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News, releases and stories

Latest music, Masterlink Sessions notes, tour updates and project stories from Redtenbacher's Funkestra.

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Stories and updates

Steve Taylor Big Band Explosion performs ‘Music To Swing Your Handbag To’

Steve Taylor Big Band Explosion performs ‘Music To Swing Your Handbag To’

A while ago Steve, his wife Josie and their daughter came down to the 606 Jazz Club to hear us play with the Funkestra. As it happens their daughter really seem to dig ‘Music To Swing Your Handbag To’ (originally recorded on our ‘Hausmusik’ album). Consequently Steve asked if I wanted to write a Big Band arrangement for the tune so he can perform it with his ‘Steve Taylor Big Band Explosion’…well, I can’t remember the last time I said YES! to anything that quickly:-)

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Stefan’s ‘in session’ column for the ibass magazine

Stefan’s ‘in session’ column for the ibass magazine

Nick Wells, former editor of the Bass Guitar Magazine has invited me to write a monthly column for his ibass magazine. I decided that I wanted to make a departure from my ‘Funkyologies’ column which I wrote for a few years for the BGM. I thought that players might find it useful to get a play-a-long track every month to either challenge their reading skills, ears, technique, sound or stylistic skills and ideally, all of it. Adding a few listening recommendations in the style of the track and a score, full and minus bass track will hopefully allow bassists to have some fun and acquire new skills on the way.

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Rosalie Howarth plays ‘Deck The Halls’ on KFOG

Rosalie Howarth plays ‘Deck The Halls’ on KFOG

Rosalie Howarth is a San Fransiscan radio guru and was recently voted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Naturally we all got a bit excited when she played ‘Deck The Halls’ on KFOG and hats off to the cool pronunciation of ‘Redtenbacher’s Funkestra’. Her first ever purchased record was ‘Disraeli Gears’ by Cream (yes!) and her first ever concert was the Montery Pop Festival of which she says “My life took a left turn right then!”. We are thrilled that a few decades later her ‘left turn’ led her past us…may there be many more ‘left turns’!

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Exciting Christmas Round-up (pt 2)

Exciting Christmas Round-up (pt 2)

We hope you heard prime drive time DJ and program director of San Francisco radio station KVRX Dennis Constantine pronounce ‘Red-ten-bacher’ on his show (you can listen to it in the last post) – very good indeed! In the meanwhile more good feedback from the US: ‘Santa?s got a brand new bag thanks to Austrian bassist Stefan Redtenbacher and his crew, who convert classic carols into booty-shaking instrumental grooveathons. Shake your jingle bells.’ 2.5 stars (out of 3), Darryl Sterdan/QMI Agency

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Exciting Christmas Round-up (pt 1)

Exciting Christmas Round-up (pt 1)

“This is one of those EP’s that owes its life to modern technology. The players on this album punted the album back and forth over the Internet across international borders until it was ready, willing and able to be heard for Christmas 2012. They did everything but tweet it to each other. The result? Well, if you’ve been unable to track down a copy of the much-maligned Salsoul disco Christmas from the 1970s, believe me folks, this all-instrumental five-song outing will do.

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Cornbury Festival

Austin Texas college students’ X-mas video featuring our tracks

Well, we know that we had our share of fun when we shot the footage for our ‘Deck The Halls’ video. But we didn’t expect other people to join the fun by shooting a video all of their own. However, this is precisely what happened! This bunch of clearly super talented college students from the University of Austin Texas decided to have a break from studying for their finals and came up with their own Christmas video.

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A Glowing Review from the LA Times!

A Glowing Review from the LA Times!

Well, this is a first on a few levels for the Funkestra! First of all, to get a three star review out of a possible four in the Los Angeles Times is totally awesome. Secondly, it is quite titillating to be mentioned in the opening gambit in the same sentence as Cee Lo Green and Tracey Thorn (former vocalist of Everything But The Girl). To top it all, its especially great news as the likes of Rod Stewart, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta who also have Christmas offerings this year, didn’t fare quite so well..

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‘A Very Funky Christmas’ album out now

‘A Very Funky Christmas’ album out now

We sneaked you a peak of the cover, titillated you with two video teasers, dressed up in our funkiest Christmas costumes and played and danced for you in the ‘Deck the Halls’ video. Now it is finally time to present you with our gorgeously designed Christmas CD ‘A Very Funky Christmas’. We infused funk, 60s boogaloo, jazz and 70s disco into classic Christmas songs to take your Christmas holiday joy to the next level. We plucked, strummed and blew our little hearts out to get you into a funkified Christmas spirit…Now we’d like you to do a little something for us!

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Check out our Deck the Halls Video!

Check out our Deck the Halls Video!

Spare a thought for those poor little elves. all the way up there in the Arctic circle, toiling away in the darkness to finish all the presents in time for the boys and girls to unwrap on Christmas morning. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could do something to make their lives a little easier, in this, their busiest time of the year? Well never let it be said that Redtenbacher’s Funkestra are neglectful of our tiny, hard working, supernatural friends. “If they must toil, let it be in funkiness” Quoth band-leader Stefan Redtenbacher. See the results for yourselves in our latest video!

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