Excellent work from Greyboy – his first album in years, and well worth the wait! The set shows considerable growth in his style – yet should still also be extremely pleasing to fans of his older work, as he's kept the commitment to mixing heavy hip hop beats with tight funky jazz, and only expanded the mood to incorporate a lot of new influences. The mood of the album is nice and dark – and although a few tracks feature hip hop lyrics from Main Flow, the real strength of the set is in the instrumental grooves – augmented here by guest appearances by Dave Pike and Elgin Park. Titles include "Ghetto Boogie", "Mastered The Art", "Hold It Down", "Marrakesh", "Dealin With The Archives", "Bath Music", "Logan's Run", "Smokescreen", and "Mastered The Art (Nicola Conte Jet Sounds rmx)". LP, Vinyl record album

The New Mastersounds always sound grittier in a live setting – and this album is great proof of that fact! The drums seem harder, the guitar a bit more edgey, and the Hammond let loose even more than before – all flying together on grooves that run a bit longer than some of the combo's studio sets – with a bit more funky energy too! This cooking little date was recorded in San Francisco over the course of two nights that are nicely distilled down here – and the core quartet is joined by some added tenor and sax on three tracks, showing a whole new dimension of the Mastersounds groove. Titles include "Can't Hold Me Down", "Hot Dog", "Hey Fela", "Nervous", "Idris", "Thermal Bad", "Carrot Juice", and "The Minx". CD

El Michels return again to the Wu-Tang chambers – and the results this time might even be better than before! Wu-Tang forged their initial sound out of a love of offbeat samples and unusual funk – so it's only fitting that one of the hippest funk groups around strip the music right down to its roots – performing new live interpretations with their wickedly sinister groove – all at a level that makes the whole thing a slow funk masterpiece from start to finish! El Michels has always been one of the few real standouts in the deep funk scene – and it's records like this that keep us loving them so much. And even though the set features vocals from Lee Fields on two tracks, and Lady Wray on one more – the instrumental groove is what dominates and draws our ears, on tracks that include "Tears", "Sipped Up", "Shadow Boxing", "Iron Man", "4th Chamber", "Shaolin Brew", "Drums For Sale", "Verbal Intercourse", "Tearz", and "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin Ta F Wit". LP, Vinyl record album

A warm batch of funky jazz groovers from longstanding master stylists the Greyboy Allstars – their first studio set of the 2000s! Given the scarcity of new releases from the group, What Happened To Television might have just as easily been titles What Happened To The Allstars – but rest assured, their trademark blend of 70s style jazz funk and sound library style sounds are still groovy and masterfully played – with DJ Greyboy himself in the production booth! Some of the tunes are on a sly, laidback tip, with funky flute & sax, vamping guitars and keys, and a thumping bottom end of bass, drums & percussion. Welcome back! Titles include "V Neck Sweater", "Deck Shoes", "Left Coast Boogaloo", "What Happened To TV?", "Still Waiting", "How Glad I Am", "Back In The Game", "Old School Cylons", "Knowledge Room" and "Give The Drummer Some More". CD

New York is what is funky! This is a killer new release by a small organ jazz combo from the Big Apple – and they are definitely worthy members of the city's great end-of-the century funk scene that includes Medeski Martin & Wood, Sugarman Three, and The Other Side! The band have certainly spent plenty of time getting their chops up – and they have a very tight organ/guitar sound with a totally live feel to it. The overall groove is right up there with the best classic combos on Prestige – with stone cold funky drumming underneath sweetly strident lines on the Hammond, and some very heavy guitar rhythm parts. In a way, the record really evokes the heavy funk sound of Lonnie Smith's fantastic Blue Note sides from the Late 60s – with a very heavy drum sound nicely kicking it live! The CD's their first – and believe us, it will more than break them out of the box. Tracks include "Arruga De Agua", "Doin Something", "Rudy's Way", "Azucar", and "Steppin". Great stuff – and the kind of small-group recording that makes it worth shopping at Dusty Groove! Plus, this is the new remastered version of the CD – featuring 2 bonus cuts that weren't on the original release! LP, Vinyl record album

The debut full length from England's funkiest combo! The New Mastersounds are a current group – but they've got a deep funk approach that puts them in the same camp as 60s funky 45 combos, or that of more recent acts in the new funk underground, like those on Desco or Soul Fire records. The combo's got a core groove center of bass, drums, guitar, and Hammond organ – augmented from track to track by additional sax, trumpet, and funky flute work, plus the occasional vocal. Most tunes are instrumental, and preserve the late 60s/early 70s funky 45 sound very well – with plenty of heavy drum beats, wah wah and tightly plucked guitar lines, and fast and furious bass parts to keep the whole set bouncing around like a baby in a car seat on a bumpy road! Titles include "Nervous", "Python", "Miracles", "Bondo Samba", "Hot Dog", "So Many Pies", "The Rooster", "Coffee Providers", and "GT". CD

Legendary drummer Bernard Purdie has left a huge legacy of music behind him – and here he adds to that legacy in a new small combo set – one that features core work from members of New Mastersounds and Pimps Of Joytime – and which also features Ivan Neville on keyboards, and Cyril Neville on some guest vocals! The groove here is pretty faithful – the set was recorded in Brooklyn, and doesn't have the too-commercial sound that it might if it were on a major label – and titles include "Elevate", "Cool Down", "Money Bags", "Deep In Love", "Stranded", "Better Man", and "The Golden Tie". (Jazz, Deep Funk) CD