All Jazz/Funk/Soul/R&B Episodes

Wanted to tell you about a new Jazz trio called Spaga.  They make interesting stripped down acoustic jazz music, and feature Aron Magner on piano. Of course, you know Aron from his other prominent project The Disco Biscuits, but as luck would have it, he has carved out some time to get back to his …

To describe Lettuce, in any specific genre would in itself be as silly as their name. They are a genre-busting six-member funk/jazz/soul/jam/psychedelic/hip-hop/art rock/ambient/avant-garde/experimental collective formed in 1992 by four alumni of the prestigious Berklee College of Music. But you pr…

Gnomes and Badgers is the forthcoming record from Karl Denson due out March 8th. This record, is a significant departure for Denson in that it has very strong political overtones, something he truly has stayed away from until now. Aside from the usual Tiny Universe players, Chuck Leavell, Anders Os…

We’ve been big fans of Galactic dating back to 1998 and Crazy Horse Mongoose. They’ve always been a band that’s hard to describe blending New Orleans funk with R&B, soul, rock and several other sounds. In fact it’s almost impossible. What we appreciate most, aside from the music though, is the amba…

When I first met Phil Tessis at a Jam Labs event here in Toronto at a local bar, he was a quiet, unassuming, gifted guitar player. What I didn’t know at the time, or rather immediately is that Phil is indeed part of an amazing Funk quartet that although local to Toronto has found some success acros…

We’ve all been listening to the Disco Biscuits forever. We always keep an eye out for Marc Brownstein’s work, since we appreciate his work on bass, and he has similar taste in music. So when we read that he started this new project called Star Kitchen, a Funk type thing, we were jonesing to hear ex…

The Motet have been on our radar for a long time. We like their version of Funk, Soul and R&B quite a bit. They have a new record "Death or Devotion" which is dropping January 25th, so it just made sense to sit down and talk with someone from the band before they hit the road. Luckily, we tracked d…

While John Medeski fronts Mad Skillet, an interesting four piece borne out of New Orleans jams, the project is certainly a sum of its of it’s parts. The band includes the under appreciated Will Bernard on guitar and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band rhythm section featuring sousaphonist Kirk Joseph and Te…

If you’ve part of the jam band scene for a while, you’ve no doubt heard the name Erik Deutsch. He’s been somewhat of a fixture dating back to his days with Fat Mama, solo pursuits and now part of Leftover Salmon. He is an extremely talented keyboard player and lends his talents to a multitude of pr…

Attempting to define the kind of music Ghost Note plays, would be near impossible. They are a jazz hybrid that play funk, r&b, soul, hip-hop and yes, they rock. Started by Snarky Puppy’s drummer Robert “Sput” Searight and percussionist Nate Werth. Rather than just telling you about this band that h…

Magic in the Other is the brainchild of drummer Ezra Lipp, who’s name may be familiar from the San Francisco Jam Band scene. He’s toiled with Phil Lesh and Friends, often hangs at Terrapin Crossroads and plays with ALO as well. Actually ALO bassist Steve Adams is also in the band, as well as guitar…

MMW’s forthcoming release Omnisphere featuring Alarm Will Sound, is something definitely a little different for our audience and those that love Medeski Martin and Wood, but certainly not for guys themselves. Both John Medeski and Billy Martin are classically trained musicians who while dabbling in…

Though the record won't be out until September 28th, I did have a chance to sample it, and have to tell, you it might be their best to date. You can tell that the band, fronted by Dave Brandwein has really coming together and matured on this record. As you'll soon hear, this record was more collabo…

The thing about being a talented musician is that you are often are in demand to play with many different people, and doing so, you aren’t necessarily afforded the time to work on your own projects. Such is the case for keyboard wiz, Robert Walter. He’s been touring extensively and making records w…

We’re big fans of all of Cory’s projects including his work with Vulfpeck, and had no idea until recently the physical and indeed mental crossroad he faced when he was just sixteen. Almost two decades ago, Cory suffered a concussive head injury which created a scenario where his right arm kept goin…