I've never personally subscribed to the 'jazz is the healer and funk is the healer' school of philosophy. James Brown and Sly Stone excepted, Funk is a mutation of dance music that leaves me stone cold.
The Madrid based 'Speak Low' collective do nothing to change my perspective and their inclusion of a tacky Hammond organ to the traditional brass and bass rhythms only adds to the torture.
The band have been together for 6 years and they are apparently "unstoppable on stage" . This is their second album, their first being released on the Acid Jazz label. The nine song set touches all the bases of jazz, funk and soul and titles like 'Soul Is What You Got' and 'Papa Don't Take No Mess' give fair warning of what to expect.
Rather than pushing at the boundaries of the genre, they seem content to stick to the tried and tested formula and it all ends up sounding hopelessly dated
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