Their website declares that Blackgypsy is a band which consists of “friends making music”. These “friends” that have joined forces are five musicians who might not be household names, but have all gained plenty of experience in the music industry. Their names are Shelby Johnson (vocals), Derek Layes (bass), Jon Solo (keyboard), David DiGiantomasso (percussions) and Carter McLean (drummer).

Shelby J., the woman giving the music a voice, is mostly known for being Prince’s background singer. Don’t make the mistake to associate this with something okay that should be kept there in the back. Shelby’s voice deserves to be in the spotlight, because it has that rare combination of personality, power and soul. Add extremely talented musicians to that and it’s hard to go wrong.

The album kicks off with a short acapella number that quickly lets the listener know where this group stands. “All I wanna do is make real music” are the words coming from Shelby’s lips. And real music is what we get. Auto-tune is not part of Blackgypsy’s language. What is also refreshing is the small number of songs that have made the album. It is more than often the case that an album with plenty of songs also includes plenty of bad fillers. This particular album constitutes of no more that six pieces and is thus absent of weak tunes that don’t do anything other than waste space. Even so, it is the second half of the album that is the strongest with the uplifting grooves “Trying 2 Shut Us Down”, “Y Come” featuring Grammy nominated soul singer Anthony Hamilton and “Jesus in Us All”. These songs remind the listener that the musicians are just as interesting and powerful as the vocalist. It’s about team work.

Blackgypsy Vol. 1 is urban, funky and earthy.

Rating: 8/10

Katharina Rumpf for Soulinterviews.com

Buy the CD on CDBaby.com
Download the album on Itunes
Blackgypsy's Official Site