Noel McKoy is the genuine godfather of British soul – a singer-songwriter with a voice like honey who’s long and distinguished career has seen him working with some of the biggest names within his chosen genre. For his debut album Brighter Day - on recently launched soul label Tri-Sound – McKoy draws on a host of influences from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to Chaka Khan and The Beatles. He weaves an impressive collection of soul, gospel, funk and northern soul into a cohesive masterpiece. Production duties were undertaken by, amongst others, pop-soul legend Ian Levine and the brains behind Incognito, Bluey Maunick. McKoy made his debut back in the late 1980’s at the start of the acid Jazz explosion. Polydor records had just signed the James Taylor Quartet and Medway’s leading organist and the scene leader James Taylor had been looking to augment his instrumental combo with a vocalist who’d allow the band to record some genuine jazz funk classics. McKoy attended an audition at Polydor’s Hammersmith offices, sat down at the piano and blew the assembled A & R team away. Fast forward eighteen months and Noel’s accomplished vocals had delivered two chart hits for the JTQ, most noticeably ‘Love The Life’ – a blend of up-front disco and proto soulful house that captured the essence of 1989. A lengthy period as Taylor’s frontman took in several world tours and numerous television appearances as the band rode the acid jazz zeitgeist. But it was never enough for Noel McKoy. Creatively frustrated, McKoy left the JTQ at their peak and formed a group with members of his family. Called simply McKoy the band recorded a critically acclaimed debut album, called Family and delivered a number of street-soul classics on his own label. A career at the front line of the British soul scene followed. Duets with Mica Paris, Juliette Roberts, Beverly Knight and Vanessa Simon have been interspersed with projects with the likes of Nu Colours, Snowboy, Omar and The Sounds Of Blackness. Brighter Day sees McKoy take his place at the forefront of British soul with this hugely accomplished debut.
