Cinematic soul is a genre of
soul music with a "cinematic" style, combining traditional rock / soul arrangements with orchestral instruments.
Style
Cinematic soul builds on the foundations of soul music. The backing track can include
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
,
bass guitar,
clavinet
The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...
and
electric guitar played with a
wah-wah pedal. On top of this are orchestral instruments including a
string section and
brass, similar to that heard on a movie soundtrack.
History
During their
psychedelic soul period of 1968-73,
The Temptations created what is described as "cinematic soul", songs, often long in length, with longer instrumental introductions and detailed orchestration. Two such examples are the Temptations' 1972 recording of "
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and their follow-up single, "
Masterpiece
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
".
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
' "
Theme from ''Shaft''" was considered another good example of cinematic soul, and subsequently influenced
David Bowie's "
Stay", released several years later.
Curtis Mayfield's "
Superfly" was a top ten
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
hit, and praised as an archetypical example of the genre.
[
]
Legacy
Artists continue to call their music cinematic soul into the 21st century. Barry Adamson's 2002 album ''The King of Nothing Hill'' opened with the track "Cinematic Soul", which was roughly based on "Theme from Shaft" and was conceived as a tribute to the genre. A compilation of the genre, ''Superbad Funk and Cinematic Soul'' was released in 2006. Singer/songwriter Jessica Lá Rel describes her music as cinematic soul, using soul as a base, then using other styles including classical and theatrical instrumentation. New York band Ikebe Shakedown has been described as cinematic soul.
References
{{psychedelic music, state=expanded
Soul music genres
Psychedelic soul
1970s in music