar riff on "Ride Out Of Control" which sounds like it could have been sampled from a Sly And The Family Stone album even if the spoken lyrics are pretty silly. I hope silliness is the point of the song, "Pain Stain" with its paranoid diva shtick reminiscent of dancier Frank Zappa grooves. Royal Jones manages to sound like Asha Puti on "Love Like A Freak", but I will admit that by the time this 9th song on the 11 song CD played I was beginning to get a little tired of his four octaves.
A little Royal Jones goes a long way. You Broke The Circle on MBIBE Records is well worth getting if you're into strange dance music, but I Royal Jones would really shine and stand out if he started putting out 12 inch records. You can pick up some of his music either through his website or by visiting Amazon or CD Baby.
Royal Jones es un personaje más que interesante, desde que era pequeñito grababa su poesía y música, y se preguntaba como podría llegar a ser una gran diva del soul siendo un hombre blanco, la respuesta llega así de contundente..."¡yo soy el arte, no el negocio!", paseó por clubs cool y diferentes escenarios hasta que el destino lo colocó en Nueva York cantando soul en el 79, conoció a Steve Sandberg, con el que trabajo en el proyecto "Ruffle in a bag of pain", más tarde conocería a Codde, importante productor que ha trabajado, entre otros, con Mary J. Blige (Marcus Miller, Nancy Wilson,...), y fué él el responsable de que saliera a la luz "You broke the circle", el trabajo y la voz de Royal Jones, bajo el auspicio de Mbibe music.
Royal Jones se mueve como pez en el agua en el terreno soul, y su voz de alto barítono hace de este álbum una auténtica rareza dentro del mundillo.
Con una introducción a cargo de la voz de una tal Sylvia (of Boston), una conversación telefónica que abrirá camino al disco, comienza con "You broke the circle", quizá la más movida de este trabajo, se desliza con un drum and bass machacón, y unas voces que parecen cantadas por el coro del ejercito rojo, para dejar después a Royal Jones, que su privilegiada voz arremeta sin tapujos contra el "soul diva" más descarnado.
Temas como "Confussed" dejan el poso a sabor Curtis Mayfield, ese sonido tan característico, ese funky meloso que sólo podía salir de la cabeza de aquel genio, aquí parece homenajeado, a destacar la increible producción de Codee, mucha clase.
Mientras que en "Pain stain" crece con la concepción musical más TTD, si bien Royal Jones consigue un ambiente mucho más evocador y relantizado.
"Beware" huele a clásico por los cuatro costados, desde los ritmos de la batería, los coros negros y las guitarras preciosistas, dejan los samplers aparcados y ofrecen toda la realidad de una gran banda soul.
Otro tema destacable es "Reality (play loud)", el artista se embarca en un viaje soul alucinogeno simplemente para demostrarnos sus capacidades vocales, africanismo y oscuridad en un ambiente amenazador.
Royal Jones ha creado con "You broke the circle" un álbum original, rico en matices soul y con mucho gancho, sin duda es una gran diva, ya lo ha conseguido.
Blends elements of the familiar and the experimental with a unique flair!