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FunkCity.net is pleased to name ‘Somni’ from Snarky Puppy as my Album of the Year (AOTY). At the risk of being presumptuous, I had it as the odds-on favorite to win right after attending the recording sessions for the album in Utrecht, Netherlands, in January 2025. It was simply that magnificent—not only for this year but over the long run. I feel that this album will be listed as one of the greats long into the future and will likely win a minimum of one Grammy in 2027 (it was released after this year’s cutoff). The enormous effort of theContinue Reading

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Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival is back in 2026 for its third year at Florida Sands Music Ranch (FSMR). It now includes a Wednesday Preparty and continues with the Thursday to Saturday main festival. Whippersnap has quickly become one of my favorite winter festivals as it’s loaded with jam and funk music that are right in my sweet spot. It brings big-time, world-class music, a fabulous location and a really cozy, intimate setting with some of the coolest people around! It’s set in a great ranch campground and has two stages of music at alternating times so you never haveContinue Reading

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This year was epic for my live music journey having seen well over 200 sets of music and recorded over 80 live performances. The first half of the year had an incredible run of live shows starting with the recording sessions for Snarky Puppy’s album with the Metropole Orkest, “Somni” in Utrecht, Netherlands. That one was recorded professionally by a dozen or so cameras and the videos are being released one by one. After that, I had an mammoth string of music starting with the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, rolling right into my first Jam Cruise and thenContinue Reading

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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