I still know exactly about the first time I've heard about Leela James. I was driving home from work and a new track by an up and coming soul songstress was announced on the radio. This tune was Music and from that moment I instantly became a fan of this 'little', big lady with the mighty pipes.
Since than, I had the privilege of seeing Leela perform live three times and a nice anecdote maybe is, that when I saw her in Brussels, opening up for Leela James was an unknown (at that time), blind guitar player, who turned out to be Raul Midon (talking about a good concert night).
Anyway ... after almost 4 years of silence, Leela returns with an album on Shanachie Records, filled with cover tracks that in one way or another, carry a special place in her heart.
Now, the reviews on Let's do it Again are a bit mixed. From 'highly recommended' to 'good effort', from 'surpassing the original' to 'blunder'. I will be straight forward here, Let's do it Again is a fantastic album according to me.
Indeed, there are some 'obvious' covers on this disk as no one will be surprised that Leela is doing Betty Wright's Clean up Woman, Angela Bofill's I Try or James Brown's It's a man's man's man's World. It also ain't the question if these covers match the original ... what's most important to me is the way Leela James turns and models the tracks into personalized, 'labeled LJ' tunes. And there's no way around ... she does this perfectly.
I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of cuts that ... let's say ... aren't songs that you'd expect on a soul record. The Rolling Stones' Miss You is transformed into a raw, soul jam with even a slight touch of disco. I bet Mick Jagger has heard worse versions of this classic. Biggest surprise however on Let's do it Again for me is the 1984, Foreigner pop ballad, I want to know what love Is. As I've always thought of the original as a somewhat soggy song, Leela adds 'the balls' it needs to become even more a classic as it already is.
Of course, I would love to see Leela releasing a new CD with her own tracks, and yes I'd love to see a lot more from this soul powerhouse. I think of Let's do it Again as the intermediate station of a lot of extreme beauty to come in the near future.
Leela James simply is one of the key figures in modern soul music with a highly recommended cover album.

A Teach review

Leela James Linxxx

> Leela James Official Website
> Leela James on Myspace