The Witzard

Durand Jones & The Indications dressed as The Batmen (@voodoonola) 🎃 David Bowie once described his then-new album, Young Americans , as [being] "the definitive Plastic Soul record. It's the squashed remains of ethnic music, as it survives in the age of Muzak, written and sung by a White Limey" within an 1976 Playboy interview. Said terminology was previously used by Paul McCartney to describe The Beatles' 1965 album, Rubber Soul, as well as Bowie's most commercially-successful album, Let's Dance (1983.) David Bowie and producer, Tony Visconti, recorded Young Americans primarily in Philadelphia between August 1974 & January 1975 with a slew of local musicians; this including an early-career Luther Vandross, Sly & The Family Stone drummer Andy Newmark, Carlos Alomar (James Brown, Chuck Berry, Iggy Pop,) and later, John Lennon at secondary sessions in New York. "Young Americans," actually, interpolates the Lennon-sung line, "I ...

Just in time for Christmas, The Night Owls have returned with a new 45 showcasing a festive cover of "This Christmas" with Durand Jones . The Night Owls (or just Night Owls ) are drummer Blake Colie , guitarist Dan Ubick , and bassist Dave Wilder of The Lions , along with The Aggrolites' long-time piano/organ player Roger Rivas . Durand Jones is, of course, the frontman and namesake of critically-acclaimed Soul/Funk revival ensemble, Durand Jones & The Indications . Following "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" released this past July, Night Owls have re-emerged to bring us a Reggae-tinged version of "This Christmas" first popularized by Donny Hathaway in 1970 for ATCO Records. "A perfect jam to have on deck this holiday season. Side B features an instrumental version, where the Funky and grooving organ stylings of Roger Rivas keep the tune alive to be played on the dance floor ...

It must go to say something that the song that plays directly after Black Pumas' "Black Moon Rising" on YouTube Music is Wah Wah Watson 's wah-wah pedal-drenched "Goo Goo Wah Wah" from his 1976 Columbia Records Soul-Funk masterpiece, ELEMENTARY . Black Pumas consists of Austin -based singer-songwriter Eric Burton and musician/producer/composer Adrian Quesada , who are the inaugural signees to Colemine Records' newly-launched sister label, Karma Chief Records . As the story goes, Quesada was taking a break from his main bands, Brownout and Brown Sabbath —as seen on Ozzy & Jack's World Detour —to record a batch of " Soul -leaning instrumentals with the intent of eventually, making a full album." Although, he did not have a vocalist to accompany his instrumentals and started putting out feelers around Austin and across the country, as far-reaching as LA . However, it wasn't until local producer Bryan Ray , a mutual friend of ...