Rock Candy Funk Party: Groove Is King

Bonamassa and co celebrate jazz-funk revival.

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Formed by drummer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron De Jesus, Rock Candy Funk Party is what happens when some of LA’s highest paid studio hands get together and indulge their latest musical theme fantasy like a session titans’ Westworld.

2013’s We Want Groove homaged Miles Davis’ 1982 classic We Want Miles with jazz-funk virtuosity, bringing on board bassist Mike Merritt, keyboardist Renato Nito and Joe Bonamassa, who is releasing this follow-up on his own label.

Now, with George Clinton-style links from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, the musos’ latest wheeze sees them bringing dance music grooves to their party, even venturing into EDM on The Fabulous Tales Of Two Bands and its Prodigy groove bites.

Trumpeter Randy Brecker’s shiny arrangements add to the slick convolutions of tracks such as the Weather Report-recalling Cube’s Brick and a glossy crack at Peter Gabriel’s Digging In The Dirt. Maybe a (very) guilty pleasure for some.

Classic Rock 215: New Albums H-Z

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Kris Needs

Kris Needs is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. Previously secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, he became editor of ZigZag in 1977 and has written biographies of stars including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards. He's also written for MOJO, Record Collector, Classic Rock, Prog, Electronic Sound, Vive Le Rock and Shindig!