Funk

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The Du-Rites Prepare Album #2!

The funk tandem of  The Du-Rites (guitarist/bassist Pablo Martin and yours truly on drums, organ and turntables) has been hard at work on our sophomore LP since November. With the album about 90% complete, we’re on pace to be mixed and mastered by early May. The album title? Greasy Listening.

Till then, we’ll be dropping the lead off (7″) single, “Bite It” b/w “Bocho’s Groove” in April. Here’s a teaser promo for the album, featuring “Du The Twitch” – a little something to nibble on for now.

 

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J-Zone Begins DJ Residency At The Tuck Room, NYC

After years of “you never spin when I’m in town” and “you don’t spin consistently,” I’ve finally landed my first official weekly DJ gig at The Tuck Room, NYC (at iPic Theaters – 11 Fulton St.) I do my usual transporting of a few hours worth of funk and soul records to lay it down in a time warp every Thursday from 7:30-11:30. Come by after work for a drink, dinner, to catch a game, hear some deep soul or all the above.

In addition to my monthly at Robert Bar and random drumming gigs, I’ll always be somewhere trying to keep the groove going. Promo video above. Stop by.

Speaking of Robert Bar, may as well put the flyer for the March gig here.

Presents... (1)

 

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Gigs!

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Here’s what I’ve got leading up to and in March thus far. Both DJ and drumming gigs. Things sometimes pop up, so I’ll add them as they do.

02.27 – Mobile Mondays Pisces Party @ Bowery Electric, NYC with my fellow Feb. 26ers, Big Winst and Natasha Diggs + The Mobile Mondays All-Stars. DJing 45s all night. (Flyer above).

03.06 – w/Lulu Lewis @ Black Rose Bar, NYC. Low volume, low key rock gig.

03.09 – The Tuck Room @ iPic Theaters, NYC. Funk & Soul.

03.16 – The Tuck Room @iPic Theaters, NYC. Funk & Soul.

03.18 – Soul Vibrations @ Robert Bar

03.23 – The Tuck Room @iPic Theaters, NYC. Funk & Soul.

03.30 – The Tuck Room @iPic Theaters, NYC. Funk & Soul.

 

 

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J-Zone’s (Early) 40th B-Day Bash @ Robert Bar, NYC

SOUL VIBRATIONS! (1)

I’m not an Aquarius – it’s just an unofficial, 8 days early 40th birthday party. 40 is a controversial birthday, but for all the fear around it I still have a full head of hair. I’m not big on celebrations, so figured I’d just invite folks down to my monthly gig for some good funk and soul. I’ll be working, but come help me celebrate this jump into the land of quadruple OGs.

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January Gigs

Soul Vibrations!

Wrapped up in expanding my Red Bull Music Academy drummer series and preparing three funk 7″ releases for the spring, so January’s quiet on the gig front. But I have my monthly Soul Vibrations throwdown at Robert Bar (Jan. 21) and a drumming gig with rock band, LuLu Lewis (Jan. 19 at Fat Baby, NYC. 10PM).

See flyer above for Soul Vibrations info. Flyer design ©2017 The Bad Flyer Bandit (me)

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Give The Drummer Some: J-Zone’s RBMA Interview with Dwight Burns of TSU Toronadoes & Archie Bell & The Drells

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After a three month hiatus, I’m back to my Give The Drummer Some column at Red Bull Music Academy. For the current installment, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dwight Burns, drummer for late ’60s funk band TSU Toronadoes, who happened to also be the band playing on Archie Bell and the Drells’ “Tighten Up.” Dwight is one of the founding fathers of the drum break and an important musician from an important band that never quite got its due. We talk about not getting credit/payment for the million selling (and game-changing) “Tighten Up” and the shadiness of the music business, but also about drumming and the TSU Toronadoes’ contributions to funk. Any collector knows this if you’ve tried to buy some of the band’s 45s and any drummer knows what Dwight brought to the set. I was honored to interview him, so check it out…

RBMA Interview with drummer Dwight Burns

And go get some TSU Toronadoes in your library.

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Remaining Gigs 2016

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For the first time in over 10 years I have enough gigs to list them in one post! Still ain’t many, but if you’re in NYC, I’ll be at the drum throne or on the turntables in these places:

11.26 @ Parkside Lounge NYC on drums w/ Lulu Lewis – 11PM

12.10 @ Robert Bar, B’klyn throwing down funk + soul 45s for my monthly “Soul Vibrations!” DJ gig – 10PM

12/15 @ Troost, Bklyn on drums w/ Lulu Lewis – 10PM

12/29 @Bowery Electric on drums w/ Lulu Lewis – 10PM

If you’re around, come by.

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J-Zone presents…Soul Vibrations at Robert Bar B’klyn (11/19)

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My monthly DJ gig at Robert Bar. Normally the second Saturday of every month but I bat third this go round. 10PM-2AM. Free. Stop by, say hi and enjoy a non-stop barrage of funk and soul 45s.

Since everyone gives DJs requests, I’ll give some back: No texting. And no Shazam-ing my sets. Do that in Trader Joe’s where it’ll actually do some good. This entire night is anti-phone. Enjoy the music. Meet people. Drink, dance and be funky. Channel your inner new-Brooklyn and do yoga poses or play Charades for all I care, just don’t be a Gadget Ho.
The music will be a hell of a lot better than the flyer. It’s terrible. I spent my graphic design budget on more records and did it myself, but once you get there it won’t matter.

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The Du-Rites Mini-Documentary + iTunes!

So here’s a mini-doc about my funk band with longtime cohort, Pablo Martin – how we formed, the making of our debut album, etc. Done by David Saklosky of Gusto Gold Films. Hope you dig it.

And for people who have no time to deal with vinyl and tapes, The Du-Rites’  album is now on iTunes (click that). Today’s release date of October 21 was chosen purposely, as my late grandmother (“Evil E”) would’ve celebrated her 93rd birthday today. Grandma is bestowing the funk upon us from heaven. That’s all we’ve got for today. Enjoy the music!

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The Du-Rites Album Out Now!

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Finally! My very first pure funk endeavor is now available! It’s been on my to-do list for about 30 years and it feels amazing to finally have achieved it, although I never thought it would be primarily as a drummer and playing keys (with bass on a few cuts). Special shout out to my partner in funk, Mr. Pablo Martin – we are The Du-Rites! The actual “street date” is November 18, but digital download and a limited number of orange vinyl LPs and green shell tapes are available for pre-order now at: thedurites.bandcamp.com

They’ll ship around November 1. Should we run out of vinyl and/or tapes, they’re also available at www.redefinitionrecords.com and they’ll ship in the same time frame. Otherwise, pick up the wax or tape at your favorite mom + pop sites/stores November 18.

For those who don’t collect, the album will be on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc. tomorrow (October 21). I’ll do a separate post about that.

If spendin’ money ain’t your thing, you can always stream the album 24/7 on our Soundcloud page. We even considered the broke folks!

Enjoy

 

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