Valenti Funk - 'Valenti' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Irving/Bear Creek, Texas

2. Party Fiesta

3. More Light

4. You

5. Some Mo'

6. Oh My

7. Backslide

8. Side To Side

9. Stank

10. Chill On The Couch

11. Parking Spot

Valenti Funk hail from Dallas, Texas, and feature main man Valenti, who also features in The Effinays, with whom he plays keyboards and drums. The eleven tracks on offer span Funk, Hip-Hop, Soul and Reggae, with Valenti to the fore on drums, keyboards, bass, percussion and indeed he also produced this self-titled release.

The grooves come thick and fast, with several tunes reminding me of the late, great Prince . . . so think of him and that is the territory we are in here. The album kicks off in a swathe of treated keyboards and drums with the instrumental “Irving/Bear Creek, Texas” and is followed by a brace of tunes featuring the vocals of Joe “Big Spook” Martinez - “Party Fiesta” and “More Light” - both with Reggae vibes!

The music steps up a gear on the strutting funk of “Some Mo'”, which has a fine vocal from LaLa Johnson and some excellent guitar work from Alex Rivera De Jesus, with nice keyboard work from Valenti himself.

Elsewhere “Backslide” starts with some gospel acapella, before settling into another delicious soulful groove, with vocals from Zach Scott Pohl and the background vocals of The High Moons. “Side To Side” has another guest in the form of guitarist Kevin Snearley, who provides some sweet jazzy licks and soloing – a bit reminiscent of the great Larry Carlton.

This interesting collection of tunes ends with a rap from Versaille, who also provides the lyrics - just accompanied with beats from Valenti. As previously mentioned plenty of Prince-flavoured grooves, together with lots of urban grit and feel.