Menahan Street Band – Make The Road By Walking

So often with Soul, Funk and R & B (the old kind, not the dubiously groomed beard and gyrating lady kind) the people who give the music its swing, its beat, its very essence get forgotten. Just look at Motown’s Funk Brothers, who between them played on more number one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys combined. Yet, with the possible exception of bassist extraordinaire James Jameson, most people would struggle to name one of them.While hardly in the same league as the Funk Brother’s yet, many of the members of Menahan Street Band have fulfilled the same role. Peopled by members of The Dap Kings, Antibalas, and the Budos band amongst others they have played in backing bands for the likes of Sharon Jones, Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse in recent years. Having released a couple of 7”s in the past few years they have finally stepped out of the shadows to take centre stage. Blending soul, funk, reggae, afrobeat and jazz elements the album fizzes along with heavy rhythms and a textured approach. In combining these elements they have created a sound that could only come from New York City; a smooth laid back and yet celebratory strut around the block.The record exudes cool - I’m sure over the next few months you will over hear it in the cooler coffee shops, clothes boutiques and hipster parties. But maybe it’s too cool. At times it all gets a little too retro, the flying flutes and upright piano of ‘Esma’ coming across like Vince Guaraldi Trio gone wrong. Thankfully these lapses are few and far between, and the taught, winding 'The Traitor' more than makes up for it, main man Thomas Brenneck’s trademark guitar string scrapes adding to it’s brooding feel.The real problem here is that there is a reason why people are more familiar with Motown vocalists rather than the Funk Brothers. Without vocals the instrumentals, left to their own devices, can pass the listener by, all be it in a smooth and undoubtedly talented away. Perhaps hip hop and sampling culture has killed our ability to enjoy pure instrumentals. Too often during Make The Road By Walking you feel that things could be taken to the next level by the addition of some vocals, or that a certain section would make a killer sample. To emphasize the point, take the title track. Its languorous, drawn out groove soothes the listener before hitting them with a nice horn section. It’s a pleasant enough fare, but nothing special. Yet, with the addition of the vocals of Beyonce and Kanye West, Jay Z took the song and created ‘Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)', a song which was named song of the year for 2007 by Rolling Stone magazine.While this heady mix of styles is perfectly executed, there is a nagging feeling that it needs that little something extra to make it really stand out, to turn it from a merely very good record to a truly great one. 77%Dunham Records on Myspace