Green Arrow Radio

There is a slick feel to this latest release from Charlie Hunter’s Trio, like walking on a sidewalk that was shoveled too soon and a think layer of ice is still underneath. There you are mis-stepping and it feels so right. Allowing an unseen force to lead you on your way and doing so with a smile wrapped around your head. I haven’t yet discovered the land of Mistico, but I am certainly enjoying the surrounding sounds while trying to locate it. Then there are times like in track #2, “Speakers Bulit in”, where the moment of impact is eventual. As you spiral downwards you find yourself standing upright and all signs point up. Along with Charlie Hunter on 7 string guitar, Simon Lott handles the drumming duties and Erik Deutsch fingers the keys of the piano, Fender Rhodes and CasioTone. Together, this search party leads you and your ears towards unchartered sound spots, but please keep your minds open at all times, as this album features 10 tracks that will certainly challenge your memories to compare. Often times during the album as it plays the slippery sidewalk seems to lead to the ends of some world…..I’m sure this is to be continued.

CH3 Mistico Concord Music Group

The Karl Denson Trio’s newest album, Lunar Orbit is the vessel to take space and make it into your backyard. I have been swimming in this album up to my ears and keep finding new worm-holes to depart into. As the title track blasts off, you can buckle up or feel free to roam around the cabin area inside your mind, weightlessness is around you and time seems to be irrelevant once again, like when you were a child. The grooves are very rich with a star-like brightness that easily excite your senses like the first time you saw pictures of earth from the moon. Now that’s some deep grooves. Take a breath. There is an innovator’s spirit that flows from this album, like someone has witnesses the future and is setting it into sound. With Jake Najor on Drums, Anthony Smith on keys, Karl Denson’s sax/flutes explode in evolutionary exploration and is willing to take you as a passenger. Join me on a ride? Karl Denson’s career has taken many forms. From saxophone player for Lenny Kravitz to front man of The Greyboy All-Stars and his own Tiny Universe, Karl has constantly found ways to simultaneously expand his listeners’ minds while making them move their feet. His undeniable grooves and colossal saxophone solos have taken a new form in The Karl Denson Trio.

When something is right, it is right. That;s how I feel about the 2-piece force d’rock known as Sirsy In there latest release Revolution on their own label SIRSRYMUSIC, there are signs of a band just about to make a bigger name for themselves. The start of this album is the title track Revolution and thus begins your interest in Sirsy. How do they make that much rock with this roll, just two you say?? There are personalities in this music, but even more importantly is that each song has it’s own face, it’s own expression. Sassy to the core and tender when needed, I think this could be the next band you fall in love with. Melanie and Rich have a live show that surpasses attempts at words, but merely needs to been taking in and you’ll be ready to join in the movement that is a Sirsy Revolution.

Track Listing:
1 Revolution
2 Sorry Me
3 Leftover Girl
4 Crazy
5 Waiting For Rain
6 Oh! Billy
7 Still
8 Mary Concetta
9 Mercury
10 Fireflies

From the moment the beat battle bell is rung this EP tips its cap to old school R&B and hip hop with raps that spit fresh retro fire and scratching that has the sniff jealous. The Gift of Gab, Lateef The Truth Speaker, and Headnodic as the new super-group: The Mighty Underdogs. The new EP entitled THE PRELUDE (featuring DJ Shadow, MF Doom, Ladybug Mecca, and Rashaan Ahmad from the Crown City Rockers). This release is independent through Giftstribution and will release an LP entitled “Dropping Science Fiction” in early 2008. Something to keep a look-out for. The stylings of this are off the charts. This is hip hop keeping it really real. Just set your ears on track #6 Bring Me Back and have yourself a flashback moment rivaled only in scenes from Wayne’s World. And of course, I am always a sucker for the voice of LadyBUG Mecca, it always sounds like she is just reciting a lullaby made to hush a city block…and that can’t be bad.

The answer is yes! Putumayo Presents: TANGO around the world. The energy driven by passion fuels this movement friendly album with songs representing that fire from countries around the globe. There is a style and elegance that all cultures and their music develop and I must say, they have captured the Tango beast within them and put forth a hip bending blend including pieces from Serbia, Norway,Senegal and Argentina and Brazil. The roots of Tango music stretch back to African rhythms and European parlor dances, the main influences are the milonga, a poetic song style developed in Uruguay, and the Cuban habanera, whose shuffling beat still forms the foundation of that instantly recognizable tango rhythm.
This album is a great introduction to celebrate the exploration of tango music’s influence around the globe.

For those waiting for a concert experience with the dynamics of a rock band (read: no laptops), the dance inducing rhythms of club music, and the sophistication of modern electronica, an unlikely musical alternative has arrived in the form of the band Lotus. And no better chance to get yourself hooked than checking out the new live album, Escaping Sargasso Sea, a 2007 Lotus Vibes release. The double disc live set offers waves into the future, as progressive as a sunrise and as organic as the stepping soils. There are songs from two previous studio albums: Nomad and The Strength of Weak Ties as well as new not yet released material. This five-piece band has creatively fused electronic dance music with instrumental post-rock for eight years. The result is an explosive live show that has made crowds get down across the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Armed with a massive light rig and one of the most energetic shows on the circuit, this proves why they have become a go-to act for late night festival slots. There is enough funky jams to spread around while giving this new album a listen, so do enjoy.

LOTUS–Escaping Sargass Sea 2007

It is always nice to make a live record on your favorite stage. And that is just what Geoff Achison did when he recorded 9 tracks at St. Andrews Hotel in Victoria Australia back in January of 2005. Now making his home in Atlanta via the beautiful land down under, Geoff and the Souldiggers are following in the tracks of their blues heroes by being on many a stage, be it at a club, in a festival or a local pub….any chance to work their craft. A guest guitarist at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peach Ranch for ten years, Geoff is an incredible song-man with a pedal-less style that is all in his hands. The organic nature of his music shines bright like the reflection of the sun off of Ayers rock and there is no moment more true to that then when you here it live. Souldiggin‘ is a perfect example of why people enjoy seeing the blues in a live setting. It’s music that you feel in your gut and like to see others doing the same. There is a pace to this album, it flows with speed at times but rolls with soul constantly. You can hear that there is something being shared amongst the crowd, and this album invites you to wipe off your feet and have a seat, you are at home now.

Jupiter 2 Records & Brilliant Productions 2007

For almost 200 years, parades have been a daily feature in New Orleans-celebrating holidays, civic events & even funerals. The most popular parades have a marching brass band in them. Brass bands in New Orleans have created a musical culture unlike any other, with a marching & dancing rhythm that has flavored all the music from this region, including finger-licking good tastes of jazz, funk & R&B. On this album: Putumayo presents: New Orleans Brass, many of the artists began playing in brass bands in the 70’s and 80’s while in their teens. Out of that renaissance also came the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the city’s most celebrated musical ambassadors. On this album the DDBB works in an old time favorite “It’s All Over Now” with Dr. John, a voice synonymous with the N’Orleans thang. Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews will have you out in the stars dreaming with “Dreamboat” and Kermit Ruffins will be sure to keep the stompin’ stompin’ with a classic: “Treme Second Line (Blow Da Whistle)”. If you haven’t been marching to the beat of your own drummer, maybe that is just because you were waiting for a little more groove with some trombones and trumpets…all of which is on this release, perfect for open minds, thirsty ear-holes and march-ready feet.

ENJOY.

Putumayo 2007