Van Hunt

For neo-soul performers looking for authentic material to draw from, there is no better place to find it than the early '70s, the heyday of real soul and the peak period for artists like Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, and Curtis Mayfield. Van Hunt draws perfectly from these classic artists on his debut, an album that, with its artful balance of funk and soul, would have sounded as good in 1974 as it did in 2004 when it was released. Supremely talented, Hunt played almost all of the instruments here and wrote or co-wrote each tune. This is the kind of debut upon which long, successful careers are based. Key tracks: "Down Here in Hell (With You)," "Seconds of Pleasure," "Dust"