Marva Whitney struggled to make any commercial headway after she quit the James Brown revue in January 1970. This Is My Quest, her first post-Brown record – a one-off 45 for the Isley Brothers’ T-Neck label – bombed and then a clutch of 45s for her then husband Ellis Taylor’s label, Forte, also bit the dust. After a stint touring with The Platters in the late 70s, Whitney returned to sing gospel music in Kansas City.
Apart from a few tours on the back of the James Brown’s Funky People compilations, the powerhouse singer’s career languished in the doldrums until it was resurrected in 2005 when she joined the German Soulpower organisation. This superlative new album – her first since 1969’s Live & Lowdown – sounds like she’s never been away. In fact, with its lean, horn-led JB-style funk grooves provided by the Japanese funk act, Osaka Monaurail, I Am What I Am sounds like it could have been recorded in the late 60s. The title song is pure funk dynamite, with Whitney’s stentorian vocal riding a juiced-up juggernaut groove. She also turns in a blistering cover of the Godfather’s Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose and a revamp of her Northern soul favourite, Saving My Love For My Baby. A sensational comeback.
