James Hunter - People GonnaTalk
"2006 Grammy Nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year" Van Morrison calls James Hunter "the best voice and best-kept secret in British R&B and soul." And the Colchester native and former busker does, indeed, sound like a one-man blue-eyed revival on his U.S. debut, People Gonna Talk . He navigates 14 self-penned ska (the title track), soul-blues ("Kick It Around"), and primal funk ("No Smoke Without Fire") tunes with panache. Hunter's voice unerringly carves out graceful melodies and soars into falsetto at whim over his horn-sparked band as he digs through his vast bag of traditional, stinging blues'n'soul licks on electric guitar. But... there's something missing. Although the disc was cut live in the studio, it lacks the vibrant energy of his stage performances. And Hunter borrows so extensively from his influences that he sounds like ...