FunkCity.net celebrated a vibrant 2025, highlighted by attending various concerts and reviewing 17 standout albums. The year’s highlights include naming Snarky Puppy’s “Somni” Album of the Year and Lettuce’s “Cook” as Funk Album of the Year. The year concludes with strong submissions from various talented artists across jazz, funk, and soul genres.Continue Reading
When I want to taste some funk, I listen to Lettuce ‘Cook‘! That’s the latest album the preminent funk torchbearers, Lettuce. Cook is, in my view, one of the top funk albums of the year and worthy of a Grammy. The continuously ups the ante and this album follows in the traditions of Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Frankie Beverly and Maze and Marvin Gaye while still blazing its own trail. Traces of the past mixed with heavy doses of future funk keep this album fresh through many servings. As usual, the tunes are mostly instrumental and they’reContinue Reading
Suwannee Amp Jam has quickly made its way onto my favorite festivals list. Year 1 in 2025 had an amazing vibe and a terrfic lineup. Amp Jam has just announced a magnificent sophomore lineup and FunkCity.net will be there to soak in the good vibrations. Following in the traditions of the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP), the lineup features a heady selection of jam bands as a hat tip to the Wanee festival, and funk bands harkening back to Bear Creek. It all takes place on the glorious Amphitheater Stage so there’s plenty of time to socialize and relax.Continue Reading
This amazing set from the Denver, CO Squeaky Feet had its premiere on Tuesday night. Pro audio, 4K three camera angles, fantastic music blending jamtronica, funk, metal and jazz all in one!Continue Reading
Snarky Puppy released Somni on November 21, and it’s one of the best albums you’ve ever heard and will ever hear. It’s already on my deserted island list and a certain (multi) Grammy winner. I’m confident that once people hear it, they will be astounded based on its sonic impact, novel approach to melodies and rhythms, range of emotions stirred, musicality, and technical achievements. Now that the superlatives are out there, I’ll offer up the rationale for the buildup. Somni was recorded with the Metropole Orkest under the direction of Jules Buckley over the course of three days (two sessionsContinue Reading
Chimera is the second (and final!?) single from Snarky Puppy’s upcoming album “Somni,” and audio was recently released on streaming platforms with the video on YouTube. The full album is scheduled to be released November 21st. Here’s my review of this breathtaking track and the accompanying video. I was in the room for all the recording sessions in Utrecht back in January 2025. You can read about that experience here – Somni: A Dreamlike Experience. Chimera is the most unique cut on an album of ‘dreams’ as the standalone ‘nightmare.’ It was/is the third track on the album and here’sContinue Reading
REARview Album: Friends and Strangers Friends and Strangers (1977) is an all-time classic album for me. It sounds as fresh today as it did almost 50 years ago. F&S is his third solo album (Pressure Sensitive and Fever preceded) following a stint with Earth, Wind & Fire. The opening track “Goodtime Ride” sounds so futuristic like an rocket taking off. The synth bounces from ear to ear. Ronnie’s sopranos trades licks with the background vocal sighs. In that way, it was probably the first instrumental album that I heard that had ‘background vocals. The title track, with its synth openingContinue Reading
The Polyrhythmics have put out an outstanding album with Life From Below. Each tune is distinctive in its color and theme while still recognizable as a Polyrhythmics song. The group has become a personal favorite over the last few years, based on their dynamic live sets and consistently high-quality studio releases. As usual, there is a prominent role for the stellar horn section and the album is peppered with tight riffs and several spectacular solo sojourns, which I’ll cover in detail. The dazzling guitar-bass-drum of Ben Bloom, Jason Gray, and Grant Schroff alway keep the energy at a high level.Continue Reading
Waves Upon Waves, the first single from Snarky Puppy’s upcoming album “Somni,” was just released on streaming platforms, and the video on YouTube. The full album is scheduled to be released November 21st. Breaking with my usual approach, I’m going to review each track as they’re released and then the full album. I’m coming from the perspective of having been in the room for all the recording sessions in Utrecht back in January 2025. You can read about that experience here – Somni: A Dreamlike Experience. I will say that watching and listening to an individual track cannot capture theContinue Reading
Guitarist/composer Joe Marcinek consistently pumps out great “theme” albums with teams of big-name and emerging musicians. Four of his previous albums were reviewed here (JMB4, JMB5, Dead Funk Summit, 1 River Street) and each is unique in its theme and sound. “The Groove Session” is an outstanding funk album from end to end. One of the terrific aspects of this collection is that Joe demonstrates his skills as a guitarist within the overall ensemble that he put together. His compositions allow the others to shine, and the songs are balanced to showcase the entire team’s talent. As the liner notes say,Continue Reading