Live music scene forces dictate that if you can make ’em dance, people will attend. Such is the case with Texas groove revivalists Flyjack who demonstrate a dedication to soaring rhythmic patterns with jazzy leads that diverge into a wild concoction of world, funk and cinematic soundtrack delights. If Thievery Corporation and Khruangbin had a musical offspring, Flyjack would surely rare its slinky head. Glide is premiering their new album Pan Am due out on September 1st via Pan Am Records. Check out below for this ravishing collection of instrumental narratives and danceable jaunts.
The loose theme of the album all kind of started from a tune we were working on in practice which Buck had written the primary arrangement for which ended up becoming ‘Mondo Bondage’ on ‘Pan Am’. I had initially dubbed the song ‘Bond Villain’ and a bit of a desire to write songs with a more vintage sound and almost movie soundtrack vibe started to blossom. Even the title track ‘Pan Am’ is meant to invoke that nostalgic ‘60’s feeling of drinking martinis, dressed to the nines, while jet-setting across the globe and I think the music on the album really takes you on that jour,” says percussionist John Voss.
Longtime musical partners Buck McKinney (guitar) and Brad Bradburn (bass) first made their mark in the vaunted jazz/funk/acid rock act Gnappy––criss-crossing the nation in an 80’s Allegro RV and lighting up stages coast-to-coast. Eight years into the project, encouraged by a late-night heart-to-heart with Col. Bruce Hampton who urged the group to try some straight-ahead funk, McKinney and Bradburn decided to embark on a rare-groove/funk side-project. Thus, Flyjack was born.
Flyjack’s mission was simple and heartfelt––to revive forgotten tracks by obscure musical groups whose performances were sampled repeatedly during the early hip-hop era. In 2010, they collaborated with James’ Brown’s original funky drummer Jabo Starks, and Italian Phenom Paulo “Apollo” Negri, releasing “On the One;” followed by their first full-length LP New Day––a crate-digger’s love letter to rare groove. After that, the group began to explore their own take on the genre––recording and self-releasing breakout album Soul Catcher, which landed on several critics’ lists of best funk albums and was nominated in the same category at the 2020 Independent Music Awards. Then things got weird…
Flyjack was poised to support the album through the end of 2020, but fate had other plans. As Covid shut down music venues across the country, the group turned instead to the studio. A sharp departure for a band that typically honed its songs in packed nightclubs for months at a time before committing anything to tape, the unfamiliar process prompted Flyjack to take some chances. The result is an entirely instrumental album, and the group’s most ambitious effort to date.
Flyjack’s current line-up is rounded out by David Hunter Thacker (Keyboards), Jose Guitierrez (Drums), John Voss (Percussion), Paulo Santos (Sax), Mike Shields (Trumpet), Liam Lord (Trumpet) and Will Wright (Trombone).
