By:
On:

New Cool Collective is one of my favorite bands of the last twenty years. Every single album is top notch starting with Soul Jazz Latin in 1997! Now, Everything is OK! is one of my top albums of 2024! NCC from Amsterdam, is one of today’s leaders in Afrobeat music and the name of that debut album set the stage for the evolution of their sound. In 2005, they collaborated with legend Tony Allen (cofounder of Afrobeat with Fela Kuti) on their album Trippin’ and they’ve never looked back. Today, if you consider an Afrobeat spectrum from happy to dark,Continue Reading

By:
On:

Suwannee Hulaween is fantastic annual jam and electronic festival at the beautiful Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL.  It’s held close to the Haloween weekend and this year it was threatened by the Hurricanes which hit the area just three weeks earlier. The organizers, park, local team and volunteers worked tirelessly (well probably very tired) to clean up the part and prepare it for this festival that gets about 20,000 attendees. This recap has to start with a huge amount of gratitude to the team for pulling this off and to the organizers Paul Levine and MichaelContinue Reading

By:
On:

Eliane Elias is one of the most glorious, distinguished jazz vocalists of our lifetimes. She’s complied 32 albums with eleven Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations with two Grammys and two Latin Grammy Award wins to date. Time and Again has been nominated for another Grammy in the Best Latin Jazz Album category to be announced early next year. I’ve been a listener and fan of this wonderful Brazilian artist sing she arrived in New York in the early 1980s. Initially, I was drawn in when Eliane was a member of the cutting edge band Steps Ahead which was formed byContinue Reading

By:
On:

Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival is back in 2025 for its second year at Florida Sands Music Ranch (FSMR) and FunkCity.net will be there to celebrate. I didn’t really know what to expect at the 2024 edition since it was my first time and it turned out to be one of the best events of the year! You get 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 have to missContinue Reading

By:
On:

Big Party is the fifth studio album from the band Forq with the first coming 10 years ago in 2014. Henry Hey, the band’s composer and keyboardist is one of the cofounders along with Michael League (Snarky Puppy). The album is a blast, a mix of fusion, funk, rock, whimsy and electronica all in a delectable recipe. It’s damn near impossible to listen to this album and not have a smile on your face. It’s like you’re at a house party and these great players hash out some deep-groove jams that change directions and feel great. All of the musiciansContinue Reading

By:
On:

Claro e Escuro (Light and Dark) is the first collaboration of Justin Stanton and Chris Bullock together as a duo. Stanton and Bullock are members of the instrumental collaborative, Snarky Puppy and have each released prior solo albums. Both are multiinstrumentalists, with Stanton regularly playing keys and trumpet and Bullock all saxophones and flute as well as synths so this was bound to be an interesting combination. In addition, Stanton relocated to Portugal a few years back and Bullock traveled extensively in Brazil and South America so that flair naturally ended up on the record. Claro e Escuro, was recordedContinue Reading

By:
On:

Can I Tell You Something? is Mark Lettieri’s ninth album as a leader and it’s a fantastic addition to the collection. Many listeners will know Mark as one of the guitarists in  the Grammy-winning band Snarky Puppy or the collaborative funk band The Fearless Flyers. He’s also put out a string of successful albums including Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 1 &  2 (Read our coverage of Vol. 2 here) which leaned heavy on the funk. This album primarily features the touring Mark Lettieri Group including Wes Stephenson on bass (Funky Knuckles), Jason “JT” Thomas on drums (Snarky Puppy, FORQ) andContinue Reading

By:
On:

String Cheese Incident + Umphrey’s McGee Relay Marathon is the headline for Saturday and maybe the entire festival. SCI is up for their traditional three-set Saturday with the third set being the ‘theme’ set which is always spectacular. I’ve been coming to Hula since 2017 and they’ve put on some amazing shows incluidng 70s, 80s, and 90s events and they always have monster sit-ins with special guests that are not elsewhere on the program. Sandwiched between the Cheese sets are two Umphrey’s McGee sets. UM is a jamband powerhouse, and a headliner and many festivals and major venues like RedContinue Reading

By:
On:

Kinga Głyk has put out a truly transcendent album “Real Life.” It’s easy to lose yourself along the complex, multipath journey that is comprised of twelve individually adventurous songs. Kinga is a young Polish-French bassist and composer that was unfamiliar with until very recently. She was scheduled to perform at GroundUP Music Festival but was unable to because of an accident and then I was supposed to see her at North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam but was unable to attend. With Snarky Puppy’s Michael League as my sherpa, I know he’ll always lead me to some of the world’s absolutelyContinue Reading