I've been listening to a lot of funk and disco lately. Since this is weekly, I'll save some for later, but here are my highlights: Cory Wong's Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul is a...
I've been listening to a lot of funk and disco lately. Since this is weekly, I'll save some for later, but here are my highlights:
Cory Wong's Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul is a light, tasteful, funky af album filled with insanely talented musicians playing what is essentially simple music with a very, very high degree of skill. Cory's right hand rhythm is the best I've heard since Nile Rodgers (maybe better?). Can't help but shake your booty to it. Cory also plays guitar in Vulfpeck, one of my favorite funk bands playing today. (They just released a live album from their concert at Madison Square Garden, which blew me away.)
I was taking a fitness class recently in which the instructor played Higher Love (the Steve Winwood tune), but with modern production and sung by...Whitney Houston (what?). Growing up with a couple of disco-loving Brooklynites for parents, I was caught off guard. How had this track eluded me? When did Whitney record this? Turns out, it's a remix of a limitedly-released cover WH recorded in the early 90s. I'm not usually one for regular consumption of dance mixes, but I just cannot stop listening to this song. The production is good, but Whitney's voice is otherworldly. Her belting is completely effortless, her runs are flawless, and her little rhythmic flourishes ("uhBring me a higher love...") are just so much fun. Give this track a chance.
Moving away from Funk/Disco a bit, I've also been listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan's In Step, which I find most casual SRV appreciators are less aware of than, say, Texas Flood. This album was made after Stevie got clean, and it shows. His playing on this album is as tight as I've ever heard it. Despite some cheesy 80s synth and what to my ears is excessive reverb on, well, everything, I keep coming back to this album because of his guitar playing. Stand out songs are Crossfire, Let Me Love You Baby (pretty standard blues tune + virtuoso blues guitar), Riviera Paradise, Travis Walk.
I've been listening to a lot of funk and disco lately. Since this is weekly, I'll save some for later, but here are my highlights:
Cory Wong's Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul is a light, tasteful, funky af album filled with insanely talented musicians playing what is essentially simple music with a very, very high degree of skill. Cory's right hand rhythm is the best I've heard since Nile Rodgers (maybe better?). Can't help but shake your booty to it. Cory also plays guitar in Vulfpeck, one of my favorite funk bands playing today. (They just released a live album from their concert at Madison Square Garden, which blew me away.)
I was taking a fitness class recently in which the instructor played Higher Love (the Steve Winwood tune), but with modern production and sung by...Whitney Houston (what?). Growing up with a couple of disco-loving Brooklynites for parents, I was caught off guard. How had this track eluded me? When did Whitney record this? Turns out, it's a remix of a limitedly-released cover WH recorded in the early 90s. I'm not usually one for regular consumption of dance mixes, but I just cannot stop listening to this song. The production is good, but Whitney's voice is otherworldly. Her belting is completely effortless, her runs are flawless, and her little rhythmic flourishes ("uhBring me a higher love...") are just so much fun. Give this track a chance.
Moving away from Funk/Disco a bit, I've also been listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan's In Step, which I find most casual SRV appreciators are less aware of than, say, Texas Flood. This album was made after Stevie got clean, and it shows. His playing on this album is as tight as I've ever heard it. Despite some cheesy 80s synth and what to my ears is excessive reverb on, well, everything, I keep coming back to this album because of his guitar playing. Stand out songs are Crossfire, Let Me Love You Baby (pretty standard blues tune + virtuoso blues guitar), Riviera Paradise, Travis Walk.