Alternative jazz for thinking people . . . âSmart, sharp and boogie â rock & roll reality braced with bop chops.â â Austin Chronicle

11 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Acid Jazz, JAZZ: Jazz Fusion



Details:
Itâs a familiar question by now. âWhy Gnappy? What does it mean?â The answer is simple. It means âfunky.â âI grew up in Houston,â says guitarist/producer Buck McKinney. âGnappy was slang for âfunky.â It might mean funky âweird,â or funky âgroove,â but it always meant âfunky.ââ

The name fits. Muddy Waters once sang âthe blues had a baby, and they call it rock and roll.â If 70âs-era groove-jazz had a baby, they might just as well call it Gnappy. Combining elements of 70âs jazz-funk with 60âs horn-driven pop, Gnappy sounds like the bastard son of Tower of Power and Average White Band, with a healthy dose of Wired-era Jeff Beck thrown in for good measure. Thatâs not to say that Gnappy is an exacting âthrowback.â To the contrary, Gnappyâs sound is less âtributeâ than âhomage,â and its reverence for vintage funk is balanced by an appreciation for hip-hop, modern jazz and electronica. But roots run deep, and Gnappyâs roots run decidedly to the groove.

Gnappy unveiled their contemporary approach to the funk-jazz idiom on their eponymous 2001 debut â an album that landed on many criticsâ top-ten lists, and held-down the âFeatured Artistâ page of internet-giant Napster for an unheard-of 4 weeks. The achievement clearly suggested that Gnappy could hold their own in a peer-to-peer world dominated by indie-rock, hip-hop and pop, and may be as good an argument as any for the promise of âcross-over jazz.â In the words of one music critic, âif you heard Gnappyâs MP3s on Napster before its early demise like I did, you probably became hooked.â (Music Revue).

In 2003, Gnappy released their follow-up âIs This A Machine?â â which, again, received near-unanimous critical acclaim and upped the ante for 21st century funk-jazz. The result â â63 minutes of classic groove â dig it.â (Austin Chronicle).

Gnappyâs third album, âUnloaded,â is perhaps their most ambitious musical statement to date â a deliberate piece of work in which the compositions speak as loudly as the performances of them. From the unforgettable theme of the title track âUnloaded,â to the modern boogaloo âGatorade Brain,â to the staccato double-horn attack of âSushi Pimpâ â Gnappy exhibits a dizzying array of moods and styles, and yet all of the songs share a cohesive modus operandi â tight arrangements, crisp performances and focused melodies. For the involved listener, this taught, turn-on-a-dime approach yields rich rewards. Guest appearances add to the bounty, including the trumpet-work of fellow Austinite Ephraim Owens (Karl Densonâs Tiny Universe, Blaze). Additional surprises include Gnappyâs first vocal performance (on title track âUnloadedâ), and the hip-hop workout âBahl Horninâ.â Icing on the cake is Gnappyâs four-way musical ping-pong match âGrease Donât Freeze,â which nearly blows the roof off the joint. In the end, âUnloadedâ may be the most aptly-titled album of the year. Like a veteran prize-fighter, Gnappy leaves it all in the ring.

âSmart, sharp and boogie â rock & roll reality braced with bop chops.â â Austin Chronicle
âCrisp and clean Tower of Power-influenced compositions.â â North Texas Daily
âHigh energy charms . . . ominous single-line hooks . . . face-slapping hip-hop.â - Jazz Times
âAll the down-and-dirty funk sensibilities of George Clinton [with] a spacy, acid-jazz edge . . . this is exciting, listener-involved music, with hooks that keep you on the tip of your toes.â - Music Revue
âOh mama, they may hail from Austin, Texas, but this band is pure New Orleans jazz-funk . . . creating music that is at once smoky and ebullient.â - Lafayette Daily Advertiser