Sometimes you just need a dose of the old-school soul-funk. But where are you gonna get it? When James Brown's not in jail, he's dreaming up freaky new ways to get back there. You've seen George Clinton about a thousand times, and his sets these days aren't exactly precision bolts of groovy songcraft. And most of the other acts you grew up on are still around in name only, with one or two peripheral members plying shadows of their former songs to festival wanderers and sit-down opera-house crowds.
Well, here comes Sly & The Family Stone founder/saxophonist Jerry Martini to get your ass moving, with original Family members Cynthia Robinson and Rose Stone and group alumnus Dawn Silva. OK, there's no Sly (did you see his zoned-out act on the Grammys?), but these men and women helped craft that sound, and no one knows it better than they do. Plus, you get the added bonus of veteran urban/contemporary R&B singer, songwriter and producer Bobby G. Summers (The Deele, General Kane, The Bar-Kays, Al Green) and his group All Soul'd Out.
This article appears in May 3-9, 2006.