It may take an aficionado to name a few British funk bands of the early ’80s, yet when there’s a connoisseur one can bet among the first ensembles to get recalled would be SHAKATAK and IMAGINATION. Although the former approached their chosen genre from a jazz angle and the latter from a soul vector, they had a lot in common, and still a degree of thrill is guaranteed to accompany the news of these collectives respective vocalists Bill Sharpe and Leee John joining forces to issue an album to share space on.
The record titled “Intimate Glow” which will be out on February 23rd contains what’s characterized as “sophisticated smooth pop jazz” – meaning its music doesn’t have the experimental approach of John’s 2020 dalliance with GORILLAZ or Sharpe’s 2013 collaboration with Jah Wobble – and builds upon “Fool In Love” that the two veterans wrote twenty years ago for SHAKATAK’s “Blue Savannah” platter and that’s included here in two versions, the already known variant and Leee’s solo take on the song. Among the players on the new offering are LEVEL 42’s Mark King and MEZZOFORTE’s Fridrik Karlsson, so it promised to be more than interesting.
Intimate Glow
1. Take Me Back
2. Your Magic
3. Double Dilemma
4. Intimate Glow
5. 2morrow
6. Blue Mood
7. I’m Your Angel
8. So Cool And Easy
9. The Heat Is On
10. Fool In Love (Leee solo)
11. Fool In Love (original SHAKATAK version)
