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Nick Gerlach is an accomplished tenor saxophonist who as recently been features on albums from some of my favorite bands includng Lotus and Sunsquabi. Concrete Lullaby is his first solo release since the disbanding of his band Cosby Sweater in 2016. For this session he brought in Neal “Fro” Evans (Dopapod) and Tommy Shugart (Roosevelt Collier, The Groove Orient). In Nick’s words, “The instrumental album is a three-song journey that includes a dystopian allegory, a compelling cover of “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden, and a funk track inspired by 80s horrors soundtracks and organ trio funk.  Have a listen andContinue Reading

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Tatiana Eva-Marie is the newest artist on the GroundUP Music roster and she brings one of the oldest music styles, manouche jazz or hot club music, to the label. It is one of the only music genres, jazz or otherwise, that is nearly universally attributed to one person, namely Django Reinhardt, a Romani born, French guitarist. He and his group, Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring Stephane Grapelli on violin, were the delight of pre-WWII Paris.  Hot club music featured primarily string instruments, guitar, violin, bass and no percussion other than rhythm guitar and was a predecessor of swing.Continue Reading

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I’m a huge fan of the band Lawrence, but probably not a typical one in that I’m closer to their parents age than them. But, that gives me a different perspective and  insight on their music. The band is fronted by brother and sister, Clyde and Gracie Lawrence from New York and is hard to genre-fy, other than to say they are great singers, performers, lyricists and musicians. Their songs lean towards kitschy-pop with a strong portion of funk and soul. In that way, they’re probably most similar to Vulfpeck. A lot of their lyrics deal with maturing and youngContinue Reading

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Introducing: The Rare Sounds is the debut album of a new supergroup formed by Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds and Robert Walter, Zak Najor, and Chris Stillwell of The Greyboy Allstars. While it’s the first album release from this crew, they’re far from strangers, having met back in 1996 on GBA’s first trip to the UK when Eddie and his predecessor band opened for them. Since then, their paths have criss-crossed many times including the WRD Trio (Walter, Roberts and Adam Deitch from Lettuce) album The Hit in 2021. Unsurprisingly, this album melds the boogaloo sound of GBA andContinue Reading

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Each album release from Kamasi Washington is cause for celebration in my book. Ever since his first triple CD album ‘The Epic’ (what a name for a debut!), his music evokes a tremendous sense of awe, with a spiritual, mystical and ethereal quality. ‘Fearless Movement’ is more down to earth according to the press notes, due to Kamasi’s change in perspective based on the birth of his daughter, Asha. Nevertheless, it’s still epic (yes, I did that) and a majestic collection of tunes that add to the fantastic legacy of this still-young, legendary composer and saxophonist. As usual for Kamasi,Continue Reading

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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 a great mixture conjuring up various artists of the past but adding melodic twists and turns for an enjoyable scenic journey. The tightness of the quintet format allows the horns and piano to tell the story while the drums and bass rev the engine. I know that readers and followers ofContinue Reading

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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 always evolving. Over the years they’ve had songs and albums with vocalists such as Corinne Bailey Rae and Lamar Williams, Jr.  They’ve also had many tunes supplemented with horns for added oomph. But there’s nothing quite like the core four on the floor of Eddie Roberts on guitar, Pete Shand onContinue Reading

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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.  In a year when there were many stellar releases, Stings stands out for its depth and breadth of scenic imagery. Each song is part of a colorful tapestry, conjuring up calming feelings at one turn (The Last Symphony, Little River) to adrenaline pumping energy at another (Stings, Dogtown).  Kamaal, born HenryContinue Reading

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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. On the recent Empire Central album, he penned one of the funkiest tunes called East Bay. On Chris’ prior solo release, Boomtown, he relied heavily on keys and electronic jams for a very modern musical journey. Now, with the release of his latest album, he takes it back to some straightContinue Reading

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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, UK so it’s a close connection. At about that time I also became a fan of The Haggis Horns of whom, CBR’s deceased husband Jason Rae was a founding member. So, when Corinne’s eponymous debut album came out in 2006, I was already hooked. Then she hit the airwaves with ‘LikeContinue Reading