About Rock Candy Funk Party

Rock Candy Funk Party is as celebratory as the band name suggests. Spinning a fresh take on classic '70s and '80s funk and jazz, RCFP is powered by a lineup of world-class players collaborating for the sheer joy of making music, and a mutual love of genre-blurring grooves. The band includes: Tal Bergman, Ron DeJesus, Joe Bonamassa, Mike Merritt and Renato Neto. Regarding their 2013 release, 'We Want Groove' ... "The jazz-funk, soul brew is often given a bluesy touch by Bonamassa who is situated on the left channel while DeJesus is heard on the right channel, tendering a well-defined soundstage. In a loose sense the guitarists are role players, alternating between the jazz, funk and blues-rock idioms. One of the more prominent examples of the retro vibe is "The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life," which could parallel a soundtrack from one of the old Blaxploitation flicks with inferences to the late, blues and funk guitarist Johnny "Guitar" Watson's oozing notes and trickling phraseology, tinted with echo and reverb. Otherwise, keyboardist Renato Neto kicks the proceedings off with spacey and dream-laden Fender Rhodes treatments, followed by bassist Mike Merritt distinct groove-building and Bergman's simple metronomic hi-hat pulse. With breezy and drifting synth overlays, the guitarists eventually spawn a counter-melody to inject a tuneful theme built on effective use of space via a multi-hued outline, piloting a blissful primary melody. They inject multi-colored sound-shaping mechanisms into this piece that also benefits from an insightful production, designed with a Midas touch. One of the enthralling aspects of the album, other than the solid material and stellar audio engineering, pertains to the bands manifold rhythmic flows and perceptive use of dynamics. Of course the dance-ability factors are prevalent throughout, but it's a hybrid concoction that yields significant rewards where the old synchronizes with the new, as the group artfully contemporizes and uplifts the tried and true." (Glenn Astarita)