Peter Jones
I managed to listen to the first track but couldn't manage the remainder. Too contrived, too little feeling. Oh well. It could have been a freebie or extra but it doesn't really stand on its own.
“This five-song EP is just the thing to brighten up any staid holiday gathering. These instrumentals percolate with Latin jazz-funk, bringing big-band juice and rhythmic punch to four yuletide classics and one original, the title track.” (Los Angeles Times, 3-star review out of 4 by Randy Lewis)
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“YAY!!!!! I LOVE THIS and can pretty much promise that this’ll get HEAVY play on The Night Before… well done!!” (Robert Drake – WXPN Philadelphia)
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Press release:
A Very Funky Christmas infuses funk, 60s boogaloo, jazz and 70s disco into classic holiday songs. This collection surely will inspire you to boogie through the season and take your holiday joy to the next level. Featured is “A Very Funky Christmas,” a Redtenbacher’s Funkestra original track destined to be added to everyone’s holiday party mix.
A Very Funky Christmas was created in a very unique way on three different continents with the help of Skype, Elance and FTP servers. It all started in Turkey when the Swiss producer, Thomas Feurer, found himself heartily humming Christmas melodies into his laptop. A couple of emails later the Austrian bass artist, Stefan Redtenbacher, was laying down tracks in his London studio fabricating funky arrangements you would not usually associate with Christmas.
Thomas Feurer couldn’t wait to get home, to New York that is, where he would add more instruments including saxes, sleigh bells and a flexotone. The icing on the cake was a big bold brass section featuring Dutch trumpet player Albert Leusink and American trombonist Michael Davis. Many Skype and FTP exchanges later Thomas Feurer and Stefan Redtenbacher were so excited about their foolishly funky Christmas creations that they felt like sharing them with the whole world.
Discovered on the freelance website Elance, Bulgarian illustrator, Irina Pamyatnih, brilliantly designed an album cover for the release that perfectly reflects the sassy celebratory music you’ll only hear on A Very Funky Christmas.
credits
released November 15, 2012
Fender bass, bass synth, guitars, keys & alto glockenspiel by Stefan Redten- bacher; soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophone, flute, alto flute, piccolo, bass clarinet, bongos, cowbell, guiro, flexo- tone, sleigh bells & drum programming by Thomas Feurer; trumpet by Albert Leusink; trombone by Michael Davis; illustration by Irina Pamyatnih. Arranged & produced by Thomas Feurer & Stefan Redtenbacher.
Austrian-bred bassist and funk fiend Stefan Redtenbacher is an anomaly, anachronism and a defiant demolisher of the pigeon-
hole. Currently based in London, Stefan and his band Redtenbacher’s Funkestra deliver “out-and-out spectacular funk” (Snowboy) or, as UK Bass Guitar Magazine put it, “a near perfect slice of jazz-funk from one of Europe’s great players.”...more
A brilliant album! Inspired by Hank Mobley and brilliant performances by all. Great to see Larry Goldings mingle with a new set of master musicians! Can't wait to have them do a MLP Sess in London! Redtenbacher's Funkestra
Excellent new album by ueber-guitar FONK man Cory Wong. So pleased to see my friend and amazing horn arranger and trombonist Michael B Nelson and his new section on this recording! Minneapolis funk! Redtenbacher's Funkestra
What a great combo! Scary Pockets, fearlessly led by Jack Conte with his trusted musicians and the great Larry Goldings and Robben Ford, musical heroes of my teenage days. Just brilliant! Redtenbacher's Funkestra
supported by 7 fans who also own “A Very Funky Christmas”
I spent my New Year's hangover listening to "Sky Mall" on repeat, when I discovered my new favorite bass player. "Fugue State" is what you get if the Muscle Shoals musicians took a break to noodle around on Bach and eventually became my wake-up alarm. "First Place" reminds me of that scene in "Clerks" where Randal walks into the adult video store. t0cktock