At just 21, it’s somewhat surprising that Dan Parsons has already been on the scene for a couple of years. Having made his foray into the musical world with his heritage-flavoured debut release Old Brown Shoe in 2007, Parsons continued on this path for a short time. Then after gradually being absorbed by a new musical world of peers and influences he found a new desire to make a different type of music.
Jamie Lidell (born September 18, 1973, Huntingdon, England) is a musician and soul singer, signed to Warp. Famed for his largely improvised shows, that see Jamie constructing his tracks live, voicing and layering right in front of your eyes, effortlessly whipping them out of the air and forging them into clanking electro riffs and deathprod funk grooves. Likened to Sly Stone, Prince and Little Richard, he is Britain's voice of soul for the new era.
The Stepkids are three singer/songwriters. “A lot of what excites us about this band is this band itself,” says bassist and keyboardist Dan Edinberg. “It’s not either of us; it’s about creating an entity where the entity itself is what’s important.” As a result, every song on the Stepkids self-titled debut album is written with equal input from each member. “All three of us write and all three of us sing,” says Jeff Gitelman, who resigned from touring as Alicia Keys' guitarist to concentrate full-time on recording the Stepkids self-titled debut album.
Nile Gregory Rodgers (born September 19, 1952 in New York City) is a musician, composer, arranger, guitarist and music producer, and co-founding member of the seminal multi-platinum hit R&B band Chic, with influential bassist, the late Bernard Edwards. Rodgers began his career as a session guitarist in New York, playing with the Sesame Street band in his teens, and then working in the house band at Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater, backing artists like Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Nancy Wilson, and Parliament Funkadelic.
There are two Australian bands with this name. The first is Australia’s premier Deep Funk outfit. Masters of super-heavy, raw and upfront drum-break driven grooves. Led by Guitarist Lance Ferguson (Equatorial Records/Lanu/No Comply), other members include Ben Grayson (Hammond Organ), Danny Farrugia (Drums), Yuri Pavlinov (Bass), Anton Delecca (Sax/Flute) and Ross Irwin (Trumpet). The Bamboos formed in 2001 and released the 7” single ‘Eel Oil/Blackfoot’, earning them international acclaim from the likes of Snowboy, Mr Scruff, Jazzanova, Patrick Forge and Russ Dewbury.
The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is an instrumental group comprised of 8 horn players and a drummer, all but one of whom are sons of jazz musician Kelan Phil Cohran (who played trumpet in Sun Ra Arkestra). Originally from Chicago, IL, they are currently based in New York City. Band Members: * Gabriel Hubert aka "Hudah" - trumpet
* Saiph Graves aka "Cid" - trombone
* Tycho Cohran aka "LT" - sousaphone
* Amal Baji Hubert aka "Baji" or "June Body" - trumpet
* Jafar Baji Graves aka "Yosh" - trumpet
Known as Los Angeles' "ambassador of boogie funk," DâM-FunK represents the citizens of the Funkmosphere. Headquartered in the Culver City section of L.A., DâM (pronounced 'dame' as in Damon) spent the last few years cultivating a musical renaissance rooted in the early-80's styles known as boogie, modern soul and electro-funk. As a DJ/selector, DâM-FunK attracts the most discerning boogie funk aficionados within driving distance of his storied Monday-night Funkmosphere parties. But it's not just collectors at the bar toasting to the melodic sounds.
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is a jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Hancock is one of jazz music's most important and influential pianists and composers. He embraced elements of rock, funk, and soul while adopting fre-er stylistic elements from jazz. As part of Miles Davis' "second great quintet" Hancock helped redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section, and was later one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and jazz funk.