Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme just released their long awaited debut album Saturday night, selling out the Tractor Tavern. Going into the show, I had only heard a couple cuts from their myspace page, so much of the material they played was new to me, and I was blown away by how far they’ve evolved since the days when I briefly played with these cats. Their show was highly polished and extremely entertaining. Things got started with the core band and Donnie Dollarstack calling up the horns, the Lady Gravy and Ms. Bean, and finally the star of the show, Eldridge himself. It was a party start to finish and included a variety of emotion to drive your soul in different directions as things progressed. In addition to playing all the songs from the album, they sprinkled in covers ranging from Funkadelic to local funk off the Wheedle’s Groove compilation. Lady Gravy took center stage for the classic “Rock Steady” and brought down the house. Never a hint of loftiness, Eldridge wants nothing more than for you to shake your ass and get down.
Since the show, I haven’t been able to stop listening to the album, “Us Is What Time It Is”. In the sea of recent Deep Funk revival, it’s refreshing to hear a band bring more of the P-Funk & Sly Stone dance funk vibe back. It could be the rich background vocals on “Can’t Help It” and “Get It Got It Good”, maybe it’s Daddy Diddio’s liquid layer of keys on “Do What You Do”, or the full-on funkadelic freak outs by Wilson & The Crime on “Smells Like Danger” and “Pick You Up”, all with Ol’ Pollina keeping it tight on the skins. No matter how you slice it, the Court Supreme have risen up to reign as Seattle’s premier funk outfit. And that’s all before you consider the soul and power of Eldridge, both on stage and in the studio. He shows his deep down bluesy soul on “Pick You Up” to James Brown explosiveness on “Fire Escape”, the one live track included to prove that they can and will take it to the stage.
Do yourself a favor, go see these guys live, and pick up a CD in the meantime. You won’t regret it.
Speedometer is proof positive that the deep funk revival is in full force, as well as the fact that Europe continues to rival the heavy New York funk scene. Following the groove stylings of other big names in deep funk like the Bamboos, Quantic Soul Orchestra, and the Budos Band, Speedometer plays tight rhythms together with sharp horn arrangements, funky clean guitar, and the seemingly required hammond organ. Guest vocalist Ria Currie fits the mold of funk soul sister to a T. She’s smooth and fits right in the deep pockets that Speedometer provides. The song “Am I Your Woman?” could be the catchiest funk song of the last 5 years. Robert Moore brings the male yang to Currie’s yin, rounding out the overall flow.
Over and over while listening to “Four Flights Up”, I kept saying to myself, “Wow, I’ve heard that before.” It’s like this album is the soundtrack of my life, and maybe for good reason. I’m almost certain that at least a few of the tracks have been used in movies and/or advertisements. Does that mean Speedometer has sold out? As an aspiring musician myself, I would just say that means they are making the music work for them, rather than the other way around.
The music itself comes off as easy and natural. I could drive my car all day to this stuff. Check these guys out!
Though, trying to find them in searches is almost as bad as looking up my band People Within, as you’ll justifiably find a bunch of articles about cars. So here’s a little help:
http://www.myspace.com/speedometeruk
http://www.dustygroove.com/browse.php?incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&kwfilter=speedometer
Their myspace page says they have a new album “Soul Grooving LIVE” out as of March 2009. I’ll be sure to check that out sometime soon.
There are many funk gems lost to near obscurity over the last 40 years. Betty was almost one of them, if not for Light In the Attic Records. Her debut album, Betty Davis, was re-released in 2007. Featuring members of Sly & the Family Stone (obvious from the distinctive Larry Graham sound), Graham Central Station, Santana, and Tower of Power, Betty had assembled an allstar lineup of funkstas to lay her gritty, RAW, scratchy, and deep vocals down. At times sounding a bit like George Clinton, imitated by Macy Gray, Betty Davis has an unmistakenly strong voice.
It must have been hard to live in the shadows of the great Miles Davis, a marriage which didn’t last long, but had lasting effects on Miles. Whatever the reason for me to have never heard anything by this mean funkin’ lady is a mystery. This is not disco funk. This is not weak, airy R&B type “funk”. Betty Davis is real. Check her out.
Perhaps it’s easy to dismiss Japan from the Funk world, given the bubblegum pop, electronica, and grinding punk that one might normally think of when they consider the Japanese music scene. But I’m convinced that all corners of the world have funk. In this case, I’m talking about Osaka Monaurail.
If there was ever a Japanese James Brown, these guys are it. Super tight drums, bass up in your face, agile guitar licks, and sharp horn hits are the makings of any great funk band. For those longing for a little taste of the JBs style grooves, Osaka Monaurail will fulfill your needs. There’s also something very pleasing about the slight, barely noticeable, Japanese accent on the vocals, dispite having a very good mastery of the english language. It adds some freshness that you won’t find in the states.
Unfortuneately, I can only find one title on e-music but Dusty Groove has a couple more albums in stock — imports naturally, so expect to put up some dough to add these to your collection. For the true funk enthusiast, it will be money well spent.
I came across Baby Charles on Dusty Groove records and am kicking myself for waiting as long as I did to finally get it (album came out in March 2008). I can’t be happier that I corrected that situation.
Baby Charles follows in the footsteps of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings when it comes down to deep down funk fronted by a strong female voice. The biggest difference may be that Baby Charles is even dirtier, grittier, deeper than the Dap Kings. It’s not to say Sharon isn’t the reigning queen of funk right now…she still is. But she better watch out because Baby Charles is on the rise.
Yo, what’s up people. This is my very first post. I felt that I really needed to have a place to talk about funk, whether it’s reviewing new funk, reminiscing on old funk, or just talking about funky experiences, this is the place to do it.
I no longer live so much in the dark ages of CDs now that I’ve started to download much more of my music. So, let’s talk about the latest stuff I got. And some day, hopefully before too long, I’ll have a more organized way to do all this.
The most recent download is “Skimming The Skum” by Lefties Soul Connection. It carries an upbeat combo: part Meters, part jazz, mostly deep down tight grooves. Skimming keeps me going when I need a lift. One might question, “Do we really need yet another funk outfit with guitar, bass, organ, and drums? Hasn’t that been done to death?” My answer is “Hell no! These guys tear it up!”
