Sunday, October 31, 2010

Tony Adamo's exuberant jazzy take on Tower of Power's funk classic"What is Hip"

Tony Adamo's exuberant jazzy take on Tower of Power's funk classic
Adamo and his producer/guitarist Jerry Stucker take Tower of Power's classic funk number and give it a more sinewy vibe, elasticizing the vocals and the bass, while crackling up the song's more timpanic elements. This exuberantly self-assured remake recalls the Acid Jazz insouciance of the early 90s while harkening back to the Big Band era and the Vegas-y stylings of suave masters of self-confidence such as Tom Jones and Al Jarreau. Adamo has a brash self-assuredness and a sense of showmanship that's neither unearned nor in your face. You can almost picture him taking a drag from an unfiltered or sipping from a martini in between some of his spoken-word lines. And the arrangements are crisp, solid and spicy--punctuating Adamo's vocals and his been-there sung-that attitude.
http://www.strokeland.com/
www.myspace.com/tonyrocadamo
Devon Jackson
Magazine Editor - Freelance Music Journalist
Devon Jackson has written about music and film for a variety of publications--from Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice to Rolling Stone and Details. He is also the author of Conspiranoia! and currently the editor of Santa Fean magazine

Singer Tony Adamo's "What is Hip" Reviewed By Ken Spellman-Soundcheckny Radio

Singer Tony Adamo Reviewed By Ken Spellman-Soundcheckny Radio
http://www.strokeland.com/
Singer/songwriter Tony Adamo and his producer/guitarist Jerry Stucker have re-grooved the Tower of Power (TOP) songs "What Is Hip" and "This Time It's Real," and have added their unmistakable smooth groove to these TOP hit classics. Adamo and Stucker have reimagined "What Is Hip" in a totally fresh and hip style that pays homage to, but never attempts to duplicate, the classic Tower of Power original.
"What Is Hip" is a pleasant and refreshing project that reflects back on a legendary time in music history where REAL INSTRUMENTS were played. No Garage Band, Live, Fruity loops here buddy!
On top of that Tony and Jerry dared to cover one of the most famous songs to garner appeal from jazz enthusiasts, lovers of funk, and R&B. This is the type of music that SHOULD be on the radio as it was when "Tower Of Power" initially released it.
As I listened I was rewound back in time to pleasant summer days of my youth refining my skills as a percussionist. It was a time to be HIP and this was the anthem.
The song opens with funky percussion, light keys and spoken word which immediately grab your attention. The horn sections softly remind you of the "Tower Of Power" horns and the overall flow casts you back into the street scenes of movies like "Superfly, Car Wash, and Lady Sings the Blues". The song progresses at a hip pace, no rush, no pressure, we'll get there when we get there!
When we got to the end of the song I had to play it again until I finally downloaded it to my IPhone, got in my baby Benz and took to the streets of Manhattan, from The Trade Center in complex in lower Manhattan, up the West Side highway to 125th Street and i was Hip".
This one gets lot's of Stars **** out of five and I encourage you to visit their sites and buy both their current projects.
Urban AC radio and the few Jazz stations out there get on this one! You can believe we're playing it on Soundcheck!
http://www.strokeland.com/
Ken "Special K" Spellman
Founder / CEO - Soundcheck Incorporated
Ken Spellman - Founder / CEO - Soundcheck Incorporated
http://www.soundcheckny.com/