On Saturday, June 21 at the 2014 Isthmus Jazz Festival, I had the privilege of being named Isthmus Jazz Personality Of The Year. It was an honor to receive this recognition. Other ‘Personalities’ from previous years include Ben Sidran, Jan Wheaton, Kelly DeHaven and Roscoe Mitchell. The kicker was speaking before the festival headliner  Richard Davis’ performance. I used the opportunity to speak on the plight of local jazz musicians in our city and reminded people that, by just simply deciding to go out more to hear live music, they can greatly help improve our local jazz scene. The whole experience was pretty fun and cool…

In preparation for the release of our new album, They Said…, Sinister Resonance’s new, shiny website is up for your viewing pleasure. Sinisterresonance.com is now up and is chalked full of audio, video, photos and info on all things Sinister. I’ve been working on this project for a couple years now and it feels great to debut our music to the world.

In my new position as Coordinator for Musician-Led Project Development for The Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, I co-produced Madison’s first ever Jazz Crawl. Strollin Schenk’s Corners was a huge success and we’re hoping to duplicate this effort throughout the Greater Madison area.

Here’s a taste of the event

I’m very happy to announce the release of Tani Diakite and The AfroFunkStars first full length album. We recorded this whole album in one session at DNA studios together in one room. No edits. About as organic as one could get… just like Tani himself 🙂

Check my audio page for samples of the new recording as well as exclusive live recordings of this exciting new project. Please visit Tani’s bandcamp page to digitally download the recording and to read translations of Tani’s wonderful lyrics. You can find out more on our upcoming performances by liking Tani’s Facebook page.

It was super fun to sit in at a session in Barcelona. I called Hank Mobely’s “This I Dig of You”. This is a clip of my solo…

Six wonderful shows in Tokyo and Yokohama with the tightest funk band around. It was such an honor to perform for the people of Japan!

We had a blast, melted some faces and laughed together the entire time. Here are a few snapshots from the tour:

Thanks to Funkatopia.com for their kind write-up and high praise for Phat’s new album. I get a kick that they are also reviewing artists like Bilal, Fishbone and The Roots. That’s some very good company. You can check out the full article here. I love their rating system. The album was awarded a rating of 4 out of 5 Afros!

You can see the original article here

and for my friends who don’t speak japanese, here’s a translation:

“Phat Phanktion, from Madison, Wisconsin, is a “brass funk band”, powered by its sharp-edged horn section. The horns, consisting of sax, trombone, and two trumpets, together with a tight rhythm unit full of groove, as well as deep chorus ensemble provide the warm yet powerful groove throughout. The band has common distinctive features with, yet rivals or surpasses, Tower of Power, which made its mark on the 70’s west coast scene. It is a surprising fact that a band with such authority exists today.

This is the band’s fourth album, after some member changes from their previous release. It is obvious that the member changes caused no negative impact, which is proven as soon as you hear the opening song “You Want It All”. From there on, relaxed “With You” through the closing EWF cover of “Jupiter”, the entire album is glorious and fun!”

YES! I always strive for “no negative impact” 😉

Congratulations to Phat Phunktion’s Real Life .:. High Fidelity on being named by Isthmus Newspaper’s as one of the top 10 albums of 2011. From the Isthmus…

“The members of Phat Phunktion coped with the pain of real life during the time spent making this album. The fiancée of saxophonist Al Falaschi was stricken with cancer. She died in 2009. But funk music has a way of fending off darkness. “You Want It All” is the leadoff track, powered by staccato horns and grooving guitars. Lyrically, it offers a message of hope: “We’ve all got to live for something.” Tim Whalen’s piano grounds “Miss Madison,” and the improvisation shows the band’s strong jazz influences. The lyrics are steeped in local culture: “Dreaming of a night on the Terrace/The moon’s gonna light the stage.”

Phat Phunktion reminds us that despite real tragedies, there’s plenty of reason to celebrate all that’s good.”

Click here for a link to the original Isthmus article.