Brooklyn Funk Essentials is a soul/funk/acid jazz collective, featuring Groove Collective's trombonist Joshua Roseman, producer Bob "Sassy" Brockmann, DJ Jazzy Nice, and saxophonist Paul Shapiro. Surprisingly, Cool and Steady and Easy isn't at all schizophrenic in its tone -- it's a cohesive, smooth, and funky collection, standing as a testament to the talents of the musicians involved.
Maceo Parker, best-known for his R&B recordings with and without James Brown, plays strictly jazz on his Novus CD and he is in peak form. Parker's alto sounds close to Hank Crawford at times but with a phrasing of his own. On this well-rounded and consistently memorable release, Parker sticks mostly to funky blues but is also impressive on a boppish version of "The Way You Look Tonight." He splits his time between fronting an organ combo, leading a reunion with fellow Brown alumni trombonist Fred Wesley and tenor-saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, and on two songs he is joined by the enthuisastic Rebirth Brass Band. Parker only takes one vocal so the emphasis throughout is on his soulful alto, making this among his most rewarding jazz recordings.
Alto saxophonist Maceo Parker will forever be known as James Brown's main horn man, and his gritty sax playing with the likes of Bootsy Collins and Prince has made him the dean of funk, a man who helped build the genre from the ground up, starting with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." That new bag is now 40 years old here, and although Parker's solo projects have never gotten the same attention as his side jobs, it is startling to realize that School's In! is his ninth solo album. Parker knows that the groove is the thing, and working the groove to death is his main goal, so being up to date, current, and innovative doesn't concern him very much, which is why School's In! sounds so wonderfully … » Read more
Tracks
1. To Be or Not to Be
2. Basic Funk: 101
3. What You Know About Funk?
4. ABC
5. Song for My Teacher
6. Speed Reading
7. Wonderful World
8. Arts & Cafts
9. Advanced Funk
10. I'm Gonna Teach You
Joachim BeckerExecutive Producer, Producer
Oliver BernerVocal Engineer
Kip BlackshireVocals (Background)
Greg BoyerHorn Arrangements, Trombone
Rodney CurtisBass
Candy DulferGuest Appearance, Sax (Alto), Vocals
Erich FrançoisPhotography
Klaus GenuitEngineer, Mixing
Morris HayesArranger, Keyboards, Organ (Hammond), Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Producer
A scorching album of funky grooves from Maceo Parker, assisted by the rest of the JB's on backing horns. The album was recorded in concert at a club called Stadtgarten in Cologne, Germany, and the crowd seems just as responsive in most ways as any Atlanta mob. Along with the JB horns, Vincent Henry accompanies on bass throughout the album/concert. The album starts out with an original Maceo composition, then moves into a pair from his old boss James Brown. After that, there's another Maceo number, a cover of "Addictive Love," a rendition of "Georgia on My Mind," and a composition undertaken by a veritable army of funk veterans. This is probably just about the best solo Maceo Parker album there is, at least until the release of Funkoverload. If you're a funk fan, or a soul-jazz fan, this album might just provide what you need. Maceo on his own always provides a nice collection of soul and funk, and this one is no exception.
Tracks
1. Shake Everything You've GotParker
2. Pass the Peas
3. I Got You (I Feel Good)
4. Got to Get UParker
5. Addictive Love
6. Children's World
7. Georgia on My Mind
8. Soul Power 92
Hoagy CarmichaelComposer
Kenwood DennardDrums
Candy DulferGuest Appearance, Sax (Alto)
Pee Wee EllisFlute, Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Larry GoldingsOrgan, Organ (Hammond)
Stuart GorrellComposer
Vincent HenryBass, Guest Appearance, Guitar (Bass), Sax (Alto)
Undoubtedly one of the best known sax players in the history of funk, predominantly through his work with James Brown ("Play, Maceo!"), Maceo Parker has had a spotty recorded solo career. His eighth album as a band leader finds the horn honker expanding his palette by aiming his instrument at smooth jazz and rap, while inviting fans Ani DiFranco, James Taylor (?!), and Prince to add superstar spice to his soul stew. Although it's refreshing that these folks wanted to lend a hand, none of their contributions help define the album, and, in Prince's case, even waters it down. Certainly Parker doesn't need any assistance as smoking versions of the Isley Brothers' "Work to Do," the album's opening stuttering funk salvo of the self-composed "Rabbits in the Pea … » Read more
Tracks
1Dial M-A-C-E-O
2Rabbits in the Pea Patch
3Coin Toss
4My Baby Love You
5The Greatest Romance Ever Sold
6Black Window
7I've Got Work to Do
8Simply Tooley
9Latin LikeParker
11My LoveMcCartney, McCart
10The Closer I Get to You
12Homeboy
Joachim BeckerExecutive Producer
M. BiancoLayout Design
Michael BlandDrums
Will BoulwareOrgan (Hammond), Strings, Synthesizer
Andy Narrel & Relator - University of Calypso (Usa-Trinidad, 2009)
It almost seems required in many cases, that jazz artists incorporate other styles into their music, whether it is blues, R&B, pop, classical or Latin. Half a century ago, jazz and calypso were fused together for the first time, and now Andy Narell and modern-day calypso legend Relator revisit that relationship with University of Calypso.
Narell is perhaps the world's foremost steel pan artist, making a career of working this instrument into the realm of jazz. His studio and stage associations include a diverse range of artists, including Dave Samuels and the Caribbean Jazz Project, Spyro Gyra, Michael Brecker and Hugh Masekela. Guitarist/vocalist Relator, born as Willard Harris, is one of Trinidad's best known calypso artists.
"Gavaskar" opens the set. This festive piece features a delightful, storytelling lyric sung by Relator, with Narell's subtle underscore. The steel pan master also solos. The rest of the band is engaging, but except for Dario Eskenazi's piano solo, no member stands out.
"Food Prices" is the blues set to calypso. Rather than lamenting the loss of a job or a bad relationship turned worse, Relator chants about the high cost of groceries. In places, he quotes comments he's actually heard in supermarkets. And he does it all while the band marches along. Of particular note is how drummer Mark Walker and percussionist Pedro Martinez stand out in their roles. Narell leads during the instrumental breaks and also in the middle of the song.
Paquito D'Rivera adds clarinet to "Pan in Harmony," an instruments-only track. He and Narell trade leads early before blending into a dialogue in which the two also enjoy extended solos.
Narell, Relator and their supporting cast revisit some classic calypso songs, particularly those created by Aldwyn Roberts—also known as Kitchener—as well as some Relator originals. The result is 15 songs that are amusing, sometimes humorous and always fun.
01. Gavaskar02. Love in the Cemetery03. Food Prices04. Pan in Harmony05. Eating Competition06. Steel Band Musi07. My Pussin08. Sugar for Pan09. Hold Onto Your Man10. Peddlars11. Bottle and Spoon12. Take Yuh Meat Out Meh Rice13. Pan on Sesame Street14. Ugly Woman15. My Brother Your Sister.
"Multicultural" is a word that musicians tossed around a lot in the 1990s, but claiming to have a multicultural outlook and actually showing that you have one are two different things. With The Long Time Band, Andy Narell provides an example of honest-to-God multiculturalism. Think about it: you've got a Jewish-American musician who is using an Afro-Caribbean instrument from Trinidad (the steel pan) to play a style of music that came out of the African-American community (jazz). But, as The Long Time Band demonstrates, jazz is hardly the only form of music that interests Narell. Though this is essentially a jazz CD, it's a jazz CD that contains elements of other African-American forms (funk, R&B, and blues) and also draws on everything from Afro-Cuban salsa and Afro-Caribbean calypso to African pop. Narell doesn't play "in the tradition" on this album. Rather, The Long Time Band is an example of a jazzman being fascinated with a variety of cultures and using that fascination to his creative advantage. The Long Time Band is multiculturalism in the finest sense of the word. — Alex Henderson
Vital Information - Where We Come From (USA, 1998)
Modern electric jazz and the funky soul of the '60s fuse into a rollicking trip down memory lane on WHERE WE COME FROM. Vital Information, the long- lived pet project of leader and world-renown drummer Steve Smith, make a distinctive change from their usual format of hard-edged fusion on this, their eighth album. The emphasis here is on the soulful instrumental grooves of their youth, the music that originally enticed these world-class musicians to take up their instruments in the first place.
From the influence of Jimmy Smith, the Meters and Tony Williams' Lifetime, Smith and company serve up a spicy gumbo of groovy tunes and have a grand old time in the process. The unrestrained casualness of this disc is contagious as Smith jauntily drives his bandmates through the slippery funk of "Dr. Demento" and the James Brown-ish "Listen Up." The spirit of the bayou is evoked on the zydeco grooves of "Swamp Stomp" and "Sitting Ducks." The jazz element has never been lost, though, as a swinging version of Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick," the Brubeck-influenced "Take Eight," and Ornette Coleman's "Happy House" clearly illustrate. Finally, even the Ventures' effect is felt in the classic surf music styling of "008."
