Anatomy of THE Groove: “Show Me The Way: by Thundercat featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins

Thundercat (born 1984 in LA as Stephan Bruner) is an artist I’ve wanted to profile for quite some sometime now. He’s had a very diverse career as a bass/guitar player. He began in the thrash metal band Suicidal Tendencies. As well as working close to nu jazz mainstay Flying Lotus. On his own,he has brought his talents to a diverse range of artists from Kamasi Washington,Erykah Badu and Kendrick Lamar. He began his solo career in 2011. While it maintains his diversity of sound to a degree,his focus has tended to be on the modern nu jazz/funk approach in terms of his own material.

The only Thundercat solo album I have is 2013’s Apocalypse. Its mix of electronica and jazz/funk was a very moving one. Cannot honestly say I was too crazy about all of his lyrics. And that is the main reason I’ve avoided covering the music of this child prodigy up until this point. Just a personal preference that funky music be a very complete package. That being said,he is about to drop a new album called Drunk. And his first song released from this album was introduced to me both by friends Andrew Osterov and Henrique Hopkins. Its a duet with Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins called “Show Me The Way”.

A processed Fender Rhodes piano,with Thundercat’s bass line tickling the chord changes next to his falsetto voice,opens the song before the drum-itself a three snare/two cymbal hit,comes in. During the choruses of the song,the Rhodes is phasered very heavily with a twinkling high pitched synthesizer. On the refrains,the arrangement calms down to a meditative soft jazz/funk/pop Rhodes and bass line. On two of these refrains,McDonald’s and Loggins’ vocal parts are introduced by Thundercat and light applause noise. The synthesizer/Rhodes duet improvises its way all the way to the songs fade.

“Show Me The Way” is an excellent tribute to the reality of the “soft rock” or “yacht rock” label often disguising strong jazzy funk/pop artists-that “funk/soul in every section of the record store”. Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald were prime examples of this ethic. Thundercat clearly understands how to compose such melodic and instrumentally intricate jazzy/pop/soul tunes with a strong funky groove as they did in their time. This mid tempo number features a lot of elaborate melodic improvisations-always very hummable. And is a superb comeback for all three artists involved for 2017!

Andre’s Amazon Archive for 9/20/2014: ‘Apocalypse’ by Thundercat

It has never ceased to delight me that since 2010 there has been a consistently high level of innovation happening within music. For one thing,indie developments of the past fifteen years aren’t so indie anymore. And musicians who have been waiting in the wings to emerge are again beginning to do so with new and exciting musical hybrids. This is especially true of the jazz/funk/soul spectrum. Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner-with a father and brother who’ve alternately played with the likes of Diana Ross,The Temptations,Stanley Clarke and so on is one of these people. Having been the bass player for thrash/funk/metal band Suicidal Tendencies with his brother Ron Thundercat re-upped as a solo artist in 2011. Rather makes sense if you think about it since metal and funk are more easily blended than one might think due to both music’s emphasis on a strong groove and being rooted in the blues. The difference is the approach-playing dirty (metal) or playing cleanly (funk). So this is Thundercat’s sophomore release. The question I have to ask myself in this situation is one asked before: why am I only hearing about Thundercat just now?

Produced with the help of Flying Lotus this album begins with “Ten Fold”,”Heartbreaks + Setbacks”,”The Life Aquatic”,”Special Stage” and the ambient styled “Tron Song”. These songs are build around harmonically rich swirls of electronic synthesizers-pulsing Moog type bass blending with Thundercat’s electric bass riffing. His high,ethereal voice keeps up with these melodically and rhythmically challenging grooves. The bass groove “Seven” is one of the speediest and most nimble I’ve heard on such a spare “nu jazz” number,apparently a funk hybrid I didn’t know the name to. “Oh Sheit It’s X” is brilliant,my favorite on here with it’s 70’s TONTO style Isley Brothers meets P-Funk mixture of retro synthesizers into a think funk groove with wonderfully elaborate melodies again. “Without You” is a much more spare mid western Minneapolis/Ben Sidran approach to funk-jazz-with it’s juxtaposed stop/start and steady rhythmic sound. “Lotus And The Jondy” is another deep groove with a heavy bump to it-another favorite. “Evangelion”,the intro “We’ll All Die” and the orchestrated closing epic of “A Message For Austin/Praise The Lord/Enter The Void”-tribute to the passing of Austin Topper Peralta are all ornately psychedelic style fusion numbers.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album recently that actually innovates it’s unique sound from an accumulation of the many musical innovations of the 60’s,70’s,80’s and even 90’s quite the way this album does. And it does so while sounding not contemporary but instantly somehow ahead of its time. This is a factor that has produced the pasts most enduring music. One of the best part is how he manages to blend nearly complete non-commercialism musically while writing,singing and playing songs that are melodic and highly memorable to the human ear and the human soul. The instrumentation here is very elaborate and expansive. Lyrically he takes on a rather pantheist level of spirituality and human self improvement completely in keeping with the funk era his music celebrates with elements of Eastern and Christian ideas. By blending together all the best elements of jazz,funk and psychedelia of the past Thundercat has made a masterpiece…that will likely be found in the electronica section of your record store. Today this is an excellent place to find unique and very funky and jazzy musical hybrids like this. A strong candidate for the most innovative funk/jazz album of 2013 thus far.

Original review posted on July 10th,2013

*For original review,click here!