Album Review: I Am Soul from Sofia Rubina
Album: I Am Soul Artist: Sofia Rubina Website: https://www.sofiarubina.eu/ https://sofiarubina.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-soul Bridging the lanes of cool jazz, smooth blues, R&B/soul, and sonic pop, I Am Soul from Estonian vocalist Sofia Rubina is a pleasing synthesis. Her command of the vocal melody is reminiscent of Joss Stone, and her natural fit into the melodic grooves is emblematic of jazz music's treasures like Dianne Reeves and Jane Monheit. The album is a collection of eleven tracks with six songs written or co-written by Rubina and the others are covers of works by L. Spenser Smith and Testament, George Duke, Chick Corea and Neville Potter, Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin. Rubina collaborates with Evgeny Lebedev, an award-winning pianist and graduate of Berklee College, on the recording. Also joining Rubina are Anton Revnyuk on bass and Ignat Kravtsov on drums, along with a string quartet featured on several tunes. The bluesy texture of her v...