You’ve likely heard some of their singles already. Still, the funk-fusion outfit Ghost-Note returns with their first album in six years, the expansive Mustard n’ Onions, a double-LP that extends beyond the 10-piece group to include a host of luminary guests. This is their third album but the first for Artistry Music, part of the Mack Avenue family. The band is co-led by Snarky Puppy’s drummer-keyboardist Robert ‘Sput’ Seawright and percussionist Nate Werth, who are intent on keeping this a static unit, unlike the collective that is the ‘mothership’ Snarky Puppy.
Members that boast gleaming resumes from the likes of Prince, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Marcus Miller, and more make up the ensemble that has more than enough talent in the outfit to craft an infectious, funk-filled album without all the guests and the string quartet that graces some tracks. Yet, guest names tend to be trendy in the funk-fusion arena and especially given the six-year hiatus, are a strategic add in terms of marketing. On a sad note, this may have been one of the last recordings for Robert Glasper Experiment founding member and saxophonist Casey Benjamin, a guest who appears on “Pound Cake.” It’s also important to note that each band member has a writing credit among these 15 funk-filled tracks and that the band has more vocal-led songs, some by Seawright, and the opening track by the band’s current lead vocalist on tour, Mackenzie.
Keyboardist and soul master, the late Bernard Wright appears on three tracks – “Move with a Purpose,’ “Slim’s Goodie,” and the brief closer, “Nard’s Right.” The strongest is the first, featuring Karl Denson on flute, soaring Rahsaan-like over the funky bass line and the phat beats of Seawright and Werth. Mackenzie kicks off, and Seawright and other band members assisted on vocals in a nod to the king of funky soul, James Brown, in the highly danceable “JB’s Out! (Do It Baby).” New band member, trombonist Danny Wytanis, shines in “Where’s Danny?” as Seawright moves away from the kit to the piano chair. Yet the album highlight is its lengthiest track at almost nine minutes as strong lines from baritone sax lead the horns and woodwinds into the impossible infectious grooves of “Grandma’s Curtains” where Seawright and Dominique Xavier Taplin share lead vocals before guest guitar great Eric Gales lights it up with his explosive guitar solo with touches of Hendrix.
Guest tenor saxophonist Keith Anderson swaggers fiercely in the full track of “Origins” while core band member/bassist MonoNeon takes funky bass playing to a new level in the song’s reprise. The MonoNeon/Seawright co-write “Bad Knees” blasts out with Seawright on vocals and band member Jonathan Mones soloing animatedly on alto sax. Snarky Puppy members guitarist Mark Letteri and trumpeter Jay Jennings team with pedal steel ace on “Revival Island” in this album that never lets loose its relentless groove. It’s the kind of stuff tailor-made for leading funk bassist Marcus Miller, who distinctly colors “Yellow Dan,” cleverly named for The Yellowjackets and Steely Dan.
Don’t expect to hear anything resembling a ballad. Mustard n’ Onions keeps its throbbing pulse throughout. Okay, there’s a more spacious second half and strings in “Yellow Dan” and atmospheric elements in “Synesthesia,” but the groove holds sway in those, too. To these ears a ‘sameness’ seeps in at times but those moments are brief when one listens to intense unison passages from the band and go-for-it-all solos, well spread out between the band members and guests. You can’t possibly sit still. Get your funk on.
