Down to the Bone: Main Ingredients (2011)

This premier funk jazz unit has solidified its undisputed place as the true merchants of groove. Masterminded by writer/ producer Steward Wade, DTTB has churned out hit after head bobbin hit, not only capturing the attention of radio with its thick, throbbing funk but has also established itself as one of the most in demand touring bands in the world. The Main Ingredients takes the band into double digit territory marking their 10th release and one that takes the band back to its original roots with 10 tracks still steeped in groove but with a heavy dose of 21st century glaze. There is still plenty of meat on the bone here with tracks like Uptown Hustle and Second Nature that will find welcome satisfaction among their minions along with a heaping helping of non-signature flavors like the sides Watch Me Fly co-written by label mate Oli Silk and the Band New Heavies inspired Closer, both featuring vocals from Imani. All in all a funk/ groove feast sure to invigorate the taste buds of all who crave music that makes you move. The Main Ingredients has, as the title suggests, the base ingredients that got the band from Wade s early concept to the massive success it is today yet purposefully sprinkled with some surprise spices to keep the sides interesting, funky and on the edge. - Amazon

Tracklist:

01. Uptown Hustle (7:17)
02. A Change Has Got to Come (6:41)
03. Second Nature (5:52)
04. Music Is the Key (5:30)
05. Watch Me Fly (5:17)
06. Together We Stand (6:10)
07. A Universal Vibe (6:23)
08. South Side Overdrive (5:52)
09. Closer (7:02)
10. Cut and Run (7:06)

Main Ingredients

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Down to the Bone: Future Boogie (2009)

The problem with Down to the Bone's Future Boogie is this: what the band is doing in the present, they've done better in the past.

Three years ago, Down to the Bone (DTTB) celebrated their first decade of bringing the funk with a terrific studio album, Supercharged (Narada/2007), and a well-assembled compilation, The Best of Down to the Bone (Narada/2007). The two releases provided an excellent introduction to where this British band had been and a road map to where they might be going.

Future Boogie is the sound of this funk/jazz ensemble idling in place. There's a non-descript feel to the album's cover art and song titles, but lackluster packaging isn't the real dilemma. What is, is how the album comes off as the less interesting little cousin to Supercharged. Two of the guest artists from that album—vocalist Hilary Mwelwa of Hil Street Soul, and vibraphonist Roy Ayers—return, but the material provided by Stuart Wade and Ian Cambell isn't as strong this time around.

DTTB was previously a band with a strong rhythm section augmented by a horn section, which gave it the latitude to perform songs where the horns were prominent, alternating with others featuring no horns at all. This time every track is dominated by blaring brass, and the horn arrangements by Wade and Tim Smart shift the emphasis away from the rhythm section. This imbalance of power within the band leaves DTTB sounding, for stretches, like Tower of Power having an off night.

There's no such thing as a DTTB album without something worthwhile to recommend, and when they're given space to shine, bassist Julian Crampton, guitarist Tony Remy and drummer Phil Nelson rise to the occasion, particularly on the title track, "Should've Been You," featuring Mwelwa's sassy singing, and "The Brighter Side," where keyboardist Neil Angilley's piano solo briefly breaks through before the horn section loudly barges in bleating, squealing and honking.

It isn't until the final track, "We've Always Got the Music," that the horns back off somewhat and give Angilley, Remy, Crampton and Nelson some room to groove. By then it's too late; nothing more than an enticing teaser of what DTTB can do when both sides of the band play well together.

It's hard to put a finger on why Future Boogie doesn't impress in the way Supercharged did. It could be there's too much similarity in many of the tracks. Perhaps it's the lack of particularly compelling material.

Whatever the case, what's new here isn't all that interesting and what's interesting isn't all that new.

Whatever category you want to put DTTB in—soul and funk, R&B, acid jazz, or something entirely separate—it does what it does very well. Unfortunately, this pleasant, but routing effort isn't the bold step forward the band might have planned.

Tracklist:

1. Future Boogie; 2. Should've Been You; 3. Spiderlegs; 4. Good To Me; 5. Get On It; 6. The Brighter Side; 7. Gotcha!; 8. In the Pocket; 9. Smash and Grab; 10. We've Always Got the Music.

Personnel: Neil Angilley: piano, Rhodes, Hammond organ, clavinet, keyboards; Tony Remy: guitar; Julian Crampton: bass; Phil Nelson: drums; Richard Sadler: percussion; James Knight: alto saxophone; Tim Smart: trombone; Pablo Mendelssohn: trumpet (1, 3-6, 8-10); Andy Gray: trumpet (2, 7), additional trumpet (8); Hilary Mwelwa (Hil St. Soul): vocals (2, 6); Roy Ayers: vibes, vocals (4); Neil Burditt: synth (8).

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