The Masterlink Soul Sessions | Vol 1 | CD

We proudly present ‘The Masterlink Soul Sessions | Volume One’ album on CD available on RSB Records, featuring established and upcoming artists: Georgia Van Etten, Jade Like The Stone, Jo Harman, Sarah Jane Morris, Orphy Robinson, Connor Selby, Diana Silveira, Eddy Smith, Amba Tremain and Jana Varga.

Get your CD album HERE.

In the footsteps of ‘The Masterlink Instrumental Sessions’ album we wanted to put this collection together featuring our favourite performances from the early years of our video sessions. All tracks have been remastered by Tim Debney from Fluid Mastering.

You can still find all the original 100%-live-in-the-studio video HERE.

All the artists are accompanied by the Masterlink Sessions studio band, AKA Redtenbacher’s Funkestra – a collective of some of the best sessions players the UK scene has to offer under the leadership of bassist and producer Stefan Redtenbacher.

A big thank you to Mark Ede and the BiGiAM agency for having introduced us to all these wonderful artists. Much appreciated!

Track-by-track

1 ‘Money Ain’t No Truth’ | ft. Diana Silveira

Portuguese vocalist Diana Silveira came to the UK to escape a certain degree of fame and notoriety having been the runner up for ‘The Voice Portugal’. She was looking for a break in the UK and there she teamed up with Stefan for this co-write. Once the arrangement was fully developed they set out to film a Masterlink Sessions video. Diana gave a wildfire performance that set the whole band ‘on fire’ and filled the room with a bristling energy. A rare moment of rock’n roll masterfully captured.

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MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed by James Welch (Masterlink Sessions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
video by Leo by Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Money Ain’t No Truth’ written by Diana Silveira Piedade and Stefan Redtenbacher
Arranged and produced by Stefan Redtenbacher
Horn arrangement by Paul Jordanous and Stefan Redtenbacher

2 ‘Cloudy’ | ft. Jo Harman & Orphy Robinson

Redtenbacher’s Funkestra presents ‘The Masterlink Sessions’ featuring vocalist Jo Harman and vibraphone player Orphy Robinson interpreting the Average White Band classic ‘Cloudy’ 100%-live-in-the-studio.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

Jo Harman | vocals
Orphy Robinson – vibraphone
Tony Remy – guitar, co-producer
Nat Martin – guitar
Mike Gorman – Hammond organ
Stefan Redtenbacher | bass
Mike Sturgis – drums

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed by James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Video by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services and Jo Harman management | Mark Ede

‘Cloudy’ written by Alan Gorrie, Hamish Stuart
Arranged and produced by Tony Remy & Stefan Redtenbacher
Published by RUMINATING MUSIC OBO JOE’S SONGS, INC

Note: The original version of ‘Cloudy‘ was released under the artist name ‘The R3 Collective’ comprising of Tony Remy, Orphy Robinson and Stefan Redtenbacher.

3 ‘Anti Love Song’ | ft. Sarah Jane Morris

Redtenbacher’s Funkestra presents ‘The Masterlink Sessions’ featuring Sarah Jane Morris (vocals) delivering an electrifying performance of Betty Davis’ ‘Anti Love Song’ – all live in the recording studio.

In his 1990 biography Miles Davis said of his former wife’s musical legacy: “If Betty were singing today she’d be something like Madonna, something like Prince, only as a woman. She was the beginning of all that when she was singing as Betty Davis.” We think that Sarah is honoring his praise in full colours!

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed by James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Video by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Anti Love Song’ written by Betty Marby (PKA Betty Davis)
Arranged & produced by Tony Remy and Stefan Redtenbacher

4 ‘Oh Mother’ | ft. Georgia Van Etten

‘The Masterlink Sessions’ present the most soulful soulful and strikingly authentic Australian songstress, Georgia van Etten, performing her heart wrenching song ‘Oh Mother’ from her album ‘Deep Black Water.’

MUSICIANS
(alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed by James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Video by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Oh Mother’ written by Georgia van Etten
‘Live Masterlink Session’ produced by Stefan Redtenbacher
Horn arrangement by Paul Jordanous and Stefan Redtenbacher

5 ‘Superstition’ | ft. Amba Tremain

“From as early as I can remember, Stevie has always been my favourite artist. And from the moment I was out gigging, ‘Superstition’ was always in my set. I wanted to pay homage to one of my favourites but in a way that hadn’t been done before. As a fan of James Brown too I dreamt of giving Superstition a 3/4 ‘Man’s World’ feel and VOILA… Stefan brought the track to life!” (Amba Tremain, Dec 2023)

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featuring
HORN HOUSE

Graeme Blevins | saxophone (tenor, baritone)
Nichol Thomson | trombone (tenor, bass)
Tom Walsh | trumpet & Flugel Horn

‘Superstition’ written by Stevie WonderProduced and arranged by Stefan Redtenbacher **
*Horn House recorded at Horn House | Ealing by Tom Walsh**Horn arrangement by Nichol Thomson

6 ‘Fire In the Blood’ | ft. Jade Like The Stone

Our very first Masterlink ‘Courtyard’ Session during lock-down with the enigmatic Jade Like A Stone performing her tune ‘Fire In The Blood’ with the Masterlink Session studio band.

This song was originally released on the album ‘7 Roads’ by Jade Like the Stone and Redtenbacher’s Funkestra.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed by James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Filmed by Leon Mansell (Shoot & Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Fire In The Blood’ written by Jade Danielle Wiliams
Arranged by Jade Like The Stone & Stefan Redtenbacher
Produced by Stefan Redtenbacher
Special thanks to Pete Mills for production assistance

7 ‘Cyprus Avenue (radio edit) | ft. Jo Harman & Orphy Robinson

The Masterlink Sessions present vocalist Jo Harman interpreting Van Morrison’s classic ‘Cyprus Avenue’ 100%-live-in-the-studio – an ethereal rendition culminating with burning vibraphone solo by Orphy Robinson.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed and James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Filmed by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Cyprus Avenue’ written Van Morrison
Arranged and produced by Tony Remy & Stefan Redtenbacher
Published by WB MUSIC CORP

Note: The original full length version of ‘Cyprus Avenue‘ was released under the artist name ‘The R3 Collective’ comprising of Tony Remy, Orphy Robinson and Stefan Redtenbacher.

8 ‘Woodstock’ | ft. Jana Varga

More Joni love from the Masterlink Sessions team. This time Jana Varga is taking on ‘Woodstock’ on vocals & flute on top of this rocking performance.

“Woodstock is a song from times of changes, lot of political, environmental and social critique from singer songwriters including Joni, and as relevant today as it was then, if not more. There’s not a lot of ‘protest’ songs these days and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to record this.” (Jana Varga, Aug 2023)

Find our more about the Joni Re-imagined project HERE, about their upcoming tour plus the two records ‘Joni Reimagined’ and ‘The Colours of Joni’.

STREAM | DOWNLOAD
Stream, download or watch on your favourite platform.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed and James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Filmed and edited by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Woodstock’ written by Joni Mitchell
Arranged and produced by Stefan Redtenbacher

9 ‘That’s Alright’ | ft. Connor Selby

Check out multi-award winning Blues artist Connor Selby performing ‘That’s Alright’ an original tune from his first record with the Masterlink Sessions house band (aka the Redtenbacher’s Funkestra) at Masterlink Productions Studio.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded and mixed and James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Mastered by Tim Debney (Fluid Mastering)
Filmed by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘That’s Alright’ written by Connor Selby
Arranged and produced by Stefan Redtenbacher

10 ‘Bring it on Home to me’ | ft. Eddy Smith

Eddy Smith (vox, wurlitzer) performs the Sam Cooke classic ‘Bring it on home’ with the Masterlink studio ‘house’ band (a.k.a. Redtenbacher’s Funkestra) resulting in a bucket full of soul and blues. 100% live in the studio.

‘Bring it on home’ is one of my all time favourite songs and Sam Cooke is one of the greats. I’ve always loved playing this song live and getting the chance to record it with the Funkestra was a dream come true. ” (Eddy Smith, Aug 2024)

STREAM | DOWNLOAD
Stream, download or watch on your favourite platform.

MUSICIANS
(in alphabetical order of last name)

CREDITS
Recorded, mixed and mastered by James Welch (Masterlink Productions)
Video by Leo Mansell (Shoot and Splice Films)
Toby Upton | studio assistant
Artist services by Mark Ede

‘Bring it home’ written by Sam Cooke
Recorded, mixed and mastered by James Welch
Produced by Stefan Redtenbacher
Guitar amps courtesy of Jesse Hoff
Lamp on Leslie by Tom Train Customs