Brazilian music, Afro, reggae, jazz, funk… Nothing is off limits for this incredible artist simply known as Rommel. Born in 1987 in São Luís, Northern Brazil, Rommel was destined to have close connections with music. Raised in a family of musicians, he grew up admiring his grandparents’, father’s and sister’s talents. Precociously gifted, Rommel won his first music festival competition at the age of 14 and since then participated in several other music festivals mainly in his hometown, São Luís.
Rommel in Canada Click Here!
Tag Archive for 'Funk'
Hailing from Toronto, Jamesking brings the sort of fresh perspective on R&B that the genre has quite frankly been waiting for. Harking back to a time when popular R&B/Funk was a means of musical expression and not just a formula, Jamesking creates intricate, smooth, hip and relevant music. Songwriter/guitarist Duff Demirovic has crafted a unique sound, aided by first class musicians Ran Caspi, Ilian Iliev and Vlada Mladenovic. Add to all of this the heavenly vocals of Gyles and you have an explosive mix that will keep your feet tapping throughout.
Click here to listen to Avant Chord’s “Watermelon N Pork” avant-chord-watermelon-n-pork
Avant Chord (aka dj Cheeba due to his free-spirited and relaxed attitude towards life) hails from Canada and resides in Toronto. He has been a very active individual in the Toronto hip-hop community since 1996, which stems from his tremendous passion for the culture as a whole (graffiti, breakdancing, emceeing and dj-ing and now producing) and every genre that has inspired the music from funk, soul to samba. His ear for rare, soulful music originated from break dancing to the music of legendary funk artists such as James Brown, Booker T and the MG’s, Bob James and The Blackbyrds back in his high school era. During this time, he was introduced by a friend to some musical instruments that would seal the deal for his love for manipulation of music, a pair of Tech 12’s and a Gemini mixer. Continue reading ‘Avant Chord in profile: Deeply layered and diversified’
With the release of their first album What We Have in January of 2006, METHODOLOGY joined the revolution to bring true Soul, R&B, and Funk back to the live stage. With approximately 50 independently produced shows across Canada in 2006, METHODOLOGY has grown into one of the foremost underground Live Soul acts in the country. In 2006 they were nominated for ‘Best Live Performance” and “Best R&B Group” at the Toronto Independent Music Awards, and were honoured to be nominated for “Group of the Year” at the Soultracks Awards in the USA (running against the likes of The Brand New Heavies, Amel Larrieux, Omar, and many other signed acts). Continue reading ‘Methodology in profile: Bringing the funk back to live stage’
DJ Huggs is a champion of not only good DJ’ing but also of playing good music period - from funk 45’s in sweaty dance halls to party classics at swish hotel bars to golden era hip hop for b-boys and upfront club music on main stages all over this great continent of ours. Whether it be the infamous Hollywood Banana Split Party @ LAX with DJ AM, a genre bending two room party in Baltimore with TV On The Radio & Dave Nada, or headlining the long-running Hai Karate night in Calgary; all this while steadily introducing Canada and homebase Montreal to acts like J*Davey and Platinum Army, Eli Escobar and Sharon Jones and rocking alongside everyone from Antibalas to Zero 7 - even The Roots and The Police - when they come to town; not to mention setting the Wunderbar inside the W Hotel in Old Montreal on fire every Saturday night. With 200+ shows on the road a year - Continue reading ‘DJ Huggs’
Stepchyle is a seven piece hard-hitting original Funk/Soul band that will get people out of their seats and on to the dance floor. The Stepchyle sound is fresh, featuring funk, soul and jazz fusion. Continue reading ‘Stepchyle’
The origin of Timekode is in the bytes that began travelling through samplers and drum machines in the early eighties. MIDI timecode is the data that keeps sample loops, filtered basslines and drum hits moving in unison - it’s the glue that holds together a culture based on pulling together bits of the past to make the sounds of the future. Continue reading ‘TIMEKODE’
An avid spiritual curiosity, coupled with a sympathetic embrace of other cultures and other people, has led musician Warren “Slim” Williams to work across musical genres and with a multitude of collaborators. Indeed, over the years, he has shared the stage with artists as diverse as the Neville Brothers, Joe Cocker, Oscar Peterson and Smokey Robinson. Slim’s musical career began at the age of nine, when he began to play the organ in his father’s Baptist church in North Carolina. His move to Detroit at eighteen marked the continuation of his professional career. And what a career it was: The Spinners, The Drifters and The Temptations were among the great acts he worked with. A series of unforeseen circumstances and chance encounters brought him to Quebec, initially to record an album in the Laurentians with his then band Tchukon. As keyboardist and lead vo
calist with Tchukon, Slim was instrumental in the band’s success and eventual rise to international prominence after it won the Star Search TV Talent Contest in 1986. He was musical director for a number of important projects, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games television special Salute to the Athletes, the World Basketball Championship in Toronto and several galas at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. These accomplishments culminated in a Gemini award for both Oscar Peterson and Slim Williams for best original musical score for the Oscar Peterson biopic, In the Key of Oscar. More recently, he has become a driving force in the Montreal music community, collaborating 
with many major artists. A pioneer of music technology, he was able, at an early stage, to harness all the expressive potential and expanded creative options of new compositional tools. Slim is currently at work in the studio, where his complex rhythms, melodic bass lines and lush orchestrations come together in passionate and soulful songs. Slim describes this sound as ’sophistafunk’ - where refined, jazz-tinged arrangements meet the driving beats of funk.
As I’m sure you’re sold on Slim already, you’ll want to be sure to check him out at the Mercury Lounge (Ottawa) on March 29th.
TCR will be there. We’ll wear a flower in our hair.
The ElastoCitizens were founded in Toronto in the fall of 2004 with one goal: to make people dance.
With theatrical grandeur and ecstatic stage shows, they’ve endeavoured to bring their brand of heavy groove, feel good music to the masses. Their massive, sexy, euphoria-inducing concerts have left legions of fans begging for more.
Their shows are a combination of throwback soul complete with Motown/Shangri-la brand choreography blended with a high-energy punk-funk intensity reminiscent of early Chili Peppers. One song rolls into the next in the style of a 1967 James Brown show, stirring the crowds into a smiling, sweaty, dancing frenzy.
The ElastoCitizens are a total experience that have to be seen to be believed.
So, naturally, here’s an upcoming show for you to check out:
May 10th, 2008 - Lee’s Palace w. The Heavy @ 529 Bloor St. W (Toronto, ON)
Bambi Blue
