By:
On:
In: ALBUMS, BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Lettuce, The New Mastersounds

What do you get when three top notch musicians join forces to lock in with each other’s moods and moves – you get The Hit from WRD Trio!  I’ve been a long time fan of the respective bands of these three talents – Robert Walter of The Greyboy Allstars and Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds and Matador! Soul Sounds, and Adam Deitch of Lettuce and Break Science. Hell, those bands would make a great lineup for a weekend festival.  So when I heard about this album, I knew I would dig it and indeed it’sContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: Aisle 5, BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Lettuce, Lotus, Snarky Puppy, Terminal West, The Budos Band, The New Mastersounds, Variety Playhouse, VENUES, Voodoo Visionary

For FunkCity.net, 2019 was a remarkable year that is recapped here.  I apologize in advance for the self-serving nature but it was definitely a year like no other in my experience based on a combination of personal music achievements and fantastic music events.  It was a huge year for four of my favorite groups, Snarky Puppy, Lettuce, The New Mastersounds and The Budos Band! Here’s the nineteen top happenings in 2019 – Snarky Puppy 17 Compilation: The year started with my proudest musical moment – Snarky Puppy came out with a limited edition, 4-vinyl recap of their 2017 world tour. Continue Reading

By:
On:
In: BANDS, BLOG POSTS, The Motet, The New Mastersounds

Color Red Music is a Denver-based label started by Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds. The label produces all original music and includes the upcoming NMS album in September, Matador! Soul Sounds, Analog Son and new bands and combinations of artists. Some of the recent highlights are Freekbass featuring Sammi Garett from Turkuaz, Joe Tatton Trio, several combos with members of The Motet, NMS and other world class players. To get people acquainted and their juices flowing, they compiled this great Spotify playlist and it’s top notch end to end. Have a listen and your ears will thank you!Continue Reading

By:
On:
In: BANDS, BLOG POSTS, Lettuce, The New Mastersounds, Voodoo Visionary

Just had the most spectacular festival experience and will be writing some expanded coverage over the next couple of weeks but wanted to dash off a note to express thanks to all those involved and just touch on some of the highlights! First, hats off to Paul Levine and his crew for pulling off a monstrous feat in just two months time. The festival appeared to go off without the slightest hitch – who knows how much effort it took and what might have happened behind the scenes. The SOSMP crew was top notch hospitable as always. OMFG the musiciansContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy, The New Mastersounds

This is a new FunkCity.net feature where we’ll compile and feature a new Spotify playlist every week comprised of some of our favorite new and old songs and artists and a brief description of the tune and its significance. La Fonda – Lagoons:  Lagoons is a local Atlanta band that held its album release party for “Between the Middle” at Aisle 5 on Friday, July 27th.  I had the chance to listen to the album on the way down to the show and then hear much of it live.  The band slayed the crowd with its high energy and wonderfulContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds

Recently, our good friends at Inside Out with Turner & Seth did an excellent job on an insightful and delightful interview with Eddie Roberts, one of the leaders of Matador! Soul Sounds (and co founder of The New Mastersounds).  They covered the origins and progress of the band, some history of NMS, Eddie Roberts’ influences and even the terrific Nick Etwell band The Filthy Six.  Listen to this episode of the podcast below. https://simplecast.com/s/07d10fbf Matador! Soul Sounds is Eddie Roberts new band outside of The New Mastersounds.  FunkCity.net had the good fortune to see one of the very first shows ofContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: ALBUMS, BLOG POSTS, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds

I like everything about this album – from the title Renewable Energy, to the cover art, to the track titles, to the personnel, to the multiple styles of music presented by the tunes, the broad span of skills that New Mastersounds show, and the span of time I hear from end to end.  It’s like the talented foursome from Leeds, England brought the full range of their collective experience together in one disc.  It’s got stuff from the nearly 50 year old Funk 49 cover (featuring Eddie Roberts on lead vox) to the super 21st century Stash that sounds likeContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS, The New Mastersounds

Always great to see full set vids of the boys from Leeds.  No one does retro funk like The New Mastersouunds.  A nice way to start off the work week.Continue Reading

By:
On:
In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds, Variety Playhouse

Since there’s currently no funk category in the Grammys, it’s time to step up with the ‘Funkys’ – FunkCity’s annual awards for funk in and out of Atlanta. Funkiest Album – Snarky Puppy Culcha Vulcha Culcha Vulcha is a continuation in the evolution of Snarky Puppy and a killer album from end to end. Tarova, opens with a drum role and Big Ugly ends with a crescendo.  Not to mention the bonus track Jefe which doesn’t appear on the physical CD.  The pups meld multiple musical styles, as usual, ranging from South American melodies on Semente to down tempo grooves likeContinue Reading

By:
On:
In: BLOG POSTS, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds

The New Mastersounds are one of my perennial favorites both live and recorded and this year’s The Nashville Session brings the best of both together.  It’s a fresh spin on some old (and new) tunes and that is one that defines their sound which I call retro funk.  The Nashville Session last year and was released on vinyl only in April and then digitally in October 2016. The album was recorded live in studio and mixed down to quarter-inch stereo tape and then cut direct to vinyl lacquers with no overdubs (Jambase). The album is a compilation of 9 retakes onContinue Reading