Jazz Cafe':Then & Now Spotlight Artist: Gene DunlapGroove With You
Avenue Jazz
1994Tales of the Phatman
Avenue Jazz
2000I Still Believe
Liquid 8
2003Peaceful Days
215 Records
2004Gene Dunlap: Long a Café Jazz favourite, Gene Dunlap's solo career dates all the way to the early 80s and includes three albums from that period. However, we've chosen to focus on the latter half of Dunlap's solo exploits.A Detroit native, Dunlap began in music when his father taught him how to play drums at the age of four. During his high school years, he connected with guitarist Earl Klugh and as part of the Earl Klugh Trio; they performed in a variety of local clubs. Stints with Grant Green and Roy Ayers followed before Dunlap talents earned him a record deal in the early 80s; subsequently he issued three solo albums primarily within the sphere of soul and dance. Afterwards, he reunited with Klugh, in all their partnership has endured over 20 years and Gene has collaborated on 10 Klugh releases. Meanwhile Dunlap also added percussion, guitar, synthesizer, and composing to his repertoire.In addition to his work with Earl Klugh, Dunlap toured and recorded with Ronnie Laws, Hubert Laws, George Benson, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bob James, Bobby Lyle, Marcus Miller, George Duke and Patrice Rushen among others.
Photo: Promo Shot In 1994, Dunlap resumed his solo career as leader of The Gene Dunlap Band and Groove with You, it's right about here that we jumped on the Dunlap "band wagon" so to speak!! Bolstered by the guitar work of Perry Hughes and the sax playing of Ray Manzerolle, the album represented some of the finest in musical creative expression! However, despite the success of the effort, shortly after its release, Dunlap gave up performing to teach Detroit's inner city youth.After a lengthy absence, Dunlap returned to the studio in 2000 and released Tales of the Phatman. Fortunate for all contemporary jazz and smooth R&B fans, two more outstanding releases have followed and allowed us to do what we do as we place Gene Dunlap, past and present, in our Then & Now spotlight.
To begin we zip back to 1994 for It's Over with the aforementioned Messrs Hughes and Manzerolle contributing to the track and then things take off from there!! Next up is As We Grow, with Rayse Biggs on flugelhorn. It's start is deceptively low key, that is until Perry Hughes chips in with a fantastic up tempo groove!!That's followed by five full minutes of musical ecstasy. That's Alexander Zonjic featured on flute on For A Little While, an incredible piece and one of the most beautiful we've had the pleasure to play here at The Café. Ray Manzerolle, Hughes again, Pat Prouty on bass and Charles Scales on keys round out the lineup. All is under the watchful eye of Gene himself who handles drums, programming, and production duties. Now you really can't get much smoother than this!Finally, from the latest release we didn't have to look beyond the opening selection as the perfect choice for our finale, we have Fairway. The tune is dedicated to Tiger Woods and without sounding as if I'm going too much overboard, this is just one fabulous, fabulous track!! The soloing by Manzerolle is exceptional, some gorgeous keyboard work from Charles Scales and an irresistible rhythmic groove generated by the man himself make this track a highlight!! Thus ends one of our finest features and our mini-tribute to Gene Dunlap, a musician of artistic integrity and no doubt one of the best-kept secrets in contemporary jazz!!Site: Dunlap/215 Music
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