November news from Stefan Redtenbacher’s adventures in Funkland

26 November 2018

Dear liberated funk brothers and sisters,

This is not a Netflix ad but a while ago I’ve watched the Lady Gaga documentary which was great and last week I’ve seen the excellent Quincy Jones documentary.

Sitting in the car back to the airport from the Montreux Jazz Festival one of his daughters asks him about ego – I love his reply!

‘Ego is overdressed insecurity’ (Quincy Jones)

and later on I also like this one:
‘Learn how to deal with the vallys, the hills will take care of themselves’ (Count Basie to Quincy Jones)

The whole movie – well worth a watch – he has been an inspiration to me for over three decades now!

ADVENTURES in FUNKLAND

On November 12 we released ‘Part of Me’ ft. bushy-tailed, blue-eyed energy bundle and soulstress Helena May.

In 2016 Helena came to London sitting in with us at the 606 Club (would you believe it – we have been regulars there since 2006!) We were jamming funk versions of much-loved pop songs – putting our own trademark Funk spin on them – unalloyed, joyful and powerful. The audience reaction was overwhelmingly enthusiastic prompting us to hop in the recording studio to record this album. We have been releasing singles up to this point and we have been very surprised to find out what people have been most into.

Our original take on this was pretty much …. completely WRONG. However, we don’t mind whatsoever as we are digging every single re-imagination in their own right!

We know that CDs are nearly extinct and downloads are to follow as streaming seems to rule supreme. However, to us – EVERY support is much appreciated – buy the CD, download from us or elsewhere, listen wherever – all RIGHT with us!

DOWNLOAD and CD MAILORDER from our own FUNKSTORE.

The artist friendly Bandcamp offers up downloads in any digital format imaginable – click HERE if you fancy.

And of course you can stream (and download) from your favorite go-to digital service HERE.

On Wednesday we will release ‘The Vinyl Collection’ digitally – not only can you get our 12″ LP from the Funkstore HERE, you can also get this excellent cross-section of our trademark wall-to wall instrumental funk stew in digital formats. The vinyl masters shine a new sonic light on these previously digital-only releases – a tight punchy midrange and needle crackle guarantee the much-loved vinyl sound. The tunes were chosen by popularity and my current favorite tracks from the Funkestra?s past 10 releases.

Exclusive for you 50% off on Bandcamp (for both the 12″ LP and digital download) with this code ‘vinylmasters’ until Wednesday 12th of December. Claim your discount HERE.

And of course, don’t forget you can always GIFT the 12″ vinyl to your Jazz Funk loving loved ones!

And what is this? TA-TA! One more release this side of the year on my RSB records label: ‘Feed the Chicken‘ ft. Stanton Moore on drums, Cory Wong (Vulfpeck, Fearless Flyers) alongside Mike Outram on guitar, Tucker Antell on tenor saxophone and Michael B Nelson on trombone plus his Hornheads, formerly Prince’s NPG horns (New Power Generation horns).

This track has been a REAL (actually an ‘extreme’) labor of love and at one point – when the day will have 25 hours – I’ll write a whole long blog about the journey of this full on, powerhouse, wall-to-wall FUNK Big Band track.

As readers of my blog you are the first ones to see the cover – you’ll have to wait until Monday 17th of December to hear it. Please check in on any of my social media channels to grab the updates and more info. Special thanks to Peter Tomasso for diving deeply into the horn arrangement!

Musicians, bandleaders and educators – you can get the Big Band arrangement for ‘Feed The Chicken’ shortly. Written for standard 4 piece rhythm section and 13 horns (4 trp, 5 saxes, 4 bones) I know it works a treat. Thank you to Mark Armstrong and his National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) for inviting me and given the tune a spin before I recorded it. Strong stuff! Get in touch – I’m always DELIGHTED hearing other bands perform my music.

CONCERT – one huge night of funk

Just a little reminder that this Friday, 30th of November we will play at the Colchester Arts Center supported by West54 and DJ.

Hop on HERE to get TICKETS!

THE MASTERLINK SESSIONS

I’ve written to you about ‘The Masterlink Sessions’ in my previous blog and it’s coming together nicely. So far we are receiving really good feedback, interest and vibes from everybody we are talking to. Here a little overview:

‘The Masterlink sessions’ are a joint venture of James Welch (MLP studio) and myself to strengthen the community of creative and open-minded musicians who love Funk/Soul/Blues and Jazz.

The MLP studio band, aka the Redtenbacher’s Funkestra rhythm section will perform live in the studio ft. guest vocalists and instrumentalists, recorded by James and filmed by Leo Mansell.
Like the legendary studio bands ‘The Wrecking Crew’, ‘The Swampers’, ‘The Funkbrothers’, ‘Booker T & The MG’s’, etc. we will have a whole bunch of musicians in the studio band. Here are
the boys and girls who have committed so far – we feel truly lucky!

Mike Sturgis – drums
Mike Outram, Leo Appleyard, Nat Martin – guitar
Stevie Watts, Rich Milner, Jez Davies – Hammond organ
Stefan Redtenbacher – yours truly
Helena May – lead vox and BVs

People are welcome to sit in the recording and control room of the studio during the sessions! Just let us know beforehand so we can co-ordinate as we only have very LIMITED capacity!