Singer Rahsaan Patterson was inspired by Prince, Rufus, Miles Davis, Earth, Wind & Fire, Donny Hathaway, Sarah Vaughn, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. These influences can be heard on Wines & Spirits, where he combines jazz, hip-hop, soul, gospel and to a lesser extent rock in a fluid way. Wines & Spirits refers to the small pleasures of life. The inscription on the facade of the
… average American liquor store fascinated him as a small child after a visit to the church. The combination of 'wine' and 'spirit' gave this something sacred. Wine & Spirits has become a remarkably solid CD for neo soul concepts. Of course the songs for the fireplace are not missing, but these are kept to a minimum. The rest can be described as raw and funky. With this, Patterson shows the guts not to follow the prevailing neo soul trend and has made one of the best soul albums of 2007 with Wine & Spirits. (AD)more
