Sometime last year I first heard the Menahan Street Band when I put the needle on the grooves of a new 45 that Daptone Records had mailed me. It was the first single off a new label imprint called Dunham Records, and I was moved so deeply by the track “Make The Road By Walking.” The instrumental track brought back memories of the cool grooves of Curtis Mayfield, served on ice in a calm, hypnotic manner.
Last year the main horn groove of the same song was sampled by Hip Hop/Rap artist Jay-Z for his 2007 #1 song titled “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” but this is not the first time this Bushwick talent has been exposed to mainstream fame. In 2007 the Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings members, including Menahan Street Band’s ringleader Thomas Brenneck, along with Mark Ronson, wrote the music that broke Amy Winehouse on the charts.
Brenneck, guitarist of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Budos Band, started recording up in his Menahan Street bedroom and now is collaborating with other musicians from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, El Michels Affair, and Budos Band to complete the Menahan Street Band lineup. This year finds the release of their full-length debut album under the same name, Make The Road By Walking. It was named after a membership-based organization named Make the Road by Walking, which is located around the corner from Menahan Street (on Grove Street) and promotes social and economic justice for the community through organizing, lawyering, and numerous forms of advocacy.
This band comprised of A-list players delivers a solid album of instrumental blends of funk/soul/reggae and afrobeat jams. Highlights from the album include the amazing title track, the hypnotic “Tired of Fighting,” the offbeat reggae of "Montego Sunset,” and especially the stumbling bass groove backed with sailing horns of "Karina."
All the songs off the album sound so rich without vocals, no singer is required on these lush, beautiful soundscapes. This album will make our best of 2008 list with flying colors. Make the Road by Walking takes the listener out through the Menahan Street bedroom window and on a soulful voyage escaping the madness of the world. |