Breakestra - Family Rap

Breakestra is a ten-piece funk "orchestra" from Los Angeles. The group is lead by Miles Tackett who put the group together as the house band for the legendary club called the Break.

The style in which the band plays is much influenced by late 60's and early 70's soul and funk music. Through the course of their nearly decade-long existence the only two members that have remained constant are bassist/guitarist/upright cellist/producer/vocalist Miles Tackett and vocalist Mixmaster Wolf. When asked about the rotating members of the band, Miles responds, “The Breakestra has always been an amorphous project.

After releasing several EPs and two full-length albums of mostly covers and sample-filled breaks, Breakestra put out Hit the Floor in 2005 on Ubiquity Records, which included all-original recordings fusing elements of hip hop, funk, and soul.

Family Rap, off their 2005 release, Hit The Floor, is an excellent example of the soul, hip-hop and R&B fusion of Breakestra.

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Suprise - After You Love

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise was formed in Detroit in 1994 when former members of the band Second Self met a blind street performer by the name of Robert Bradley. The band overheard Bradley through an open window while rehearsing for a new project. After listening to Bradley sing for an hour, they invited him up to the studio to record several acoustic songs, then invited him to become their vocalist. The result was the 1996 debut release Blackwater Surprise.

Bradley's gruff soulful voice is the signature sound of the group. Although the group has changed around him, the constant throughout the years since he was 'found' is the soulful, R&B/Blues sound that he creates.

After You Love is off the debut album and like most of the tracks on the album, was a first take recording.

Jamiroquai - Starchild

Jamiroquai is really a band that changes around front-man, singer, songwriter, groove-master Jay Kay (known as JK). The band's name is a combination of Jam session and "iroquai", based on the Iroquois indians. Kay formed Jamiroquai after he unsuccessfully auditioned as the lead singer for The Brand New Heavies.

Bringing in element of soul, funk, pop, electronic and acid jazz, Jamiroquai has evolved since their first release in 1993, Emergency on Planet Earth. Starchild is off their 2006 release, Dynamite. They released a 'best of' compilation in 2008, which completed their Sony contract. It is rumored that they will be releasing a new album on Columbia later this year.

Joss Stone - Tell Me 'Bout It

Joss Stone burst onto the scene with her 2003 release, The Soul Sessions produced by the legendary Betty Wright and with soul/funk legends Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver. She was only 16 years old at the time and had won the BBC Television talent show Star for a Night. London-based producers Andy Dean and Ben Wolfe saw her at a charity event afterward and were so blown away by her voice they contacted S-Curve Records founder and CEO Steve Greenberg and convinced him to fly her to New York to audition. She sang Otis Redding's (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia" and Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". She was signed on the spot.

Tell Me 'Bout It off her third album, Introducing Joss Stone, is a strong soul funk tune that shows what she can do when she belts out her soulful voice.