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Congratulations to House of Waters for the nomination of their Rising album for best independent instrumental of the year. Ever since seeing House of Waters at the first GroundUP Music Festival, I was captivated.  After all, how many “power” trios comprised of hammered dulcimer, 6-string bass and drums have you heard?  Their sound and virtuosity are totally unique and incredible.  Max ZT is called the “Jimi Hendrix” of the hammered dulcimer.  Crazily enough, I got to catch two of their shows in one week in July 2019 and then two more in September 2019 when they opened for Snarky Puppy. Continue Reading

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Matthias Bublath’s Eight Cylinder Big Band is a jazz & funk roller coaster and a helluva lot of fun.  Although new to me, the 41-year old pianist, organist and composer has cut a number of albums, but never one of this magnitude, with a 17-piece band, most of which are horns. And I love them horns making this one of my favorite albums of 2020. In addition to the piano and keyboard, Matthias is a specialist on the Hammond B3 organ, able to play bass lines with the left hand and pedals simultaneously, and that shines throughout this album. MatthiasContinue Reading

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Here’s a review of the great retro funk & soul album Bumpin’ On from The Eminent Stars coming November 22nd on Tramp Records. Bumpin’ On is one feel good retro funk and soul album. It brings a lot of old school NOLA funk and Memphis soul together with excellent vocals, thumping horns and all around excellent musicianship. This is a very American sounding album from a Dutch funk band – how great is that? And how did it happen? The Eminent Stars were founded by saxophonist Ben Mendes and drummer Toon Oomen. They both share the love for the greatContinue Reading

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Snarky Puppy released their Grammy-winning album Culcha Vulcha in April 2016 and then spent the better part of two years touring the world in support of that album. During that time, the band recorded approximately 64 of those shows and made them available to fans to purchase and I have listened to most of them. One of the unique aspects of Snarky Puppy is that no two shows are ever the same based on a rotating set list, and the ensemble -nature of the group with an ever changing lineup, plus a frequent surprise “special guest” on any given night.Continue Reading

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Elevate is one of those albums that hits you hard and you instantly like from the first note, first song to the end, on first listen. But then again, if you’re an avid Lettuce fan (like me), you’ve heard nearly all of the songs before as several have been played live by the band for more than two years. For that reason and more, the album is both familiar and fresh. It has a couple of covers including Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and Cold Blood’s “Ready to Live.” The compilation really shows off Lettuce’s rootsContinue Reading

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I recently had the chance to preview Jordan John’s (Jordan John on Facebook) sophomore album “Funk Parade.”  You can catch Funk Parade on Spotify here. Jordan is a solid soul, R&B and funk lead vocal sensation as well as multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto, Canada.  On this album he takes lead and backup vocals and also plays electric guitar, lead guitar, drums, Hammond organ, clavinet, CP80 grand piano, percussion & drum pad strings among other instruments. His main supporting instrumentation is Prakash John on bass who played with Pariliament/Funkadelic as well as John Panchyshyn on sax on select tunes.  John playsContinue Reading

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

Snarky Puppy‘s latest album Immigrance drops on March 15, a full three years after their Culcha Vulcha album which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental. This is an early pre-review of the album which I had a unique opportunity to compile based on hearing each of the 8 tunes on the album + 2 bonus tunes LIVE at the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, FL. That’s right, the band performed the full album + at the festival before the album was released and it was grand. I’m going a little out on a limb here in writing thisContinue Reading

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The White Blinds formed in December 2015 and started started doing a monthly at a small Cuban restaurant called Mambos Cafe in Glendale CA, owned by a friend Michael Duffy, the band’s drummer. According to Duffy, “We started with a slew of covers until we found our sound as a trio. From the monthly we started to play around LA, SF and San Diego, opening for bands like Jungle Fire, Sure Fire Soul Ensemble and Matador Soul Sounds. He continued, “In February of 2018 we walked into Rich Uncle Studios in Venice CA and  recorded “Get To Steppin” all liveContinue Reading

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This review developed from multiple listening sessions with the album as well as a short Q&A session with the Kevin Donohue, guitarist, keys and principal member of SunSquabi. “Instinct is a biological-themed journey of evolution. With the addition of Josh Fairman (bass/synth bass) last year and new levels of compositional prowess and sound design, it is evident that the group is dedicated to forward trajectory and experimentation. Each song’s namesake inspired by a creature or biological element is a reflection of every track taking on a distinct life of its own.” Instinct, the just released album from SunSquabi, is cleverContinue Reading

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While many young ATLiens were at Widespread Panic or Umphrey’s McGee this past Saturday, the best audiophile treat was the sold out show by The Midnight Hour across town at at Aisle 5 which I had the opportunity of seeing and hearing. The Midnight Hour is Black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section and a full orchestra. The album has features from CeeLo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal, Eryn Allen Kane, Karolina, and more. https://linearlabsmusic.com/ Ali Shaheed Muhammad isContinue Reading