British singer Joel Culpepper brings the sweet musical feel of the sixties and seventies to the present day, albeit with lyrics loudly decrying social issues like poverty and racism. The Londoner’s voice is impressive and disarming at the same time and jazz broadcaster BBC6 recently compared it to the vocal prowess of Sam Cooke. But the 37-year-old singer-songwriter can also belt out songs as compellingly as James Brown or Charles Bradley. Although Culpepper had been releasing mix tapes since 2009, he broke through with the EP Tortoise in 2017, when Jools Holland and DJ Gilles Peterson named him one of the biggest talents on the very exciting London jazz scene. Last year saw the release of Sgt. Culpepper, his long-anticipated debut album, for which top producer Swindle (Celeste, Mahalia) managed the mixing panel. An absolute must-see for all fans of timeless but intense R&B and soul songs, dubbed “bittersweet” by the singer.
