The Menahan Street Band are – in many ways – the creme de la creme of modern soul.
The group are highly experienced, operating as the house band for Dunham Records. Alongside this, the varied members have enjoyed stints working with the likes of The Dap-Kings, Antibalas, Budos Band and The Expressions.
New album 'The Crossing' is an example of just where this experience can lead you. A superb distillation of soul and funk influences, it comes across as completely natural – faithful to the source material, without ever falling into the realm of pastiche.
Here's a quote from Thomas Brenneck: “There’s a discipline that goes into playing Fela’s and James Brown’s music, we love that to death, and we studied it hard in order to play it with any sort of authenticity. But I love Neil Young, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, and we all love Wu-Tang and the early RZA productions as much as we all love Stax and Motown. With MSB, we can really let all those influences show”.
Try out 'Lights Out' as a quick sample. All blazing horns and gently plucked guitar notes, it comes backed with footage of boxers fighting in the ring.
Watch it now.
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'The Crossing' is set to be released on January 7th.
