Corinne Bailey Rae: Corinne Bailey Rae

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By Steve Morley

UMC.org—In the space of two years, Corinne Bailey Rae has gone from virtual unknown to Grammy-nominated sensation in her native United Kingdom and beyond. Her self-titled 2006 debut was recently re-released, presumably to strengthen its toehold on American shores, where Bailey Rae is gaining a head of steam with her hybrid of modern R&B, pop and classic soul. Because the singer absorbed her varied influences naturally over many years, she’s arrived at an organic mixture that broadly evokes the 1970s without resorting to period revivalism. When her music sounds “old school,” it’s often because it leans more heavily on living, breathing musicianship than on computerized production techniques.