East Bay Rhythm

Miracles do happen. And the discovery of these recordings certainly is one. Although the band name may be unfamiliar to most, the musicians names behind East Bay Rhythm certainly aren’t. All of those who are fans of the Headhunters will recognize them as core members of that group. Tucked away on a dusty shelf for over 20 years lay the master tapes of the formation East Bay Rhythm. Thanks to a fortunate chain of events, we can now enjoy for the first time a brand new CD of these historic funk music documents. Drummer James Levi, Bassists Paul Jackson and Freddie Washington, as well as Percussionists Bill Summers and Butch Haynes along with the help of friends and guests such as Carlos’ brother Jorgé Santana of Malo, came together in a period between 1976-1980 to record six unbelievably funky tracks. The 11 re-mastered mixes of these songs were directly pulled from the mixing board on the respective day of the recordings and therefore reflect the full intensity, vitality and atmosphere of the sessions. It is almost a miracle that Herbie Hancock (who can be seen in the booklet munching on a sandwich at a visit to the studio) didn’t jump on the keys himself. It certainly is no miracle, though, that some of the recordings like the 8 minute long Jazz-Funk firework MUD RAT served as inspiration for his later work. BOOGIE CHILDREN and A LITTLE LOVE WILL HELP are serious Funk bombs; they don’t drop harder than that! ACCEPT ME and PARTY DOWN show the development from Funk to Disco, but even here the affinity for pure Funk dominates. Also pleasantly groovy is CHUDA, a psychedelic Cha Cha. Fortunately the label included both vocal and instrumental versions of the songs wherever they were available. After just one listen, it becomes quite obvious: Had these recordings been released 20 years ago, we would all have known them as long time classics in every funk collection. Lucky for us we catch up on that now. Indeed, miracles do happen.
EAST BAY RHYTHM -A Little Love Will HelpCLICK ON THE COVER TO GO TO THE MAIL ORDER SITE!
Thanks to a fortunate chain of events, we can now enjoy for the first time a brand new CD of these historic funk music documents. ( more info... )