The New Mastersounds return from a year of intensive touring in the USA to deliver their fifth studio album, Plug & Play, featuring vocalist Dionne Charles.
What you get: trademark infectious grooves, warm vintage production by guitarist Eddie Roberts, and successful forays into sub-genres like psychedelic afro-funk, CTI-era jazz-funk, soul-jazz and classic soul. Though the NMS wear their musical roots on their sleeve, each track sounds unmistakably like The New Mastersounds and in Dionne Charles they have found a vocalist who can do justice to the phenomenal soulfulness of the music.
“crate diggers and night clubbers will definitely dig the New Mastersounds” (Nick Dedina)
“Here's a marriage made in heaven: The New Mastersounds with Dionne Charles.” (Mark Lamarr)
“Soul, Afro-funk, New Orleans-Funk and one blinding piece of Soul-Jazz”
“one of the finest purveyors of hip shaking goodness since, well, James Brown and Grant Green were new faces on the scene” (Dennis Cook)
“Like Fred Wesley & The New JB's, Bobby Byrd, Marva Whitney or Maceo & The Macks in their day, the Mastersounds know groove and furrow it out like hogs on truffles.” (Dennis Cook)