Floorfilla x Phatt Lenny

Filled with layered, precise arrangements that jump off the speakers and cut straight to your soul, Lenny White’s Edge (Hip Bop HIBD 8019; 60:40) is a great example of tearing down constricting genre borders and rebuilding from the ground up. Drummer White lays rock solid foundations for short-form artistic dramas like “Mr. DePriest,” a hard-fusion walk spritzed with horns and set up by Bennie Maupin’s dark bass clarinet. “Raiders in the Temple of Boom” builds a multi-layered, somewhat laid-back percussive foundation which peels back occasionally for hard-screaming lead figures to appear. White’s group features the dual bass work of Victor Bailey and Foley, adding to the gritty foundation. Two of the most memorable and surprising tracks here are covers. First, a stunning reworking of Led Zepplin’s “Kashmir” which stings with soulful vocal harmony and bass.

Rock music in the 1980s had completely lost the gritty feel of earlier eras, until Lenny Kravitz rediscovered the magic formula. Kravitz's sonic template combined good old-fashioned rock & roll with glam, soul, and psychedelia, making him a massive success. He made a splash straight out of the gate with his album Let Love Rule. After that, he de-emphasized the flower-power aspects of his music and began moving toward a heavier rock sound.

On his second solo album, Big City, Return to Forever drummer Lenny White leads an all-star cast on a jaunt through the diverse worlds of jazz fusion. The title track is a groove-oriented monster that unites the Brian Auger Oblivion Express with the Tower of Power horn section.

Live performance from American singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz, recorded in Rio de Janeiro in 2011.
There may have been other "retro" rock acts before him, but Lenny Kravitz was one of the first to not be pigeonholed to a single style as he touched upon such genres as soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads over the years. Born in New York on May 26, 1964 (his mother was actress Roxie Roker, best-known for her role as Helen Willis on the popular TV series The Jeffersons, and his father was a TV producer), Kravitz was raised in Los Angeles, where he found himself around countless musical giants as a youngster due to his parents friendships with the likes of Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Short, and Miles Davis.

One of the better entries to emerge from a genre that was quickly growing tired. Return to Forever drummer Lenny White, while not as powerful or talented as counterparts Billy Cobham or Alphonse Mouzon, had an excellent feel for funk and an amazing sense of taste. "Chicken-Fried Steak" contains enough odd-time beats and fills to satisfy any drum fanatic, but White proves to be more than just a technician.