Novella Nelson – Cold Water Flat
Novella Nelson – Mean World
Novella Nelson – Long Road Home
Picked this up at Groove Merchant a little while ago. I’m pretty sure I’d run into it there a few years ago but had decided to pass on it. This time around I thankfully came to my senses, cause this is a really fantastic mellow jazzy soul album. Novella Nelson is actually better known as an actress, having appeared in more than a few films including personal fave 1984’s The Cotton Club. She certainly had some serious friends at the time this was recorded, since the backing band would have been the envy of just about everyone recording around this period of time. Richard Davis on bass, Freddie Waits on drums, a string section led by Kermit Moore and Phil Moore playing piano and directing it all. Though this appears to have been recorded in a studio, there’s a small but vocal audience in attendance, but the mastering clearly had future DJs in mind cause virtually all the songs begin clean and only have applause at the very end.
Novella has a deep, stately Nina Simone quality to her voice. It blends perfectly with the acoustic soul-jazz sound that Moore puts together. “Cold Water Flat” and “Long Road Home” both have a real solid mid-tempo soul sound to them, while “Mean World” has a bit more of a righteous church feel to it. The subject matter of the songs is pretty bleak, if you just think of the lyrics on paper, but the playing gives these songs of struggle and strife and uplifting tone. Of the many records I’ve picked up this year, this is the one I’ve come back to more often just because of the sound and feel of the album. It’s a perfect afternoon LP for the fall, with such deep soulful feeling from Nelson and the players. I hope you dig on it as much as I have.
Cheers,
Michael
Back in the 70's My brother (Alonzo Brown) was an associate producer for a PBS program called "Soul" in NYC. He was a friend of Novella's. He took me to this live taping at a studio in New York. Others in the audience were Ellis Haizlip,Alice Hill, Anna Horsford,Loretta Green, and Hal Jackson. Thanks so much for posting this album. You brought back a lot of memmories. KW
Wow, very cool. Thanks so much for sharing a little more about this record!
Greetings Ms. Kathryn Ward and Mr. Michael Barnes! I'm producing and directing a documentary about my uncle ELLIS HAIZLIP and the SOUL! show! Our documentary is called Mr. SOUL! I grew up listening to this record because Ellis lived with us during SOUL! and Novella was (and remains) a good friend. Kathryn I would love to reach out to your brother Alonzo Brown for an interview and talk to you as well about your memories of SOUL! Check out http://www.mrsoulmovie.com for more and thanks SO MUCH for posting! MH