It’s so refreshing to stumble upon a recording that lives for the groove. The groove ain’t a unique thing, not by any measure. And it certainly comes in many shapes and forms, each wrapped differently like a gift given for the very first time. But, damn, why so serious? Give me a groove for backyard parties, a get-together with friends where the tempo of the tune is synched up with everyone’s laughter, everyone’s pulse, with every single breath. The new release from Orlando Le Fleming is that album. And the musicians assembled for Romantic Funk sound like they’re having a blast, as if they’re imagining a backyard party of their own as they run down every beat of every groove.
The cohesion from track to track is key to the album’s success. Le Fleming mixes things up, for sure. There’s the intriguing drone on “Myth” and how little fragments of melody shape the groove and direct its motion, and there’s the heartbreak ballad of “Ellington” and the dreamy melodicism of “Pretentious Brooklyn” and the old-school fusion of “Focustrate.” But all of it sounds like birds of the same feather, one groove’s flow melting right into the next and the next to follow after that. It sounds like a soundtrack to a backyard party, and all of it sounds like all the fun that anyone could possibly ask.
Your album personnel: Orlando Le Fleming (bass), Ari Hoenig (drums), Greg Tuohey (guitar), Frank LoCrasto (keyboards) and guests: Seamus Blake, (soprano & tenor saxophones), Will Vinson (alto sax, flute), Sullivan Fortner, Pete Rende (keyboards), Lenny Reece (drums), Jake Sherman (clavinet) and Ryan Scott (guitar).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from Brooklyn.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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Aug 8 2017
Recommended: Orlando Le Fleming – “Romantic Funk”
The cohesion from track to track is key to the album’s success. Le Fleming mixes things up, for sure. There’s the intriguing drone on “Myth” and how little fragments of melody shape the groove and direct its motion, and there’s the heartbreak ballad of “Ellington” and the dreamy melodicism of “Pretentious Brooklyn” and the old-school fusion of “Focustrate.” But all of it sounds like birds of the same feather, one groove’s flow melting right into the next and the next to follow after that. It sounds like a soundtrack to a backyard party, and all of it sounds like all the fun that anyone could possibly ask.
Your album personnel: Orlando Le Fleming (bass), Ari Hoenig (drums), Greg Tuohey (guitar), Frank LoCrasto (keyboards) and guests: Seamus Blake, (soprano & tenor saxophones), Will Vinson (alto sax, flute), Sullivan Fortner, Pete Rende (keyboards), Lenny Reece (drums), Jake Sherman (clavinet) and Ryan Scott (guitar).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from Brooklyn.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
Like this:
Related
By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0