Laura Reed calls her CD -- appropriately enough - Soul : Music. That’s because these 11 songs cover extensive territory across a loosely defined soul music spectrum. For example, “What’s Going On” (which has a Marvin Gaye song title, but isn’t that song), grooves to a loping Bob Marley reggae beat and is colored by honking sax. And when Reed isn’t surrounding herself musically with nearly the whole box of Crayolas, she’s altering her singing style like some diva Zelig -- just dig the Billie Holiday vocal tones on “Forces at Play.” Although Reed draws from gospel roots, as do all honest proponents of the soul genre, she is clearly a lyrical secularist. For example, the song title “Praise You” appears to peg it as an obvious worship track. But Reed leaves it wide open for interpretation, allowing listeners to sing it to their man/woman or god. As she’s performing “Praise You,” Reed also leaves a lot of glorious space in the mix, which makes it beautifully similar to many of Van Morrison’s equally cryptic spirituals. With Soul : Music, Reed combines Ani DiFranco’s independent spirit with the powerful pipes of a spirit-filled church choir soloist. And tell me, how can you go wrong with that?
-- Dan MacIntosh
