Telling the Truth Numero****

Chicago's excellent Numero label specialises in finding and repackaging soul, funk and folk nuggets that fell between the cracks on original release. Willie Wright's 1977 release ticks all the boxes on that mission statement, an album from a singer-songwriter who roamed from New York to Boston and Nantucket in the 1960s and 1970s without ever gaining any traction. Such was the lack of Wright's commercial cachet that this album was recorded at the cheapest studio in New York in return for the singer doing a few ads. But Wright was a cut above his peers, a dude with a warm folk-soul voice, a bunch of strong, distinctive songs and studio help from drummer George "Buzzy" Bragg (The Skull Snaps) and guitarist Harry Jensen (The Jimmy Castor Bunch). Telling the Truthis a moody, soulful gem. See numerogroup.com

Download tracks: Nantucket Island, Right On For the Darkness, Africa