Turn Me Loose is the fourth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 singer-songwriter Ledisi

Ledisi

Ledisi Anibade Young is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba. Ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals. In 1995, Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major...

, released August 18, 2009 on Verve Records

Verve Records

Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...

. It was recorded after Ledisi's experience with writer's block

Writer's block

Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...

, which she overcame after finding inspiration in listening to Buddy Miles

Buddy Miles

George Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:George Allen Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on...

's Them Changes (1970). In contrast to her previous work with jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 influences, the album features a prominent funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 sound. Turn Me Loose charted at number 14 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, with 27,000 copies sold in the first week. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 72/100 from Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. Turn Me Loose was nominated for two 2010 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album & Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Goin' Thru Changes".

Background

Speaking in April 2010 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of the award-winning Blues & Soul

Blues & Soul

Blues & Soul is a British music magazine covering black music. Genres covered include soul, R&B, jazz, hip hop, reggae and world music. It was first published in 1966 and is known for first using the term Northern Soul....

- Ledisi explained how the title of the album reflected its musical diversity: "The title 'Turn Me Loose' is basically me saying 'I don't wanna be boxed in! Let me be myself as a performer and singer, because I do EVERYTHING! Not just one particular style!'."

Ledisi was able to secure some of urban music's most respected producers, including Grammy winners Raphael Saadiq and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Big Jim Wright. She also reunited with producer Rex Rideout, who contributed greatly to the sound of Lost & Found. With help from the four other producers (Ivan & Carvin, Chief Xcel, Chucky Thompson & Fyre Dept), the artist braided brilliant strains of Rock, blues, classic soul, funk and hip-hop are all fused together throughout Turn Me Loose. The funky title track, for instance, updates the sassy grooves of vintage Stax. As a tribute to Buddy Miles, Ledisi does a cover of "Them Changes" as a bonus track.

Singles

• "Goin' Thru Changes" was released as the album's first single. The song peaked at No. 43 on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs Chart, so far the highest peaking single of Ledisi's career.

• "Higher Than This" was released as the album's second single. The song has so far peaked at No. 63 on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs Chart.

Track listing

1. "Runnin 2:18
2. "Everything Changes" 4:00
3. "Turn Me Loose" 4:18
4. "Higher Than This" 4:54
5. "Alone" 4:18
6. "Love Never Changes" 3:50
7. "Please Stay" 3:47
8. "Knockin 3:45
9. "Say No" 3:43
10. "Goin' Thru Changes" 4:45
11. "I Need Love" 4:01
12. "Trippin 2:57
13. "The Answer to Why" 3:04
14. "Them Changes" [Bonus Track]

• "Movin' On" [iTunes Bonus Track]

External links

• Press Release at EURweb