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Every Greyboy Allstars album release is a time to celebrate and I’m loving listening to all the gifts in Grab Bag: 2007 – 2023. It’s an eclectic mix of songs that the band had played life but never recorded over the last several years. In that sense, and because of the warmth and style of the album, it feels gorgeously familiar. It’s a testament to the collective experience of the group as bandmates and as craftsmen with other artists. The five fit together seamlessly and they weave in and out of the tunes with adroitness.  This absolutely hits the sweetContinue Reading

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In: Album of the Week, ALBUMS, Amp Jam, BLOG POSTS, FESTIVALS

Electric Kif is one of the leading funk fusion foursomes of the early 21st century and, I believe, have the gravitas to be among those bands that are listened to for decades, as their predecessors, Weather Report and Return to Forever have been. That’s a lofty statement, for sure, but the textures and contours of their tunes merit such praise and ReThink is a marvelous addition to their portfolio as the sixth studio album.   Buy or Stream ReThink(click on image) The band has been around for nearly 15 years and in the current configuration for more than 10.  They’veContinue Reading

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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

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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

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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

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In: Album of the Week, BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy

Snarky Puppy is my favorite band and for me the most innovative and unique sounding over the last 25 years.  I got hip to them ‘late’, back in 2013 when they were already barnstorming around the U.S.  I had a chance to see them at Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival back in 2010, but somehow didn’t make it.  But back on September 12, 2013, I got pulled hard into the Snarky Puppy vortex at a show at Terminal West in Atlanta. After I left that show not quite sure what I had just witnessed and became fully ‘puppified,’ IContinue Reading

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This show took place at the beautiful Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan. This particular room is very lively and more suited towards hosting acoustic and orchestral performances; however, this mix sounds great, and the band is still as high energy as ever. This show features mostly new music and lots of these versions sound quite different from the album versions. Something I thought was cool and didn’t notice until writing this, was that every song was grouped together alphabetically! I wonder if this was intentional. Track-By-Track Even Us – McQueen starts this one off like usual with aContinue Reading

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Sixteen years ago – at the time of the Immigrance tour in 2019 – Michael League and his friends founded Snarky Puppy at the University of North Texas.  On October 5, 2019, the Pups ended the final North American leg of the Immigrance tour at the Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas, so it all came full circle.  For this show, longtime SP stalwarts Mark Lettieri and Shaun Martin sat in with the band.  And if that wasn’t enough, Jason “JT” Thomas and Robert “Sput” Searight hopped onstage to play with Jamison Ross & Keita Ogawa on “Tio Macaco.”  JT isContinue Reading

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Snarky Puppy always gets a positive reception in Florida, and this audience at the Plaza in Orlando is truly dynamite! Maybe it’s the scores of musicians and music lovers based in Florida…or maybe it’s the fact that Bob Reynolds and Jamison Ross are both from Jacksonville.  Who knows? This show also has TWO special guest musicians that are polar opposites, but amazingly gifted in their own ways.  Every single band member kills it in this show, but one of my favorite solos of the night belongs to one of the guest musicians.  Read on to find out more! House ofContinue Reading

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While this Snarky Puppy concert clocks in at under 90 minutes, the quality of the band’s performance is exceptional.  This was the band’s first time in Charleston, and they were ready to deliver a killer show at the Music Farm.  This was also Jamison Ross’s first night as the touring drummer since May…with the exception of the Tokyo Jazz Festival in early September! Having Bob Reynolds on tenor saxophone really boosts the horn section, and the percussive duo of Keita Ogawa & Jamison Ross is second to none.  As usual, Michael League does a stellar job of holding everything together. Continue Reading