Groove Legend Orchestra
Boyan Atanaschev
About Ashley Jayy
Born and raised in Portland, under the influence of her musically inclined father, Ashley Jayy was destined to sing the songs that resonates with the soul. Jayy started her first formal training in gospel choirs, and singing at every opportunity during her high school years. It was her supportive teacher who pushed her to be confident in her new found vocal abilities, and to pursue growth as a singer.
This initial leap of faith on instagram has opened so many doors and connections, and has given Jayy the opportunity to work legends from Tank, Monica, Tevin Campbell, PJ Morton, Focus, and more. Jayy is now a highly sought after singer, writer, and vocal arranger. She released her first solo project in the fall of 2020.
In March 2012, Brik.Liam released his freshman project, CobyMeetsWord: Acoustic Heart. The mixtape was recorded with fellow indie artist, producer, and writer Douglas Whatley. With no specific goal in mind other than to #crea8, the project reached over 3,000 downloads within the first two weeks of its release. After returning to Houston in the winter of 2013, Brik was inspired to change his stage name from Jacoby to Brik.Liam in celebration of his favorite color, red (brick; Brik), and his last name (Williams; Liam).
A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.
Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell might have been The Mighty Three, but dozens of musicians joined them in shaping The Sound of Philadelphia. That triumvirate's lush, lithe productions were brought to life by the loose aggregation of players known as MFSB, or the house band at Sigma Sound Studios. These are the same musicians who went on to form The Salsoul Orchestra under the baton of Vincent Montana, Jr., including Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Bobby Eli, Ron Kersey, Lenny Pakula, Roland Chambers, Charles Collins, T.J. Tindall, Larry Washington, Zack Zachery, Don Renaldo, and, among others, Earl Young. The Philadelphia-born drummer never met a song for which he couldn't find the perfect groove. Whether working within the strict confines of Bell's written orchestrations or Gamble and Huff's looser environment, Young anchored The Sound of Philadelphia - and effectively created the rhythm that propelled the entire disco sound. His immense contributions to popular music have been recently celebrated by Ace Records' Kent imprint on Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions. The 23-track anthology not only anthologizes some of Young's finest performances behind the kit, but effectively serves as a Philly soul primer.
The compilation opens with "Penguin at the Big Apple/Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" from Young's own band, The Trammps. Tom Moulton's 1975 medley fused a Baker-Harris-Young instrumental with the classic James Hanley standard. Young's driving drums are among the first elements heard on the recording, along with funky bass, supple guitar, and velvet strings; his deep bass singing voice is also heard as he trades lyrics with lead vocalist Jimmy Ellis. Though The Trammps went on to have bigger hits, the track encapsulates the transformative nature of the drummer's work.
Compiler-annotator Tony Rounce has done a typically solid job in balancing familiar Philly hits with rarities which showcase Earl Young's varying, true-to-the-song approaches; a complete log of hits on which Young played would take dozens of volumes, if not more. In the major-hit column, there's The O'Jays' "Backstabbers" (produced by Gamble and Huff and arranged by Thom Bell) with its slinky groove; Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes' "The Love I Lost (Part I)" with its urgent, hi-hat-propelled sound that spawned disco; the long album version of MFSB and The Three Degrees' "TSOP," with Young's beats designed for dancing; and William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You Got," an indie hit shepherded by Philly veterans Allan Felder and John Davis with Young, as always, holding down the rhythm. (Special mention should be made of often-unsung hero Bobby Martin, arranger of both "The Love I Lost" and "TSOP" as well as another highlight here, Billy Paul's "Be True to Me.")
There are still more beloved favorites here, such as "Silly, Silly Fool" from Dusty Springfield, whom Young describes in the liner notes interview as "my favorite female singer." He mentions the song as a "hard song to play," but his drumming sounds as effortless as ever. He also refers to the late Thom Bell as "a tough producer: with Thommy Bell, everything had to be written down note-for-note. You did not freelance anything...We used to joke about it, if a fly got on the paper, you would play the fly!" If Young and his fellow musicians might have chafed at Bell's fastidious approach, the proof remains in the pudding thanks to such resplendent tracks as The Spinners' "Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind," The Delfonics' "Trying to Make a Fool of Me," and New York City's "I'm Doin' Fine Now," all exquisitely orchestrated by Bell and played precisely by Young and his compatriots.
The rarities here are uniformly delightful. Atlanta-based singer Charles Mann's 1973 ABC LP Say You Love Me Too, produced by Dave Crawford, yields a top-to-bottom reinvention of Steely Dan's sinuous "Do It Again," fusing southern soul with the sizzling Memphis Horns and the tight MFSB Mk. 1 rhythm section. Mann co-wrote B.B. King's "I Like to Live the Love" with producer-arranger Crawford, showcasing a more urbane side of the famed bluesman. Ex-Drifter Clyde McPhatter's "Please Give Me One More Chance," an early production for the Baker-Harris-Young trio, is another lost gem as dramatic strings swirl around Young's imploring beat and McPhatter's pleading vocal. The central riff of The Modulations' "I Can't Fight Your Love" will be immediately recognizable as the backbone of Charo's later Salsoul classic "Dance a Little Bit Closer;" arranger Vince Montana recycled it for his later production.
Baker, Harris, and Young came into their own at Salsoul Records with their Gold Mind imprint. (A previous, short-lived imprint, Golden Fleece, had been set up largely for B-H-Y by Gamble and Huff at Philadelphia International.) Most of MFSB Mk. 1 had followed Vince Montana to the upstart New York label - some exclusively, some not. B-H-Y brought Double Exposure to Salsoul, with their song "Ten Percent" becoming the first-ever commercially released 12-inch single. Here, they're heard on "My Love Is Free," another irresistible dancer penned by Allan Felder and Bunny Sigler and arranged by Ron Kersey under B-H-Y's auspices. Arguably even better is Loleatta Holloway's "Hit and Run," a Gold Mind track that shows just how well Young and the rhythm section of Harris on guitar and Baker on bass melded with a bravura singer, shaping their style to suit hers while retaining all the hallmarks of Philly soul and disco. Less known but no less wonderful is "Time Will Tell" from "Hey There, Lonely Girl" hitmaker Eddie Holman. Ronnie Baker and Ron Tyson wrote this uptempo number from the falsetto vocalist's lone, underrated Salsoul long-player; Earl's inspired Motown-esque groove makes it one of Salsoul's true hidden gems.
Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions reflects the breadth of the Philly sound with its emphasis on productions outside of the Philadelphia International and Salsoul sphere from diverse groups such as The Whispers ("A Mother for My Children"), Ecstasy, Passion, and Pain ("Touch and Go" in Tom Moulton's 12-inch mix), and The Philly Devotions ("I Just Can't Say Goodbye").
The collection features a 32-page booklet with both track-by-track notes from Tony Rounce and a full-length, illuminating interview with Young. Nick Robbins has done his typically stellar job remastering, though audio varies based on sources. "I'm really proud of this album coming out," Young told interviewer Ian Shirley, "as it is something about me and it is not something about Baker, Harris, and Young, it's not about Salsoul, and I'm very proud of that." Anyone who has ever cherished the sound of American pop, soul, and disco in the second half of the twentieth century owes a debt to Earl Young. (Hi-) hats off to this essential release. Groove Machine is available via Amazon U.K. or via the Marketplace at Amazon U.S. and Canada; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others.He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders.Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.
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