Shiela E. – Iconic: Message 4 America

Posted on February 2, 2018 by aaamc

Artist: Sheila E.

Label: Stiletto Flats

Formats: CD, LP, MP3

Release date: September 1, 2017

Sheila E.’s Iconic: Message 4 America offers a musical palette of iconic songs, primarily from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Though the album dropped in September, the self-released project didn’t garner as much attention as it deserved, so we’re happy to give it a shout out during Black History Month.

Described as a musical movement for turbulent times, Sheila conceived of the album as “a call for us to rise up and stand for something that is greater than our self-interest.” Instead of creating new music, she chose to reinvent “some of the greatest protest and revolution songs . . . to fit current times.” Assisting her in this endeavor are members of her band plus a bevy of exemplary guests. Of course, Sheila Escovedo herself is a renowned drummer and percussionist perhaps best known for her work with Prince, but she’s also an amazing vocalist as she proves on each and every track.

The album opens with “Funky National Anthem,” a powerful medley drawing upon multiple texts beginning with Sheila’s spoken intro from the Declaration of Independence. After a brief (and yes, very funky) version of the National Anthem, the final three minutes draw upon some of the most famous and inspiring speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. On this track, Sheila issues a “call for our leaders to rise up and work for the betterment of men and women, no matter the race, color, or creed.”

The first celebrity guest enters on the Beatles’ “Come Together,” with Ringo Starr taking over the drum kit. Once again, a rousing spoken intro kicks off the arrangement (as in the Primal Scream version): “This is a beautiful day / we are unified / we are of one accord / today we are together / when we are together we got power!” Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People” also features original band members: Freddie Stone on lead vocal and guitar, and Lynn Mabry on tambourine.

An album of this nature can’t be complete without representation from Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. On Gayes’ “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” Sheila deftly incorporates elements of “Trouble Man,” with Eddie M. (former Prince saxophonist) on lead vocals. “Pusherman,” the Mayfield classic from the Superfly soundtrack is sung by Sheila, who adds “You took Prince, Pusherman.” You know she won’t finish this album without a Prince tribute. Anthony Antoine was selected to sing the combined “America – Free,” yet another amazing and provocative track.

Israel Houghton takes over on Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America,” with Greg Phillinganes on organ and Dino Saldo on harmonica. Really, it doesn’t get any better than this. Oh wait! Another highlight is the James Brown Medley. Bootsy Collins joins Sheila for this funk fest that joins together half a dozen of JB’s Black Power era anthems, beginning with “Talking Loud and Saying Nothing” and concluding with “Super Bad.” And there’s more P-funk. George Clinton sits in for “One Nation Under a Groove,” which segues into “Mothership Connection.”

These are just some of the treats in store on Sheila’s masterful Iconic: Message 4 America, featuring some of the top musicians in the business performing amazing arrangements of iconic songs. I believe Sheila E. has also achieved her other goals: “To bring awareness, to spark conversation, to allow healing, to restore hope, to express love, to find peace, and to unite through music.”

Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

Fuzzy Haskins – I Got My Thang Together

Posted on June 1, 2017 by aaamc

Title: I Got My Thang Together: The Westbound Years

Artist: Fuzzy Haskins

Label: Westbound/Ace

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: April 7, 2017

Ace Records has released the compilation I Got My Thang Together: The Westbound Years celebrating the music of one Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins. Who’s Fuzzy Haskins, you ask? Well, if you are even a casual fan of Parliament-Funkadelic, chances are you are already familiar with his brand of earthy, heavyweight funk (“Put Up Your Dukes”). Although amongst most popular culture George Clinton and Bootsy Collins are seen as the brand ambassadors for the P-Funk Mob, there were many, many players who made both bands what they were. Some of these players were even given their own chance to shine on various side projects that sprung up during the height of their popularity.

After growing up on Parliament (my Dad’s record collection is the core of my own collection), I was still amazed at how much material was out there to be discovered. During my personal “deep dive” into the Parliament-Funkadelic catalog, I came across A Whole Nother Thang and Radio Active, the aforementioned Fuzzy Haskins albums from 1976 and 1978 respectively. As with many of the side releases from P-Funk, Haskins is backed by other members of the band including Billy “Bass” Nelson, Tiki Fulwood, Bootsy Collins, Cordell “Boogie” Mosson and Bernie Worrell. Since the lion’s share of this compilation was pulled from these two albums, it definitely has a very familiar feel.

Haskins’ history with Parliament goes back to its very origins as part of the doo wop group known as “The Parliaments”—the original group that would later birth Funkadelic and Parliament. Haskins is credited with writing several songs on the early P-Funk records, but by the mid-1970s he was feeling a little disconnected (pun intended) from the Mothership and began stashing songs away for what would become his debut solo album: A Whole Nother Thang on Westbound Records (the label behind the first few Funkadelic releases). The most famous track from this first outing was “Cookie Jar.” The song has a great groove and was later covered with great results by P-Funk’s female group, Parlet. The version included on this compilation is not from the album, but an alternate that’s arguably better based solely off the hilarious conversational intro by Haskins. Another highlight is “Mr. Junk Man,” a funky lament for those addicted to drugs, and “The Fuz and Da Boog” which features Haskins on drums and Cordell Masson on bass.

This compilation also features tracks from Haskins’ second Westbound release, Radio Active, including the tracks “Sinderella” and “Not Yet,” which feature Haskins basking in his carnal desires. It is tracks like these that eventually stalled Radio Active from getting a solid push from the label. By this time Haskins had become disenfranchised with the P-Funk Mob and turned his life over to religion. Not wanting to sing “nasty” songs he was equally unenthusiastic about the record upon its completion. In the years since, Haskins has reunited with Parliament-Funkadelic on several occasions and was inducted with them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

I Got My Thang Together serves as a great introduction to Fuzzy Haskins’ solo work and fits right in with many of the other great P-Funk side projects. If you are a hardcore Funkateer, this one’s for you.

Reviewed by Levon Williams

Dâm-Funk – Invite the Light

Posted on September 2, 2015 by aaamc

Title: Invite the Light

Artist: Dâm-Funk

Label: Stones Throw

Format: CD, MP3 Vinyl

Release Date: September 4, 2015

Pasadena, California-based musician and producer Dâm-Funk returns with the announcement of his newest solo project Invite the Light, to be released September 4^th on Stones Throw Records. There is no doubt that Dâm-Funk is a powerful asset to the label. His production perfectly fits within the label’s current stable of artists while at the same time extending the broad musical diversity of Stones Throw’s offerings. It is possible to hear the manipulation of textures and beats which Stones Throw artists tend to be fond of on the track “Acting”, which features the cosmic vocals of pop surrealist Ariel Pink. By interspersing old school beats with futuristic sounds, atmospheres, melodies, and harmonies on cuts like “She Lights Me Up,” Dâm-Funk channels many of the artists who have influenced his approach to production.

After numerous collaborations, Invite the Light is Dâm-Funk’s first solo album in nearly 6 years. The influence of the collaborative processes in which Dâm-Funk has participated during the past several years is apparent through the impressive diversity he offers as the album’s guiding concept: “the awareness of funk.” So, it’s not surprising that funk-master Junie Morrison (perhaps best known from his work with the Ohio Players or his participation with the P-Funk collective in the late 1970s) opens the album with an intriguing introduction on “The Secrets of Funk,” heralding this album as “The spearhead of the revolution and the nearly forgotten school of groove formerly known to us as the funk” which “will cause an evolutionary leap in consciousness and in the message of the funk itself.” And Dâm-Funk definitely knows how to deal with the P-Funk legacy, as is keenly illustrated by “HowUGetFu*kAround”, what may be heard as the descendent of “Flashlight,” a kind of proto-g-funky-hip-hop. This style has been Dâm-Funk’s bread and butter since Adolescent Funk, the series of demos and home recordings he made between 1988 and 1992. Following George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog,” “The Acceptance” uses a recording trick similar to the one Clinton employed that “intended for the bass and the handclaps to be abnormally loud”^{^[1]} in order to produce the danceable beat that drives both tracks.

To further explore the techniques that Dâm-Funk uses when constructing his beats, one may simply look at the “phat bassline” on “Just Ease Your Mind”, which meshes perfectly with the signature flow of Snoop Dogg, with whom Dâm-Funk previously collaborated on 2013’s 7 Days of Funk. Other tracks are notable not only for their all-star cast of featured artists but also for how they demonstrate Dâm-Funk’s adroit beatmaking skills, as with two versions of “I’m Just Tryna’ Survive,” offering a “party version” as well as the original, with both sporting distinctly different raps by Q-Tip. This type of juxtaposition also occurs again with the modern/retro track “Floating on Air” featuring the surprising duo of Flea and Computer Jay.

In short, Invite the Light represents a convergence of many different sounds and textures, creating a pleasant and even astonishing whole when considered as a full package. What binds all of these disparate influences together? Funk, of course. So, as Clinton would say, sit back, relax and “give up the Funk!”

Reviewed by Guillaume Dupetit

^{^[1]} See “Dam Funk Interviews George Clinton: It’s A Beautiful Stink!” by Nathan Morse on L.A. Record website, http://larecord.com/interviews/2014/08/31/dam-funk-interviews-george-clinton-parliament-funkadelic. August 31st, 2014.

Afro Strut

Posted on December 7, 2007 by aaamc

Title: Afro Strut
Artist: Amp Fiddler
Label: Play It Again Sam (U.S. Edition)
Catalog No.: 32
Date: 2007

Combining elements of both hip hop and techno, along with funky groove lines and soulful, intelligent lyrics, Amp Fiddler‘s second album, Afro Strut, will not disappoint. With this new album, Amp Fiddler delivers an outstanding follow-up to his first solo project, Waltz of a Ghetto Fly, which was released in 2004. Though he has only recently pursued a career as a solo artist, he’s been in the music business for more than twenty years, and this experience is demonstrated throughout his first two albums.

Joseph “Amp” Fiddler is a keyboard player, singer, songwriter and producer from Detroit. He learned piano as a child, studied music at Oakland and Wayne State Universities, and toured with George Clinton as keyboardist for more than ten years. Fiddler references his Detroit origin in his use of soul, funk and techno-all genres which are part of Detroit’s musical heritage. This combination of musical genres also shows the influence of the artists he has worked with throughout his career, including Prince, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jamiroquai, Carl Craig and Moodyman, as well as George Clinton.

This CD is actually the U.S. edition of the original Afro Strut album. Though Amp Fiddler is based in the U.S., he had been without a domestic record deal for some time, so the album was first released in the U.K. in 2006 (on the Genuine label), arriving in the U.S. about a year later. The U.S. edition of Afro Strut is not simply a re-release of the UK version, but features several changes, including five new tracks not found anywhere else. Three songs from the UK version are also replaced on the US version. One of the featured new tracks is a duet with Grammy nominated artist Corinne Bailey-Rae, titled “If I Don’t”, and showcases a jazzy, 1930s influence. This track originally appeared on the UK version as a solo, but was re-recorded with Bailey-Rae for the US release. The first track on the album, “Faith”, is an ode to spirituality featuring Fiddler in a duet with Raphael Saadiq. All tracks on the album, except for track 8, were written by Amp Fiddler, sometimes in collaboration with other artists. Fiddler also performed ‘vocals and keys’ on each track on the album.

At the 2007 Detroit Music Awards, Amp Fiddler won in three categories: Outstanding Electronic/Dance Artist, Outstanding Electronic/Dance Producer and Outstanding Urban/Funk/Hip Hop Recording for Afro Strut. Watch for more great music from Amp Fiddler, as I believe he will continue to produce amazing albums.

Posted by Meaghan Reef

Editor’s note: a representative sample of Amp Fiddler’s music videos are available on YouTube, including “Right Where You Are” (the first single released from Afro Strut), “If I Don’t” (the duet with Corinne Bailey-Rae), and “Ridin‘” (laid over a great compilation of old movie clips). Unfortunately there’s no clip yet of “Hey Joe,” his killer reworking of the Jimi Hendrix song.