With three sides to every story, the soulful singer-songwriter Bruce James simply tells it like it is. The 2009 release of Yours, Mine and the Truth (BMI), is most obviously rooted in traditional R&B and Soul music yet at the same time it conjures the grit of the Delta Blues and the wails of Psychedelic Rock. Recorded at the legendary Arlyn Studios in Austin, Texas, Yours, Mine and the Truth was captured live in just eight hours. The album was self-produced, engineered, and mixed by Bruce James and features his band the Soultet on all instrumentation.
Bruce James' musical history picks up early as a child growing up in Houston, Texas. Before finding his place on the keyboard, Bruce started out in the brass and percussion sections of his school and church bands as well as teaching himself guitar and bass. While attending Houston' High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Bruce formed his first band, a funk/jazz group that was known for packing Fitzgerald's nightclub. His next move was to the University of North Texas in Denton where he studied music. Admittedly though, here he found himself a better musician than a student, and subsequently left the university after two years for the school of hard knocks in Austin, Texas with his band Tunji. Soon, this group was playing their mix of punchy soul and improvised funk 250 nights a year at clubs and music festivals from Seattle to New Orleans. Tunji shared stages with the likes of Jimmy Smith, Burning Spear, Dr. John and Jurassic 5 to name a few. After five years together the band eventually split ways and Bruce decided to take off on his own forming the Soultet to which he is credited with an EP The Wayside Drive Sessions and two LP's, Junkyard Soul and now Yours, Mine and the Truth.
The honest and soulful music that this group creates speaks for itself and has always been at the center of things for the band. With the release of their new album, The Bruce James Soultet is focusing on expanding their well-found success in the Austin Music Scene beyond the city limits to other applicable markets in the US. Furthermore, they are looking across the water at Western Europe and Asia where they will count on the music to do the talking… as long as it speaks the truth.
Bruce James has shared stages with Jimmy Smith, Bernie Worrell, Burning Spear, Dr. John, The Last Poets, Hugh Masakela, Soullive, Guru, and Jurassic5.
Press:
"Bruce James, A perfect stranger, at least here (in Italy). we have no idea who he is. We know that he popped out like a fireball shot out by that eternal music carnival that is Austin, Texas and that this is probably his 3rd work. It's not a big deal, except the fact that if even his other works are at this level, then we might have missed out on something."
"More Traffic than Sly, in the foaming impetuosity of the funk-jazz tunes like the jammed Compared to What, and more Joe Cocker than Otis in the nervous Virgin Threads, where James is Cocker and Leon Russell at the same time" -- JAM Magazine - Italy -- Mauro Eufrosini
Bruce James Soultet
Yours, Mine, and the Truth
Massaging the 88 and growling Tom Waits gravel, local piano man Bruce James leads his fivepiece Soultet on a smoky sojourn of classic soul that gives three sides of the story: Yours, Mine, and the Truth. Recorded live in an eight-hour session, the originals nod to Donny Hathaway and Dr. John, while Les McCann gets the cover treatment on a jazzy marathon of "Compared to What." ***
Texas Platters -Austin Chronicle
Rhythm & Beats
BY THOMAS FAWCETT
"a piano man that can swing and croon like Dr. John, or growl and stomp like Tom Waits." -- The Austin Chronicle
"Bruce James has a deeply soulful set of lungs; at times [he] echoes Springsteen, Joe Cocker and Van Morrison while remaining true to himself." -- Relix Magazine
"There's something magical about a piano played with feeling. Bruce James provides that emotion on the keys and pairs it with an almost spiritual voice on Yours, Mine and the Truth. Recorded live in eight hours, the album brims with rock, gospel, R'B and soul tracks all featuring that captivating piano. Whether your into the gospel and blues, opener "This Time, " or of the Tom Waits – like "Crazy to Think," this is an album not to be missed."
-Ward Lowe
3 1/2 stars
-Austin Monthly
Bruce James "has one foot deeply rooted in southern gospel and soul music and the other planted solidly in Tom Waits and the Flaming Lips. His music actually says something." -- Austin Daze
