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Artist:
Marva Whitney w/Osaka Monaurail
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Album:
I Am What I Am
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Track:
I Am What I Am (pt 1+2)
I know a phone call that made somebody's day...This was the call when Marva Whitney's (that's the Marva Whitney that sang with the James Brown review) manager called the manager of the Osaka Monaurail (Japan's primo JB-esque funk kings, named after a late period JB's album), and said,"Yes,Ms.Whitney would be glad to cut a record with you."If you are the top funk band in Japan, and have pretty much styled your sound on the James Brown big-funk-band model, you would be ecstatic to back one of The Man's best singers.The fact that the vocals are really the only thing missing from your complete mastery of the JB sound, does not escape you, and so,problem solved, you go out and cut the best post-James Brown,James Brown record by a country mile.This is good old funk here folks, with strong female vox, and a tight-as-a-drum band, that knows where The One is, and takes solos the way Fred and Maceo used to do.Like the myriad of soul artists "coming back" with new records Marva Whitney proves age ain't nuthin' but a number, and, in fact, the added maturity adds even more grit to a voice that was already down and dirty.I think it was an article in Wax Poetics where I found out about the Osaka Monaurail, and I have to admit, I was mighty skeptical.Truth is though, these cats can lay it down. If you enjoyed the funky soul that Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse have made with The Dap Kings, then this record should be right up your alley.Please have a funky friday.
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