all music review
Artist
Michael Olatuja
Album
Speak
Review by
Chris Nickson
What a curious
cocktail of African music, jazz, soul, and gospel Michael Olatuja has cooked up
on Speak. Although the bass player takes a back seat, underpinning the
tunes on the
disc, his
writing skills are very sharp indeed, with some excellent musicians and
vocalists to help him out. It all kicks off with a West
African groove on "Ma Foya," but those roots are just
one facet of Olatuja's talent. He's often more about soul, as he shows on
"Le Jardin" (which could have been lifted from the
Stevie Wonder songbook), "Hold On," or the ballad
"Unconditional."
But there's also gospel with "Walk with Me" (a traditional piece and
the only non-original) and "Altar Call,"
while hip-hop appears on the title cut. And what about the
jazz? Its
inflections suffuse the whole album, but are strongest on the closer,
"Mama Ola," which turns into a subtle, melodic jam.
Put it all together and it shows Olatuja to be an
excellent
composing talent with a great future.