ultrafunkmag » Albums

Rhythm Funk Masters – “Afro-American-Arctic” (2007)

Halvor Johannes Lie — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:56:54 +0000

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).

Another difference compared to Kuti lies in composition, this is not as jam-based, songs are more planned out and have a modern state of the art production. All of this makes the whole album varied, sounding fresh and entertaining. The band looks back, but adds from their own background in an interesting way giving the music finesse intertwined with that thang called soul I crave.

To describe what I mean by the term soul, I’ll site Joe Bagale from the radio program On The Scene per 09 04 2010, you can find it as a podcast on iTunes and it’s good quality listening:

“You’ve described eclectic leaps in music as falling into the category of soul music: Anything from the Beatles to James Brown, Stravinsky to Michael Jackson, so can you qualify that, a statement for our listeners?”

Joe Bagale: “If it’s anything you do, and if it really comes from within, then you can immediately to me put soul as the category that’s in. I mean, not as: I ate a bagel today and it came from within. That shit is me, I wanted that bagel! [laughs] Not like that, but more as an artist. I think you’re quoting a newspaper article.”

“Precisely.”

Joe Bagale: “What the writer and I were talking about… I was just talking about why I love all these different styles of music and that I don’t really put categories on things, because you can tell when something is really meant and you can tell when it’s bullshit. There’s a lot of bullshit out there, but there’s a lot of real stuff out there too. I don’t know, I could be wrong and if Ashley Simpson or Britney Spears or somebody hears what I’m saying. I’m not discrediting their ability to write something that’s real, but there’s also that side of it that is green and it gets handed to them: We’re gonna pay you this amount of money to record this song and it doesn’t mean anything to her or him or whoever is doing it. I never been really attracted to that stuff. You know that Stravinsky was feeling what he was writing when he putting the pen to the paper writing the “Rite of Spring” or “the Firebird Suite”. You know that when Frank Zappa, and he was a conservative fellow and a very opinionated person, and it sometimes seems like he didn’t take his music very seriously, you know he took it seriously, and you know that he meant everything that he wrote. Same thing with the Beatles, same thing with Michael Jackson, same thing with Johnny Cash. Those guys really meant what they were doing and that’s soul music, because it’s gotta come from somewhere and I don’t think it comes from here: I’m pointing to your head [laughs].”

A sample track from youtube:

Homepage: Rhythm Funk Masters (MySpace)

Purchase: Amazon.com (CD)

Karyn Paige – “The KP EP” (2010)

Halvor Johannes Lie — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:23:54 +0000

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.

The EP is 5 songs strong and all of the tracks are of high quality. I especially like the song ”Want To” — A sweet danceable funky thang. Sounds a lot like a late Prince quality track: Bouncy synth boogie! You can listen to the full song and download it for free from her homepage by clicking on the link below:

Download link: Karyn Paige – Want To (9MB mp3).

Karyn Paige is a singer straight out of the SF bay area where she among other things is doing a lot of good work with the bay’s own Jazzmafia. The KP EP is a result of a cooperation between her and producers Matt Berkeley and Joe Bagale, which she’s also playing together with in the band Supertaster. The EP features appearances by Aima the Dreamer (The Mamaz, J-Boogie’s Dubtronic Science), Steve Bradley (No Doubt) and Joe Bagale.

Homepage: Karyn Paige

Purchase & audio samples: iTunes (digital download)

The Haggis Horns – “Keep On Movin’” (2010)

Rune Johnsrud — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:00:48 +0000

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!

After over a decade performing live and in the studio with artists such as Mark Ronson, The Dap Kings, Jamiroqui and The New Mastersounds, they released their debut album “Hot Damn!” back in 2006. After the tragic loss of founding member Jason Rae early in 2008, they returned to the studio in 2010 bringing with them singer Nia Saw (also known as Lucinda Slim), and the result is “Keep On Movin’”.

Right from the start, the percussion and horn driven intro break on the opening instrumental track “Way Of The Haggis”, tells you that this record is heading straight into Funk territory, with some seriously groovy musicians to back it all up. The following songs takes you on a rhythm based journey through soul, jazz, more funk and even afrobeat, with the beautiful and very fitting vocals of Nia Saw featured on five of them.

This is classic soul and funk played on authentic instruments by people with a deep connection to their musical sources, but they have chosen not to blindly emulate the late 60s or early 70s vintage production sound which might be a turnoff for some, although I can’t think of any logical reason why it should be! To top it off, there isn’t a single bad track to be found on the whole album, and that is indeed a rare quality within any genre.

Homepage: Haggis Horns (MySpace) | First Word Records (label)

Purchase: Juno Records (CD/LP/Digital download)

North Scientifik – “Building” (2010)

Rune Johnsrud — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:22:00 +0000

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.

This, at least for me, important combination of ingredients, is not so easy to find anymore, and ever since Jurassic 5 was disbanded back in 2007, there is more than enough room for someone to pick up where they (and many others) have left off.

The tracks all have tight beats and beefy bass that flows naturally with their mostly laid-back west coast style rapping, sparingly embellished with melodic samples, scratching and some great segue sequences that add breathing room between a few of the songs. It’s impossible not to compare the production and sound to the master of the jazzy hip-hop groove, Pete Rock, but that is in no way a bad thing, the only nitpick I have is that 20+ tracks might be a bit too much in one serving.

You can download their free four track EP from here (24MB zip), and you can preview their whole album in the player below:

Nils Landgren Funk Unit – “Funk For Life” (2010)

Rune Johnsrud — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:12:04 +0000

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!

The multitude of projects and roles that the man himself has had over the past 30 years or so are too numerous to list here, but since the unit was started back in 1992, they have managed to record nine albums, all strongly rooted in the funk, but with a wide variety of influences from many other genres. Although the members in the unit have varied greatly over time (R.I.P. Esbjörn Svensson), they’ve still managed to create a distinct sound and style that suits them well.

Jazz and funk improvisation has a stronger presence on “Funk For Life” than the previous albums released since 2000, and six of the twelve tracks are instrumental, some of them close to the 8 minute mark — letting the groove lock and then flow freely, allowing ample space for solos is something these highly skilled performers should do more often! I think that was the main reason it took some time for this record to grow on me, but it really has over the past few weeks since its release.

Nils and long time unit collaborator Magnum Coltrane Price are lead singers on the remaining tracks, with the exception of the uptempo Moog bass driven Tower Of Power inspired song “Finish What You Started”, one of the many standouts on the album. The rather laid-back atmosphere that permeates it all, is nicely balanced out by the lively and organic production that really captures the feeling of extensive studio jam sessions recorded and released for our listening pleasure.

Homepage: Funk For Life | Nils Landgren

Purchase & audio samples: Amazon.com (digital download)

http://www.funkforlife.com/

Syrup – “Different Flavours” (2000)

Rune Johnsrud — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:27:18 +0000

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.

For those of you who do not know The Poets of Rhythm; They appeared in the early 90′s under many different names, playing and releasing hard-hitting, original but completely authentic sounding late 60′s/early 70′s funk of such high quality that they fooled well known hip-hop producers and crate-diggers into thinking that they were the real deal no one had discovered before. Check out their now classic debut “Practice What You Preach” if you have not heard it already.

Getting back to Syrup, “Different Flavours” is a pure instrumentally driven disco funk album composed and performed by musicians with consummate skill, and although the production is quite modern and clean, it still possesses all the qualities you would expect to find on any number of staple songs from the period when disco was still played with real instruments.

One standout track has to be mentioned, it’s aptly named “Sweatshop”, and this eight minute high-energy horn and synth driven romp might not inspire you to start working in a poorly paid assembly line making cheap designer knockoffs (pardon the pun), but it should get all the juices in your body flowing nicely! It’s definitely one of my all time favourite floor-fillers.

Homepage: Syrup / Compost Records

Purchase & audio samples: eMusic.com (digital download)

Quincy Jones – “Ndeda” (1972)

Rune Johnsrud — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:06:43 +0000

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.

I bought this record second hand some time ago because it contained the now ubiquitous “Soul Bossa Nova” track so prominently featured in the Austin Powers movie series, but over time, it has grown a lot in parallel with my ever increasing interest in jazz, and the songs presented here cover a wide variety of styles from latin to swing, easy listening, big-band, and a few standards mixed with some pretty wild improvisational stuff.

All the material is arranged and orchestrated by Quincy, about half is written and composed by him, the rest comes from such prominent musical minds as Henri Mancini, Nate Adderley, Benny Goodman, Lalo Schifrin and believe it or not, The Rolling Stones in the form of “I Can Get No Satisfaction”!

The production and performances are immaculate from beginning to end, and there is about a 50 / 50 spread between up-tempo and down-tempo numbers (most of the tracks in the former category are well suited to the dance floor). All in all, it is an album well worth seeking out for whatever reason one might have, and it provides an interesting insight into the early career of a creative genius.

Homepage: Quincy Jones

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

Newtone – “Newtone” (1996)

Rune Johnsrud — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:48:58 +0000

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!

Make no mistake, these twelve uptempo funk and soul tracks with a blues ballad thrown in for good measure, are all produced with a very smooth and contemporary sound typical of the time, but the core band is tight, the melodies are catchy, and with plenty of lush horn, string and vocal arrangements throughout, the end product bears no marks of being a one-off project.

Who knew that a bunch of unknown (to me) young Swedish musicians could produce something of this caliber, but given the skill and history of some of their peers like Nils Landgren, Jan Lundgren, Esbjörn Svensson and many others, it kind of makes sense in some way. To this day, I have never met a single person, from Sweden or anywhere else, who have ever heard about this band, and I think that they deserve a better fate…

This album has become so obscure that you are lucky if you can acquire a used copy on eBay, and because of that, you can download it directly from here. If anyone finds a way to legally purchase the album, or for some other reason it should be removed, please let us know asap.

Download link: Newtone – “Newtone” (104MB zip).

Homepage: Not available.

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

Jazzland Sessions – “Saturday Session” (1999)

Rune Johnsrud — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:40:32 +0000

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.

I’m not really sure how all this came about, the mix of musicians from the band D’Sound (Jonny Sjo – bass, Kim Ofstad – drums, Simone – vocals), combined with Bugge Wesseltoft (keys), Mark Ledford (trumpet, vocals) and DJ Olle Abstract is a strange one, but somehow it works as a cohesive whole guided by the rhythm tracks laid down by the DJ and Bugges melodies.

The four tracks (or turns as they are called here) are all around the 15 minute mark except the last one which clocks in at a “mere” eight minutes – clear indicators of the improvisational nature of the music – captured with a pristine and distinctly modern sound that really conveys the vibe present and the communication between the musicians and the audience.

What I find most surprising about this recording is that the main performers (Bugge and D’Sound) are all solid artists in their own right, but I often find their other studio releases rather anemic and sometimes lacking in enthusiasm and raw energy, but here, all that is a non-issue, it all just comes together like this was how they were always meant to use their combined musical skills.

Download link: Jazzland Sessions – “Saturday Session” (106MB zip).

Homepage: Jazzland Recordings

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

Breakestra – “Dusk Till Dawn” (2009)

Rune Johnsrud — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:20:18 +0000

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!

They also add a bit of new flavour to the mix this time in the form of some heavier soul-rock inspired tunes and some mellow instrumental jazz, spacing out the hard hitting funk and soul nuggets just right, while always keeping the musical, vocal and rap performances tight.

Many bands and artists these days try to emulate the studio recording sound of the late 60′s and 70′s, and while some of them are successful, oftentimes it sounds a bit out of place or somewhat artificial compared to the real deal, but Breakestra manages to make it their own sound, and it fits them like a fine pair of racing gloves.

Just as “Hit The Floor” has more or less been a permanent fixture in my record bag for the past four years, it might just get a new friend, cause this one is a solid floor filler guaranteed to please the avid funk aficionado as well as the sweaty dance crowd down at the club.

Homepage: Breakestra

Purchase & audio samples: Amazon.com (CD) | Juno.co.uk (LP)