Someone once said, "Horns make bands sound better." And Bull City Syndicate's first CD is a genuinely compelling funk/horn-band experience.

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Funk Rock, URBAN/R&B: R&B Pop Crossover

Show all album songs: You Make Me Feel Songs


Details:
Ambitious. Thatâs the best way to describe the new release by North Carolinaâs Bull City Syndicate. With Grammy-nominated producer John Custer at the helm of the project, You Make Me Feel is the most ambitious recording by a Raleigh/Durham-based band in a generation.

Over the course of 13 years, formerly known as Soul Kitchen & The Bull City Horns, Bull City Syndicate (BCS) has successfully scaled the local scene of dance-cover bands, ascending during those years from a top-drawing club act to one of the most in-demand private and corporate party bands in the Mid-Atlantic region. Then, someone had an idea . . . and a good one at that. Specifically, to hand over to a world-class producer the yet unrealized potential of nine individually unheralded talents, and have them recreate tunes from some of North Carolinaâs rich history of funk, soul and pop songwriters.

Featuring songs exclusively written by composers with a significant connection to North Carolina, either by birth or current residency, BCS entered John Custerâs Jag Two Studios in October of 2006, and didnât exit until the following April. The product of those six-plus months is a genuinely compelling funk/horn-band experience, referencing and paying homage to the broad spectrum of funk, soul and R&Bâs most enduring musical traditions. Retro, while not blatantly so, the record often reminds us of what the current R&B hit-factories most often fail to deliver, namely, great melodies, real vocalists, and an in-your-face horn section. While itâs easy to point out the influences, (both subtle and overt), of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Sly, James Brown, The Temptations, and the like, the originality of Custerâs horn arrangements help sidestep any presupposed comparisons to the most famous of horn bands - Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power, or Chicago.

You Make Me Feel features tracks composed by Maceo Parker, George Clinton, Roberta Flack, Ben. E King, Bobby Patterson, John Custer, and as an added bonus, Raleigh's own, Corey Parker, (yep - Maceo's son), makes a special appearance on "Bull City Groove," which he also co-wrote with producer John Custer.

Bull City Syndicate is:

Clarke Egerton â Trombone/Guitar/Vocals
Vhondy Strickland â Saxophones/Flute
Charlie D'Agostino â Keyboards/Vocals
Steve Baker â Trumpet/Flugelhorn/Vocals
Matt Kanon â Guitars/Vocals
Dan Lantier â Vocals/Percussion
Rodney Ogden â Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Jeff Nelson â Bass Guitar
Ryan Ross â Drums

Credits:

Produced, engineered and mixed by - John Custer
Horn arrangements by - John Custer
Transcriptions by â Matt Kanon
Additional drums - by Larry Woodard
Additional backing vocals by â Charlotte Reneeâ Gregory, Teresa Williams and Bibis Ellison
All percussion, hand-claps, finger-snaps and other bodily noises by - Bull City Syndicate
Special Guest Appearance â Corey Parker, on âBull City Grooveâ (Corey appears courtesy of himself!)
Recorded at Jag Two Studios, Raleigh, NC
Executive Producer â Steve Baker
Mastered by â Brent Lambert, Kitchen Mastering, Chapel Hill, NC
Album Art Design â Pink Monkey Creative
Photography by â Tim Szczesniak, Fade To Black Photography

Management/Booking:

SMB Management, Inc.
302 Bridgepath Drive
Cary, NC 27513
(919) 981-0303

* All songs featured on this album weâre written by composers either born or living in North Carolina.

* The clip of âI'm Going Back to North Carolinaâ (author unknown), was recorded by Kelly Harrell, in 1925.

* âFreight Trainâ was performed by all the members of Bull City Syndicate, (even the ones who shouldnât normally sing in public), as a tribute to North Carolinaâs folk music legend, Elizabeth "Libba" Cotton, (January 5, 1895 - June 29, 1987), who wrote this song when she was only 11 years old.

CD Track Info:

1 - Intro â Author Unknown, (Public Domain, performed by Kelly Harrell)
2 â Carolina â John Custer, (Stellium Music)
3 - (I Wanna) Testify â George Clinton, Deron Taylor, (EMI Longitude Music Co.)
4 â Brother Man - John Custer, (Stellium Music)
5 â Never Gone â John Custer, (Stellium Music)
6 â You Make Me Feel - John Custer, (Stellium Music)
7 â Go Up Moses â Roberta Flack, Jesse Jackson, Joel Dorn, (Sapphire Publishing)
8 â Supercollider â Bobby Patterson, (Stellium Music)
9 â Understand It â John Custer, (Stellium Music)
10 â My Baby Loves You - Maceo Parker, (Universal Music Corp OBO, Universal Music GMBH)
11 â Supernatural Thing Pt. 2 - Ben E. King, Patrick Grant, Gwen Guthrie, (Penumbra Music Co.)
12 â Bull City Groove (feat. Corey Parker) - John Custer and Corey Parker, (Stellium Music; PFAM Publishing)
13 â Freight Train â Elizabeth Cotton, (Sanga Music Inc.)

BullCitySyndicate.com
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