The fertile cross-Atlantic collaboration between Harlem soul man Carlton Jumel Smith and The Rayvelles bears new fruit with the arrival of new Funk Night Records 45 “C” Plays It Cool b/w Tumbling Down. Both cuts were recorded last summer prior to Smith’s headline turn at the Liverpool Soul Weekender at Echo Ray Studios with The Rayvelles as his backing band. First up is A-side “C” Plays It Cool – a blaxploitation-style street story that places Smith’s vocal (nailed in just one take, apparently!) over a super-heavy funk break but given a stylistic twist with 80s-style synths adding a dash of rain-splashed neon-lit night to the mix. B-side Tumbling Down meanwhile revisits a former Rayvelles single and cut from their debut LP with Smith providing an all-new yearning Mr Loverman vocal to the object of his affections over a sweet soul groove.
(Out now on Funk Night Records)
