Here’s a book, Soul Unsung: Reflections on the Band in Black Popular Music, crying out to be written. And who better to write it than Kevin Le Gendre. It’s the award winning music writer’s first book, although his essays have appeared between hard covers before, for instance in the anthology Ic3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain edited by Courttia Newland and Kadija Sesay, published a dozen or so years ago.
Soul Unsung, to be issued with a slightly different title in the States, was published in the UK on 1 August by the Sheffield-based Equinox, who have already published important jazz-related books on Lee Morgan and Ian Carr to name but two. I, for one, am looking forward immensely to reading Kevin’s book, as the Tottenham-based writer has that rare ability to make you think that bit harder, and feel that bit more deeply about jazz, and its position within the bigger socio-economic and cultural orbit. 
The book “celebrates the contribution of players of instruments to soul", and “offers insights into the state of contemporary soul and its relationship with jazz, rock and hip-hop," according to the blurb you’ll find on Amazon. The great jazz writer Ashley Kahn says this of the book: "Le Gendre does a yeoman’s job — with the creative approach of a songwriter and the uplifting spirit of a Sunday preacher — at unveiling the long-hidden history of the legendary instrumentalists of the Golden Era of Soul. A must-read for any student of culture." Praise indeed.
Stephen Graham
Kevin Le Gendre, pictured