JazzTimes is honored to present the premiere of “Taking Me Down” by the New Mastersounds, featuring vocalist Lamar Williams Jr. The track will appear on the veteran British fusion band’s upcoming album, Shake It, which is scheduled to be released September 13 on the Color Red label.
Personnel on the track is as follows: Eddie Roberts (guitar, engineering, production); Pete Shand (bass); Joe Tatton (keyboards); Simon Allen (drums); Mike Olmos (trumpet); Jason Mingledorff (saxophone); Lamar Williams Jr. (vocals)l and Jeff Franca (percussion).
“Taking Me Down” draws heavily from the psychedelic sounds of ’70s Ethiopian funk. Lamar Williams Jr.’s lyrical mantra about life’s hardships gives way to a frenzied guitar-and-horns workout. “My whole vibe on this song,” Williams comments, “was to offer the chance for people to let go and dance off their emotional stresses, and to tell them it’s okay for us to share the problems that bring us down, break us and shake us. Taking a journey through this tune is like hitting a reset button: at the end of it life feels a little better!”
This year marks the New Mastersounds’ 20th anniversary, and the band will be celebrating with the release of Shake It and an extensive fall/winter tour, dates of which follow.
9/13 – London, UK – Jazz Cafe
9/20 – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
9/26 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
9/27 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Pour House
9/29 – Asheville, NC – Isis Music Hall
10/2 – Bend, OR – Domino Room
10/3 & 10/4 – Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge
10/5 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
10/9 – Salt Lake City, UT – Commonwealth Room
10/10 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
10/11 & 10/12 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
10/17 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
10/18 – Indianapolis, IN – The Moustrap
10/19 – St. Louis, MO – Atomic Cowboy Pavilion
12/27 & 12/28 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
12/29 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room
