Charles Bradley has one hell of a voice. It’s so powerful that people call him “The Screaming Eagle of Soul.” He also has one hell of story to tell. Raised in the streets of Brooklyn, a young Charles Bradley became fascinated by James Brown after seeing him at the Apollo Theater in 1962. He was so inspired by the performance that he began to practice mimicking Brown’s style of singing and stage mannerisms at home. The experience eventually led Bradley to his current status as one of the most popular soul singers working today, but it took a long hard road to get there. For starters, job placement took him to Maine where he learned to cook. While there he put together a band, but his band mates were soon drafted in the Vietnam War and he was forced to find work as a chef at a hospital. After nine years cooking for 3500 people a day Charles hitchhiked all the way to Alaska, then moved to California where he spent over 20 years making his living as a chef. After getting laid off he decided to head back home to Brooklyn, where he began making appearances in local clubs performing his James Brown routines under the alter ego “Black Velvet.” One night, Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records happened upon him performing at the Tarheel Lounge in Bedstuy, and recognizing his raw talent Roth brought him into the Daptone “House of Soul” Studios for a recording session. After writing several songs, with Daptone releasing some of them on vinyl starting in 2002, ten were chosen and released as Bradley’s debut album “No Time For Dreaming” in 2011.