| Jazz |
In an era obsessed with remastered nostalgia and algorithm-friendly polish, Paul B Allen III offers something rarer: preservation without erasure.
With the release of Lost Anthology, Volume Two, Allen continues the careful excavation of his early recordings, songs rescued from aging cassette tapes and partially completed studio sessions, then remixed not to modernize them, but to make them audible without stripping away their character. The result is less a conventional album than an archival document, a museum piece in sound.
Allen emerged from a lineage deeply embedded in the traditions of Black American music, gospel-rooted harmony, disciplined ensemble singing, and a reverence for arrangement that values precision as much as emotion. For those seeking a fuller understanding of his artistic path, his memoir The Saturday Morning Song Chronicles (Memoirs, Motown, and Music) provides context and reflection (English edition; French edition).
To draw a contemporary comparison, one might look to Take 6, whose intricate vocal interplay reflects a similar devotion to craft. But Allen’s place in the continuum predates and informs much of what followed. His work belongs to the broader arc of post–civil rights-era vocal innovation, where gospel technique met secular production, and technical mastery was not optional but assumed.
Volumes One and Two of Lost Anthology are essential not because they are pristine, but because they are revealing. The audio fidelity fluctuates; tape hiss lingers. Yet that texture underscores their historical weight. These recordings capture process, experimentation, risk, and the kind of rehearsal-room rigor rarely documented.
One track in particular, “Fudamu Prime,” feels prescient. Its layered vocal architecture and restrained production anticipate approaches now common in contemporary jazz and neo-soul. Decades before such textures became fashionable, Allen was already exploring them. In retrospect, he appears less as a nostalgic figure and more as a quiet visionary.
His earlier tenure with The Platters, a group whose technical precision earned international acclaim, speaks to the level of discipline required to stand within that tradition. Membership in such an ensemble demands more than talent; it requires endurance, range, and exacting control. Those qualities remain evident throughout these archival recordings.
If there is a lingering wish, it is for new, smaller releases, perhaps a series of intimate Eps, that would connect this archival excavation to the present moment. Allen’s instincts suggest he could still surprise listeners.
For those invested in the history of Black American music, Lost Anthology, Volume Two is required listening, as instructive in its way as the orchestral soul of MFSB, the acid-jazz sophistication of Incognito, or the polished harmonies of The Futures.
These are not merely songs recovered. They are chapters restored.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, March 2nd 2026
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Paul B Allen III Lost Anthology Digital Lyrics Booklet
Track Listing :
When Love Is On The Line
Still In Love With You
Now I Know
Hip Hop Rock
More And More
Oh
Fudamu Prime
Miami Nights
Just One More Dance
It’s All About You
Where Do We Go From Here
Love Is Just A Word (Without You)