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On Becoming from House of Waters is a stunning album all around — an exquisite listening journey that takes you to places you’ve not previously imagined.  Max ZT (hammered dulcimer) and Moto Fukushima (6-string bass) are joined by Antonio Sanchez on drums, and they weave a tapestry of feelings that will soothe your soul. It’s incredible to have a trio create such a richness in sound. Max can make his instrument sound like a harp or piano among other instruments and naturally as a dulcimer. Moto’s two-handed playing on the bass gives him astonishing range as well. And Antonio, newContinue Reading

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The Soul Sessions is an album I’ve been looking forward to most of the year after reviewing The Funk Sessions back in April. Like its predecessor, it was recorded live by Speedometer at the legendary Studio 3 in Abbey Roads Studios in London. Universal Music commissioned both albums for their Abbey Road Masters label and released them on all digital platforms. This iteration pays homage to Motown and you can hear it instantly and all the way through. It’s authentic, from the soulful riffs of horns, the tasty licks of guitar, the thumping rhythm section, and the handclaps and backingContinue Reading

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Leisure Suit, is an old school funk fusion album with new era notions of jam. That’s right, it’s a leisure suit from the 70s that’s back with a flair and so much panache. That’s a lot of fancy words for an album that’s got great catchy tunes, some dramatic moments and great production values. Did I mention the band, Organ Fairchild has only been around since 2020 and is a breakout band in Buffalo, NY? Well, get ready to be bowled over by this terrific trio. They mix their style from track to track but keep it interesting throughout. ThisContinue Reading

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Bokanté encapsulates world rhythms like no other band. The band is the brainchild of Snarky Puppy’s Michael League and a vehicle for the marvelous vocals of Malika Tirolien, along with a roster of some of the most uniquely accomplished musicians around. Bokanté’s albums are always a treat. The songs are always percussion rich due to the amazing crew of Weedie Braimah, Keita Ogawa, Jamey Haddad and André Ferrari with a huge battery of instruments and sounds. They are offset by the amazing string instrument team of Michael League, Chris McQueen, Bob Lanzetti and Roosevelt “The Dr.” Collier. Malika is anContinue Reading

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Jonathan Scales is the current world leader steel pannist and each of his albums are great listens end to end. He follows his predecessor pannists Dave Samuels (Spyro Gyra), Andy Narell (Caribbean Jazz Project), and Robert Greenidge (Jimmy Buffet) in bringing the island sound to the world jazz scene. In his own words, RE-POTTED arose and “began production shortly after relocating to NYC from North Carolina, just months before the pandemic, and this conceptual album explores what it means to ‘uproot & replant’ into a more expansive yet more challenging environment.” In addition to the young lions Maison Guidry onContinue Reading

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Suwannee Hulaween is a music fan’s fantasy festival. This year marks the 10th-year anniversary and will be my eighth consecutive year. The music is always super diverse, this year with more than 90 sets, and there’s something for everyone. It’s a String Cheese Incident festival where they typically play 6 or more sets and bring in some heavy hitter headliners as well including TAB, Goose, JRAD and Pretty Lights. But Hulaween has so much more to offer than the main stage called The Meadows. It’s full of magical displays, artwork, sculptures, performers and tons of very happy people scattered aroundContinue Reading

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Joe Marcinek consistently puts out great albums with a rotating roster of players. He’s a musician’s musician, well known amongst his peers for his sharp compositions and ability to play with anyone in multiple styles. It reminds me of a quote from legendary Crusaders’ pianist Joe Sample, who said “I get called a lot to play on different albums because I play whatever is needed for that particular session.” Marcinek definitely has a flair and imprints his sound on this album of all originals playing with Melvin Seals (Dead) and George Porter (Funk) in a slick grouping that shows theContinue Reading

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The Budos Band is one of my favorite recording bands and live they’re especially crazy fun. They tour only on a limited basis so I’ve been fortunate enough to catch them a handful of times and each time it’s a party. The band and crowd feed off each other and the set gets increasingly more wild right up to the end. The band started on the Daptone label and originally fell pretty squarely in the afrobeat category but even early on they had a dark, edgy sound as reflected in their first three album covers of a volcano, scorpion andContinue Reading

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Over the last five years or so, when I hear Seattle Funk my ears perk up. There’s been so much great stuff coming out including Polyrhythmics, The True Loves, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, The Dip, and now add The Oscillators to the list. As a recording collaborative, the instrumentation on each tune varies and so each is fresh and carves a differnt path. There’s everything from psychdelia, to jazz, NOLA jazz, fusion and plenty of funk, Olli Klomp makes this engine run on time with up to three layers of drums on a track. It’s innovative and relatable at theContinue Reading

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Raw in Amsterdam, just released from Philip Lassiter,  is a well done live funk party. I was first introduced to Lassiter when he and his band opened for Snarky Puppy in Atlanta in 2015. If you know anything about Michael League, SP’s leader, you know that he only brings great talent to open and I was a fan right away. Lassiter mixes funk, gospel, New Orleans jazz, and soul in his work and is an 11-time Grammy award winner including his work with Prince. This album in live big band format includes some very special guests, notably Candy Dulfer, Amsterdam’sContinue Reading