(R&B, Soul, Funk, Soul-Jazz, Smooth Soul, Neo-Soul) Sabrina Starke - Yellow Brick Road {Star-K-Records SKR 2008002} - 2008, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Review by Jason Birchmeier:
Sabrina Starke is a soul-jazz singer/songwriter based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who made her full-length debut in 2008 with the Top Ten hit album Yellow Brick Road. Born on August 9, 1979, in Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname, a small Dutch-speaking country of 500,000 people in northern South America, she made her recording debut in 2008 with the single "Do for Love" on the Star-K label. Co-written by Starke and produced by Beat Royalty (the Dutch production team of Chris Kooreman and Edo Plasschaert), "Do for Love" eventually rose to Top Ten success in the Netherlands and garnered the attention of EMI, which signed the singer/songwriter to a major-label recording contract with its famed Blue Note Records division. Starke's full-length album debut, Yellow Brick Road, likewise rose to Top Ten success over time. A stylistic mix of soul and jazz, along with folk and R&B, the Beat Royalty-produced album spawned the follow-up hit singles "Foolish" and "A Woman's Gonna Try."
Amazon:
Editorial Review:
It may seem that Sabrina Starke from Rotterdam Holland came out of nowhere, but nothing is further from the truth. This singer/songwriter has been working her way up for quite some time now and her talents haven't gone unnoticed.Is it Jazz, R&B, Soul, Folk or a fragile singer/songwriter? Yes and no... it is Sabrina Starke. Indeed, she is all of these things at once. In the beginning, it went from Billie Holiday, Tracy Chapman, to Randy Crawford and back.
Customer Reviews:
4.0 out of 5 stars - "Dorothy's" Soul: Great Debut from the Netherlands - December 14, 2008
By: M.E. Smith
Just when you start thinking about American Soul --listen to this debut from the Netherlands (Rotterdam in particular) to remind us that soul music goes beyond any national origins and crosses geographical boundaries. With a voice that may be reminiscent of Lauryn Hill and India. arie (for me anyway:) ultimately Sabrina Starke has her own musical voice. The music is relaxed and varied: incorporating some reggae, some jazz touches and old school (I love Do For Love, Foolish and You are my love with its great horns) with some sweet ballads (My King and Yellow Brick Road) bookmarked by a nice spoken word piece with a Caribbean feel about coming into one's own and finding one's path. The lyrics are inspirational -not just about love's pain but also moving forward in love and life. (And she's not the only soul singer : there's Giovanca who has a different but fun musical style and Ntjamrosie who mixes soul with Cameroon Bulu beats and language. There's some good music coming out of the Netherlands by women who make their own soul music outside of any American box). "The Trip to Oz" never sounded so soulful.
5.0 out of 5 stars - Amazing artist - October 25, 2011
By: Tatiana Mercier Querido Farina
The whole cd is great. If you like jazz, I imagine you'll appreciate her songs. They are all very soothing.