James Hunter, an English singer with an abiding passion for American soul music of the late fifties and early sixties, was born in 1962, and he grew up in a working-class family in Colchester, Essex. In the pursuit of the music he loves, he’s worked odd jobs—on the railroad, as a laborer, and backing Van Morrison—and by the time he was forty-one, he found himself without a record deal or any gigs. He turned to busking, was rediscovered by record-business insiders, and, in 2006, he released an album of burning soul songs, “People Gonna Talk,” that picked up Grammy nominations and loads of press coverage. He followed that with another release “The Hard Way,” which was met with similar success. He’s back this week, with “Minute By Minute,” his first album in five years.

Hunter is more than a singer and songwriter though. He also loves films—watching them and making them. He recently shot, animated, and directed a video for the title track from his new album. We’re proud to present it here, and Hunter has given us a bit of insight into how the video came to be. 

(Source: newyorker.com)

For the opening photograph of this week’s Goings On About Town section, Lisa Kereszi photographed “Jomama Jones * Radiate,” in which the writer and performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones embodies a legendary soul singer on her American comeback tour. “She (or he) was TALL in those clear, plastic platform high heels and that soaring afro,” Kereszi writes. The show’s run at Soho Rep ends on January 15th. Click here for full slide show.