by NYC collective Soul Understated are prepping to release their EP Songs In The Key Of Grease due out June 30th on Shanachie Entertainment.
Led by singer/songwriter Mavis ‘SWAN’ Poole and the powerful yet melodic drummer Jeremy ‘BEAN’ Clemons, Soul Understated is one of the rarest discoveries in music since Motown. The influences on their music are overwhelming and pleasurable all at once. With elements from EWF to Ella Fitzgerald, Donny Hathaway to Curtis Mayfield, and Sarah Vaughn to Count Basie, and even Hip-hop infused, their music spans across all genres. Guest musicians on the EP include Washington, DC luminaries Marc Cary on piano and keyboards and Mighty Moe Hagans of the Chuck Brown band on percussion.
Both have worked with some of the best in the game; Bean having played with such diverse artists as Gregory Porter, Andy Bey and Burning Spear while Swan has sung with Prince, Lauryn Hill, Shirley Caesar and Nicholas Payton, among others. Bean and Swan got together just over a decade ago, bringing their wide array of musical chops from the realms of funk, R&B, hip-hop, gospel and jazz to their unique vehicle: Soul Understated-which they describe as “soulful, jazzy, R&B-esque, gospel-ly, funk-ish rhythms and grooves a/k/a feel-good music.”
They’ve appeared at such major festivals as The Blue Notes Jazz Fest, The Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest, the Toronto Jazz Festival and the Capital Jazz Super Cruise, while Swan appeared in the HBO series Vinyl. Nonetheless, Songs In the Key of Grease represents their true coming out.
Listen to their funky single “Wibble Wobble” below:
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