| BREAKESTRA
“Timeless
funk for now people… a keeper”
SPIN
“Badass
covers are one thing, but with its latest album, Hit the Floor,
the group shows off some scorching original material, all of which
holds its own next to the greats it emulates so well.”
LA WEEKLY
Named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the top Los Angeles bands
to watch in 2005
LOS ANGELES TIMES, CALENDAR WEEKEND (9/29)
"This funk's so deep you'll be wading in it"
TIME OUT
“Essential, as usual.”
I-DJ
“I sampled that shit myself! The first time I heard
their cuts, I didn’t know it wasn’t recorded in 1972!”
?UESTLOVE (THE ROOTS)
"One of the heaviest outfits amidst the current crop
of contemporary funk bands"
DJ MAGAZINE
"Hit the Floor marks the group's debut of original material,
14 studio slices of what's made it a stellar live outfit."
PHOENIX NEW TIMES
“Their songs are solid enough to stand alongside the
Roy Ayers and Blackbyrds tunes they cover”
NOW
"One of my favorite bands"
-coined Carson Daily on an episode of MTV's TRL
as The Breakestra's music played in the background
"The Breakestra is the proud voice of America's inner
cities"
LA WEEKLY
Released on Stones Throw in 2001 The Live Mix part 2
put the Los Angeles-based live funk band Breakestra on the map.
In 2005, their new album Hit the Floor (Ubiquity
Records), a new single featuring members of Jurassic 5 and People
Under The Stairs, and recent performances with GZA, Guru, Raekwon,
Digable Planets and De La Soul (at New York’s Summer Stage)
will launch the band further into the public eye. While their
debut album and legendary live shows predominantly paid homage
to old school breaks n’ beats gone by, Hit the Floor
goes a step further as Breakestra create an album featuring all-original
compositions and songs. The funk flavor is as strong as ever and
Breakestra’s main man Miles Tackett explains the transformation
from a cover band into one flaunting their own material as the
obvious next step, “While hip hop dj/medley inspired covers
are the foundation of Breakestra, it is only natural we’d
want to express our own soulful proclamations,” he says.
“I've been releasing original funk cuts before putting out
The Live Mix Part 2. The first Breakestra single
was an original song called "Getcho Soul Togetha", so
this album is really just a part of the natural flow,” he
adds.
Four years is a long time to wait for a second album, but judging
by the size and enthusiasm of crowds at Breakestra shows or at
their weekly hosted Rootdown party in LA their fan base continues
to grow. And the global funk scene, which Breakestra are thoroughly
entrenched in, now includes a distinguished list of bands like
The Bamboos in Australia, The Dapkings in NYC, the New Master
Sounds, Speedometer and Quantic Soul Orchestra in England and
seems to be growing stronger by the day. “I don't think
this music is going to be here today but gone tomorrow,”
Tackett enthuses, “it's the best it’s been in years.”
Explaining the time lag between debut and sophomore albums Tackett
says, “I have a slight tendency to be a perfectionist, so
creating all original material was a little more difficult than
I thought.” He adds “It’s an intimidating thought
for me that the music that inspired Breakestra had set such a
high musical bar.”
To help kick-start recording Tackett opened a heavily soundproofed
Funky Tilt recording studio last year. Setting it up from scratch
with Tackett paying as close attention to musical detail as he
does any of his recordings meant the public would have to wait
a little longer to hear Hit the Floor, but eventually
this space allowed for late night writing and recording sessions.
During this time Tackett and co perfected a blend of rough n’ready
sounds that is matched by great songwriting. From the call-out
party vibe of the break driven intro’ track “Stand
Up” to the catchy blues-tinged “Hiding” and
“Recognize”, to the ‘60’s vibe of the
title track, Hit the Floor is a varied and accomplished
second outing built on the foundation of a great debut and countless
live dates.
A rotating cast of players make up the Breakestra line-up, but
collaborating with Tackett (who sings and plays bass, guitar,
drums and keys) and right hand man Mixmaster Wolf (singing and
soulful shouting!) on this album are Pete McNeil (drums), James
“The Penguin” King (saxes and flute), Shawn Oshea
(drums), Pat Bailey (guitar), Chuck Prada (percussion), Marshall
Thompson (keys and organ), Dan Hastie (keys and organ), Devin
Williams (trumpet), Todd Simon (trumpet), and Mike Bolger (trumpet).
Plus there are guest appearances from Charli2na and Soup (of Jurassic
5) and Double K (of People Under The Stairs), plus Mixmaster Wolfs
percussion-playing father Munyongo Jackson on an old school posse
cut in the spirit of the live-band old school rap jams called
“Family Rap”.
In addition to making a new album and building a studio Tackett
hosts the weekly 8 yr old Rootdown party in LA where Breakestra
perform regularly to capacity crowds along side hip hop luminaries
such as Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Black Eyed Peas, Freestyle
Fellowship, Company Flow, Cut Chemist, Nu-Mark and DJ Shadow.
Tackett grew up on a steady diet of music by father his Freddie
Tackett of Little Feat. These home-schooled sounds were mixed
with a diet of Steely Dan and music from New Orleans. “My
Dad played with a New Orleans band in the 70's and 80's and did
a few Neville Brothers/Meters things which were my first introduction
to straight funky music. In fact I met Leo Nocentelli hanging
out at one of their local gigs when I was a young teenager though
I had no idea who he was until many years later.” Singing
since he was only 8 years old Tackett Jr. made his first appearance
in a prog/classic rock band at the tender age of 13. In addition
to his current role as Breakestra leader Tackett has numerous
productions as This Kid Named Miles. He has produced T-Love's
acclaimed "Return of the B-girl" EP, and supplied tracks
for Cut Chemist, Rakka of Dilated Peoples, and contributed songs
to Macy Gray's debut LP.
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