The Jazz Defenders have recently become a personal favorite. They truly ‘defend’ the art of jazz pumping out fresh sounds with deep roots. This is just their third album and their previous one ‘King Phoenix’ was one of my top albums of 2022 (review here). ‘Memory in Motion’ is aContinue Reading
The New Mastersounds (NMS) have been consistently pumping out great music and super groovy vibes for 25 years and their latest release “Old School” is a testament to their legacy. NMS are an all-time favorite of mine — their retro-soul-funk in the tradition of The Meters is timeless but alwaysContinue Reading
Stings, the third studio album from Kamaal Williams is a masterpiece and FunkCity.net’s 2023 Album of the Year. This large compendium stretches across 13 tunes and almost as many genres, from hip-hop to acid jazz to neo-classical. The diversity of the vibes keeps it interesting from start to finish. InContinue Reading
Chris Bullock is perhaps best known as the sax player for Snarky Puppy, the 5-time Grammy-winning funk-world-jazz fusion band. Chris leans most heavily on tenor sax with the band but also hits flute regularly and occasionally on soprano sax and bass clarinet. His solos are always adventurous and powerful. OnContinue Reading
Corinne Bailey Rae (CBR) is one of my all-time favorite vocalists and I’ve been a fan for just about 20 years, ever since I first heard her sing ‘Your Love Is Mine” with The New Mastersounds (NMS) back in 2003 on their ‘Be Yourself’ album. They’re all from Leeds, UKContinue Reading
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 thatContinue Reading
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 momentsContinue Reading
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. InContinue Reading
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 “IContinue Reading
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 andContinue Reading