People People Music Music (Savoy Jazz)
Groove Collective
Released April 25, 2006
Grammy Nominee for Best Contemporary Jazz Album 2007
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m_UTpycPN8MCNLYbSN3H_wmBd-8cUKz3Q
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2oVgNYo1vOYxYlFlg6B92H?si=ja-_GpqVTHuDh-8_kv_P1g
About:
Groove Collective was formed in 1990. The original members were percussionist/MC Gordon “Nappy G” Clay, keyboardist Itaal Shur, Vibraphonist Bill Ware, drummer Genji Siraisi, bassist Jonathan Maron, percussionist Chris Theberge, flutist Richard Worth, saxophonist Jay Rodriguez, trumpeter Fabio Morgera, trombonist Josh Roseman.
After witnessing an early show, producer Gary Katz negotiated the band’s signing to Reprise Records, and produced their eponymous debut album in 1993.
In 1994, they appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, alongside other prominent jazz artists, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as “Album of the Year” by Time magazine.
They scored two instrumental and adult contemporary hits in 1996 with a cover of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (US Dance/Club Play #45, US Dance Maxi Singles #23) and “Lift Off” (US R&B/Hip-Hop #73).
Groove Collective’s musical style reflects the wide-ranging backgrounds and interests of its individual members. Commenting on the group’s 1996 release, We the People, critic Michael Casey referred to the numerous influences at work in Groove Collective’s sound, specifically the presence of Afro-pop, Latin jazz, hip-hop, and traditional jazz stylings. This mix is born of the members’ varying influences, including bebop, funk, old-school hip-hop and classic soul. Bassist and co-founder Jonathan Maron has acknowledged the importance of a DJ aesthetic in the music, stating that “(Groove Collective’s) goal has always been to emulate the range of music a DJ plays during the course of the night at a packed club. … A great DJ knows the songs that can ignite the room and fill the dance floor. Some of my favorite musical experiences have been in clubs, where you listen and realize how well all of these styles blend together into one big idiom of its own.” Central to the group’s ethic is its insistence on live instrumentation and its ability to create and sustain grooves for a dance floor audience.
Track Listing:
1. Forgotten Travelers (Barney McAll) 5:47
2. Dfu (Barney McAll) 6:12
3. What If 6:04
4. Eat No Space (Barney McAll) 5:03
5. Tito (Barney McAll) 5:30
6. Kog (Barney McAll) 6:32
7. Mambomongo (Fabio Morgera) 5:20
8. Outermost (Barney McAll) 6:20
9. 6 For Fred 5:44
10. Set Up (Barney McAll) 4:11
11. Centerfield 5:34
12. Speak Like a Child (Herbie Hancock) 5:31
13. Outermost [Live Bonus Version] (Barney McAll) 5:33
Personnel:
Jonathan Maron: bass
Tony Rodriguez: bongos, guiro
Chris “Fatoye” Theberge: congos, bata, percussion
Genji Siraisi: drums, vocals
Barney McAll: Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, piano
Jay Rodriguez: saxophone, flute, bass clarinet
Reut Regev: trombone
Fabio Morgera: trumpet, flugelhorn, effects
Mixed by Hiroyuki Sanada
Produced by Groove Collective (tracks 1, 2, 4-12) and Hiroyuki Sanada (1, 2, 4 to 12)
Review:
The latest edition of Groove Collective is smaller than previous incarnations, though you’re not likely to notice the difference while listening to the New York band’s new CD, “People People Music Music.” The core sextet gets a big assist from several guests this time around, including the great James Brown sideman Fred Wesley, whose slip-sliding trombone work on the brass-charged funk excursion “DFU” sounds as if it was designed to inspire classic Godfather of Soul footwork. Indeed, it’s a shame Wesley didn’t hang around longer.
The results are mixed when guest vocalists arrive. Eddie Bobo helps to enliven “Tito,” the ensemble’s timbales-crackling homage to the late Latin jazz bandleader Tito Puente, but there’s no redeeming the hackneyed, R&B-tinged “What If,” despite Jay Rodriguez’s appealing flute work. The lyric alone is enough to convince you that the less sung the better.
Mostly, the band plays to its strengths. Highlights include the Afropop-meets-Miles Davis opener, “Forgotten Travelers,” the fusion era-echoing “KOG” and a hushed and blue reprise of Herbie Hancock’s “Speak Like a Child,” which features keyboardist Barney McAll on Fender Rhodes. When McAll pulls out all the stops during synth-triggered or electronica-tinted interludes, the arrangements occasionally suffer from tiresome tinkering. But more often a soulful brand of funk-jazz prevails, sinewy, percussive and spirited by turns. When everything comes together, McAll is colorfully abetted by Rodriguez (who plays sax and bass clarinet in addition to flute), bassist Jonathan Maron, trumpeter Fabio Morgera, drummer Genji Siraisi and percussionist Chris “Ifatoye” Theberge.
Mike Joyce (Washington Post)
