Finley Quaye provides a live performance and interview with Scotty and Kennedy Taylor.
Purportedly the uncle of Tricky and the brother of prominent guitar sideman Caleb Quaye, Finley Quaye could definitely have relied on nepotism to get himself a recording contract. Fortunately, his sweet voice and feel for a soul groove were the leading indicators in his signing to the Haiku label. After collaborating with A Guy Called Gerald and becoming friends with Iggy Pop, Quaye recorded his debut album, Maverick a Strike, and released it in 1997. He then began recording vocals for Tricky’s third album, Angels with Dirty Faces.
Four years after his critically acclaimed debut, Quaye resurfaced with Vanguard; a new outlook and musical vision were well rounded and a maturation marked the result. Much More Than Much Love followed in 2004 and included the single “Dice.” The song featured contributions from Beth Orton and William Orbit and became a minor hit. Although it would be another eight years before he delivered a follow-up album, 2008 saw the release of both a new EP, Pound for Pound, and a greatest-hits package, The Best of the Epic Years.
A release on the French label Sakifo titled 28th February Road finally arrived in 2012, followed two years later by a reggae LP called Royal Rasses, which saw Quaye working with Norman Grant of long-tenured Jamaican act the Twinkle Brothers. An album of demos, appropriately titled Demos, was released in the spring of 2016.
