Acclaimed New Orleans singer/songwriter Erica Falls
This fantastic funk track is from the 2023 album Floki Sessions: Boots in Place. It features the exceptional talents of bassist George Porter Jr. (The Meters), guitarist Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds), drummer Nikki Glaspie (The Nth Power, Beyoncé) and keyboardist Robert Walter (The Greyboy Allstars). Floki Sessions: Boots in Place is the latest installment of a series that hosts recording sessions for musicians at Floki Studios, located deep in Fljót Valley on the mountainous Troll Peninsula in northern Iceland. The series was created to provide a platform for celebrated music artists to collaborate and inspire one another.
“Boots in Place” also features the soulful vocal stylings of acclaimed New Orleans artist Erica Falls, former lead singer of NOLA funk band Galactic. The deep-funk groove boasts some sweet keyboards, phat bass, a cookin’ beat, dope rhythm guitar licks and a killer horn arrangement. The funky three-piece horn section on this track is composed of NEA Jazz Master Donald “Big Chief” Harrison on alto saxophone, trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce) and saxophonist Nate Miller (Nate Miller & The Funktion).
Floki Sessions: Boots in Place is filled with top-quality grooves that showcase the considerable talents of all the musicians involved. Eddie Roberts produced the album, which was released on Color Red Records. Some of the other vocalists featured on the album include GreenTTea, Son Little and Lamar Williams Jr.
This exquisite dub reggae groove was created by Joey Porter and Garrett Sayers, who are members of acclaimed funk/soul/jazz band The Motet. The track is impeccably arranged and features sumptuous bass, a powerful beat and shimmering keyboards. The groove is further elevated by a sweltering guitar solo.
“Pink Noise” is a track from Porter and Sayers’ music project Spacewalk, which was released on June 16, 2023. The seeds for the project were planted in 2021 when Porter wrote and recorded five dub reggae grooves. Porter showed them to Sayers, inspiring him to write five dub reggae grooves of his own. And the Spacewalk project was born. The result is a 10-song collection of amazing dub reggae cuts. Lovers of the style definitely need to givethis great album a listen.
Spacewalk was recorded at Porter’s home studio in Colorado. He played guitar, keyboards, percussion, melodica and drum-machine programming. Sayers played bass and synthesizers with Jeff Franca on percussion. Porter also produced the album, which was released on Color Red Music.
Eddie Kendricks was one of the premier soul singers of the ‘60s and ‘70s. He brought his velvet-smooth falsetto to Temptations classics such as “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” “Get Ready,” “You’re My Everything” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).” And he enjoyed a highly successful solo career after leaving the Temptations in 1971, landing a string of top-10 hits on the R&B charts and a couple on the pop charts as well. Dance-floor filler “Boogie Down” is one of Kendricks’ biggest solo hits. This smoldering dance groove boasts an incredible arrangement, with dynamic strings, poppin’ congas, driving bass and supertight horn charts. And Kendricks delivers a soulful, high-energy vocal performance. “Boogie Down” was blasted everywhere back in the day–clubs, parties, car stereos, etc.
The song was released in December of 1973. It was the lead single from Kendricks’ fourth studio album Boogie Down! (Feb. 1974), released on Motown Records’ Tamla label. It was written by Anita Poree, Frank Wilson and Leonard Caston. The song topped Billboard’s R&B singles chart for three straight weeks. It was his second consecutive single to reach the summit of the R&B charts. It also performed extremely well on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, rising all the way to #2. Additionally, it saw some solid chart action overseas, reaching #39 on the UK singles chart. “Boogie Down” was Kendricks' second biggest hit as a solo artist. His biggest hit was “Keep On Truckin’”, which topped Billboard's pop and R&B singles chart and reached #18 on the UK charts.
“Boogie Down” was sampled on Slick Rick’s 1991 track “It’s a Boy.” Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony released an instrumental cover of the song in 1974.
The musicians who played on this Eddie Kendricks dance smash were Ed Greene (drums), James Jamerson (bass), King Errisson (congas), Jerry Peters (organ), Gary Coleman (percussions, vibes), Leonard Caston (piano, clavinet) and Dean Parks (guitar). The song was produced and arranged by Frank Wilson and Leonard Caston.
