GROOVE WEEK: RICHARD HOLMES

GROOVE WEEK: RICHARD HOLMES
Alan Hawkshaw (UK) and Jerry Van Rooyen (Netherlands) have been jamming away at Spy Vibe, but no groove week would be complete without organist, Richard "Groove" Holmes. "Groove" was born in New Jersey on May 2nd 1931, and hit the hard bop and soul jazz scene with his pulsating riffs in the early 1960s. He' s best known for his 1965 recording of the song Misty. After his passing in 1991, the Beastie Boys paid tribute with their organ-fueled tune Groove Holmes (Check Your Head/1992). Here is Groove's classic Down Home Funk from his 1974 Comin' On Home album. I love the gospel-style intro, and how the bass and keyboard lead us through a bluesy progression into jazz solos you wouldn't find in our usual fare of soundtrack music (Lalo Schifrin notwithstanding), and back again. Groove Holmes is a more recent discovery for me, found during one of those special moments when I heard something playing on the stereo at a local record shop that caught my attention- a great way to find new sounds. Spy Vibers, do you have fave musicians and/or albums that capture a groovy, Spy Vibe tone? Anyone else a fan of Vampyros Lesbos or Gert Wilden?

GROOVE: ALAN HAWKSHAW PT.2

GROOVE: ALAN HAWKSHAW PT.2
Funky UK groove-master of the keyboards, Alan Hawkshaw, returns to keep the weekend party going at Spy Vibe. Here he is with the Mohawks with "Beat Me Till I'm Blue," a title that would fit right in with one of the fab Italian or German crime/jazz soundtrack compilations from Crippled Dick Hotwax. Track available on the album Mo'Hawk. Movie clips show some fantastic set design from the 1968-1971 era. An Op Art intro moves into psychedelic oil/light projections and a number of groovy sets that play with minimal geometric shapes, colors, and a swinging bed (literally and figuratively). Enjoy!

GROOVE: ALAN HAWKSHAW

GROOVE: ALAN HAWKSHAW
British composer/arranger and session man, Alan Hawkshaw, is setting a cool groove at Spy Vibe today with "Girl At the Top."