Part of Me | CD | Redtenbacher's Funkestra ft. Helena May

Product notes

PART OF ME — FAMILIAR SONGS, REBUILT BY THE FUNKESTRA Part of Me began at London’s 606 Club, where vocalist Helena May started sitting in with Redtenbacher’s Funkestra in 2016. Familiar songs were pulled apart on stage and rebuilt around the band’s rhythm section, horns and Helena’s exuberant vocal presence. The audience response made a studio album the natural next step. (Helena May x Funkestra) Released in 2018, Part of Me is not a collection of polite, note-for-note covers. Britney Spears, Guns N’ Roses, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Martika, Katy Perry and the Andrews Sisters are moved into the Funkestra’s world of bass-led grooves, Hammond and electric keyboards, clipped guitars, percussion and a three-piece horn section. “Toxic” becomes a full-scale jazz-funk arrangement. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is redirected towards James Brown territory, while “Shape of You,” “Royals,” “Toy Soldiers” and the title track are treated as material for a working live band rather than songs that must be preserved behind glass. Even “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” is invited into the proceedings, proving that several decades of popular music can coexist quite happily when the rhythm section is sufficiently persuasive. LISTENING Part of Me by Helena May x Funkestra Helena brings brightness, range and considerable stage energy to the album, but the arrangements leave space for more than the lead vocal. The rhythm section, keyboards, horns and percussion continually reshape the source material, allowing well-known melodies to reveal different rhythmic and harmonic possibilities. Within the wider Funkestra catalogue, Part of Me occupies an important and distinctive place. The band is primarily known for original instrumental jazz-funk, but this record captures its vocal, soul and pop-facing side at full length. The recording sessions at Masterlink also helped develop the musical relationship that soon led to Helena appearing in the very first filmed Masterlink Session. (Redtenbacher's Funkestra) PRESS iBass Magazine described Part of Me as a “high-energy release of conceptual brilliance,” praising Helena May’s unbridled energy, the strength of the musicianship and the album’s underlying sense of fun. Wavebyte praised the individuality of the eight arrangements and the way each familiar song was given a markedly different identity. Bass Guitar Magazine’s assessment of “Toxic” was rather more economical: “We’ve heard it, and it’s nuts.” (Redtenbacher's Funkestra) TRACKLISTING Toxic Sweet Child O’ Mine Shape of You Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Royals Toy Soldiers Part of Me Toxic — Radio Edit MUSICIANS Helena May — vocalsSimon Allen — tenor and baritone saxophonesSid Gauld — trumpetEran Kendler — guitarAndy Little — additional guitar on tracks 3 and 7Rich Milner — additional keyboards on track 7Ross Stanley — keyboards on tracks 4, 5 and 6Mike Sturgis — drumsRob Taggart — keyboards on tracks 1, 2, 3 and 8Nichol Thomson — tromboneKarl Vanden Bossche — percussionStefan Redtenbacher — bass PRODUCTION Produced by Stefan Redtenbacher. Horn arrangements by Stefan Redtenbacher, except “Toy Soldiers,” arranged by Sid Gauld and Stefan Redtenbacher. Band recorded by James Welch at Masterlink Studios.Overdubs recorded by Stefan Redtenbacher at the Funkhaus.Mixed and mastered by Rupert Christie. Cover photography by Rob Blackham.Cover design by Neil Hart. Released by RSB Records on 12 November 2018.Catalogue number: RSB73600. (Helena May x Funkestra) Physical digipak CD edition.