The New Mastersounds are a four-piece band based in Leeds, England, whose modern take on vintage soul-jazz, funk and rock draws influences from Jimmies McGriff, Smith, and Hendrix, as well as their most closely-associated mentors, The Meters. Try to imagine Grant Green and Lou Donaldson having a fight in a Hammond Organ shop while James Brown holds the coats, and you have some idea of what to expect from this band. Their first single, One Note Brown, was released on Blow It Hard Records in 2000 and was passionately championed by acclaimed Northern Soul and funk DJ Keb Darge. To date, the band has released four studio records: 102%, This Is What We Do, Be Yourself, Keb Darge Presents… as well as The New Mastersounds Re::Mixed, and Live At La Cova. Also of note: their single, “Your Love Is Mine” featuring Corinne Bailey Rae, was used in the 2007 Warner Brothers movie Feast of Love.
The New Mastersounds - This Is What We Do (2005)
mp3 320kbps | 109MB | 47:51 min.
Cita:
'After gaining respectability through backing jazz funk masters like Lou Donaldson, and popularity through opening for groups like the Greyboy Allstars, NMS have, on their third release, hit their stride. Much like their American counterparts Soulive, NMS know how to work tight riffs and taut melodies into wild, extended jams.' (Japan Times)
'Tight old-school funk from Britain, with healthy dollops of soul-jazz and a little blues mixed in. It's all instrumentals and all live (no samplers or turntables required, thank you), with a solid 60s/70s sound that'll make you think of The Meters. A rollicking good time!' (KZTU Review)
1. Zambezi (3:51)
2. All I Want (Right Now) (4:15)
3. Tin Drum (Featuring Sam Bell) (3:33)
4. You Got It All (2:58)
5. Land Of Nod (7:48)
6. Ain't No Telling (3:00)
7. Minx (4:53)
8. Afternoon At Gigi's (3:43)
9. Pure (Featuring Sam Bell) (4:08)
10. La Cova (2:51)
11. Baby Bouncer (3:13)
12. Vandenburg Suite (3:38)
It won't take long -- maybe ten seconds into the first cut -- to know that the Meters are a primary influence on the U.K.'s New Mastersounds. The opening title track is such a ringer for "Cissy Strut" that you may check your CD sleeve to see if the discs weren't accidentally swapped. As the album unwinds, though, the all-instrumental quartet reveals more of its own identity: a sort of acid jazz mixed with crisp early-'70s funk grabbed from New Orleans' finest. Certainly drummer Simon Allen has been practicing to his Zigaboo Modeliste records, and it's his attack that principally drives the sound. The interplay between organ and Eddie Roberts' guitar carries the melody, but this band's motor is powered by its formidable rhythm section. Despite the Meters fixation, the New Mastersounds marry a somewhat retro approach with a contemporary spin that makes this fusion perfect for Austin Powers lovers. There is no denying that these guys bring the Southern funk, but the mix of their Brit jazz sensibilities and chops fine-tuned for maximum danceability spins the music in a unique direction. There's also more than a little Booker T. & the MG's here, especially in guitarist Roberts' sparse, choppy leads that echo those of Steve Cropper. What's most impressive, though, is how the band locks together. No member hogs the spotlight as these 14 tightly arranged zingers, most of them hovering just over three minutes, trim off the fatty jam tendencies that often sink similar combos by concentrating on compressed licks that kick out of the speakers with terse precision. The group shifts into pseudo psychedelics on the closing "Paranoid (Is It Any Wonder?)" as Roberts approximates a Cream-era Clapton-styled distortion that doesn't entirely resonate but at least shows a willingness to experiment and push boundaries. A few stabs at a lounge style also come up rather short, but the snappy funk is never more than a track away. Guest reedman Rob Lavers adds some old Crusaders-type horn work on a few songs, assisting a band that's already as in the pocket as they come. -- AMG
01. 102%
02. Witness
03. Carrot
04. Thirty Three
05. Colorado Sun (Jesse's Backyard)
06. Give Me A Minute
07. Rope-A-Dope
08. Hey Fela!
09. Bus Stop No. 5
10. Return To Gijon
11. Forgiveness
12. Talk Is Cheap
13. L.A. Root Down (Dub Side Of The Pier)
14. Paranoid (Is It Any Wonder?)
On this, their second album, Leed's The New Mastersounds expand upon their pure funk template to include a subtler spectrum of textures. The usual blistering funk is still there, but is augemented by a more relaxed jazz/soul approach.
The opener, "This Ain't Work", is classic Mastersounds, but is then followed by the breezy "Your Love Is Mine", featuring the vocals of the sublime Corinne Bailey Rae. Her approach is reminiscent of Minnie Riperton's soul jazz sound of the early 1970s. This gentle, melodic piece is followed by "Cant Hold Me Down" - a track that punches into the mighty southern funk territory of The Meters.
1960's groovy psychadelia is evoked on "Better Off Dead", guitarist Eddie Roberts' jangling sitar lines float across the top of the rhythm section - prompting recollections of Dave Pikes' 'Mathar'. It's good to hear Roberts playing so many different styles, reminding everyone that whacking out serious funk isnt the only thing he does tastefully well.
The jazz boogaloo rears its well worn head on "Coming Up Roses", but it is beautifully counter balanced by the folky atmosphere of "Barca". The latter evokes the sounds of Ben Sidran and the great, but short lived, jazz/folk crossover scene.
Keysman Bob Birch provides his usual sterling work on the Hammond, as well as stretching out on synthesizer, acoustic and electric piano.
The general intention on "Be Yourself" appears to put a little daylight between the band and the full on deep funk scene . In terms of sounds and song writing, the group display a rootsy but progressive approach that should ensure that they ,and their audience, stay challenged, refreshed & interested. <BBC>
1. This Ain’t Work
2. Your Love is Mine (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae)
3. Can’t Hold Me Down
4. Be Yourself
5. Better Off Dead
6. You’ve Had it All
7. Barça
8. Six Underground
9. Coming Up Roses
10. Coming down
11. R.T.A.
12. Do What You Gotta Do
13. Idle Time (feat. LSK)
14. This Ain’t Work pt2
If you miss the sounds of the Meters, of vintage Northern soul, of James Brown, of 1960s jazz-funk, and of Hammond organ jazz by the likes of Jimmy Smith, and if you wish you could hear all of them at the same time, then you're sure to get a kick out of this Leeds-based quartet. To call the New Mastersounds "old school" doesn't quite do justice to their simultaneously backward-looking and forward-pushing sound, which fans of modern bands like the Charlie Hunter Quartet and Medeski, Martin & Wood will recognize immediately -- but so will those who cut their teeth on Jack McDuff and Lou Donaldson records. When guest vocalist Dionne Charles comes in (especially on the barnburning "Looking for an Answer"), the result is like an unholy cross between James Brown and Aretha Franklin; when the band slips into Afro-beat mode on "Kuna Matata" (featuring singer Troy Tuscan), the result is, strangely, more like a cross between Fela Kuti and Barry White. <AMG>
1. Hole In The Bag (3:22)
2. I Mean It So feat. Dionne Charles (3:45)
3. Thermal Bad (4:09)
4. Looking For An Answer feat. Dionne Charles (3:29)
5. Altitude (5:58)
6. Kuna Matata (3:19)
7. Chrysalis (3:29)
8. Idris (3:49)
9. All We Can Do feat. Dionne Charles (4:45)
10. Beyond The Bleak Horizon (5:14)
11. King Comforter feat. Dionne Charles (3:51)
[Discografia] The New Mastersounds
Mode Lineal
