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MARVA KING "Grown & Sexy" Independent

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Friday, November 21, 2008; Page WE14

MARVA KING "Grown & Sexy" Independent


IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to listen to Marva King without understanding why Stevie Wonder and Prince recognized her talent early on or why her skyrocketing voice has often elicited flattering comparisons to the late Minnie Riperton.

Although King doesn't cover a Riperton tune on her new CD, "Grown & Sexy," as she has in the past, what the two singers share is evident every time King lets her voice soar, beginning with the percolating funk anthem "Chocolate" and the slow club groove "Holla," which concern desire in one sensuous form or another. King really hits her stride on "If You Say So," when her often seductive phrasing turns sassy and brassy, inspired by the kind of Southern funk groove that Mavis Staples could sink her teeth into.

Playing the purring chanteuse comes easily to King, as the title track, "Share," and other effortlessly rendered romantic ballads prove. But she is never more entertaining than when she reveals her gospel and R&B roots ("Unh Unh Baby" is another good example) or more earnest than when paying homage to the numerous musicians who've influenced her on the a cappella track "Big Ups."

Cleverly arranged and layered, "Grown & Sexy" is enlivened by rap cameos and bracketed by contrasting mixes of "Afro," the album's initial and insinuating single.

-- Mike Joyce

Go 'head Marva...




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tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Her solo debut album from '81 is REALLY tight



She also did good when she was with funk band Madagascar.