1. Institution Man
1. Hardgroove 5:31
"River Deep, Mountain High" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) - 3:38
01. Gulab Jammin
Garaj Mahal is a four piece band, based in the United States, playing a fusion of jazz, Indian music, rock, and especially funk: Kai Eckhardt (bass), Fareed Haque (guitars), Alan Hertz (drums), and Eric Levy (keys). The band was formed in 2000 with the largely fulfilled expectation that the technical virtuosity each band member has been known for would bring about great music. They are one of the modern mid to low-profile bands that allow their music to be recorded live at shows, and distributed in torrents, and musical archives
Mondo Garaj (Eckhardt) - 5:33
1- The Shadow
1. Semos 9:58
"In Time" – 5:48
1. The Jungle.
dustygroove.com review
Fonky! This is the first album by Black Heat -- one of the best funk acts to record for Atlantic during the 70s, and a tight little group of groovemeisters with a sound that's a mixture of New Orleans funk and New York heavy. The tracks are about 50% instrumental -- and these are the best numbers, as they've got a tightly compressed groove, mixing choppy guitar, hot organ licks, and sweet sax solos into a very tight blend. The group's got some guest work on reeds by David Newman -- but the real strength lies in their ability to lay down a funky rhythm track. Titles include "Chip's Funk", "Wanoah", "Barbara's Mood", "Chicken Heads", "The Jungle", "Send My Lover Back", "Honey Love", and "Time Is gonna Catch You".
1.Drive My Car.
1.Make Them Dance.
1. Illusion
1. Inkblott 11Although guitarist Larry Carlton is known primarily as a smooth-jazz performer, both solo and with Fourplay, his roots are in session work with pop/rock artists, most notably Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. On 2006's FIREWIRE, Carlton gets back to his rock beginnings, offering up a set of tunes that focus on the energetic side of his playing. Aiding Carlton in this musical about-face is producer Csaba Petocz, who has been in the studio with acts such as Elvis Costello and Metallica, and here leads the six-stringer in a bold, assertive direction. Also joined by prolific drummer Matt Chamberlain and other top-tier musicians, Carlton leans into the shuffling "Inkblot 11," indulges in Jimi Hendrix-like riffing on "Naked Truth," and sinks into a deep blues groove with "Surrender." More in line with albums by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai than anything in the easy-listening vein, FIRE WIRE highlights the adventurous aspects of this expert guitarist.(source: cduniverse.com)
01. Orange ParkThe new album of composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Carsten Mentzel invites you on a pleasurable, extremely groovy trip through space and time. Seemingly weightless sound puzzles fit together into a feeling of absolute freedom and ease. Easy-listening music for the 21. century
Brick was an Atlanta band that created a successful merger of funk and jazz in the '70s they called "dazz." Brick's roster included lead vocalist/saxophonist/flutist Jimmy Brown; guitarist/bassist/vocalist Regi Hargis Hickman; lead singer Ray Ransom, who doubled as a bassist/keyboardist/percussionist; and Eddie Irons, who did lead vocals and played drums and keyboards. They recorded "Music Matic" for Main Street in 1976, before signing to the CBS-distributed label Bang. Their first Bang single, "Dazz," topped the R&B charts and was number-three pop in 1976, and they continued on Bang until 1982. Brick scored two more huge hits in 1977, "Dusic" and "Ain't Gonna' Hurt Nobody," each with a chunky, propulsive beat and catchy, light pop-jazz refrain. Their last Top Ten R&B hit was "Sweat (Til You Get Wet)" in 1981
1 Ain't Gonna Hurt 3:54Heavily influenced by Labelle and the Pointer Sisters, Stargard was a female R&B vocal group that was best known for providing the theme song from the 1977 film Which Way Is Up. Rochelle Runnells, Debra Anderson, and Janice Williams -- who comprised Stargard's original three-woman lineup -- didn't go for the type of breathy, sweet, girlish vocals that the Supremes and the Three Degrees were known for. Like Labelle and the Pointer Sisters, Stargard favored robust, aggressive belting and brought a gospel-like passion to its funk, soul, and disco. Stargard signed with MCA in 1977, when its first single, the ultra-funky "Theme From 'Which Way Is Up'" (a Norman Whitfield gem), soared to number one on the R&B singles charts. Stargard's self-titled debut album came out in early 1978, and later that year, MCA released the trio's sophomore effort What You Waitin' For. That album's funky title track (also written by Whitfield) became a Top Ten R&B hit, but after that, Stargard lost its commercial momentum. In 1979, Stargard left MCA for Warner Bros. and recorded its third album, The Changing of the Gard, which was produced by Robert Wright and Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White (Maurice White's brother) and contained the single "Wear It Out." That superb album had the makings of a smash, but regrettably, it didn't do nearly as well as it should have. In 1980, Anderson left the group, and Runnells and Williams decided to carry on as a duo instead of hiring a replacement. As a duo, Runnells and Williams recorded 1981's Norman Whitfield-produced Back 2 Back for Warner Bros. and 1982's Nine Lives (which Runnells produced) for MCA. Both of those LPs received very little attention, and in 1983, Stargard broke up. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
A1 Three Girls (3:51)
A1 Sensuous Woman (3:25)
A1 Wear It Out (5:17)
A1 You're The One (4:39)
A1 Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart (4:06)
1 Nuyorican Soul Intro (1:24)
"Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, the duo who collaborate as the Masters At Work production team and are the musical guides for NUYORICAN SOUL have made a career out of pollinating dance floors with funky sounds for nearly two decades. ... Full DescriptionFunk, jazz, house, R&B, hip-hop and a slew of Afro-Latin-scented rhythms are just some of the ingredients in their clubland stew, and their ability to consistently move the crowd is the chief reason the two have long thrived as DJs and producer on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jazzy improv is at the heart of all the tracks, whether on the pure around-the-horn solo spotlights handed out to Tito Puente's all-star ensemble ("MAW Latin Blues"), in George Benson's guitar-vocal interplay ("You Can Do It"), or with Roy Ayers running his vibes all around a funky house beat ("Sweet Tears"). Jocelyn Brown brings diva flair to the psychedelic trip-hop of "I Am The Black God of the Sun," and the pure disco of India's "Runaway" breaks down into a sort of Philly Soul dub. NUYORICAN SOUL is dance music that sets a challenge for both the butt and the mind, just like George Clinton said it should.
Additional personnel includes: George Benson (vocals, guitar); Jocelyn Brown, India (vocals); Ira Segal (guitar); Anthony Posk, Melvyn Roundtree (violin); Kathleen Carroll (viola); Dave Valentin (flute); David Sanchez (saxophone); Edward Golazewski (baritone saxophone); Charles Sepulveda (trumpet); Richard Swartz (French horn); Steve Turre (trombone); Richard Genovese (bass trombone); Hilton Ruiz (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Eddie Palmieri (piano, synthesizers); Tito Puente (vibraphone, timbales); Vincent Montana Jr. (vibraphone); Gene Perez (bass); Tony Cintron (drums); Richie Flores (congas, bongos, percussion); Bobby Allende (congas, percussion); Jazzy Jeff (scratches).
Recorded at Bass Hit Recording, Sound Track Group, Axis Studios, Sound On Sound, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Carol Cooper.
Producers: 'Little' Louie Vega, Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez.
Engineers: Steve Barkan, Dave Darlington.
Nuyorican Soul: "Little" Louie Vega, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez.
Muzik (2/97, p.93) - 10 out of 10 - "...a consummate pot-pourri of seasoned jazz, soul, house, r&b, Latin and funk for every generation. A soundtrack for any time of the day....gasp at the bottomless talent of the production duo who are, truly, Masters At Work."
JazzTimes (10/97, p.85) - "...an ambitious concept to be sure....that the project draws the diverse strands of club culture into a seamless whole is, to say the least, impressive..."
Vibe (3/97, p.142) - "...Somehow, all this diverse talent and music manages to come together into one beautiful whole..."
1. Booger ManThe Gaturs were not as well known as the Meters and not as minimalist in their take on funk, but like that group they created a distinct sound based on the party atmosphere for which New Orleans is famous. Led by veteran session musician Willie Tee, the Gaturs' jazz-inflected funk and soul only made it to a handful of singles, but did pave the way for Tee's next project -- as bandleader for the festive chants of Mardi Gras Indians the Wild Magnolias. ~ Wade Kergan, All Music Guide
WASTED is a compilation of singles released by the Gaturs, a New Orleans funk band, around 1970.
featuring veteran New Orleans keyboardist, Willie Tee (Wild Magnolias) & his jazzy 70's Meters style funk band, riffs & break beats, appeals ... Full Descriptionto hip-hop fans, includes rare & previously unreleased material, 5 bonus tracks
Gaturs include: Willie Tee (keyboards).
Gaturs Featuring Willie Tee: Willie Tee (vocals, keyboards); June Ray (guitar); Irvin Charles (bass guitar); Larry Pena (drums).
Recording information: New Orleans, Louisiana (1970).
01. Demagogue.
Ultramen began its activities in Porto Alegre in 1991. At that time it was a trio: Zé Darcy (drums), Julio Porto (guitar) and Pedro Porto (bass). The initial idea was to mix heavy metal music (Sepultura, Slayer, Anthrax, etc) with black music (James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone), and rap vocals (Public Enemy, Beastie Boys). The trio cut a demo with two songs, with Zé doing the vocals. The first lyrics were in English.. Then Tonho, took over as singer, and after that came Malásia (percussion) and Peru (sax). This formation made the first show in the city of Porto Alegre and in the country side. . Also, it was with six members that Ultramen made two official demo tapes. After the release of the demo tapes and the shows, the band started to be considered one of the most important bands in Porto Alegre, calling national attention, being invited to participate in festivals and shows in other states of Brasil. Soon after, there has been another change in the formation: Peru leaves and Marcito joins the band. (percussion). Around this time, other rhythms started to influence the musical mix of the band, like Brasilian music and reggae. In 1997 Ultramen recorded its first CD. This recording, which was totally sponsored by the band, happened to be heard by Dado Villa-Lobos, who decided to contract the band and release the CD under his own label – the Rock it! It came out in 1998 and got the band to be known to the public and the media all over the country, mainly with the song “Vou a mais de 100”, which was played a lot on the radios in Sao Paulo. In Rio Grande do Sul, “Bico de luz” was a hit.. Both songs had vídeo clips. At this time, the band made important shows in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Brasília. Two people were invited to play as special guests: DJ Anderson (scratch) and Leonardo Boff (keyboards). In 2000 Olelê, the second CD ,comes out. This CD represents an important period for the band. Many songs (like Peleia, Dívida, and Esse é o meu Compromisso) were played on the local radios and the band made dozens of shows throughout their native state - Rio Grande do Sul. This CD led the band to play in universities and schools in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in the beginning of 2001. During this period there was another change in the formation of the band: Julio leaves (guitar) and Alexandre Guri joins the group. (guitar). Guri participated in all the Olelê Shows and recorded the third CD which is called “O incrivel caso da musica que encolheu e outras historias” (The incredible case of the song that shrunk and other stories...). It came out at the end of 2002, after signing with Sum Records. Shortly after the group toured in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The songs “Máquina do tempo” and “De canto e sossegado” became vídeo clips. At the beginning of 2004, the guitar player Alexandre Guri leaves and one of the founders of the band rejoins the band, Julio Porto. In January 2005, Ultramen participated in a big MTV project - Acustico MTV Bandas Gaúchas. The bands participating in this project recorded a CD and DVD, and the hit ‘Dívida' has special participation of Falcão from the band ‘O Rappa'. The latest work of the band, Capa Preta, has been released in the end of 2006. Capa Preta shows that the band continues in the same way of mixing musical styles, with its formula each time more matured
1.Se Habituar.
1 Ultramanos
1. Santo Forte
1- Tubarãozinho
1. New Orleans Music
Protege to funk-bass pioneer Bootsy Collins, fellow Cincinnati native
Chris "Freekbass" Sherman and his band have inherited the Buckeye
State's funk flag. Recorded live at the 20th Century Theatre in
Cincinnati, Grooveyard is just that - a wide-open space full of dance-
inducing, hard-hitting and sweaty electronic funk that listeners can
let their ears run wild and get lost in!
T.J. Kirk may not be remembered in the annals of jazz/fusion history, but the quartet's story is uniquely its own. Formed by eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter as a side group to his own self-titled and San Francisco-based band, T.J. Kirk was a cover act that took its name from the three artists making up its catalog: Thelonius Monk, James Brown, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Hunter's recording career had started in 1993, and he brought his group's drummer, Scott Amendola, into T.J. Kirk to join the more conventional six-string guitarists Will Bernard and John Schott. The band wanted to be called James T. Kirk, but settled for T.J. Kirk for their 1995 self-titled debut CD when they didn't get permission to use the original moniker from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's estate. The album gave Hunter license to play in styles even more funky than with his own ensemble, as the eight-string guitarist often played bass lines and guitar melodies (usually simultaneously) and even added keyboard-like textures on his customized Novax instrument. Combined with Amendola's muscular drumming, Hunter's versatility allowed Bernard and Schott the freedom to re-work their namesake trio's classics like "Soul Power," "Bemsha Swing," and "Serenade to a Cuckoo." The group's 1996 follow-up, If Four Was One, was even better. T.J. Kirk had a knack not only for mimicking Brown's soul epics ("Get on the Good Foot," "The Payback"), but also making danceable the jazz standards of Monk and Kirk ("Damn Right I'm Somebody," "Ruby, My Dear," "Four in One"). Yet Hunter, never one to stand pat, was making changes in his own band's career. When he covered reggae legend Bob Marley's time-honored Natty Dread album, instrumentally and in its entirety, in 1997, and in the process made one of his best CDs, T.J. Kirk was essentially finished except for the live bootleg recordings. The death of Hunter's saxophonist Calder Spanier in an auto accident later in the year -- and Hunter's decision to move from the Bay Area to New York in 1998 -- officially ended the reign of T.J. Kirk. But as anyone who's heard their releases knows, T.J. Kirk is the unofficial captain of jazz/fusion's all-time cover bands. Further evidence appeared in 2005 when the Rope-A-Dope label issued a 1997 concert by the band as Talking Only Makes It Worse. ~ Bill Meredith, All Music Guide
1. Soul Power (4:25)
1.Damn Right I'm Somebody (5:07)
01. Soul Power
1. Intro
1. Mothers, The
"Break the Chains"
1. Jack Ass Brigade
"Homebrew" (Hexum, Mahoney, Martinez, Sexton, Wills) 3:04
1. Fantasy
Black GoldIf Betty were singing today she be something like Madonna, something like Prince, only as a woman. She was the beginning of all that when she was singing as Betty Davis.”[/i] ~ Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Miles: The Autobiography
The former wife of Miles, Betty Mabry Davis is perhaps the only woman in the world who could rightfully have the following legend tattooed across her rear: THIS ASS INVENTED FUSION. While their marriage only lasted a year (1968-1969), Betty's impact on the immortal jazz trumpeter was tremendous. Her cutting-edge musical tastes and incomparable sense of style were too much for Miles to resist. A self-righteous 23-year old model, Betty conquered the man twice her age with a potent mixture of youth, beauty, and sex. Within a year, she had completely remade Miles in her own youthful image. As she poured herself into him, his playing grew younger, his outlook fresh. She ripped through his closets, tossing out the elegant suits he had worn for years. This was the late '60s, revolution was in the air, and suits were the uniforms of the Establishment. The time had come to get hip, and Betty pointed the way, introducing Miles to the musical and material gods of revolutionary style: Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone.
Anyone with half a grip on the past knows that Miles expereiced far more than a wardrobe makeover during his tumultuous Betty year. Deeply influenced by the cosmic rock guitar of Hendrix and the experimental funk of Sly Stone, Miles turned mad genius and unleashed the electrified musical Frankenstein known as Bitches Brew. This monster he created would sadly run amok as fusion lost its soul and became an F word. But for a brief moment during these still glowing days of late '60s Eden, Betty ruled as the mentor-muse for the original man and his music. There are even rumors about an unreleased album of songs that Betty wrote and recorded with Miles and his band.
Betty was fire, and while Miles welcomed the sparks, he knew better than to stay too close for too long. In his autobiography he wrote: “Betty was too young and wild for the things I expected from a woman...Betty was a free spirit, she was raunchy and all that kind of shit.” Rumor holds that Miles broke things off because he suspected that his wife was tangled up in a torrid affair with Jimi Hendrix, an infidelity that she has flatly denied to this day. Miles self-preserved, giving up his good thing in the end.
It might have been enough if the story ended there, but it certainly did not. As Betty's lyrics attest, she was not a tragic woman beholden to any man. This was a woman with the strength of a Black Panther, a woman in total control, a predatory feline fully aware of the power that her beauty and sexuality gave her over men. On her self-titled 1973 debut album, she declares war on love in her raunchy funk masterpiece, “Anti Love Song.” In sharp lines probably directed at her ex-husband, she sings: “No I don't want to love you / 'Cause I know how you are / Sure you say you're right on and you're righteous / But with me I know you'd be right off / Cause you know I could posess your body / You know I could make you crawl / And just as hard as I'd fall for you, boy / You know you'd fall for me harder / That's why I don't want to love you.” Belted out in a ferocious over the top style, “Anti Love Song” is the classic bad girl anthem. It was songs like this, along with the album's openning track, “If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up,” that solidified her notorious image as a “nasty girl.” Unfortunately for Betty, America was not yet ready to embrace a woman with such an explicitly sexual persona. Her outrageously flamboyant image eclipsed her talent. Several of her live shows were boycotted by religious groups and even canceled. Radio steered clear of her unconventional music, judging it too hard for black stations and too black for white ones. Her records didn't sell. Betty vanished from the scene, a rumored victim of a drug overdose.
That the record buying public shunned Betty Davis should come as no surprise. She had a much rougher edge to her music than other female funk and soul artists of the '70s. Song for song,Betty Davis is actually one of the most extreme sounding debut records of the decade. Like Bitches Brew, it takes equal parts inspiration from Hendrix and Sly Stone. Future Journey guitarist Neal Schon gives the music its distinctly hard rock Hendrix edge. The Sly angle is fleshed out by former Family Stone drummer Gregg Errico, who plays on and produces the entire record. Former Sly bassist Larry Graham adds an even more unmistakable sound with his trademark grooves. The roster of other musicians playing on this record is impressive: Patryce Banks, Willie Sparks, and Hershall Kennedy of Graham Central Station; Tower of Power horn players Greg Adams and Michael Gillette; and the Pointer Sisters. All these musicians come together to form a flexible and propulsive band, laying down heavy beats behind Neal Schon's dominant lead guitar and Betty's shocking vocals. One critic aptly described their sound as something like a cross between Tina Turner, Funkadelic, and Sly & The Family Stone.
Like all original sounding music, Betty's voice eludes description, and must be heard. A friend was struck by how contemporary it sounded. It's pretty obvious that she was a major influence on Macy Gray. Betty was a powerhouse, pushing her vocal cords to the limit on every performance. She gave it all up, unpredictably alternating between sexy breathiness, moans, and full throated screams. Her voice is not for the feint hearted, as she drags the listener on an fiery tour of her bad-ass soul. This take no prisoners style of singing can sometimes be a bit much to handle. Make no mistake, Betty's brand of black music is not pleasantly soulful, it's ecstatically hard. Many will find it grating and inaccessible in places. Here was a woman capable of projecting sex in a single sceam, an unsentimental envelope pusher with the raucous pipes of a banshee. Even on the album's only slow song, “In The Meantime,” Betty sings with tongue in cheek sweetness about the dark pleasures in being alone, closing out the record with a promise that she will survive with or without a man.
Way ahead of her time, Betty was the original super freak, a musical extremist who demanded too much from her audience. She came and went with a thunderous roar.
(allaboutjazz.com)
1. If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up
1 Baghdad Cafe
1 Das Kapital
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