A Symphony of Soul – Motown with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Review)

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It is difficult to dislike this album. Its basis is a handful of brilliant Motown songs, which the globally-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra expand and embellish. Like their take on Aretha Franklin’s catalogue with A Brand New Me (2017), the impact of the RPO’s contribution differs from song to song. There is nothing radical here, but the enjoyment of hearing these classic songs with new instruments here-and-there, some niftily inserted backing vocals, and the extra orchestral shimmer is undeniable. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ ‘The Tears of a Clown’ and Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright’s ‘With You I’m Born Again’ are given more noticeable treatments. However, the album provides the most ‘added value’ when British soul queens Mica Paris and Beverley Knight appear. Paris duets with Jimmy Ruffin on ‘What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted’, while Knight joins Marvin Gaye on the achingly moving ‘Abraham, Martin, and John’.

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