Groove Collective - People People Music Music

Ever since I discovered a used copy of Groove Collective's debut (a radio promo actually that I got in a bargain bin before the actual street release date), I knew these guy were true playas...of music. Deeply informed by every jazz, soul, funk, afro-beat, electronic and hip hop variation that can be transmuted and mixed to make the movement of butts occur and ears perk up. They have produced a steady stream of albums that are technically ambitious but never for the sake of perfunctory action. These guys play for the crowd, and the crowd wants what their name implies.

On this release they move back a bit to the furious acid jazz styled dancefloor funk, but still move forward with tracks like the broken beat and baritone sax fusillade of Set Up, the retro-soul in the vocal cut What If, and the channelling of Feli Kuti like high-life vibe in DFU (fans of Fela, Tony Allen and Antibalas take note). It is all there and all sonically delicious and aurally nutricious. There is a more than respectable take on the Herbie Hancock standard Speak Like a Child as well, and the spacey late night slow jam Outermost.

There is something to be said for a band like GC that really isn't anything other than a great groove band; it is not straightahead, it is not acid jazz, funk, neo-soul, broken beat, disco, or anything else. It pulls from all those styles the same core sense of groove and fluid pulse that makes for serious headknodding and smiles all around.

So pick up People People, Music Music...then go pick up everything else, starting with the debut and work your way up.

As an aside, the Missus and I caught Groove Collective live a few years ago in SF (they broke the place down to atoms), and at one point I met GC drummer/co-founder Genji Siraisi and asked him about GC side project the Repercussions, as I was unable to find a copy of their second LP, which was a Japan-only release. His repsonse was that even he didn't have a copy of it anymore. So if anyone reading this knows how to get a copy, I have money and a desire to acquire.