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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 that will soothe your soul. It’s incredible to have a trio create such a richness in sound. Max can make his instrument sound like a harp or piano among other instruments and naturally as a dulcimer. Moto’s two-handed playing on the bass gives him astonishing range as well. And Antonio, newContinue Reading

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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 moments and great production values. Did I mention the band, Organ Fairchild has only been around since 2020 and is a breakout band in Buffalo, NY? Well, get ready to be bowled over by this terrific trio. They mix their style from track to track but keep it interesting throughout. ThisContinue Reading

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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. In his own words, RE-POTTED arose and “began production shortly after relocating to NYC from North Carolina, just months before the pandemic, and this conceptual album explores what it means to ‘uproot & replant’ into a more expansive yet more challenging environment.” In addition to the young lions Maison Guidry onContinue Reading

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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 “I get called a lot to play on different albums because I play whatever is needed for that particular session.” Marcinek definitely has a flair and imprints his sound on this album of all originals playing with Melvin Seals (Dead) and George Porter (Funk) in a slick grouping that shows theContinue Reading

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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 and the set gets increasingly more wild right up to the end. The band started on the Daptone label and originally fell pretty squarely in the afrobeat category but even early on they had a dark, edgy sound as reflected in their first three album covers of a volcano, scorpion andContinue Reading

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Over the last five years or so, when I hear Seattle Funk my ears perk up. There’s been so much great stuff coming out including Polyrhythmics, The True Loves, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, The Dip, and now add The Oscillators to the list. As a recording collaborative, the instrumentation on each tune varies and so each is fresh and carves a differnt path. There’s everything from psychdelia, to jazz, NOLA jazz, fusion and plenty of funk, Olli Klomp makes this engine run on time with up to three layers of drums on a track. It’s innovative and relatable at theContinue Reading

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BT ALC Big Band hit my radar a few years about three years ago with the release of their single ‘The Iguana,’ now included on this new album Hearing the Truth. It served as a signal of great tunes on the horizon and now the album totally lives up to the hype. The New England based bandwith a 13-piece horn section delivers a fast-paced, power-packed, funk feast in a 9-track package. On top of that, there’s special guest sit-ins from Adam Deitch, Eric Benny Bloom and Nigel Hall of Lettuce, Eric Krasno, John Medeski, Karl Denson, G Love and TheContinue Reading

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Yayennings Vol. 2 is a terrific album of conversations and chemistry.  Jay Jennings (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Bob Reynolds (tenor sax) are chatting and trading riffs constantly throughout each song. They flow in and out of unison alternating leads at breakneck speeds and relink back in sync. It’s incredible how fluid they are together and with Jose Perez on drums and and Ross Schodek on bass laying down the grooves end-to-end. I first got hip to this quartet at GroundUP Music Festival (GUMF) 2018 late night set (click for video) and taken in by an all drum brushes set from JoseContinue Reading

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The Funk Sessions is the first of 2 albums recorded at the legendary Abbey Roads Studios in London. Both albums were played live by the band in the famous Studio 3. Universal Music commissioned both albums for their Abbey Road Masters label and released The Funk Sessions on all digital platforms. This LP features the classic heavy raw funk that Speedometer has consistently delivered over the last 20 years. The second LP (The Soul Sessions) will be released in July and like the funk lp, was recorded live and features guest vocalists including Angelo Starr (younger brother to Edwin Starr). Continue Reading

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Malcolm Strachan, the trumpeter for The Haggis Horns, released his second “solo” album this year, Point of No Return.  Although it’s a solo album, the core band on “Point Of No Return” are musicians that Malcolm has known and worked with for over two decades, often in The Haggis Horns, and most appeared on the debut album. Newcomers this time are longtime Haggis Horns guest percussionist Sam Bell plus special guest vocalist UK jazz singer Jo Harrop, who adds non-verbal Flora Purim style vocals on tracks one and three. I covered hisdebut album About Time back in 2020 so IContinue Reading