NEW RELEASES: LES MCCANN - HUSTLE TO SURVIVE; CARLOS NINO & FRIENDS - AURORAMUSHROOMTENDERNESSS; RUSTY BRYANT – FIRE EATER

LES MCCANN - HUSTLE TO SURVIVE

Sweet funky soul from Les McCann – one of the best of his 70s albums that bring in a lot of vocals with the keyboards – and served up in some tight tunes that really pack a nice sort of punch! The album doesn't have the long jammers of some of McCann's other records from the time – but the shift to shorter, focused tunes is a nice one – thanks to Bert De Coteaux, who keeps things carefully poised to bring out all the best in Les' talents – even his vocals, which seem to sound even more moving on the mellow cuts here than the more upbeat and righteous ones! McCann plays a range of different keyboards – including Fender Rhodes – and the CD's got two great instrumental cuts, "Us" and "Butterflies" – plus the tracks "Well Cuss My Daddy", "Why Is Now", "Changing Seasons", "Says Who Says What", and "Let Your Learning Be Your Eyes".  ~ Dusty Groove

CARLOS NINO & FRIENDS - AURORAMUSHROOMTENDERNESSS

Dreamy soundscapes from cosmic spirit Carlos Nino and a host of diversely talented friends – including fellow Build An Ark alumni Dexter Story and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dntel, Daedelus, adventurous new age-r Iasos, Beachwood Sparks strings player/sound designer Farmer Dave Scher, John Densmore of The Doors, jazz pianist Nate Morgan and others! There a spacious, hypnotic vibe here that's carried through with a very collaborative spirit – starting with keyboards and percussion-rooted soundscapes and compositions by Carlos, who sends his sketches out to the far-reaching roster of friends to freely contribute their own distinctive magic. We really love the looser, sparer and more hypnotic sounds, but there's some busier, more insistent material that hold it all together nicely. Includes "Aurorasmushroomtenderness" with Iasos, "Constellation Of Dancing Flutes" with Yaakov Levy, "Rhodestargate" with Nate Morgan & Dntel, "Mellohtronn Interlou" with Jim Lang, "Visionquest: Emergence" with Paul Livingstone, "Enter The Nowosphere Spaceways Radio Mix" with Deantoni Parks, Farmer Dave Scher, Cut Chemist, Kelsey Gonzalez, Dexter Story and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, "Meetor Shower" with Dntel, "Familyyy" with Nate Morgan, "8 Moons Blue" with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and more. (Includes code for digital download.)  ~ Dusty Groove

RUSTY BRYANT – FIRE EATER

A monster – and one of the best jazz funk albums ever on Prestige! Rusty Bryant blows his top off on this one – taking his tenor stylings out of the more staid R&B mode of earlier years, working with some younger heavy funk jazz players to craft a brilliant album of long searing tunes that's forever been one of the must-haves of the early 70s jazz funk scene! Idris Muhammad's on drums, Wilbert Longmire's on guitar, and the organ work is split between Leon Spencer and Bill Mason, both monstrously great talents, with a propensity for open-stopped hard-wailing playing! Titles include "Fire Eater", "The Hooker", "Mister S", and "Free At Last".  ~ Dusty Groove