Having been recently listening to the fantastic debut album from Charles Bradley, I was left wanting to hear and find out more about his backing group the Menahan Street Band, who are the brainchild of guitarist/producer Thomas "Tommy TNT" Brenneck.
The idea for this group came while Brenneck was living in an apartment on Menahan St. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York and he put together a small bedroom studio (must have been some bedroom with all that brass) to use in creating this fine selection of instrumentals we have here, some of which have been utilised on the Bradley album.
The opening and title track of this 2008 album is 'Make The Road By Walking', which is named after a membership-based organization, located just around the corner from Menahan Street (on Grove Street), that promotes social and economic justice for the community through organizing, legally advising and aiding with numerous other forms of advocacy. The song itself is a steady paced tune with a slightly melancholy, jazzy vibe that wouldn’t have sounded too out of place as an interlude on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Trouble Man’. In fact 'Make The Road By Walking’ sets the tone for the whole album with emotive horns, solid basslines then a sprinkling of conga drums, vibes or flute placed on top. None of the instrumentals are also either too frenetic or too laid back in tempo; the whole ambience of it just flows along serenely and elegantly.
This is definitely an album for the hip and the cool, that has a gritty cinematic feel to it, so not surprising to learn then that triumphal sounding 'Going The Distance', was actually composed for the Stallone film 'Rocky Balboa'. It has also been endorsed by the Hip Hop community as they look for breaks, with Jay Z sampling the title track on his ‘Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)’, while 50 Cent, Kid Cudi and Royal Roach have all used ‘The Traitor’ for various projects.
I don’t know if Brenneck has more plans for the Menahan Street Band, but on the strength of this creative soulful, jazzy, afro-beat fuelled album I for one hope to one day hear more.
The idea for this group came while Brenneck was living in an apartment on Menahan St. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York and he put together a small bedroom studio (must have been some bedroom with all that brass) to use in creating this fine selection of instrumentals we have here, some of which have been utilised on the Bradley album.
The opening and title track of this 2008 album is 'Make The Road By Walking', which is named after a membership-based organization, located just around the corner from Menahan Street (on Grove Street), that promotes social and economic justice for the community through organizing, legally advising and aiding with numerous other forms of advocacy. The song itself is a steady paced tune with a slightly melancholy, jazzy vibe that wouldn’t have sounded too out of place as an interlude on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Trouble Man’. In fact 'Make The Road By Walking’ sets the tone for the whole album with emotive horns, solid basslines then a sprinkling of conga drums, vibes or flute placed on top. None of the instrumentals are also either too frenetic or too laid back in tempo; the whole ambience of it just flows along serenely and elegantly.
This is definitely an album for the hip and the cool, that has a gritty cinematic feel to it, so not surprising to learn then that triumphal sounding 'Going The Distance', was actually composed for the Stallone film 'Rocky Balboa'. It has also been endorsed by the Hip Hop community as they look for breaks, with Jay Z sampling the title track on his ‘Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)’, while 50 Cent, Kid Cudi and Royal Roach have all used ‘The Traitor’ for various projects.
I don’t know if Brenneck has more plans for the Menahan Street Band, but on the strength of this creative soulful, jazzy, afro-beat fuelled album I for one hope to one day hear more.
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