GB feat. Steve Spacek - Simply So

This track generated a lot of interest when I dropped it at the Jive Turkey party back on Thanksgiving Day. This is definitely one for the ladies. It's the single off the debut album by California producer GB, who at the age of 20 already has remix credits on releases by the likes of King Britt's FiveSix label. For the LP "Soundtrack for Sunrise," he enlisted an array of big-name support, including Brazilian jazz-fusion icons Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, bassist Ricci Rucker, and vocalist Joy Jones, whose debut LP will drop soon with production by Bugz in the Attic's Daz-I-Kue.

I count GB among a wave of U.S. producers and artists who are catching on to the broken beat/freestyle scene going on in the UK, Europe and Japan. Others would be Platinum Pied Pipers, Sa-Ra Creative Partners and Spymusic. Their tunes weren't picked up by U.S. radio (surprise), but they hit big with BBC presenters like Gilles Peterson and Benji B.

The vocalist on "Simply So" is Londoner Steve Spacek, frontman and namesake for the minimalist neo-soul group Spacek. His voice sounds to me like a cross between Aaron Neville and Nick Drake. It's melancholy and vulnerable, but it burns with soul. Check Spacek's work here.

Look here for a nice interview with GB.