We kick off the first track with light and summery Sunday Shining, which is co-written with the one and only Bob Marley. This followed by the delightful Abbey Road Version of Your Love Gets Sweeter.

The range of sounds from his vocal chords are a great sound indeed and these are definitely reflected in the iPod recommended tunes. Kick it off with the grungier tracks White Paper and Spiritualized and finish with the beautiful and love provoking Dice.

Ah Mr Quaye, 16 tracks of pure pleasure!

Before Today shows us the wide spectrum of electronic music that is witnessed on this album as we are taken through a drum’n’bass influenced track with the break beats working a treat! Then we progress into the Five Fathoms house track with its soulful and smooth garage keyboard undertones. Such masterful sounds and vocals to match.

Some other gems for the iPod are the upbeat Temperamental, the downbeat Downhill Racer and the DJ Jazzy Jeff Sole Full Remix of the wonderful Mirrorball.

You can see why these two talented musicians were guest performing with the Style Council and Llyod Cole and the Commotions in the height if the 90’s music era in the UK. Pure Class Governor! A must for all fans of electronica music!

Victor Wooten: Palmystery
Heads Up
Victor WootenRecorded in 2004 and 2007, bass player Victor Wooten brings to us his jazz style for your listening ears. From great middle eastern influenced vocals by Amir Ali on the track Cambo, we are taken through a journey of basslines and keyboard sounds!

Track three, I Saw God takes us through an afro/gospel rap about our high and mighty but all very tastefully blended with that bassline and lead guitar combination.

Standout tracks to get up and boogie for are Happy Song and a funktified version of Horace Silver’s Song For My Father. Great stuff, Victor!

All in all, a refreshing sound that brings back the bass guitar into prominence as we move from a variety of genres throughout the 12 tracks. Worth checking out for your collection if you like George Benson.

Frank Sinatra: Nothing But The Best
Warner Music
Frank SinatraAnother compilation you might say, but this comes with 22 swinging tracks and also a DVD live concert at the Royal Festival Hall.

From classics such as Come Fly With Me to Strangers In The Night, you’ll be swept away by the smooth voice of old blue eyes and all digitally remastered to give you a crystal clear sound.

Highlights include The Girl From Ipanema in collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim on acoustic guitar and of course a duet with daughter Nancy on the wonderful Somethin’ Stupid. Surprise track for me is the gospel influenced That’s Life, ah the soulful side of Frankie!

The one time crooner is always a pleasure to listen to and this album is no exception. Start tapping that foot and sing along as the DVD begins with an introduction by Princess Grace of Monaco and fittingly ends with two great numbers, My Kind Of Town and My Way. Yes indeed, Mr Sinatra’s way was always an entertaining experience.

David Campbell: The Swing Sessions
Columbia
David CampbellThe Aussie jazz man is in town by the name of David Campbell as he takes us through a collection of his favourite swing and easy listening tunes. So turn down the light, crank the fire up and open your favourite wine as you listen to Mr Campbell combining the sounds of his smooth voice with band and orchestra.

From the one and only Mack The Knife to the catchy Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, the black tuxedo and cigars are almost out of my wardrobe!

Tracks for the iPod when you want to dance across the gym floor without a care are You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You and Call Me Irresponsible.

It’s a pity the CD cover looks like many other swing albums but still one worth putting away for that quiet time at home.

CD2 opens with one of the Stax anthems (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay by the one and only Otis Redding. This is followed by a very soulful version of Burt Bacharach’s Walk on by by Mr Isaac Hayes. Favourite tracks include William Bell’s beautiful I Forgot to be your Lover and soulful vocals of The Soul Children with I’ll be the other woman.

Overall a good collection of soul music from all different perspectives.

To the Americas we go and Jamaca’s reggae legends Burning Spear hit us with Walk followed by Argentina’s Los Pinguos singing about My Love also in a South American pop/reggae style!

Favourite tracks would have to be the African sounds of Osibisa with their classic feel good tune Sunshine Day and the upbeat Cochamba by Sarazino (Canada/Algeria/Ecuador). Music for the bbq and good times!

Kelly Rowland: Ms Kelly
R’n’B is back as Kelly Rowland lays another album of smooth tunes for your listening pleasure. After doing collaborations with artists such as Nelly, Kelly hits us with her mixture of soul, r’n’b and hip hop stylized numbers. Bumping and grinding to Like This with guest Eve and Ghetto featuring the one and only Snoop Dogg keep the collaborations rolling.

But Kelly’s beautiful soulful voice comes out strong on Still in Love with my Ex and continues on Love. Stirring stuff! One of the better soulful albums for 2007. If you like silky vocals with real life songs about love and life, you’ll enjoy this as much as me.

McCoy Tyner: Afro Blue
Telarc
Piano man Mc Coy Tyner presents to us a collection of eight songs compiled from five albums during the period of 1998 to 2003. From the latin sound of Afro Blue we are taken on a south American journey with the help of Gary Bartz on saxophone & Dave Valentin on Flute.

Moving onto his own jazz roots, Tyner performs George Gershwin’s piano track Summertime in a smooth jazz style that wouldn’t be a miss in a seedy, smoky, dark café somewhere in the world.

With the assistance of Stanley Clarke on acoustic guitar and bass and Al Foster on drums, Carriba is an upbeat track that goes into a great acoustic guitar solo while being led by Tyner’s leading piano lines.

A great album by Telarc which lets us appreciate the diverse sounds of McCoy Turner in collaboration with numerous other talented jazz musicians. Favourite track is the fast paced but stylish Blue Bossa. Magnificent!

Arrested Development: Since The Last Time
Shock Records
As the title of the album states, it has been a while since hearing from this hip hop outfit. Not since hearing Mr Wendel in the mid 90’s have they been on stage together. Maybe they’ve matured over time as we have a real mix of hip hop, funk, and soul coming out in together. The album opens with the title track, which explains about the band coming together again and is followed by a funked up version of Miracles. More upbeat hip hop tracks include Get Down And Dirty and I Know I’m Bad.

Favourite tracks are the latin flavoured Sao Paulo and the soulful religion based Heaven. A very good album to add to your soulful hip hop music selections for 2007.

Faithless: To All New Arrivals
Sony & BMG
Entertainment Following on from their successful Forever Faithless album, the Faithless trio of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo Armstrong have created another monster! This electronic dance sound only gets better as you listen to the downbeat tunes of Music Matters through to the atmospheric Nate’s Tune, and I Hope. The opening track Bombs reflects on the emotion of war and the title track To All New Arrivals reveals to us all the love and joy of bringing a child into the world.

Check out Dido with her strong riveting vocals on Last This Day and Robert Smith from the Cure performing a cameo on a great little number titled Spiders, Crocodiles and Kryptonite. Favourite tracks are Hope and Glory and Emergency. Mind you, after listening to the album again, each track is starting to grow on me!

From the middle eastern tune Mi’ Ma’ amakim (Out of the Depths) to the wonderful African upbeat track Ayal-Ayale (The Handsome Hero) this is truly a world music experience! Favourite tune is the reggae inspired Be’ Yom Shabbat (On Sabbath).

If you want to know what’s the latest groovy sound in Europe, then check out this album! Favourite track is by Balkan Beat Box (USA/Bulgaria) Sunday Arak.