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Home » funk

Tag: funk

A man with a mustache staring with a blank face and a curly-haired man making a confused face
Posted inMusic

The modern soul of the O’My’s sounds smoother than ever on No Swimming

by Leor Galil December 22, 2021January 4, 2022

As the O’My’s, singer-guitarist Maceo Vidal-Haymes and keyboardist Nick Hennessey carefully control the heat they apply to their luxurious contemporary take on soul, so that it smolders instead of burning […]

Erik Alejandro Rodriguez
Posted inMusic

Cimafunk brings his uplifting Afro-Cuban funk fusions to Chicago in advance of El Alimento

by Jamie Ludwig September 29, 2021September 28, 2021

Erik Alejandro Rodriguez, who performs as Cimafunk, is a prominent figure in a rising generation of Cuban artists, and his fusions of Afro-Cuban musical traditions with funk, hip-hop, and African […]

Posted inMusic

Jupiter & Okwess capture the musical anarchy of their performances on Na Kozonga

by James Porter April 27, 2021August 18, 2021

My first impression of Jupiter Bokondji and his band Okwess was that their sound resembled Fishbone filtered through traditional African music. That’s not to say that the players in this […]

Posted inMusic

Chicago producer Vince Kaichan steers footwork toward serenity on Lost in Time

by Leor Galil March 29, 2021August 18, 2021

Chicago electronic producer Vince Kaichan is an omnivorous listener—or at least that’s the impression I get from the hodgepodge of styles in his own music. For roughly a decade now, […]

Posted inMusic

Chicago polymath Cam Be melds funk, R&B, and hip-hop to lift up struggling spirits

by Leor Galil December 24, 2020August 18, 2021

Chicago composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Cam Be draws on his community to invigorate his already bold musical ideas. On his new second album, Summer in September (on his own Camovement […]

Posted inMusic

Tank & the Bangas embrace connection and the wacky side of isolation on Friend Goals

by Kirsten Lambert November 25, 2020August 18, 2021

When New Orleans band Tank & the Bangas invited their friends and family to help them cover Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s pop classic “What the World Needs Now Is […]

Posted inMusic

Bless the Mad share their private pantheon of Black Chicago music

by Leor Galil November 12, 2020August 18, 2021

Production duo Bless the Mad discuss the classic hip-hop, soul, gospel, and jazz records that inspired the reverent sonic collage on their debut album.

Posted inMusic

Mr. Bungle re-form after a 20-year absence and get right back to trolling

by Luca Cimarusti November 3, 2020August 18, 2021

I sometimes wonder if Mr. Bungle have been trolling their fans since day one. Their self-titled debut full-length, released in 1991 by Warner Brothers, is a blur of funk, ska, […]

Posted inMusic

Fantastic Negrito merges rootsy sounds on his new Have You Lost Your Mind?

by Kirsten Lambert August 26, 2020August 18, 2021

Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Xavier Dphrepaulezz, better known as Fantastic Negrito, takes us on a trip through his consciousness on his latest album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Cooking […]

Posted inMusic

The return of Captain Sky

by Aaron Cohen July 8, 2020August 18, 2021

Chicago funk superhero Captain Sky releases his first album in 40 years—and this time his mission includes mentoring Black teenagers on the south side.

Posted inMusic

Chicago rapper Ric Wilson and Los Angeles producer Terrace Martin invigorate disco, soul, and funk on a new collaborative EP

by Leor Galil May 8, 2020August 18, 2021

Chicago rapper and prison abolitionist Ric Wilson knows the joy of combing through history for jewels of knowledge that enrich his connection to his hometown’s multifaceted Black communities. He also […]

Posted inMusic

Pieces of Peace cut most of their brilliant soul-funk for other people’s records

by Steve Krakow November 19, 2019August 18, 2021

Chicago soul-funk band Pieces of Peace didn’t put out their only album till 35 years after they broke up.

Posted inMusic

Little-known Chicago blues-rock wizard Zach Prather has found his crowd in Europe

by Steve Krakow September 24, 2019August 18, 2021

Thanks in part to a long partnership with the late Cash McCall, Prather has played with the likes of Willie Dixon, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Etta James.

Posted inMusic

Disco diva Loleatta Holloway got a second wind from house music

by Steve Krakow June 4, 2019August 18, 2021

She had her biggest hits in the late 70s, but the rise of sampling helped keep her on the charts for decades longer.

Posted inMusic

Crate diggers have caught up with the funky soul of Doug Shorts’s Master Plan Inc.

by Steve Krakow May 22, 2018August 18, 2021

Decades after his greatest group disbanded, Chicago soul singer Doug Shorts is finally being recognized for his brilliance.

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