Backed by a group of Melbourne musicians counting members of The Bamboos & Menagerie, songwriter, producer, guitarist and DJ Lance Ferguson continues the tradition of creating “live re-edits” demonstrated on the initial volume. It’s all pulled off with an inimitable style and playfulness, though always with an obvious love for the foundations.
Lance Ferguson explains that much of the inspiration for the re-works comes equally from his experience as a DJ as much as a bandleader: : “Some of these versions can almost be looked at as DJ re-edits, sometimes we’re extending what may be a really short track into something longer, or teasing out the elements in a song that really make it work on a dance-floor. It’s essentially what someone does with a club re-edit, except we went the extra step and re-recorded the whole thing with a live band”.
From Carly Simon‘s classic “Why” through to Mongo Santamaria‘s latin gem “Hot Dog” via Marcos Valle‘s “Estrelar” and Pat Metheny‘s “Sueno Con Mexico” – this second volume of Lance Ferguson’s Rare Groove Spectrum again provides new perspectives on the obscure to the well-loved, from old-school to new sounds. Following the championing of “Rare Groove Spectrum Vol. 1” by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Craig Charles, Jazz FM and more, just like the original records, Rare Groove Spectrum Vol. 2 is bound to find it’s way to all the right record bags and hit the sweet spot.
The New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist divides his time between leading Australia’s soul/funk outfit The Bamboos, releasing music with his other projects Menagarie, Rare Groove Spectrum, Machines Always Win and lending his production, songwriting and guitar skills to a multitude of artists.
He has produced 36 full-length albums and over 75 singles and remixes for labels including Atlantic, Universal, Warner, BMG, Sony, Tru Thoughts, Ubiquity, Inertia, Freestyle and his very own imprint Pacific Theatre.
Lance Ferguson has collaborated on musical projects with artists including Aloe Blacc, Tim Rogers, Alice Russell, Roy Ayers, Durand Jones, Quantic, Lyrics Born, just to name a few. In addition, the accomplished guitarist has played with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Aloe Blacc, Syl Johnson, Eddie Bo and Joe Bataa.
