Soul Etouffee (feat. Will Bernard, Derrek Phillips & Frank Swart)

We resume the Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumental Series with release #150!, Soul Étouffée, featuring Berkeley, CA native and Brooklyn, NYC transplant, guitarist/composer/bandleader, WILL BERNARD.
Will seems to be everywhere at all once when it comes to music making. He was in Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics in the '80's including the record “Multikulti” with Don Cherry. In the '90's, Will was a founder of the pioneering Acid Jazz group, T.J. Kirk (with Charlie Hunter), a member of Jai Uttal, and a member of the Stanton Moore Trio. Then in the 00's he ventured into bandleading with several critically acclaimed releases including Party Hats which earned him a 2008 Grammy nomination for best contemporary jazz album. Since then, wherever there's funk/jazz jamming going on...whether it's in a hip NYC Jazz club, JazzFest, Monterey Jazz, Bumbershoot, North Sea, High Sierra with cats like Medeski, George Porter, Scofield, and so on...Will is there. His most recent endeavor is an album and tour with another San Francisco heavy, clarinetist Beth Custer entitled Sky. Please enjoy Will here on this funky little number. Bon appétit!
 

The backing band on this track is Oakland Born/Nashville residing, funky AF, Derrek Phillips, (Gloria Gaynor, Robben Ford, Charlie Hunter) on drums, and myself on rhythm guitar and bass. The track was recorded at NTA, South San Francisco, The Phamily Room, Nashville TN, and Will's studio in Brooklyn, NY. Mellifluously mixed and mastered by the infamous F-Bomb.

The Reward (feat. John Deaderick, Mai Bloomfield, David D.R. Robbins, Th...

The fourth single from Soundtrack For A Film Without Pictures, The Reward, is an excellent example of what can happen when you put the right players in "the room" and just let them do their thing. This track is really the Funkwrench Blues All-Stars, my dear friend and emotionally astute musician, John Deaderick, on all kinds of keys, another incredibly tuned-in and brilliant musician, cellist, Mai Bloomfield elevating my simple sketch of a melody to something otherworldly, my partner in crime and Junk/post junk Brother, David DR Robbins on bari sax and flute in an incredibly supportive and sympathetic role and last but not least the inimitable force known as Thomas Pridgen pumping the bellows on the drum kit. This is the point in the film where the hero gets the knowing and is about to embark on their return to share what they have learned. I hope it touches you. This song was also inspired by Andrew Hill's Illusion (Alternate Take), if you aren't familiar with it, check it out and let me know what you think. We will be resuming the Badass Blues Instrumental Series in two weeks with a wonderfully funky track featuring Will Bernard so, stand by for that. And in the meanwhile....