The New Mastersounds bring Jazz-Fusion to Nashville

Supported by The Gripsweats, The New Mastersounds crossed the pond to land at the Exit/In

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I was treated to an extraordinary show last week at the world-famous Exit/In in Nashville, Tennessee with The Gripsweats supporting The New Mastersounds. The two, powerhouse, electronic-forward, funk, jazz-fusion, jam bands, put on a display of rhythm-heavy-keypunching vibe and a toe tapping cavalcade of fun on a Wednesday night. I know that’s a lot of descriptors slammed together in one nearly non sensical sentence structure, but it is well needed to identify these sets.  

I felt as if I had peaked my head under the tent of a Southern Baptist Revival service and was shocked with a lightning bolt of energy that made my body shake with the uncontrollability of Elvis’ legs when the spirit of the sound leapt through his body. That is not to say this was the style of the music but rather the feeling and the emotional intensity that was on display. These two bands worked so well together that the show felt as if it were one long and linear song rather than something that was broken and distant.  

The Exit/In opened in 1971 and has played host to some iconic names in music including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Etta James, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Muddy Waters, R.E.M. and many more. One of those “many more” was my friend Will Morrison’s band who played their last show at this venue.  Will was with me at this event and recollected some of the details from his time on the stage we stood in front of. The power of music is wonderful and when you share it with a friend who was engulfed in the majesty of it all, it is even greater. 

The Gripsweats are from Nashville and the group started off as a studio project at the G.E.D. Soul Records studio, but eventually migrated to bandleader Andrew Muller’s basement studio where things took off into the amalgamation we see now. Band members this night included Muller, Justin Rory Martin, Andy Leab, and Dan Fox on drums. Tonight they were also fronted by singer Keith Proffitt. Proffitt added yet another dimension to this already raw and dynamic formation.  I can put an image in your head by describing Keith as a mash up of Isaac Hayes and James Brown with a splash of Curtis Mayfield. He hyped the crowd up and kept the hands clapping throughout the band’s performance.  Although up front, he did not overshadow, which I loved.  The participation was equal parts phenomenal, exciting and engaging.   

The New Mastersounds are a four-piece band based in Leeds, England, whose modern take on vintage soul-jazz, funk and rock draws influences from Jimmies McGriff, Smith, and Hendrix, as well as their most closely-associated mentors, The Meters. The drummer, Simon Allen, kicked of the set by saying, “Hello, hello, hello” to all of us onlookers.  He then followed up by saying, “That’s what an English police officer would say to you as he walks up; Hello, hello, hello” and the pack house chuckled as if we knew that. “It’s nice to see so many different ages here tonight” he added. “I know most of you are normally home in bed by now.  Thanks for coming out on a Wednesday!” Then they started in. 

The New Mastersounds have been delighting audiences with their infectious brand of funky soul-jazz since they formed in Leeds, England in 1999. For the first five years of the band’s career, they were regulars at the Jazz Café in London, before they began to turn heads on the funk scene in the US, where guitarist/producer/bandleader Eddie Roberts now lives. For over a decade they have been a staple act of the late-night scene during New Orleans’ annual Jazz Fest. Always happy to hit the studio between tours, this veteran band now boasts a rich recorded catalogue that includes fifteen original studio albums, four live albums, several compilations, and a remix album.

“Try to imagine Grant Green and Lou Donaldson having a fight in a Hammond Organ shop while James Brown holds the coats, and you have some idea of what to expect from this band”, wrote Do317. Having toured throughout Europe, Japan and the USA, the NMS have earned global recognition as a prominent band in the modern termed ‘New Funk’ scene. The unique blend of all their styles of music is hard to sum up and doesn’t fit squarely into any one genre which in my opinion is the brilliance of the band. The New Mastersounds deliver hits of hard-dirty grooves and deep-cut rhythms. Led by guitarist and producer Eddie Roberts, The New Mastersounds feature Joe Tatton on Hammond (keys), Pete Shand on bass and the aforementioned Allen on drums.   

That’s firing off a lot of information but also necessary to get the backbone of this mega-talented ensemble.  Will had turned me onto this band and we had set this date a month earlier.  Well worth going out on a school night I’d say.  The music truly is infectious, and you can’t help but be overtaken by the fluidity of these mostly 10-plus minute songs.

I have never been a jam band kind of guy but maybe it’s also unfair to shove these guys into that category, which usually explains a much different genre of music.  The New Mastersounds are more jazz fusion then heavy guitar riff-based electronica groups.  The keys are the lead in a lot of their pieces, and man can Tatton wail from behind his setup, as the rest of the band highlights their parts around the bouncing white note console. The drums drive a core rhythm with melodic magnitude and settle into a fortuitous relationship with the bass, although this seemingly accidental bond is surely structured and rehearsed. All of it is wonderment.  There was no urgency within the set which I was fondly pleased by.  

I was smiling completely throughout the set as the drums and bass shook my core and the lead guitar powered my head and shoulders into a heightened sense of enjoyment. I was relaxed and immersed in the waters of harmonic tonality.  The glory of music had once again trumped any type of therapy I could receive sitting in an office.  NMS and The Gripsweats had completely shifted my mental health by plucking strings, hitting skins and tickling ivories. The joy spread across the room quickly that night and I was so glad that I was there for it.