Artist: Terri Lyne Carrington
Album: The Mosaic Project: Love And Soul
Label: Concord
Release Date: 08/07/2015
Drummer and vocalist Terri Lyne Carrington has come out with the sequel to the Grammy award winning The Mosaic Project, with her new album, The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul—and there is definitely soul in the love-struck collection of female vocalists enlisted for the album. Featuring powerhouse singers such as Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Lalah Hathaway and Oleta Adams, Carrington creates a mosaic of love songs, reinterpreting soul numbers through the female lens, redefining soul music in the modern world of female empowerment.
The success of the album comes from Carrington’s combination of soulful vocals and energy on modern arrangements, harvesting a groovy, contemporary edge. With the album being mostly mid-tempo tracks, Carrington is able to blend her jazzy rhythms with the R&B, soulful expressions of the vocalists.
The album celebrates females and the poignancy of love, seen evidently in Carrington’s original song, “This Too Will Pass” and the standout track, “You Just Can’t Smile It Away.” Paula Cole reimagines the latter with delicacy and heartbreak, mirroring Lalah Hathaway’s heartfelt, alto expression of the former. Perhaps more impressive is Carrington’s vocals on “Can’t Resist,” grooving with interweaving Latin drums.
The graceful, intricate, soul and R&B-infused album is definitely not disappointing as a follow-up to The Mosaic Project. Ending the album with the line, “creativity is the other side of being destructive,” Carrington embraces a multitude of genres and has produced a creative and experimental album, successfully joining together diverse pieces from the many aspects of what is commonly thought of as black female music.
—Jason Kwan
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