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Organ trios have been a mainstay of the jazz-funk-fusion stable since the 60s. In recent years, there’s been a surge in popularity of the format, as the B3 can emulate a broad range of sounds and the small format enables each of the musicians to stretch out in a big way. Deitch, Teitel Fribush (DTF) is a powerhouse within that realm, and the newly released  “Another Side of the Sound” brings fresh ideas while maintaining ligature to tradition. As described in the liner notes, the album was recorded directly to a Tascam 388 tape machine to give it that old-school feel.Continue Reading

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Budos Band carved out a unique genre for themselves as masters of cinematic, occult, mystical, edgy, foreboding music. This album, VII (most of their albums are simply titled sequentially), is their latest offering of deep, dark metal funk, and it’s a frightfully fun listen. The band started about 20 years ago in Staten Island, NY, with their first three heavy on Afrobeat and Afro-soul in the mold of Fela Kuti and the JBs. That meant a great rhythm section, heavy on percussion and terrific horns. Even in that era, which included the albums I (2005), II (2007), III (2010), andContinue Reading

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I’ve been a Galactic fan for more than 20 years, listened to every album they’ve put out, and seen them live about 20 times through several configurations. They’ve changed from emphasizing vocals to instrumentals and back and play a wide range of music, from heart-pumping funk to jazz and blues and gospel. And I like it all, but I’ve gotta say “Audience with the Queen” is a new favorite album. In the “Behind the Scenes,” videos,  they tell Irma that she’s going to sound young on the record and much to her amazement, she does, and I can absolutely confirmContinue Reading

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We’re just seven weeks away from the inaugural edition of GroundUP Music Festival Alberobello (GUMF-A), which is sure to be an incredibly memorable musical and cultural event. GUMF-A follows in the mode of the well-established, perennially exciting GroundUP Music Festival Miami Beach that has taken place nine times since the inaugural 2017 edition. “Each night, it will see a set from 5-time Grammy Award-winning Snarky Puppy with special guest appearances by some of Italy’s most innovative and expressive instrumentalists,” according to the festival website. This is a recasting of the preview article to now include the daily lineups! There willContinue Reading

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The Psycodelics are one of my favorite new bands of the last several years and they just released their fantastic debut album, “Please Keep Off the Grass.” They bill themselves as modern Black American music and they’re all of that — funk, soul, R&B and jazz all rolled into one beautiful package. They have a sound all their own while also echoing the greats from the past like Sly and the Family Stone, Al Green, and Earth Wind and Fire. I first caught The Psycodelics live last year at a local venue and was immediately a fan. On Jam CruiseContinue Reading

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Apple Cores from James Brandon Lewis is one of my favorite jazz saxophone albums of the last few years. It hits with a natural, primal feeling – at times fully relaxing and others full-throttle stimulation. The first and only time I’ve seen JBL live was at Newport Jazz Festival 2024 with The Messthetics and I found that set totally electrifying. So, when Apple Cores was released, I was keen to give a listen. The album definitely should be heard start-to-finish as it’s well organized and runs a course through a range of feelings. It’s a trio album with James onContinue Reading

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We’re just two months away from the inaugural edition of GroundUP Music Festival Alberobello (GUMF-A), which is sure to be an incredibly memorable musical and cultural event. GUMF-A follows in the mode of the well-established, perennially exciting GroundUP Music Festival Miami Beach that has taken place nine times since the inaugural 2017 edition. “Each night, it will see a set from 5-time Grammy Award-winning Snarky Puppy with special guest appearances by some of Italy’s most innovative and expressive instrumentalists,” according to the festival website. I’ll plan to elaborate a bit more once the daily schedule is released. https://videos.files.wordpress.com/zwmrwFK4/bass_culture_groundup_eng_feed.mp4 On topContinue Reading

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Resonate Suwannee is coming up May 15th-17th on the hallowed festival grounds of Spirit of Suwannee Music Park.  Once again, it’s a STS9 headlining event combining jamtronica, EDM, funk, reggae and aftro-cuban vibes into one amazing lineup. It’s a great vibe with minimal, if any, music overlap on the stages so you get to see as many of the acts as you want with plenty of time to chill as well. As usual, FunkCity.net, will be there soaking it in, predominantly at the live band stages. Here’s the rundown of where I expect to be at any given moment ofContinue Reading

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The recording sessions for “Somni” the new album from Snarky Puppy with the Metropole Orkest was the time of a lifetime. I was fortunate to be able to attend all 6 recording sessions, 2 per night for 3 nights, and it was an experience beyond my wildest dreams. And yes, ‘Somni’  from Catalan translates to ‘Dream’  in English so totally appropriate. First, some background before jumping into the actual recording session experience. So Snarky Puppy is 20 years old in 2025 (first album recorded in 2005 and published in 2006). Starting with their fourth album, “Tell Your Friends” in 2010,Continue Reading