Sweetback

The New York-based trio Sweetback first joined forces as the touring ensemble behind soul vocalist Sade. Once that performer stepped away from recording for a prolonged hiatus, Stewart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman chose to sustain their partnership under the Sweetback banner. Momentum gathered in 1994, immediately after Sade concluded the worldwide Love Deluxe trek. Matthewman erected a private studio in New York and issued a run of 12-inch dance singles credited to Cottonbelly and Edge Test, while also producing and co-authoring three cuts on Maxwell’s breakthrough debut, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. Hale and Denman meanwhile supplied music for runway presentations and boutique installations. In 1996, after an extended exchange of cassettes, the core members enlisted Maxwell, Bahamadia and Amel Larrieux of Groove Theory to track their self-titled Epic Records debut. Its sonic palette stretched from trad-soul (“You Will Rise”) to house (“Cloud People”), and the resulting flavorful breadth plus polished execution drew praise from reviewers spanning multiple scenes.