May 9, 2011
by Halvor Johannes Lie
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
This is a Finnish group which most eloquently mixes Afro-beat, jazz and funk. Mostly the basic rhythm is Afrobeat, but what the musicians do on top of this leans more towards funk and jazz than Fela Kuti’s classical work. There are also some rhythms that resemble other African dialects, Caribbean ones like souk for instance and some more straight ahead soul rhythms (the song Bushman sounds mysteriously like Donny Hathaway’s The Ghetto).
Read more...
Tagged with afrobeat, funk, jazz, joe bagale, rhythm funk masters, soul.
November 15, 2010
by Halvor Johannes Lie
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
Overall the KP EP’s production sounds organic and modern, very much like Prince’s latest albums. Some of the songs sounded very pop for me at first listening, but as I listened closer interesting variations in the arrangements sipped through and the whole thing grew on me. There’s a good live-feel to this EP, a lot of variations in rhythms, though always funky, within the the musical genres of boogie-disco, nu-soul, pop and r&b.
Read more...
Tagged with disco, jazz mafia, joe bagale, karyn paige, pop, r&b, soul.
October 22, 2010
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
The eternal curse of the sideman, always in the background, never in the spotlight. Where would James Brown (R.I.P.) be without the JB Horns? During his prime, they featured such stellar performers as Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis to name a few, and unknown to many, they were the ones who wrote and arranged almost all of his hit-songs. The same story is true for countless others and their often anonymous but essential hired hands. Well, The Haggis Horns decided; No more, we deserve to show what we got on our own!
Read more...
Tagged with afrobeat, funk, jazz, soul, the haggis horns.
September 14, 2010
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Records, Releases, Reviews.
North Scientifik, a three man group hailing from Portland, Oregon, keeps the spirit of old school hip-hop alive on their debut album “Building”, freely inspired by their musical origins ranging from jazz to funk and fellow contemporaries like Pete Rock, The Beatnuts, early Common and others, while still bringing something fresh and new to the table.
Read more...
Tagged with hip-hop, north scientifik.
February 26, 2010
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
If you have read some of the previous reviews or other posts on this site written by me, you might have noticed that a majority of it is focused on relatively new artists and music, and that is no coincidence. I truly love funk, soul and jazz music from the 60′s and onward (even earlier with jazz), but one of the reasons I have for contributing to this site is to help spread the word about all the bands and musicians that keeps the music alive and fresh today by creating original material, and Nils Landgren together with his Funk Unit does just that, and they do it well!
Read more...
Tagged with funk, jazz, nils landgren, soul.
November 9, 2009
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
Hidden behind the unknown band name is what can best be described as the disco bastard child of the German old school funk maestros The Poets of Rhythm, a simple fact that should speak volumes about the quality of the music. This is disco in the good and “classical” sense, not the diluted kind that has more or less attached itself to the genre over the past 20 years or so. Ironically, there are a couple of house tracks included here that honestly sound out of place when compared to the rest of the material.
Read more...
Tagged with disco, funk, house, poets of rhythm, syrup.
October 26, 2009
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
This man needs no introduction, his creative legacy speaks for itself, and it puts him in the company of the select few who have changed popular music forever either directly or indirectly, or in his case, both. What is perhaps not so well known is the body of work he created as a jazz arranger, conductor, producer and performer in the 50′s and 60′s, which is what this excellent compilation album is all about.
Read more...
Tagged with easy listening, jazz, latin, quincy jones.
October 19, 2009
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
I don’t know why or how their only album got made, because the band appeared and then disappeared again almost immediately without any trace. “Newtone” was released just as the acid jazz wave faded out from the charts around the world, and I’m guessing that bad timing probably killed any chance it had to succeed. Originally, a friend of mine bought it on impulse sometime in the late 90’s because the cover looked, well, kinda funky, and surprisingly, the music actually matched his initial expectations and then some!
Read more...
Tagged with blues, funk, newtone, nils landgren, soul.
October 17, 2009
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
This live recording is a perfect example of capturing a musical performance that can only happen once because all the right elements were at the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, only about half of the actual concert is present on the album, but still, what is there is a remarkable mix of improvised jazz-funk by performers in total control of their craft, just letting the groove guide them wherever it might go.
Read more...
Tagged with bugge wesseltoft, d'sound, funk, jazz, mark ledford.
October 16, 2009
by Rune Johnsrud
- posted in Albums, Reviews.
Four years in the making, this is the second all-original Breakestra album after their long awaited debut “Hit The Floor” was released back in 2005, well, debut may not be the correct term here since they have been performing and releasing live mix albums and 7″/12″ vinyl since the late nineties. Anyway, they continue here in the same vein as their previous outing, and that can only be a good thing, because this is a solid dose of down and dirty funk, soul and jazz that would have made James himself proud!
Read more...
Tagged with breakestra, funk, jazz, rock, soul.
This is a Finnish group which most eloquently mixes Afro-beat, jazz and funk. Mostly the basic rhythm is Afrobeat, but what the musicians do on top of this leans more towards funk and jazz than Fela Kuti’s classical work. There are also some rhythms that resemble other African dialects, Caribbean ones like souk for instance and some more straight ahead soul rhythms (the song Bushman sounds mysteriously like Donny Hathaway’s The Ghetto).
Recent comments