Thursday, October 19, 2017

Rock Candy Funk Party : Groove is everywhere!

Rock Candy Funk Party delivers a lavish soundscape that incorporates a plethora of genres, from dance and electronica, to rock funk and jazz and everything in between. The band is gearing up to release their brand new album The Groove Cubed this fall following their last studio album released back in 2015, Groove Is King.



The Groove Cubed which is set for release on October 20, 2017, was recorded at Tal Bergman Studios in Los Angeles, California. With this new album, the band continues to push the musical envelop and seamlessly blend various genres together. Standout track and first single “Don’t Even Try It” shakes things up by adding the boundless energy and soulful vocals of Vintage Trouble’s Ty Taylor. The classic cover of James Brown’s “I Got the Feelin’” is brought to life with Australian singer Mahalia Barnes. Adding these two powerhouse singers is a first for RCFP, who normally stick to grooving instrumentals. According to Bergman, “It will take the listener on journey that explore the use of different styles of music from different eras and hopefully break some rules!!” The Groove Cubed has the “mark of real pros,” with top-notch improvisation and musical chemistry. The band went into the studio without any songs or ideas came out victorious with a new record.

This album is an all-around fun and exciting record that shatters genre defining stigmas and takes elements from the past as well as from contemporary music. Each song starts with “a riff, groove, or feel” and morphs into a stellar funk gem. Bergman says that the main goal for The Groove Cubed was “as always to say something different. This band is a perfect vehicle to make music in unorthodox ways that crosses different genres.” The band’s motto and perfect concept for this new album is that “there are no rules, just expect the unexpected.”

RCFP is a collection of top-notch groove loving musicians aimed at bringing the world fresh and funky vibes. Their collective credits include Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Joe Zawinul, Hugh Masekela, Prince, Ruth Brown, Chaka Khan, Simple Minds, Tito Puente, Conan O’Brien, Sheila E. and many more.

The band formed around 2009 when drummer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron DeJesus combined their love of funk music and released Groove Vol. 1 to share it with the world. After Tal began recording and performing with blues-rock titian Joe Bonamassa, Bergman invited him to join the fun. By 2011, Bonamassa had officially joined the band and the groove has been growing stronger ever since.

RCFP isn’t your run-of-the-mill funk jam band. They are highly reputable, respected, and experienced professional musicians who share a love of experimenting with various musical concepts. Individually, the members add their own expertise and styles to the mix. Tal Bergman’s versatile drum style has allowed him to play every style from rock and R&B to Jazz and Funk. Guitarist Ron DeJesus has always been inspired by funk music and has been continuing to preserve the legacy of funk greats like James Brown and Sly Stone. Bassist Mike Merritt brings the swinging jazz side of things to the table and is currently a member of TV Host Conan O’Brien’s Basic Cable Band. Finally, keyboard wizard Renato Neto brings a Brazilian flavor that adds a fantastic rhythmic element.

Groove is everywhere!

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan. 

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Gilad Atzmon plays Coltrane

Duke Ellington's exquisite "In A Sentimental Mood," the first track on their memorable team-up album for Impulse! is here given a luscious treatment with the subtle addition of strings. "Invitation," the Coltrane version of which was found on Standard Coltrane a 1962 Prestige release but actually recorded in 1958. Like that version it's given a slow ballad treatment with Atzmon on sultry tenor augmented by the string quartet. 




Atzmon's lone composition is the modal "Minor Thing" very much in keeping with Coltrane's mid to late period sound but with the addition of some yodel-like trills from the tenor, the effect of which is slightly reminiscent of Leon Thomas's distinctive vocals. The longest track on the album, there's a short ensemble section inserted at around the 3:55 mark which interrupts the flow but doesn't affect the overall appreciation of the number which is, as implied from the record's title, very effective in conjuring up the spirit of Trane. There's also a very satisfying coda too. 

"Soul Eyes" recorded by Coltrane on his eponymous 1962 album, is here given a sumptuous string quartet backing countered by Atzmon's rich tenor. With Atzmon now on soprano, the relatively thin version of "Blue Train" (but only when compared with its relatively brass-heavy progenitor on Coltrane's Blue Note classic) is nonetheless atmospherically charged and sensitively appealing. On Coltrane's unforgettable ballad "Naima" the strings work well to produce an elegant interpretation. 

A lyrical version of "Giant Steps," played as a quartet, starts out slowly but gradually picks up the pace with the piano and bass transforming the whole piece into a more sprightly version. The Loesser / McHugh standard "Say It (Over And Over Again)" appeared on the Impulse! 1963 release Ballads and it's here that both the string quartet and Atzmon's saxophone meld together most appealingly. As a respectful and often imaginative paean to the late, great saxophonist, who died 50 years ago this year, this album works very well indeed.

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan. 

Brass Funkeys : Rabble Rouser

The 8-piece Brass Funkeys might draw on the traditions of New Orleans marching bands, but the group, which formed in 2011, is based in London and takes much of its inspiration from contemporary musics. This combination of second line, R&B, hip-hop and the rest is enticing: Rabble Rouser is a fine collection of originals and covers delivered with enthusiasm and musical skill—there's plenty of brass and lots of funk, too.


From the first warm, fruity notes on "Goblins," (written by guest trumpeter Jack Banjo Courtney) it's clear that this is going to be a fun-filled, groove-laden bunch of tunes. The mix of wind instruments—trumpets, trombones, a sax and a sousaphone—ensures there's depth and richness to the ensemble's sound while Chris Brice's percussion and Scott Jowett's drums give added power and broaden the sonic palette. Adding the players' obvious enthusiasm into the mix ensures that this is a listener-and dancer-friendly set. 

The band's original tunes, contributed by six of its members, are varied but never lose the Funkeys' trademark positivity and good vibes. Rob Smith's splendidly-titled "David Battenberg's Life Of Cakes" is a punchy number with an irresistible groove. "Le Sable," written by Rob Slater, is a seductive late-night number, for those times when dancing cheek-to- cheek is the only way for two people to remain upright. Trombonist Vij Prakash's "Pacha Mama" melds brass band and blues— laid-back, cool, with bursts of fiery sax and trumpet. Matt Letts' "Clave Maria" nods its hat to old-school Cuban dancehalls, Tom Green's "Dynamo Blues" does the same to classic jazz big bands. 

The Brass Funkeys' performances of the four covers all impress. There's a tight, driving, take on Gorillaz' "Dirty Harry"—arranged by Chris Saunders and featuring a vocal chorus from the gentlemen of the orchestra. "Honeydripper" is slow and slinky, underpinned by big, fat, bass notes. Tune-Yards' "Bizness" features Dave Robinson's sax over fine percussion grooves from Brice and Jowett. "Zambezi"—a UK hit in 1982 for The Piranhas—is taken at a fast clip: fun, cheery, but perhaps only the fittest should consider it dance-friendly. On this hugely enjoyable evidence, the Brass Funkeys should be able to rouse any rabble.

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan. 

Rez Abbasi : Unfiltered Universe

Rez Abbasi was born in Karachi, Pakistan but at the age of four his family moved to Los Angeles and at eleven he started learning guitar. Whilst there are undoubtedly some South Asian influences in his compositions, these are generally incidental or to be found "under the radar" as Abbasi himself puts it. In any case the music surely transcends geographical boundaries. With a brace of ten albums to his name, this is Abbasi's follow-up to 2016's Behind The Vibration but is also the third in a trilogy he started to record with his group Invocation in 2008.



The opener "Propensity" does admittedly display some passing South Asian influences in its opening statement, and hot on the heels of Rudresh Mahanthappa's frenetic alto solo, Abassi solos with breathtaking glissando runs. The title track, augmented by Elizabeth Mikhael on cello, is perhaps the nearest this album gets to the generally perceived notion of chamber jazz, but even here it defies that generic description. The album was actually commissioned by Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Suffice it to say both organizations got their money's worth and more besides.

The short "Thoughts" constitutes a solo pyrotechnic display from Abbasi, his guitar notably enhanced by synth-like electronic effects. "Thin-King" has a mesmeric off-kilter rhythm which propels the piece along and a keen pizzicato bass solo from Johannes Weidenmueller. "Turn Of Events" the longest track on the album at nearly twelve minutes, subtly builds the tension, embellished by legato cello notes, achieving a release with a cascade of notes, only to die down to its pastoral opening and finally resolving in a short ensemble coda. The frenetic paced "Disagree To Agree" benefits from a fine staccato piano solo from Vijay Iyer and Mahanthappa and Abbasi compete in the coruscating stakes, making it compulsive listening as the guitarist takes his instrument to new places ripe for exploration. 

The closer, "Dance Number" begins with a vaguely Eastern head but rapidly transmutes into a groove-laden piece dominated by Abbasi's strident and fluid guitar and subsequently by Mahanthappa's florid alto and Iyer's lustrous piano. An imaginative composer and guitarist of considerable virtuosity, plus an ensemble of immense talent, are all factors that make this high calibre album, imbued with unfettered vigour and intrigue, a most satisfying affair.

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan. 

Mehdi Nabti : Beyond The Trance

I just found this interesting interview of Mehdi Nabti by Ayoub Mouz via social networks. Published by an english magazine in Arabic, I put this english translation. Here the source Original interview in Arabic (Maazif magazine, London UK, sept. 2017). You can also read my review of Mehdi Nabti's album Hybridations & Transformations (2016). 


Interview with Mehdi Nabti : about the crosses between moroccan trance music (Aïssâwa) and jazz music

Mehdi Nabti is a french-canadian saxophonist, composer, autor and researcher in anthropology. In this meeting, he interacts with a moroccan musician about his compositions and their relationship with the moroccan folklore. The two interlocutors discuss the convergence of two musical styles, Aïssâwa Sufi music and jazz (which have their African roots in common), the problem of mixing musical styles, attempts at hybridization and the challenges of artistic renewal .

Maazif : You took classical music and later university studies in anthropology. Tell us about this adventure.

I was born in Paris and I lived in this city then in the Paris region. Since 2009 I live in Montreal. My family is from Kabylie, city of Bejaia, in Algeria. In France, I received a standard academic training: studies of classical guitar in conservatory from the age of 6 years, then classical saxophone and jazz from 15 years. I thank my parents for having given us a "bourgeois" education, even if we are from the working class. At the University of Paris 8, I followed a curriculum in multimedia communication (Maitrise in Sciences and Techniques) and a DEA in sociology. I then went to EHESS for my doctoral studies. I had my phd/doctorate in social anthropology in 2007 on the Sufi trance music of Aïssâwa. But when I was at the University I followed the teaching of jazzmen François Jeanneau (improvisation techniques) and Max Hedigger (jazz harmony). I deepened my knowledge with Philippe Sellam, Steve Coleman, Andy Emler and other more confidential musicians who encourage creativity and intellectual autonomy.




Maazif : After this rich and eventful journey, where is your artistic practice today ?

My artistic practice evolves with age and life. In the 1990s in France I played a lot of different music (funk, jazz, electro, house, percussion orchestras, Afro folklore, improvised music) and I created and directed from 2004 to 2008 a French-Moroccan jazz/world orchestra bringing together jazz musicians and Aissawa musicians from Fes in Morocco, Aissawaniyya. With this group, I gave masterclasses and recorded unpublished sessions (in Morocco, Spain and Paris). We have performed at various festivals in Europe, Africa and Canada. From 7 years I am in the intensive composition phase, I document my work and I regularly record albums that I sell directly to the public on digital platforms. That is my priority. I try to elaborate a contemporary improvised music which is part of the "Afro-Berber continuum", term of my invention. It is a matter of composing and improvising from techniques derived from ancient and medieval Berber and sub-Saharan traditions. I mean these elements :

  • Compound rhythms / adaptation of Sufi trance rhythms of the Maghreb (Aissawa and Hamadcha)
  • Afro-Berber and Andalusian melodic modes
  • Musical forms and structures resulting from the Maghreb Sufi trance rituals (Aissawa and Hamadcha)
  • Afro-Mediterranean non-musical techniques applied to music: geomancy, geometry
  • Musical evocation of the forgotten and unknown history of North and sub-Saharan Africa (ancient Berber mythology, historical figures, monuments, geographical spaces)


I incorporate in this Afro-Berber continuum ideas from various disciplines : philosophy, symmetry, epigraphy, but also heroic-fantasy and science fiction (especially uchronie and ideas borrowed directly to Isaac Asimov). I also write books and articles on North African culture and music. I have just published in France a book entitled « Présence arabe, berbère et nord-africaine au Québec. 55 ans de musiques plurielles (1962-2017) ».



Maazif : Between 2012 and 2016, you have released four albums, one album a year. You propose in most of your albums a hybrid production, a musical work influenced mainly by the Sufi music of the Maghreb on which you have studied and dedicated your doctoral thesis («  Les Aïssawa. Soufisme, musique et rituels de transe au Maroc »). Where do these influences manifest themselves?

Originally my motivation was to play a contemporary music that is an alternative to the North American cultural domination as well as the lascivious aesthetic coming from the Orient, the East. These various popular currents conceal the plurality of musical expressions of the Maghreb (North-Africa) which are extremely rhythmic, diversified and mixed. I was very surprised, noting and codifying folk music during my musical research in Morocco, to take up avant-garde musical techniques worthy of modern composers like Bartok or Messiaen: use of symmetry, irregular proportions, palindromes, complementary rhythms, polyrhythms, volume changes, accelerations, slowdowns, speed superimpositions, colors, tritonic substitutions, major modes played in minor modes, saturations, collages, questions / answers. These data are even more remarkable when we know that they are community music that is largely improvised, played in real time, collectively and without any scoring. By playing this type of music in its original cultural context, the notions of concentration, communication, quality of execution and cohesion between musicians make their sense. In short, a sophisticated musical vocabulary is still popular in some parts of the world but has completely disappeared from current commercial music. This still alive heritage is still absent from the institutional musical formations but knows how to make itself accessible to those who really take the trouble. To do this, you have to accept a traditional transmission of information: go out there, meet people, discuss, participate, share and spend time together in everyday life. It is towards the creative appropriation of these old unknown traditions that my approach tends.




Maazif : In recent years, there have been many attempts at "fusion" and "mixing" which often fall into "ease". What do you think of this "musical phenomenon" in light of your academic work and artistic experience?

First of all, we, the public, artists, journalists, politicians and broadcasters (festivals, etc.) all have a responsibility to deal with the situation of art and culture, which have become synonymous with commerce, industry and can not be envisaged outside. Many adopt the posture of the market by proposing what they imagine that the public wants, while defending themselves. The alienating and coercive power of the market breaks creativity and reduces the individual and the artist to the state of passive consumer and producer. It must be remembered more than ever that art and industry are two different things. Totally opposed.

Next, I think that the "facility" we are talking about here is related to the retromania phenomenon that has affected the entire world cultural sector since the early 2000s. The constant references to musical aesthetics of the past are too immediately identifiable by the listener, and even more by a music enthusiast. The dynamic of experimental creation is generally absent from the musical approaches of many musicians known as "fusion".

The overall impact of these different collages simply does not mean anything. Their symbolic, technical and aesthetic bearing is thus considerably diminished. Even though musicians can often be technically fantastic, I am tired of this approach. I always wonder why an artist seeks to put himself in such an environment nowadays where all music is accessible at home in a few clicks.

Moreover, the tendency of musicians to follow overwhelmingly the discoveries and breakthroughs of the stars of the milieu represents for me an inability to define themselves adequately by developing a methodology that emphasizes the individual character of their musical composition.

There is a consistency in approach that is shared by many musicians of our time which makes them difficult to identify. Certainly very competent, but desperately similar. I've heard amazingly accomplished musicians, but for me, most of them lack remarkable characteristics in style, interpretation approach, concept, logic, phrasing and voice, sound. I do not say that they are not good musicians, I say that there is not much difference between them. If only the musicians dig in the most unknown archives of music, in the techniques used in oral tradition traditions, in ancient epigraphs, in medieval manuscripts, etc., they would find an untapped reserve of technical resources that would separate them from the rest of the lot. I'm not talking about something very radical, maybe a personally developed technique, a conceptual approach, a way to develop ideas and phrases, a very personal sound, a juxtaposition of thoughts, and so on.

Maazif : Could we speak of a certain "relationship" between the music of the Aissawa and jazz, following the example of the rapprochement that some historians and ethnomusicologists make between the music of the Gnawa and the blues?

Jazz, both creative and individual music, aims at an ideal of self-fulfillment by focusing on collaboration, technical rigor and positive individualism. Historically, his teaching was done by oral tradition, that is, by imitation, listening and observation. I emphasize that jazz is originally a folklore of oral tradition played and elaborated by the lowest and marginalized social classes of American society. It was, say, a music of poor people. In fact, he shares some of his characteristics with music from this oral tradition in Africa, the Maghreb or elsewhere: fraternal companionship, community repertoire, improvisations and the search for trance, transcendence. Unfortunately, contemporary jazz has lost many of these original elements to become a new bourgeois classical music without flavors. That is why I tried to get closer to the folk music of the Maghreb.

Concerning improvisation in jazz and Aissawa, we can find some common points. The first common point is the rhythmic improvisation of percussion instruments. The Aïssâwa are called "embroidery" (zwaq) on a "mother" rhythm (achiyya). The second common point is the melodic improvisation that the singers perform during the 'mowals' (uncapped improvisation a cappela). Finally, the players of oboe (reta) improvise also, between two codified melodies, instrumental melodies on the grooves of percussion. This is called simera. If the player of reta plays alone without any accompaniment, this is called ramadan. In all cases, these are improvisations codified in a given aesthetic. This can come close to the original jazz like dixieland or swing, but certainly not free jazz.

Maazif : How then can you evoke the "universal" character of these musics strongly marked by improvisational techniques in the face of an overwhelming musical, instrumental and technological technicality?

The universal character is found in improvisation and in the collective playing, because all the traditional musics practice them and put them in scene. These are fundamental characteristics that allow music to be renewed. At the philosophical level, the universal character of these musics comes from their creative, evolutionary, adaptive aspect. These are musics that evolve, which are alive. And they must remain so and not become nostalgic and retro-vintage music. This fashion is a scourge for creativity and encloses music in a fantasy museum. Creativity comes from within, it does not obey any rules other than those of her innermost desire and feelings. To be creative is not to play something because it is fashionable, because you are told that this is the way to succeed and make money, but to trust and to go to the end of his own expression. It also means not shutting oneself up in a style that one would make one's own once and for all. On the contrary, he is constantly listening to his intimate evolutions, his metamorphoses, and trying to account for them in his music. That's why I do not believe that there are styles inherently more creative than others, folklore and traditional music can be creative. It is the musicians who simply have to give themselves the means to express what they have deep within themselves. Being oneself is an increasingly difficult challenge in our normative societies that insidiously push you to conform to the tastes of others, to align yourself with the law of the greatest number, simply to have the chance to survive. In this context, it is a struggle of every moment to retain its creativity and to persist in being oneself. Moreover, all music has its own technical difficulties to perform, but the audience does not have to know it, it does not matter. The Artist's work is to convince him and not to seduce him.

Maazif : And to finish, do you conceive of a certain musical "coexistence/reconciliation" between the so-called traditional music and the so-called modern techniques?

Music does not exist independently of the people who make it. The coexistence of music must therefore be approached from the point of view of social ties, human relations between people and generational transmission. Music is linked to our singularities as human beings, to our philosophical, aesthetic, political choices. The answer to this question seems broadly cultural. Artists who can collaborate spontaneously, whether they be "traditional" or "modern" musicians, must have in common that they were born at about the same time in the same country, sharing common ideas about the state of society and music and, above all, having similar cultural references rooted in their experiences. They must share a common vision of the world. No matter in which musical aesthetics each one expresses himself, the aim will be to make a music that most faithfully reflects their tastes, their desires, their anger, their traditions, their collective history. This is how the meeting of music takes place. In this context we mean both the individual expression of the musicians but also the whole cultural environment in which they live, which nourishes them, influences them and serves as a substratum for their art. And each music is the product of a given milieu, of a cultural space, at a precise moment in history. On the other hand, some artists possess a double or even a triple culture which allows them to collaborate with artists from different regions of the world because they possess influences and common references although they are not of the same generation . All this common culture will enable them to collaborate in the creation of a new music, to relate their respective languages ​​in order to find common territories where the exchange could take place. There are many musicians everywhere who create music at the crossroads of these different worlds, epochs, influences. Unfortunately the majority of the media of all stripes, but also the festivals, became the places of the submission to the show-business, the popular song and the offers pastiste. But it is in the margins, slowly and surely, that the sound of today and tomorrow is create.


Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.