Debut UK concert for Eli 'Paperboy' Reed produced USA vocal soul trio.
The Harlem Gospel Travelers are the next retro-soul group in the style of Thee Sacred Souls, Durand Jones, Mayer Hawthorne, & Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings to come out of the USA.
The group's latest LP Look Up! marks the group’s first full-length release as a trio, as well as their first collection of totally original material. The music still draws deeply on the gospel quartet tradition of the ’50s and ’60s, of course, but there’s a distinctly modern edge to the record, an unmistakable reflection of the tumultuous past few years of pandemic anxiety, political chaos, and social unrest.
Born out of an non-profit music education program led by Eli 'Paperboy' Reed, The Harlem Gospel Travelers—singers Thomas Gatling, George Marage, and Dennis Bailey—released their debut LP, He’s On Time, to rave reviews in 2019, with Pop Matters hailing the album’s “musical transcendence” and AllMusic praising it as “dreamlike and joyous.” The record charted on Billboard, and earned the Travelers high profile fans like Elton John (who invited them to appear on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music).