Ed Bland & Pazant Bros

Pazant Bros You've Got To Do Your Best Vanguard

I have mentioned the Office Naps blog before on IDR as a place to visit and this week when I dropped over I found a post on Ed Bland's productions. Please drop over to Office Naps, and as a taster, I've posted the above track by the Pazant Brothers from their 1975 album Loose & Juicy on Vanguard which was produced by Ed Bland.The album was reissued a few years back and may still be available. However, you can also get an excellent CD of their recordings from BGP called The Brothers Funk.

Mindblowing funk from one of the greatest combos on the New York scene of the early 70s -- Pazant Brothers Eddie & Al, heard here on a host of their greatest recordings! The package goes way past any other Pazant reissues we've seen -- and features not only work from the group's famous Vanguard album, but way way more work from a host of early singles for the RCA, GWP, and Vigor labels! The 22 track package is overstuffed with horn-heavy funky grooves that mark the Pazants as one of the hottest things going at the time -- snapping on the beat with a tightness learned from their old boss Pucho, but also a willingness to explore brassier grooves in a style that seems to be influenced from the New Orleans and Texas scenes of the late 60s. Producer/arranger Edward Bland had a good hand in much of this work -- giving the tracks a gritty, nitty, Perception/Today kind of groove -- and a few of the very best numbers on the record even bring in some wicked scratchy guitar into the mix! Includes early and later (Vanguard) versions of "Skunky Juice", "New Orleans", "Toe Jam", "Work Song", and "A Gritty Nitty" -- plus "Chick A Boom", "Greasy Greens", "Fever", "Juicy Lucy", "Chicken Scratch", "Fly Vines", and "Back To Beaufort". (Dusty Groove).

You can also now pick up a live set from the brothers recorded back in the 70's called Live At Museum Of Modern Art.

A lost funky treasure -- never issued before! For those not in the know, The Pazant Brothers (Ed & Al) were a duo of funky hornmen that first came to fame working with Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers -- and then moved onto cut some great funky records of their own in the 70s. The pair formed a very tight group that had a killer funky sound -- one that we'd easily rank right up there with the JBs and The Meters for hard, raw, power -- but sadly, they only ever recorded one full album and a handful of singles -- which is why this previously unissued concert is even more of an important treat! We have no idea what the folks at MOMA were thinking when they invited the Pazants down to get their groove in gear -- but whatever the case, this CD is totally great! Forget the silly cover -- which is way too cold and modern to get at the heart of the grooves -- and forget the location too, because the tracks on the set sound like they were cut at some smoky club in Harlem, not in the colder midtown setting of MOMA. The whole thing's totally great -- a massive batch of instrumental funk that leaves us to wonder why the heck this thing was never issued at the time. Titles include "Groovin", "Skunk Juice", "P Soul", "Fly Vines", "Work Song", "Momma Momma", "We Got More Soul", "Clabber Biscuits", and "Greasy Greens". Totally great! (Dusty Groove)