Boost! Boost! II

The Fearless Flyers are kind of a super-group featuring Joe Dart and Cory Wong from Vulfpeck, Mark Lettieri from Snarky Puppy and Nate Smith (Nate Smith, Chris Potter). Tailwinds is their first full length album following its two EPS, Fearless Flyers I and II…

It’s hard to take any Vulfpeck release out of its intended context. While all of their records stand up on their own, there is an inherent strategy in everything they do. Each EP or LP is a logical successor to the last one. As their popularity grows, though, they are exposed to scores of people who are not attuned to their grooves, not privy to the in-jokes and history that informs each new album…

Recorded in 1973, 3 + 3 was a major turning point for the Isley Brothers. With this album, the Isleys moved their T-Neck label from Buddah to Epic/CBS (which became Epic/Sony in the early '90s), and it was at Epic that they unveiled their new lineup. Lead singer Ronald Isley and his siblings O'Kelly and Rudolph remained, but the Isleys became a sextet instead of a trio when cousin Chris Jasper and younger brothers Ernie and Marvin were added. This new lineup was called 3 + 3, and the addition of Jasper on keyboards, Ernie on guitar, and Marvin on bass added exciting new elements to the Isleys' sound…

In the wake of the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of four of their bandmates and soul legend Otis Redding, trumpeter Ben Cauley and bassist James Alexander formed a new edition of the Bar-Kays to cut Gotta Groove, a celebration of life and music that ranks among the funkiest, hardest-driving LPs ever released under the Stax aegis…