Rock Candy Funk Party is an American

jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creatio ...

band from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was formed in 2009 by drummer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron DeJesus, who had previously released ''Grooove, Vol. 1'' in 2007. After adding guitarist

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

, bassist

Mike Merritt Michael Merritt may refer to: * Mike Merritt (musician) Michael Monroe Merritt (born July 28, 1955) is an American bassist best known for playing with the Conan O'Brien house bands: The Max Weinberg 7 on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' in New ...

and keyboardist Renato Neto, the band released its debut album '' We Want Groove'' in 2013, which reached number 5 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Jazz Albums chart and number 6 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. Percussionist Daniel Sadownick joined after the album's release, featuring on the band's first live album '' Rock Candy Funk Party Takes New York: Live at The Iridium'' in 2014. In 2015, Rock Candy Funk Party released its second studio album '' Groove Is King'', which featured additional contributions from musicians including trumpeter

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

, saxophonist Ada Rovatti and

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

frontman

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

. The album reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart and number 7 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. The band released its third album ''The Groove Cubed'' in October 2017, which also features vocalists

Ty Taylor Ty Taylor (born January 5, 1969, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American musician best known for being the lead singer of Los Angeles soul rock band Vintage Trouble. He is the voice of character Lester Grimes on the HBO series ''Vinyl'' create ...

and

Mahalia Barnes Mahalia Violet Barnes (born 12 July 1982) is an Australian singer, songwriter and the daughter of Scottish-Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes and Jane Mahoney. She began performing as part of children's pop group The Tin Lids with siblings, ...

History

Joe_Bonamassa_-_Radio_City_Music_Hall_Jan_2014

Drummer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron DeJesus first collaborated on the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

album ''Grooove, Vol. 1'' in 2007, before performing a number of

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

-based shows at

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

jazz club

The Baked Potato The Baked Potato is a prominent jazz club on Cahuenga Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, opened by Don Randi (father of bassist Leah Randi) in 1970. Randi formed his own group, Don Randi and Quest, as the house band. Over the ye ...

with various guests. This led to the official formation of Rock Candy Funk Party "around 2009", with bassist

and keyboardist Renato Neto finalising the group's initial lineup. After Bergman joined the guitarist's band in 2010,

also joined Rock Candy Funk Party in 2011, performing for the first time with the group in early 2012. The band recorded its debut album '' We Want Groove'' at Bergman's own studio in

later in the year, which was released on January 29, 2013. The album registered at number 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart, number 8 on the

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart, number 37 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart, number 6 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart, and number 41 on the

UK Independent Albums Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. On February 25, 2014 the band released its first live album and video set '' Rock Candy Funk Party Takes New York: Live at the Iridium'', which was recorded across three nights at the

Iridium Jazz Club The Iridium is a music club located on Broadway in New York City. The club featured weekly performances by Les Paul for nearly fifteen years. History The club opened in January 1994 at its original location, at 63rd Street and Broadway in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in June 2013. The album features percussionist Daniel Sadownick, who had been performing live with the group since earlier in the year. ''Live at the Iridium'' registered at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart and number 14 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. The group's second studio album '' Groove Is King'' followed on July 31, 2015, featuring contributions from Sadownick, trumpeter

, saxophonists Ada Rovatti and James Campagnola, and keyboardist Fred Kron, as well as appearances from

(under the name "Mr. Funkadamus") as the master of ceremonies. The album reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums chart, number 22 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, and number 7 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. Rock Candy Funk Party released its third studio album ''The Groove Cubed'' on October 20, 2017, which features vocalists

and

on a song each. The Taylor-featured song, "Don't Even Try It", was released as the lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album, with an accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, on September 29. The album reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' and number 10 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart.

Band members

Official members *Tal Bergman –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(2009–present) *Ron DeJesus –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2009–present) *

– guitar (2011–present) *

– bass (2009–present) Other contributors *Renato Neto –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s (all releases) *Daniel Sadownick – percussion (''Live at the Iridium'' and ''Groove Is King'') *Fred Kron – keyboards,

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

(''Groove Is King'') *Ada Rovatti –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

(''Groove Is King'') *James Campagnola –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

(''Groove Is King'') *

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(''Groove Is King'') *Zia –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(''Groove Is King'' – "Digging in the Dirt" only) *

– vocals (''The Groove Cubed'' – "Don't Even Try It" only) *

– vocals (''The Groove Cubed'' – "I Got the Feelin'" only)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles American jazz ensembles from California American funk musical groups Jazz musicians from California Provogue Records artists