Lamont Dozier: "Love And Beauty (The New Lamont Dozier Album)"

There are many varying reports as to the sources of this material, as some of it is clearly and audibly Lamont Dozier, while other songs sound like full-on Holland-Dozier-Holland collaborations, with zero defined Dozier solo presence at all.  The tracks are a bit of a mishmash, ranging from hugely-arranged Invictus soul productions to relatively sparse, funky instrumental numbers.  While this doesn’t do a lot for the continuity of the album as a whole, it can almost be seen as a snapshot of a very exact point in Detroit’s early ‘70’s soul scene.  That aspect, combined with the fact that practically anything H-D-H touched at this time was golden, makes for a rewarding, historically curious listening experience.  My picks for key tracks are the record’s only hit, “Why Can’t We Be Lovers”—a classic, lush ‘70’s soul ballad if ever there was one—and the closing set of instrumentals, “Enough Of Your Love” and “Slipping Away,” which sound like Funkadelic breaking bread with the MG’s & The Funk Brothers at Smokey Robinson’s house.  Despite featuring such a scattershot song selection, this album represents a necessary and significant entry in the soul diaspora.