ultrafunkmag » jazz

Lettuce – “Fly” album teaser

Rune Johnsrud — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:03:22 +0000

Really looking forward to this one, hopefully it’s all as good and funky as this little teaser clip:

Billy Martin & Wil Blades – “Shimmy”

Rune Johnsrud — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:58:24 +0000

The drummer in Medeski, Martin & Wood, Billy Martin, is releasing a duo album packed with groovy slices of back-to-the-basics Hammond jazz-funk paired with newcomer organist Wil Blades on May 22. (LP, CD and digital – more info and tour dates). You can listen to a preview right here, and you can also download a free MP3 track from the record titled “Pick Pocket” by following this link.

Billy Martin & Wil Blades – “Les And Eddie”:

Lettuce – “Fly”

Rune Johnsrud — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:19:46 +0000

Lettuce’s new studio record “Fly” drops June 5. on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and select stores, below is a track from the album called “Bowler” (free download by clicking on the cover image):

FLY by Lettuce

Brooklyn Funk Essentials – “Make Them Like It”

Rune Johnsrud — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:54:59 +0000

Dirty Loops – “Covers” unofficial EP

Rune Johnsrud — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:15:17 +0000

Currently the boys are busy in the studio recording new original songs for their first album according to their official blog. I hope they’ll be able to use their awesome musical chops to create some unique and cleverly arranged material to follow up on their previous efforts. Until they are ready with that, here is a convenient collection of all the cover tracks released so far on their soundcloud page (6 in total):

Download link: Dirty Loops – “Covers” unofficial EP (31MB zip).

Balance and the Traveling Sounds – “Departure” free EP

Rune Johnsrud — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:00:12 +0000

Modern soul music played live with real instruments is pretty rare these days, which is really a shame, because when it sounds as good as this, it is truly a pleasure to be enjoyed. This free 6 track EP is an excellent release from a band that I hope will continue to bring us more of the same in the future, and I really look forward to hearing whatever they come up with next.

Departure EP by Balance and the Traveling Sounds

Andreas Pålsson Trio – “Scrabble” release concerts

Rune Johnsrud — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:34:24 +0000

It took well over a year, but finally the album the Andreas Pålsson Trio recorded last summer titled “Scrabble” was ready for release earlier this month. To celebrate the occasion, the band performed two great gigs last week, please read on to watch and listen to a full live recording of one of them.

Live at Helsingborgs Konserthus

The second release concert was held in Sweden at Helsingborgs Konserthus, September 9. This video is the full 2 hour show: Set 1, a 20 minute break and then set 2, including several tracks from the album, new material not yet recorded and some original arrangements of a few jazz standards:

The album front cover

Live at Cosmopolite

The first “Scrabble” release concert was held in Oslo, Norway at Cosmopolite, September 7:

Credits

Live recording and video: Helsingborgs Konserthus.

Special thanks to: The Andreas Pålsson Trio – Andreas Pålsson (organ), Staffan William-Olsson (guitar) and Lennart Gruvstedt (drums), Tom Erik Ingvaldsen for all his exceptional organizational skills. All photos and cover design by Rune Johnsrud.

Balance and the Traveling Sounds – “Won’t Do” (J Dilla tribute cover)

Rune Johnsrud — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:58:14 +0000

Soulive – “Cash’s Dream”

Rune Johnsrud — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:57:19 +0000

An outstanding track from the first album (“Get Down!”) by Soulive that was recorded back in 1999 but not released until 2002, featuring their jazz organ trio lineup: Alan Evans, Neal Evans and Eric Krasno.

Mike Clark Group – “Bone Dance”

Rune Johnsrud — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:02:58 +0000

This very hard to find, funky piece of east coast jazz comes courtesy of the former Herbie Hancock and Head Hunters drummer Mike Clark:

Download link: Mike Clark Group – Bone Dance (9.8MB mp3).