Funk, rock, dance, electronica, worldbeat, jazz and R'n'B share the spotlight on Rock Candy Funk Party's follow-up to its 2013 We Want Groove. The all-star aggregation has sharpened its focus from the jazz-funk Miles route of the debut into a more streamlined modernity. Guitarists Joe Bonamassa and Ron DeJesus provide the chords and some of the sting while drummer/producer Tal Bergman layers the sound with strings, synths and a rampaging horn section led by trumpeter Randy Brecker who wrote the horn arrangements. ZZ Top's growling Billy Gibbons - a.k.a. Mr. Funkadamus - is (thankfully) used sparingly as the over-the-top MC. The package comes complete with a bonus 50-minute in-studio DVD.
The highlights come early and often. "Don't Funk With Me" and "Uber Station" rock along at a jaunty pace, poked and prodded by horn bursts a la early Brecker Brothers. Guitar comes to the fore on the title track and "Low Tide." Bonamassa is absolutely electric - both literally and figuratively - displaying chops above and beyond what he's known for by fans. This is a guy who is equally at home playing blues, metal, jazz, classical, pop or, as he does here, straight-out string poppin' funk. He's a lightning rod for the others.
"The Fabulous Tales Of Two Bands" contains traces of Prodigy's 1997 "Firestarter." It's an EDM mash-up of post-modernism that never would have made it onto this aggregation's debut. Word has it that this is going to be a collective in the months to come as more and more musicians just might move in and out of these ranks. As of presstime, though, that was only a rumor. One can only fantasize about Stanley Clarke or Victor Wooten poppin' that bass with these guys or Bernard "Pretty" Purdie pounding out some beats. As it stands, though, Mike Merritt is doin' the bass-poppin'. He's one with drummer Bergman, two bodies, two instruments but one mind. Man, they sizzle!
The only tracks to avoid are the lite-jazz radio-friendly pablum of "East Village" and "The 6 Train To The Bronx." "Cube's Brick," a world music Weather Report-type sound is much hipper, as is their cover of Peter Gabriel's "Digging In The Dirt."
Plan a party. Spin this sucker. Watch that party move'n'groove. It's a given.
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