Tag Archives: music review

MATINAE Music Live: Tank and the Bangas

The show was on 3/27/2022. I have been sitting on this for two weeks because a conclusion just could not be reached until now.

First I want to thank the parking gods and the cleaning staff of Buckhead Theater in Atlanta. The parking was easy and the theater Pristine. I had a seat in the balcony because my days of standing through a show appear to be over.

The opening act was Cory Henry and his band The Funk Apostles. If funk is in it, I’m here for it and Henry did not disappoint. He is a high energy keyboard master, vocalist, performer, minister of music. At times I heard Sly, Herbie and our beloved Prince. They seem to be his influences but his sound is his own, maybe a funk-jazz-gospel-rock??? I heard it all in his playing. The Funk Apostles band, instrumental and vocals were tight. Highlights were:

▻ Days – a bouncy, danceable groove, a bop
▻ Trade it All – this GOES, Henry’s solo was outstanding on this
▻ GawtDamn – he killed this, soulful, shout-worthy LAWD
▻ Alone – Henry described as the introverts anthem, was a jam with clearly inspired by early Prince.

I really enjoyed the performance and Henry and his band seemed to enjoy it as much as the audience. His music is streaming on all platforms, you need to see him live though, for real.

and now…

Tank is the technicolor dreamcoat. She is multi-faceted, vocalist, spoken word artist, playful all of the things, the Group plays all genres and do it well. However, I did not stay until the end because…

I am old.

As an old, Tank and the Bangas were a lot to take in, the colors , the baby-voiced, squealing thing Tank does was too much for me. The youngins LOVED it! Screaming, dancing, singing along, giving all the audience participation. My thoughts of the show, were the same as those when listening to the recorded music. This chile is TALENTED but wooooo it was too much for me.

To be clear, I was out of place, not the band, not the crowd. I liken the experience to the way my parents talked about hip-hop in the beginning. They thought it was loud, noisy, too-much going on. Later, they came around, my dad in fact is now a Snoop Fan.

Would I recommend this show? Absolutely, I enjoyed the reaction of the crowd, I enjoyed the vocals and the spoken word and the band, the baby-voiced squealing was a bit much for me. Oh, and the chicken wings the young ladies were eating next to me smelled and gave me a headache.

Would I go to see them again? Absolutely. A funny thing happened for me to arrive at this conclusion, the NCAA National Championship. I heard her before I saw her, singing the national anthem in all her glory and in New Orleans tradition. It was dope.

Photos: MsThorns

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MATINAE Music – Colman Brothers (self-titled)

I was introduced to Bandcamp fortunately for my ears and unfortunately for my pocket by a fellow music lover I met through DJ Spinna’s Twitch stream. Upon landing at Bandcamp I selected genres of interest and received in my recommendations The Colman Brothers self-titled debut album released in 2011.

Hailing from the UK, brothers Mat on trombone and Andrew trumpet/flugelhorn create a rhythmic, horn-infused danceable latin-jazz release. The album opens with Mr. D. G., a swinging tune that gives visions of the dance floor and is followed by Another Brother which begins at a furious pace that does not let up. Towards the middle of the album the Brothers slow things down with a surprising remix of a song called She Who Dares, sounding very hip-hop, which reminded me of KRS One’s MCs Act Like They Don’t Know. Also featured on the album is Mat and Andrew’s sister, Sara Colman as the vocalist on on Some Other Wonder. Her performance is smooth and smoky and gives the visual of Ms. Colman blessing the mic of a jazz club.

The Colman Brothers came out blazing on their debut release. Aside from a remix album of their own and appearances on compilations from their label, I was unable to locate any additional recorded work from the Brothers, which is a shame. This album was too good for our ears not be graced with additional music. Hopefully soon, we will hear more from them. 💿💿💿💿💿

Photos: MsThorns

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