Solidly socking soul from Chicago – a great little set recorded with a really old school feel, but one that's also different than the usual deep funk record! The Uptown Sound have a vibe that's all their own – at one level, a quality that's steeped in classic soul – but at another, with a quality that's strangely offbeat too, almost with an undercurrent of darkness in some of the instrumentation that somehow mixes slight punkish roots into funk! Lead singer JC Brooks follows suit strongly – hitting topics that aren't your usual soul music standards, even though his vocals would be right at home with such fare – and instead, the album's got a range of themes that really keep an edge to the set, of the sort that's bound to find these guys a large audience way outside the usual deep funk underground. JC's a real superstar – even larger on stage, which is a recommendation to catch the group live! Titles include "Love One Another", "Hold You Back", "75 Years Of Art Sex", "How To Stop Loving Someone Who's Stopped Loving You", "He Does The Town", and "Berry Please". CD

A now-legendary set from the Philadelphia underground at the start of the century – a package that reminds us just how much great music has always been going on in the city, often far from the mainstream! This set corrected that fact, by bringing together a trio of three genre-stepping musicians – drummer Questlove, jazz bassist Christian McBride, and keyboardist Uri Caine, who plays some great Fender Rhodes and Hammond B-3 on the set! The core grooves are by the trio, working together in a way that's not that different from the freestyle funk of Medeski, Martin, & Wood back when they used to care a bit more about the groove – and the group's joined on a few tracks by guests, including Pat Martino on guitar, Jon Swana on trumpet, and Larry Gold on cello. The best cuts on the set have a hard beat underneath, warm rolling basslines, and washes of keyboards over the top to keep things nice and sweet. Titles include "The Miles Hit", "Call For All Demons", "Grover", "Ain't It The Truth", "Mister Magic", "Philadelphia Freedom", and "Lesson #4". CD

A really unique groove from Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews – a mix of New Orleans funk, straighter jazz, and some hip, offbeat elements – all brought together in the space of an album that's got a Crescent City brass band in its soul, but which comes off with the tighter sound of a deep funk combo! Shorty plays mostly trombone – but also handles a bit of trumpet and keyboards too – and other core instrumentation includes saxes, guitar, and some very bold rhythms – all in a mostly instrumental groove, but featuring vocals from Shorty at a few spots, and guest work from Marc Broussard, Allen Toussaint, and Lenny Kravitz on a track apiece. Most cuts are nice and short, which keeps things focused – and titles include "Fallin", "The Cure", "Where Y'At", "In The 6th", "Neph", "Suburbia", "Backatown", "On Your Way Down", "Hurricane Season", "Right To Complain", and "One Night Only". (Jazz, Deep Funk) CD

Wonderfully righteous work from Burnt Sugar Arkestra – a group who've been giving us great records for years, but who are maybe even more important to the scene than ever before! The core of the record is the long title track – a very jazzy tune that builds up over loops set down by composer Greg Tate, with a flowing, snakey vibe that allows for plenty of long trumpet, tenor, flute, and alto solos over the guitars and Fender Rhodes that work the rhythms – maybe almost in electric Miles territory, but more laidback. That tune is then reworked on a number of variations that are very different – mostly instrumental, as the main track – but finishing up with a bit of vocals near the end of the record – a great contribution from singer Lisala Beatty! Titles include "Angels Over Oakanda", "Repatriation Of The Midnight Moores", "Oakanda Overdrive", and "Lisala Oer Inna Oakanda". CD

Throw away all your 70s electric funk records – because the classic sound is back, and fresher than ever! Yesterday's New Quintet is a side project from hip hop producer Madlib – and the group's firmly steeped in a love of the mellow funky sound of 70s labels like Kudu and CTI. Vibes collides with Fender Rhodes collides with sweet drumbeats collides with slight touches of turntablist production – for a sensational full LP debut that's one of the best new funky records we've heard in years! The sound is incredible – and these guys really do a heck of a lot more than just recreate an older style of music. They take all the hip hop/beathead love of 70s mellow jazz funk, and lift it firmly into the 21st Century with a whole new set of hooks and grooves! Titles include "Julani", "Papa", "Daylight", "Hot Water", "Sun Goddess", "Last Day", "Broken Dreams", "Life's Angles", "Keeper Of My Soul", and "Uno Esta". CD

Ray Harris is a heck of a great keyboardist – one with plenty of influences from the 60s and 70s, and a groove that more than lives up to the title of the set! The style's a bit less conventionally "fusion" than you might expect – and instead, there's almost a club jazz feel at times – modes from scenes like those at Irma or Ricky Tick, served up with plenty of warm touches, and a blend of real jazz instrumentation and solos with just a bit of occasionally programmed beats. Harris' plays piano, organ, clavinet, and Rhodes – often more than one on the same tune, for an approach that has that great blend of acoustic and electric elements you might find on some of the more soulful jazz sessions of the 70s. And there's also a bit of vocals on the record – but always used somewhat sparingly, in a way that takes a definite back stage to the long, grooving keyboard lines on the set! Titles include "The Sioux", "Scaramunga", "My Last Chance", "Interpretation", "There's Nothing Like You", "Origin", "Tokyo Blue", "One Of A Kind", and a great cover of "Riders On The Storm". (New Grooves, Deep Funk) CD