Vinyl Featuring Bernie Worrell & The Rondo Brothers - Fogshack Music Volume 1 (2006)

For Vinyl’s latest release, the San Francisco funk veterans allowed acclaimed producing team The Rondo Brothers free reign over old master tapes from their “Flea Market” sessions. In doing so Fogshack Music Volume 1 was created.
The eight tracks on the disc are all worth the listen. Non-stop infectious beats, layered with tight percussion and synthesized effects, create the canvas in which The Rondo Brothers paint a very funky picture. The disc also features special guest Bernie Worrell (Parliament/Funkadelic, Talking Heads), who's futuristic style of funk complements The Rondo Brothers and Vinyl very well.

Digging through multiple hours of tape, trying to create new organic compositions is a daunting task, but The Rondo Brothers (Jim Greer and Brandon Arnovick) never flinched and even relied on the "spontaneous studio moments [that] helped to create some of the best music" for the finished product, Greer stated. Even though each track offers something interesting and unique, there are several tracks that stand out. 'Give and Go,' the opening track, creates a gigantic landscape of sonic textures that revolve around a central melody. Worrell's percussive keyboard style, which is very distinctive here, is perfectly placed. Another strong offering, 'Swellyons for Rufus' draws inspiration from the Latin, or even Caribbean style of jazz. Its slick horn melody is accompanied by an irresistible stride-piano riff reminiscent of a smoky Havana jazz club in the pre-Castro era. The song 'Imperial Majesty' is a perfect example of how much creativity The Rondo Bros. put into this project. The track was edited from its original 20+ minute jam, into the tightly woven four minute Reggae concoction that is totally different than Vinyl's original composition.

Fogshack Music Volume 1 is an interesting collection of material, (I'm curious if there might be another Volume in the works?) and I recommend giving it a listen. Each track packs very powerful and unique punch, which shows exactly how much effort and creativity went into this project.

- Patrick Knibbs