Deep Funk — CDs  

An amazing full length collection of work from Rickey Calloway – an artist we've really only known from individual singles, but one who packs a hell of a punch in the space of this rock-solid CD! Rickey's groove is right out of the James Brown camp of the glory days – tight tight tight instrumentation, filled with lots of riffing grooves that are right on the beat – topped with Rickey's amazing vocals, which feel like they're lifted from some obscure funky 45s from back in the day! Production is nice and raw on most numbers and there's a few mellower deep soul tracks which help round out the sound wonderfully – giving the set the full scope you might normally expect to hear from Lee Fields. The packaging on this one's a bit slim, but the music's totally great – and the set features 16 killer cuts that include "Tell Me", "Lose It", "Shed A Tear", "Groove Master", "Get The Groove", "That's The Way", "Paying My Dues", "Get It Right", "A Letter", "I'm In Love", and "The Feeling".

Grand Slam take plenty of inspiration from the P-Funk universe – and as proof of that fact, they've got Gary Mudbone Cooper on vocals for a few tracks on this sweet little set – a record that definitely offers up a 21st Century evolution of the original P-Funk groove! The combo are heavy on basslines and keyboards – often used with that best slinky style that the George Clinton groups hit at the end of the 70s – and occasionally touched by some modern rhythms, although overall the group have a very live funky mode! Vocals are often layered together nicely, and sometimes vocoded too – as a few cuts echo that early 80s shift to more electric funk, particularly from the Zapp generation. Lige Curry sings lead on a few other numbers – and titles include "Long Term Ticket", "You Can't Nickname The Truth", "Camp Down", "Elemelemel", "Streets Of Harlem", and "The Fog".