Abri and the Funk Radius at Sublime

Saturday night saw the launch of a new weekly gig by Dubai-based music acts Hamdan Al Abri and The Funk Radius. The Funk Radius, consisting of jazz musicians Elie and Rony Afif together with rock musician Jay Wud, provided bass, drum and guitar support for soul singer Abri's vocal performance. A very interesting genre mix, Abri and the Funk Radius had performed together late last season, and I guess it worked out well, because they'll be doing it every Saturday night this season.

The launch took place in the "space baroque" Sublime Lounge at the Ibis hotel DWTC, conveniently located near the DWTC metro station. Substantial attendance could already be seen by 9pm, and the place filled up quickly during the first set and interval, with most staying on until the last set, near midnight.

The four performed three sets of funk, funk fusion, rock and reggae, including classics like "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a ) Sex Machine", and more recent hits like "Get Lucky" and "Crazy". They kept the energy going until the last song of the last set, eliciting enthusiastic responses from the crowd at the lounge, especially on their more widely recognizable numbers.

Bull Funk Zoo CD Launch at Jambase

The Bull Funk Zoo launched its CD last Wednesday with a special performance at Jambase. Given the achievements of many of the band's constituents Hamdan al Abri, Elie Afif, Jeremiah John, Assaad Lakkis and Rami Lakkis (making it a sort of local supergroup), it comes as no surprise that the place was packed, and enthusiasm was high.

There was a lot of fusion funk, and some songs were not funk at all, though the BFZ's members worked well together on whatever genres they were playing. One of the more novel ones from the album was the rock-blues fusion number "Shit House Blues" (first time for me hearing a blues song being growled). I particularly like the playful and very funky "Afterparty (307)" (included in the album as a live performance recording, including the audience participation bits). "Drifter", a funk-rock-reggae fusion song, has a catchy funk-rock progression hook, and funk-rock fusion song "Junk Funk" has nice lyrics with a peppy funk backdrop.