Truth & Soul was a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

and

production team A production team is the group of technical staff who produce a play, television show, recording, or film. Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating of a particular product, regardless of where ...

based in Williamsburg,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. It was formed in 2004 by

Leon Michels Leon Marcus Michels is an American music producer, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of Truth & Soul Records and Big Crown Records. He ...

and Jeff Silverman with Philippe Lehman. The label was best known for their releases with

Lee Fields & The Expressions Elmer Lee Fields (born April 26, 1950 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed "Little JB" for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown. He has worked with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, O.V. Wrig ...

and other New York

retro-soul Retro soul, sometimes written as retro-soul, is a post-modern and contemporary popular music genre that emerged years after the golden era of soul music. In style of singing, arrangement and recording techniques, this music attempts to offer new ...

groups. As a production house and

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

, Truth & Soul worked with artists like

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

I Need a Dollar "I Need a Dollar" is a song performed by American singer Aloe Blacc, written by Blacc, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon and Jeff Dynamite. It is the intro song for the HBO show ''How to Make It in America'', and was featured as the iTunes Single of ...

") and

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

Right as Rain ''Right as Rain'' is a 2001 crime novel by George Pelecanos. It is set in Washington DC and focuses on private investigator Derek Strange and his new partner Terry Quinn. It is the first novel to involve the characters and is followed by '' Hell ...

"). In 2016, Truth & Soul's

catalog Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **'emmy on the 'og **in science and technology ***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries ...

was acquired by The Orchard, and was succeeded by Big Crown Records.

History

Soul Fire Records

Truth & Soul was born out of Soul Fire Records, a label run by musician

Phillip Lehman Phillip Lehman (born Philip, alternatively spelled Philippe) is a Franco-American artist, music producer, and cave diver best known as Bando, the graffiti pioneer of France who helped popularize the medium in Europe throughout the 1980s. Followi ...

. Lehman had previously run soul revival pioneer Desco Records with

Bosco Mann Gabriel Roth (born August 17, 1974), also known as Bosco Mann among other aliases, is an American record producer, musician, and co-founder of Daptone Records. He is best known as the bandleader, bass player, primary songwriter, and producer ...

, and founded Soul Fire in 1999 as a funk label; Mann would later open the soulful

Daptone Records Daptone Records is a funk and soul independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. Best known as the home of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Charles Bradley, the label boasts a roster which includes Menahan Street Band, The Budos Band, T ...

. Between 1999 and 2003, Soul Fire put out numerous records by artists like

Lee Fields Elmer Lee Fields (born April 26, 1950 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed "Little JB" for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown. He has worked with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, O.V. Wrig ...

and

The Whitefield Brothers The Whitefield Brothers are a German funk band. The band, which consists of brothers Jan and Max Weissenfeldt, was previously known as the "'Poets of Rhythm"' beginning in 1991. Under this name, they were signed to the Quannum Projects label after ...

. In 2003, Lehman decided to retire from the music business, leaving his studio to young musicians Jeff Silverman and

, both former Soul Fire artists.

Formation and releases of Truth & Soul

Silverman and Michels founded Truth & Soul with Lehman in 2004. Silverman and Michels ran the label with label manager Danny Akalepse, and were the in-house production team. The label has recorded and released the music of

El Michels Affair El Michels Affair is an American "cinematic soul" group led by New York-based musician Leon Michels. The group released its debut album ''Sounding Out The City'' in 2005. After touring behind Raekwon and other Wu-Tang Clan members, the group recor ...

Bronx River Parkway The Bronx River Parkway (sometimes abbreviated as the Bronx Parkway) is a long parkway in downstate New York in the United States. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue ...

, Quincy Bright, The Evil D's,

and The Expressions, The Fabulous Three, Cosmic Force, The Olympians, Tyrone Ashley's Funky Music Machine,

Ghetto Brothers The Ghetto Brothers were a gang and music group founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960s with the motivation to uplift young Latino and Black men in their community. History Founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960 ...

, The

Phenomenal Handclap Band Phenomenal Handclap Band was formed in New York's East Village by producer Daniel Collás. Their first full-length record, '' Phenomenal Handclap Band'', featured such diverse talents as Aurelio Valle, Carol C, Jaleel Bunton, Jon Spencer, and ...

, and Bama & The Family. In 2008, Truth & Soul produced and released the

album ''My World'' to critical acclaim. The same year they produced

's sophomore record, '' Good Things'', which was released on Stones Throw records on September 28, 2010. A new studio, The Diamond Mine, was built in Long Island City 2014 by Michels and his frequent collaborators

Thomas Brenneck Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer. He became known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and a member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of ...

, Nick Movshon, and

Homer Steinweiss Homer Steinweiss is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer known as a prominent drummer in the New York soul revival scene. He is a founding member and drummer of groups including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & The Expression ...

. Truth & Soul has remixed "

Love Is a Losing Game "Love Is a Losing Game" is a song by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse from her second and final studio album ''Back to Black'' (2006). It was chosen as the fifth and final single from ''Back to Black'' and was also the final single rel ...

" by

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

, the

Gabriella Cilmi Gabriella Lucia Cilmi ( ; ; born 10 October 1991) is an Australian pop singer. A contralto, Cilmi is known for her distinctive raspy singing voice. Her debut album, ''Lessons to Be Learned'', was released in March 2008, becoming a moderate int ...

single "Sweet About Me",

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

's "Cry Me A River" for Verve Remixed 4, and Truth & Soul are credited as writers on

's grammy nominated album, ''19''. Their records have been sampled by Ghostface Killah, Just Blaze, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy. Other venture included curating the in-game radio station of the same name in the 2009 video game ''GTA: Chinatown Wars''.

Legacy and Big Crown Records

Michels and Silverman decided to dissolve Truth & Soul in July 2016 with The Orchard acquiring the label and the distribution rights to its catalog. Soon after, Michels co-founded Big Crown Records with Truth & Soul manager Danny Akalepse. Some artists on the Truth & Soul roster moved to Big Crown at this time.

Artists

Noted 'featured artists' included: * Bronx River Parkway † * Cosmic Force *

†‡ * Fabulous Three ( Leon Michel & Jeff Silverman) † * Jr Thomas & The Volcanos * Lady Wray ‡ *

†‡ *

Liam Bailey Liam Bailey is an English singer-songwriter from Nottingham. He is noted for his soul, reggae, and blues-influenced vocal style. Career In 2010, he released two solo EPs on Amy Winehouse's Lioness Records. Recorded entirely by Bailey and his g ...

* Michael Leonhart and Avramina 7 * Shirley Nanette * Tyrone Ashley & Funky Music Machine (reissue) *

(reiusse) † denotes artist on Soul Fire Records.
‡ denotes artists on Big Crown Records.

Discography

References

External links

Official site

Interview with Leon Michels

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