And the honors go to.......

O.k., so yes I'm a big kid. Last night as I was rummaging through the crates I started playing an old childhood game "if you had to choose one which would you choose?" So I figured it be nice to play the game with you all.If you had to crown one of each of the following groups as the King or Queen of Soul/Funk, which would you choose for each question....and most importantly why?

1.) Taste of Honey vs Brother Johnson

2.) Emotions vs Pointer Sisters

3.) Mandrill vs War

4.) Roy Ayers vs Gill Scott Heron

5.) Rose Royce vs Ohio Players

6.) Commodores vs LTD

7.) Teddy Pendergass vs Marvin Gay

8.) O'jays vs Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

9.) Rick James vs Prince

10.) Kaygees vs Brick

11.) Crown Heights Affair vs BT Express

Menahan Street Band... the gift of collaboration

There is nothing better then when a group of seasoned musicians unite to create a menagerie of audio delights. From the first time I pressed play, Make the Road by Walking has been marinating in the IPOD tracklist. Listening to every track is like sitting by the window on a rainy fall day sipping on a warm cup of tea. The live horns, strings, and bass evoke the spirit of fusion jazz, afro-beat, and ancestral rare grooves that are prime for sampling. Of course, Jigga himself Jay-Z quickly recognized this when he borrowed the debut song "Make the Road by Walking" for his American Gangster hit "Roc Boys". Thomas Brenneck knew exactly what he was doing when he brought the collective members from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (Dave Guy, Homer Steinweiss, Fernando Velez, Bosco Mann), El Michels Affair (Leon Michels, Toby Pazner), Antibalas (Nick Movshon, Aaron Johnson) and the Budos Band (Mike Deller, Daniel Fodder). While the soulful instrumentals satisfy my appetite, I can't help but to imagine what heights I would reach if a vocalist such a Maya Azucena, Lady Alma, or even Alice Smith were to grace the mic.