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In: ALBUMS, BLOG POSTS, City Winery

Soul Side of Town is a retro funk, instant classic.  Tower of Power‘s newest album is a beautiful addition to the group’s legacy.  While it doesn’t break new sonic ground,  ToP have always been ahead of their time and have had a great influence on many young funk bands of today such as Lettuce and Snarky Puppy.  Soul Side of Town hits all the right notes and covers a broad space.  In fact, it’s the group’s first #1 Billboard album in 50 years! The album is quite polished and has elements that draw upon the full group discography, for exampleContinue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, Terminal West

The New Mastersounds electrified the crowd at Terminal West Atlanta last night delivering a full range of their repertoire.  These cats are some of the best musicians in the world and tight as a fist when it comes to delivering the retro funk.  They tantalized us starting with Tantalus and didn’t let up right through the encore finale Funk 49 – One Note Brown.  Truly one of the most memorable nights of music this year from a wonderful team.  Here’s some video of the first hour of the set. Have a look at the setlist some show shots and a realContinue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, Variety Playhouse

Tank and the Bangas hit the Variety Playhouse on 5-18-18 in Atlanta and the witnesses will never be he same.  Hit is the operative word because this act kills it on every level.  First and foremost, the music is great – Tank is one of the most energetic, personable performers you’ll see anywhere.  She ranges from rap, hip hop, and soul to beautiful poetic ballads.  Her connection with the Bangas and the audience is real and can be felt throughout the show.  Each Banga member is extremely talented and their show is a nonstop whirlwind of frenetic energy. The crowdContinue Reading

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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

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In: BLOG POSTS, Variety Playhouse

Atlanta just can’t get enough of Arizona’s Spafford these days. Just 3 months ago during their red-hot “For Amusement Only” tour Spafford sold out the 600 capacity venue Terminal West in a matter of minutes. Then Spafford turns around and sells out Variety Playhouse, a 1,100 person venue, in a matter of seconds for an afterparty for Atlanta’s Sweetwater 420 Fest. By the time 4/20 had come tickets could be found at a resale value of close to $100 and sometimes more. Needless to say expectations and a need to see the young band continues to soar and man didContinue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, Snarky Puppy, Variety Playhouse

Snarky Puppy’s second night at the Variety Playhouse was stellar, as usual.  The enthusiastic crowd was treated to a special Ready Wednesday encore featuring a couple of special tricks.  First, Bill Laurance, who penned the tune, opened it up with a dark, gothy Shofukan intro leading into the tune.  Then, at about the seven minute point, Mark Lettieri crushes an extended bluesy, psychedelic guitar solo. Third and unbeknownst to much of the crowd Robert “Sput” Searight was on the drum.  The tune closes out with Bill’s beautiful outro which is also featured on his solo album “Live at Union Chapel”Continue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, Naughty Professor, Variety Playhouse

Naughty Professor lit up the crowd, as usual, in Atlanta opening on New Years Eve for TAUK.  The headliner also featured the Naughty Horns.  Here’s a 40 minute segment from the show: Partial set video from setlist below (*not recorded): Without a Trace* As They Say In The Biz Prune Juice* Knockwurst “Fiends”* Three Wise Men* Chef’s Revenge Psycho Switch ix Paper Joint Naughty Professor are: Ian Bowman – tenor saxophone John Culbreth – trumpet Bill Daniel – guitar Nick Ellman – alto and baritone saxophones Sam Shahin – drumsContinue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, Terminal West

Turkuaz, Brooklyn’s own airtight, super funky band hit Terminal West on Thursday night December 7.  When the original opening band cancelled earlier in the day, Turkuaz stepped up to assure the fans a good time by heating up the crowd for two rock solid sets. The beauty of this band is that they deliver on all fronts, great tunes of deep funk and full show of choreographed singing and dancing thanks to both the girls, Sammi and Shira as well as the boys in the horn section! The group is polished front to back and right there with the leading funkContinue Reading

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In: BLOG POSTS, The Motet, Variety Playhouse

Mopapod? Dopatet?  The double bill of Dopapod + The Motet at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on 11/18 promised to be a funk extravaganza as it was the last of the pairing of these two bands on the tour.  The pumped up crowd was stoked from Dopapod’s opening (Dopapod opening tune on YouTube) right to the superjam at the end (The Motet + Dopapod, This is How We Do It on YouTube). Dopapod  recently released their fifth studio album, Megagem and has been on tour with The Motet for a few weeks.  After a New Year’s Eve show in Boston, the groupContinue Reading