Tuesday, February 02, 2016

NEW RELEASES: PHILLIP SMART MEETS THE AGGROVATORS - AT KING TUBBY'S; TEURO NAKAMURA – NEW YORK GROOVE; THE M-TET - STRATEGICAL MATHEMATICAL (WHATEVER)

PHILLIP SMART MEETS THE AGGROVATORS - AT KING TUBBY'S

There's a heady brew of talent going on here – Phillip Smart at the mixing deck, The Aggrovators providing the rhythms, and Bunny Lee mixing the whole thing down at King Tubby's – all for a massive serving of echo-heavy Jamaican dub from the 70s! The tracks here are awash in cool instrumental touches – lots of organ lines from Jackie Mittoo and Winston Wright, bubbling basslines from Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett, and sweet riffing guitar from Chinna Smith and Alva Lewis – but the special focus here is on the way that Smart can capture all these sounds individually, with a crispness that points the way towards the digital dub generation, and which gives a really deep sense of texture to the final dubs. Titles include "Queen Of Dubs", "Prophecy Dub", "Nuclear Weapon", "Money Make Friends Dub", "Night Angel Dub", "Wiseman Dub", and "Fool Get Wise Dub". CD features four more bonus tracks too! ~ Dusty Groove

TEURO NAKAMURA – NEW YORK GROOVE

A definite New York groove from bassist Teuro Nakamura – and a set that really takes us back to some of the best American/Japanese fusion sessions of the late 70s! Like some of those classics, this one was recorded in the US, with a Japanese player in the lead – bassist Nakamura – and the sound is wonderfully smooth and soulful, with a wickedly spacious take on jazz funk – and this open groove set up by the basslines, which then allow plenty of room for the other musicians to take flight! The album features guitar from Joe Berger, Bill Washer, and William Spaceman Patterson – plus loads of sweet keyboards and Fender Rhodes from Ron Thompson, whose work on the record is almost worth the price of admission! The set also features a bit of soprano sax from Antoine Roney, and some tenor from Jay Rodriguez – and titles include "Bushman Song", "Sequoia Forest", "Sweet Romance", "Midnight Song", and "Certain Doubt". ~ Dusty Groove


THE M-TET - STRATEGICAL MATHEMATICAL (WHATEVER)

The M-Tet is an instrumental classic soul quartet located in the San Francisco Bay Area featuring Joe Baer Magnant (guitar), Gary Pitman (Hammond organ), Chris Lujan (Fender bass), and Michael Reed (drums). Rooted in the deep sound of '60s organ-based R&B, made famous by Booker T. & The M.G.’s, The Meters, and Bill Black’s Combo, The M-Tet offers a fresh new take on old-school R&B by incorporating hard hitting beats that Ricky Vincent (author of the book Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One) says will “blow your mind with some old school funk. In concert, The M-Tet delivers on their soul-drenched live-to-tape recordings with “swinging organ led groovers that show the band is really in their own lane with creating original compositions in an era where so many songs are remakes or... going for a popular sound” (Hot Peas & Butta, March 2015). Dancers and casual toe tappers groove to a healthy dose of original tunes, peppered with up-beat organ and guitar solos, and punctuated with classic remakes that seamlessly start as soon as the last one ends.


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