Search - Shaun Escoffery :: Shaun Escoffery

Jack of all genres

V. Ryan | London Uk | 03/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shaun Escoffery. Not a man I had heard of before and not a man who I knew anything about.
But after some plugging by the magazine Blues & Soul, I thought I would buy his album and give it a go.
And I have been amazed by its originality. Its a mixture of Soul, dance, and garage. It Opens with the uplifting "Days Like These" which seems to be an appriciation of the world. A nice opening, and one which we get a taster of things to come.
Track 2 is the big one though. "Space Rider" is a hard track to comment on in terms of its genre. Its a type of soulful garage. Its my personal favourtie on the album and one which I enjoy time and time again. Shaun's vocals are superb and the song is a utterly superb. You must check this track out.
"Let It Go" is the 3rd track and is a kind of dance/soul track which musically one of the best tracks on the album but perhaps not vocally.
Track 4 is "Breaking Away". In this track I believe Shaun sounds very much like Seal (Killer, Crazy, Kiss From a Rose) This is the first downtempo song we hear on the album at this point and we get more of a idea of the range that Mr Escoffery has vocally.
Track 5 "Hurts Too Good" is much more downtempo than "Breaking Away" and is easier to catogarise. Its a love ballad which is soulful and beautiful. It has a great sound, and the words are particually beautiful.
So we have already seen in the opening five tracks how Shaun Escoffery can change his styles and he keeps this theme going with the 6th Track which is called "Into The Blue" and is one of the albums best. I this is a garage track and is just stunning. Its a very nice song. Its got that soulful garage feel, and vocally Escoffery is perfect. The range of his voice is at its best here in this song. I would love to see him do this live.
The Soulful Garage theme is still evident in Track 7 "Conversation of the Heart". Even from the title I quickly realise that Escoffery puts a lot of thought into his lyrics. Its another superb track.
Track 8 "Ordinary Day" is more of a middle of the road track. The Seal infulences are evident again (not taking anything away from Shaun). A nice track but when compared to the rest of the album it doesn't compete.
"Windows" is the 9th track and the best ballad on the album. This is one of the few songs that when I listen to, i just stop, and get blown away but the beautifully soft soulful voice of Shaun Escoffery.
Track 10 is the last standered track on the album. "Give Everything" Its another middle of the road type of track. But its another corker. I feel this is a very personal song. The chorus of |"If I wanna Dance, I would just dance, If wanna sing i just give everything"
And Mr Escoffery - You have.Track 11 is a Spinna & ticklah mix of "Days Like These". Overall - I am very impressed. One of the best things about listening to this was the fact I Knew Shaun Escoffery was a Brit. Its very heart warming to know that Britain has produced an artist with so much talent.
And If you do happen to be browsing and come across this Mr Escoffery - In the name of great music - I salute You."

A DIVINE VOICE!

shayenes | 07/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"La première fois que j'ai entendue Shaun, j'ai été bouleversée.
Son univers nous pénètrent de sensualité et de rêveries.
Il me transcende et me laisse à chaque mélodies l'envie de le connaître plus encore.
C'est une des plus belles voix "Soul" des ces dernières années dans la lignée des Luther Vandross, Michael McDonald, James Ingram,Johnny Gill... Il nous enchante de sa voix chaude et puissante.
Son style musical original nous entraîne dans la magie de la nuit où l'ivresse de la danse et la soif de passion nous dévorent( Hurts too good, days like this,into the blue, space rider).
Mon c?ur s' emballe lorsque je l'entend me murmurer à l' oreille " Windows". Cette ballade nous offre la possibilité d' écouter la voix de shaun à l 'état brut.
On y découvre alors, un diamant.
J' espère le découvrir encore et encore car ce chanteur se fait rare.
J' attends avec impatience son retour car aujourd'hui je suis Fan de Shaun Escoffery.
Je veux un autre Album!
Je remercie Amazon car Je vis en France et ici on ne diffuse pas Shaun Escoffery et grâce à ce site j'ai pu avoir cet album qu'il m'était impossible de trouver.Merci."

An Urban classic

Jetrocket | New York, NY United States | 04/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have been living with Shaun Escoffery's debut disc for more than 4 months now. At first I have to admit that I was half-hearted about it. Mostly because many of the tracks had been in release for nearly two years (Into the blue, Days like this, Space rider and Let it go). I had own all of these as kick-...singles so I was disappointed that more wasn't done to enhance the package. Also, there was a slamming ep of new tracks released a few weeks before the debut cd called "The Urban Vinyl" which could have been integrated into this project -- so everything smelled of greedy marketing. So in that frame of mind, I was feeling a little [chested.] Yet when the last single was released -- the heavenly Jazzanova remix of "Let It Go" -- my fire for Shaun re-ignited. i have since come to see this cd as a beautiful thing. It plays well from start to finish. If you haven't any of the previously released singles then this should be a 5 star project for you. One reason that I think top flight remixers/producers have had such success with Shaun's material (i.e. Jazzanova, DJ Spinna, Ticklah and 4 Hero) is because the songs have so much room to roam in. Shaun as a songwriter has a special quality. Also listening to him sing you feel his passion and conviction (check tracks like Windows, Give Everything, for example), he must really be an inspiration to a producer. All in all, he's the real deal. I would heartily recommend this cd to all real soul heads. "Shaun Escoffery" is urban, future and classic all at the same time. I can imagine myself returning to this work years from know and still feeling how fresh it is. He has recently released a companion project called Soulonica - which features adaptations (remixes) of tracks from his debut. It also stands on its own as a fine work. What only prevents me outright from giving "Shaun Escoffery" 5 stars is the crass commercialism of his record company. They are milking this project for every penny's worth . . . but hey, call me a sucker because I have purchased it all. I believe Shaun is a real talent on the rise. Let's hope he gets the global notice he is due."