SONG PREMIERE: Cliff Beach Feat. LA Funk Ensemble Mestizo Beat Propels Mystic Rhythms Via “Penny Candy”

Los Angeles soul man Cliff Beach sings with a voice both plaintive and uplifting. A voting member of NARAS, a songwriter and publisher with BMI, and an award-winning member of Toastmasters International, the Berklee-trained singer/songwriter/keyboardist and DC native has created a style of music he coins “Nu-funk”. In his fifteen years as a writer, Beach has won two Silver Medal Global Music Awards, and been nominated for three LA Music Awards, one Hollywood Music in Media Award, and one Independent Music Award.

His most recent full length, The Gospel According to Cliff Beach, pays tribute to his roots in Gospel music. The album brought to him his nomination for an Independent Music Award for “Best Funk / Fusion /Jam” category and a Global Music Award win. 

Beach was born into a family with strong musical roots, grew up playing in the church and sang regularly at home to entertain members of his family. His musical journey flourished once he ventured from his home town of Washington, DC to attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. After graduating in 2002, he relocated and set his sights on conquering Los Angeles with his band, The Moon Crickets. The group released two independent albums; a self-titled debut LP 2006 followed by The Moon Crickets: Live at Universal City Walk in 2007.

The group quickly disbanded in late 2007, and at that time Beach embarked on a series of tours on Holland America Cruise Lines. Upon returning to Los Angeles, he refocused his energy on playing solo shows, doing some studio recordings and hosting writing sessions with other local artists and producers. In 2013 Beach released a solo EP, Who the Funk is Cliff Beach? mastered by good friend Peter Rocks (Of Montreal, Lupe Fiasco). In 2014, Beach headlined “Target Sundays” at the California African American Museum for Black History Month, as well as their “July 4th Extravaganza”, and was a featured musical act at “TEDX Napa Valley”. In the fall of that year he released the Stripped Down and Unplugged EP.

Glide is thrilled to premiere Beach’s lastest: “Penny Candy” (below) featuring LA Funk ensemble Mestizo Beat, a sly, soulful and funky contribution that conjures the mystic rhythms of The Meters and shades of the late Charles Bradley.

“In a similar fashion to my funk hero James Brown who recorded hit versions in 1958 and 1973 of his song ‘Think’ 15 years apart, Mestizo Beat has helped me 14 years later breathe new life into my 2006 ‘Moon Crickets’ released song ‘Penny Candy’, with all the NOLA swampy Funky Meters, sexual swagger in 2020 that it deserves,:  shares Beach. “As the B side to last year’s hit single “Confident”, which won 2 Global Music Awards and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize in R&B, with almost 320K streams on Spotify thanks to inclusion on the ‘Funk Drive’ and ‘All Funked Up’ Playlists, we are so happy to release a limited edition red transparent vinyl 45 courtesy of California Soul Music via F Spot Records this July.”

Photo by Jillian Prado

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