A brilliant return from the Hot 8 Brass Band – a New Orleans combo who take tradition into some great funky new territory! As you'd guess from their name, the instrumentation is heavy on brass – played with a gritty, soulful edge – in the way you'd find during some street performance in a corner far from the mainstream Quarter – sometimes accompanied by ensemble vocals, and almost always driven by these great rhythms at the bottom – more than funky enough to set even the heaviest horns on fire with their energy. Titles include "Bingo Bango", "Fine Tuner", "Steamin Blues", "Can't Hide From The Truth", "New Orleans (After The City)", and a nice remake of The Specials' "Ghost Town". CD

The title's a great one – as The Boston Horns have definitely found their own groove – a super-tight approach to funk, but one that's never slick at all! These guys have the sort of sharpness you might find in an older soul instrumental combo – but they also bring a touch of jazz to their instrumentation at times – a hint of deeper sophistication that brings a lot more complexity to the record than you might expect, especially from set with such a simple-looking cover. Tenor and trumpet lead the assault – with a bit of flute and added alto at times too – and there's lots of great Hammond, plus other keyboards – kicked up nicely with guitar, bass, and drums. The keyboards get slinky and soulful on a few more laidback number – adding in a dose of 70s electric jazz to the funk – and titles include "Ain't Nothin To It", "Love Will Slip Up On You", "Blues For Ben", "In The", and "Speedball". Also features a bonus live track! CD