Track Listing

1. Memphis Groove
2. Mystic Samba
3. Tiburon
4. Angel Baby
5. Pure Funk
6. Hammerhead
7. Wildfire Woman
8. Gotta Get Back to You
9. Lightning Rod
10. London Life
11. Latin Sagebrush

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #168215 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-21
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Chilled down and grooved up, the masters of the U.K.'s jazz scene, Down To The Bone, issue another powerhouse with "SPREAD LOVE LIKE WILDFIRE." Killer horns, funked rhythms, and Neil Cowley's signature down-tempo keys give the set a cool, retro vibe that begs to be danced to. Play it loud.

"The sound on this album," reflects founder and architect Stuart Wade, "is much funkier and more energetic. The jazz/funk and fusion of the '60s and '70s had a great deal of influence on me. Put this all together with today's retro/club/dance influences and you have the sound I am trying to create. I feel this is exactly what the band's sound is." To do so, Wade brought on an incredible horn section - Richard Wargent (sax), Mike Kearsey (trombone), and Jon Scott (trumpet) - that gives the tunes a powerful punch of funk. Also joining the collective is flutist Jeremy Steig on Wildfire Woman and Memphis Groove. The latter tune marks Wade's nod to Herbie Mann's R&B-infused jazz flute on MEMPHIS TWO-STEP and MEMPHIS UNDERGROUND. Wildfire Woman calls to mind freewheeling '60s and '70s San Francisco. "It has that West Coast groovy funk and folk feel that came out of that city's musical melting pot, where rock met up with all sorts of sounds and styles," Wade explains. "You can hear my love of some of the 'Blaxploitation' soundtracks of those decades and, of course, the Brazilian and samba feel that I love so much."

Customer Reviews

Solid, But Not Soaring
This sixth effort from Down to the Bone is a continuation of the pared down sound which debuted in "Cellar Funk." As always the band plays tight, and it's good to hear the horns again after their relative absence from "Cellar"...the boys leave no doubt that they still can funk out. Having said that, "Spread Love" doesn't give me goosebumps like the previous releases. When I listen to DTTB's other CDs it's easy for me to lose myself in the music because it is adventurous. They took all those soul, disco, latin, '70s blaxploitation movie grooves, and garage influences and blended them into something unexpected and original...yet maintaining 100 percent of the funk (a great example of this is the title track from "Crazy Vibes and Things"). Here the funk is more straightforward, which is fine but it doesn't stay with me after I hear the track. In addition the absence of keyboardist Neil Angilley is definitely felt in this effort, as he only wrote and played on "Mystic Samba." In my opinion Angilley's talents really made DTTB head and shoulders above their contemporaries, as anyone who has seen the band live can attest (his live reworking of "The Zodiac" completely blew away the studio version, unbelievable as that may be since that CD track was simply amazing).

My recommendation is to go ahead and buy this CD if you are looking for music that will leave you tapping your toes, but if you're looking for DTTB that will knock your socks off get their previous works.

Slammin'!
Ain't enough superlatives to describe this but I want more! I kind of fell out of the loop after DTTB's first album, but I see they ain't lost their touch. Now I want their entire catalog! All of the cuts are excellent, but my favorite cut is "Angel Baby" which came as a shock to me at first (I wasn't expecting any vocal tracks). The bass player is just awesome and the vocals infect the groove instead of merely riding on top.

Back on track
Been a fan of DTTB since I first heard Brooklyn Heights on a Palm Springs radio station back in 2000. Bought that album and then The Urban Grooves and was definately hooked on the sound at that point. Spread The Word was equally as good and has some of my favorite tracks on it: Mighty, Mighty Fine and Downtown Shuffle. The following two albums didn't do a lot for me, so I kept listening to the other three because I never tired of it.

Spread/Wildfire has had me listening almost non-stop ever since I first put it in about three weeks ago. I work in Russia so I had to wait until I got back to the States to get my order from Amazon. Memphis Groove caught my attention like the first time I heard Staten Island Groove. I knew this was going to be good. Personally, I'm not a fan of lyrical music but I must admit I like Angel Baby.

Took a trip with the kids and THEY kept asking me to play songs over and over, especially Pure Funk. They are 4 and 2 years old and know good music when they hear it. Couldn't wait to get to my brothers house and pop the CD in and start drumming on his set.

This CD puts DTTB back where I feel they left off after Spread The Word.

Stuart, this one kicks a$$.