Artist: Brown Bag
Title: Brown Bag
Label: Del-Fi Records (www.del-fi.com)
Genre: Latin funk
Tony 'G' Giron - bass
George 'G Sharp' Montes - guitar, vocals
Carlos 'C Sol' Perez - lead vocals
Rigo Amezcua - drums/percussion
make up the jazz/funk troop that is Brown Bag. Of
course that's just the core of the group; the credits
list plenty of horn and vocals and rhythms, as you'd
fully expect in a group that's at the very Least half
Latin. Several of the songs, most notably the 2nd
track, 'No Se Le De' come with their own source of
fire, sung in Spanish. The blistering brass
arrangements from Ed Peffer (also the sax man) are
notable, though of course not exceptional to the Latin
genre.
However, it's a surprise to find the track after it,
'Precious,' being a rather soul ballad with sad song
piano, slight guitar that clicks on the beat, and a
backing female vocal movement arranged by 'Sid the
Kid.' Reminds those 80s minds of us that Prince and
Sly and Family Stone still live.
But for sheer funky 70s sound, go straight to 'Bro's
Sista's' without listening to Anything else. Just the
blatant, grandiose style that comes from the wanky
guitar, the harmonic/peace vocals is enough to make
you grow your fro back. It whips and slides all over
the map like James Brown at a nympho picnic. A kick in
the head with a time machine chaser.
Brown Bag have already performed in the top spots in
S. California, like Key Club, The Roxy, and various
Sunset Strip palaces. They've only been together since
1995, but their sound is tighter than most supergroups
who get together every other decade to raise ticket
prices for everyone. If this paper sack lunch can only
break out of that one state, the world surely awaits.
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