By:
On:
In: Aisle 5, BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Lettuce, Lotus, Snarky Puppy, Terminal West, The Budos Band, The New Mastersounds, Variety Playhouse, VENUES, Voodoo Visionary

For FunkCity.net, 2019 was a remarkable year that is recapped here.  I apologize in advance for the self-serving nature but it was definitely a year like no other in my experience based on a combination of personal music achievements and fantastic music events.  It was a huge year for four of my favorite groups, Snarky Puppy, Lettuce, The New Mastersounds and The Budos Band! Here’s the nineteen top happenings in 2019 – Snarky Puppy 17 Compilation: The year started with my proudest musical moment – Snarky Puppy came out with a limited edition, 4-vinyl recap of their 2017 world tour. Continue Reading

By:
On:
In: BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy

Many thanks to Matt Recchia, Snarky Puppy Sound Engineer for providing the overall tour stats and for making this full writeup possible. Snarky Puppy, the three-time Grammy winning, funk-jazz-world-instrumental ensemble just wrapped their 123 date world tour in support of their excellent 2019 release Immigrance. The tour spanned four continents, 26 countries and 38 of the 50 states in the U.S. This article reviews some of the highlights of the tour and also details the recorded shows posted at LiveSnarky.com for fans that want to purchase specific show downloads based on song or personnel preferences. As usual, Snarky Puppy rotatesContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BANDS, BLOG POSTS

House of Waters is a band you may not have heard of but they play some of the most beautiful music you’ll ever hear. This band bounces between jazz, funk, world, Irish, Indian, African and even classical music at times and their music well deserves its own genre. (That happens to be one of the topics discussed in this interview. We chatted with the “power” trio of Max ZT (hammered dulcimer), Moto Fukushima (6 string bass) and Ignacio Rivas Bixio (drums) before their opening session with Snarky Puppy at The Tabernacle in Atlanta on September 20. The far ranging discussionContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: ALBUMS, BLOG POSTS

Here’s a review of the great retro funk & soul album Bumpin’ On from The Eminent Stars coming November 22nd on Tramp Records. Bumpin’ On is one feel good retro funk and soul album. It brings a lot of old school NOLA funk and Memphis soul together with excellent vocals, thumping horns and all around excellent musicianship. This is a very American sounding album from a Dutch funk band – how great is that? And how did it happen? The Eminent Stars were founded by saxophonist Ben Mendes and drummer Toon Oomen. They both share the love for the greatContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: Snarky Puppy

Had the great privilege of chatting with Snarky Puppy’s horn section prior to their September 20th performance at the Tabernacle Atlanta. I was fortunate to have with me Rob Turner of Inside Out with Turner and Seth and Osiris Media to co-host with me and carry me along. We chatted with Bob Reynolds (sax), Chris Bullock (sax), Mike “Maz” Maher (trumpet) and Justin Stanton (trumpet/keys) about solo projects, Snarky Puppy live performances, tunes and other far ranging topics. Click on the link on the upper right on our new podcast section to listen to the full 1 hour interview. We’llContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS

It’s just two short weeks to Suwannee Hulaween in Live Oak, Florida and the daily schedule is out. Hulaween is one of North America’s premiere multi-faceted boutique festival experiences, and is celebrating its seventh year with a mix of 100+ live and electronic artists on five stages to soundtrack a fully immersive creative journey.  Of course, I’ll be viewing and videoing as many sets as I physically can focused on the funk and jazz end of the spectrum. The lineup is stacked and here’s the day-by-day rundown of my targets for video. Thursday arrival late and I’ll be off the beatenContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy

Here’s another fine recap authored by expert superfan Vincent Poinsot. We’re trying to catch up on the live show recaps but the Pups are pumping them out at an amazing pace. Stay tuned for more. You can purchase the fully mixed show here – https://store.snarkypuppy.com/products/may-15-2019-pittsburgh-pa-flac. Here’s the set list and lineup from the show followed by Vincent’s track-by-track rundown. Tarova – The concert begins with a question / answer between Bobby on the organ and Shaun on the talkbox. Unfortunately a mixing problem prevents fully hearing the Shaun part. Maz takes the first solo on effected trumpet (wah and aContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS

So excited to have the chance to review a test press of Shake It, NMS’ new 20th-anniversary album that’s out today, September 13. The album, just released today is available here:Digital: bit.ly/CRED-ShakeItDigitalVinyl: bit.ly/CRED-ShakeItPreorder Shake It it features Lamar Williams Jr. on vocals, as well as Jason Mingledorff on sax, Mike Olmos on trumpet and Jeff Franca of Thievery Corporation on “Permission to Land” and “Taking Me Down.” Its got that new, old-school feel that takes us back to the days of Keb Darge Presents and featured the likes of Cleve Freckleton (vox) & The Haggis Horns. The recording quality is superb and has aContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy

This recap of this show from the House of Blues is primarily authored by Vincent Poinsot, an expert superfan. The set list and lineup are shown below. Even Us – Embossed is becoming a nice set opener especially in smaller, enclosed venues. The first part is played as on the album and after, Justin takes a very energetic trumpet solo. Embossed – This is the first (recorded) live performance, and the first we’ve heard since the GroundUP Music Festival 2019 debut. Like Even Us, the first part is played almost identically to the album and the horns are exceptionally brightContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy

This was Snarky Puppy’s first ever visit to Portsmouth and the crowd was enthusiastic at the start and immediately quieted down for the opener Even Us. The show had a balance of four songs from Immigrance and four classics. You can buy the full recording here – Portsmouth Live Snarky. Even Us: This was a nicely recorded very quiet version. In the middle it has a full effects solo from Chris Bullock that gives it a somewhat distant, Middle Eastern feel. GØ – This version starts with a drum solo from Jamison masking the identity of the tune to come.Continue Reading