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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, City Winery, GroundUP Music Festival, Lettuce, Smith's Olde Bar, Suwannee Hulaween, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds, Variety Playhouse, Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival

This year was epic for my live music journey having seen well over 200 sets of music and recorded over 80 live performances. The first half of the year had an incredible run of live shows starting with the recording sessions for Snarky Puppy’s album with the Metropole Orkest, “Somni” in Utrecht, Netherlands. That one was recorded professionally by a dozen or so cameras and the videos are being released one by one. After that, I had an mammoth string of music starting with the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, rolling right into my first Jam Cruise and thenContinue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, Album of the Week, ALBUMS, BLOG POSTS, VENUES

The Polyrhythmics have put out an outstanding album with Life From Below. Each tune is distinctive in its color and theme while still recognizable as a Polyrhythmics song. The group has become a personal favorite over the last few years, based on their dynamic live sets and consistently high-quality studio releases. As usual, there is a prominent role for the stellar horn section and the album is peppered with tight riffs and several spectacular solo sojourns, which I’ll cover in detail. The dazzling guitar-bass-drum of Ben Bloom, Jason Gray, and Grant Schroff alway keep the energy at a high level.Continue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, City Winery, GroundUP Music Festival, Lettuce, Smith's Olde Bar, Suwannee Hulaween, Terminal West, The New Mastersounds, Variety Playhouse, Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival

Here’s my 1st ever annual video recap of 29 live sets that I recorded this year. This is a sampling of the more than 80 videos I posted on YouTube this year, which is a subset of the videos that I recorded (some are not public), which is yet a further subset of the sets that I’ve actually seen or heard this year (since I don’t record every set). The videos are notable in one way or another, perhaps based on the quality of the recording, the circumstances of the recording or the uniqueness of the set. I’ll give aContinue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Lettuce, Snarky Puppy, Terminal West, The Motet, Variety Playhouse, VENUES

Coming off of a great year for FunkCity.net in 2019, this year was starting out looking even better with a bunch of great shows lined up in the Winter and the fantastic festival kicking off in April.  There was no waiting as I rolled up to Greenville on January 2 to see Lettuce and I was off to the races. The first two months were fantastic and then it all came crashing to a halt at the end of February.  I had been anticipating writing this article somewhat in jest as the pandemic drew on, but ultimately realized that inContinue Reading

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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

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In: Aisle 5, BANDS, BLOG POSTS

Funk You, out of Augusta, GA put fort a New Year’s Eve celebration that stacks up with any I’ve been to. With The Brotherhorns from Athens, GA they teamed up to set the night on fire. It was a 3 hour set and we caught 2.5 hours worth not including the 1/2 hour encore. The band is one of the hottest new funk acts around and their New Year’s Eve show at Aisle 5 in Atlanta was definitely the best show for the money to celebrate the evening. The band played an excellent selection of original material from their albumsContinue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Terminal West

It’s that time of year just before the new years runs where we sit back and reflect on the year. This year to keep it interesting I am only going to choose one show per band so that my choices are not so much of only one band or another. 2018 marked one of my most heavy years of seeing live music and it has been a real pleasure looking back and reliving these amazing shows! 1. Spafford Jacksonville, FL 2/3/2018- The show that didn’t get a Nugs.net release. Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time.Continue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, ALBUMS

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

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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Naughty Professor, Snarky Puppy, Terminal West

Special Big Band edition capturing that huge horn driven sound along with some new terrific releases.  This set will keep you movin’ and groovin’ with rapid beats and lotsa horn bleats. We’ll tie together all the loose ends to tell how each song blends. Bokanté & Metropole Orkest – All the Way Home:  This is the fist single off the upcoming album “What Heat”, available in the US on October 5th.  Bokanté, the world music “side” project for Michael League, bassist and leader of Snarky Puppy goes all out on the second album and brings in the Metropole Orkest which of courseContinue Reading

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In: Aisle 5, BLOG POSTS, Terminal West

This is a special New Orleans edition – today we are thrilled to be attending  Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown at Chastain Amphitheater.  It features Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews & Orleans Avenue (of course), Galactic, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and New Orleans legends Cyril Neville and blues guitar master Walter Wolfman Washington.  Also upcoming this week are shows with Cory Wong and Adron. These artists and more are featured in this week’s playlist. Trombone Shorty – Tripped Out Slim: Shorty is a triple threat, trombone (naturally), trumpet, and voice and this tune off his most recent album “Parking Lot Symphony” isContinue Reading