MANDRILL LIVE AT MONTREUX & MORE ! TFS Release Date:05/31/2005 STUDIO: WILSON BROS. FORMAT: COLOR / DOLBY ENCODING: Region 1 SOUND: Stereo,Surround 5.1 STARRING: MANDRILL Run Time: 160min COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA DISC: 1 FUNKSTORE.com EXCLUSIVE : Yes CONDITION:NEW STOCK STATUS:IN STOCK !

Mandrill wasted no time before settling down in a wicked guitar– driven, horn laden street funk & then the singing started as the bros melodically tore up "House of Wood" from from 1974's "Mandrilland" album. And the classic tracks that kept coming all night long had the crowd throbbing into a zone of orgasmic aural bliss. The funk DVD of the year. Mandrill Live is an extended romp thru the bands 35+ year history of trade- mark highly influential melange of hard core street funk, Latin and Carribean percussive rhythms and torching horn charts. Long before funk brothers Charlie, Robert and Ronnie Wilson. There were the true Wilson brothers of the funk game. The 1st Family of Funk if you will. Carlos, Louis, Wolf and Dr. Ricardo Wilson (not only is he a Dr. of groove, but a certified cardiologist as well) grew out of the rich musical landscape of 1960s New York flavors. Therein is a rich, sticky-tight, all inclusive groove of polyrhythmic delights. The band cooks on "Git It All" from 1972's sophomore set "Mandrill Is". Keybordist Arlan Schierbaum blazes up on a Hammond B3 organ, picking up the groove and taking it to the stratosphere right where original keys maven Claude ‘Coffee" Cave left off. The Wilson brothers share a seemingly infinite set of instruments between them. At any time Carlos might have a trombone in one hand and rhythm guitar in the other or blowing a powerfully light flute. And those horns charts, let me tell you som’n. Mandrill had the horns going on long before Parliament, or even E,W,F. Indeed, more of today’s weller known FunkGods opened for THEM back in tha’ day. They were and still are like non-other, putting down an unparalleled groove in the annals of funk. Mandrill show here why they are to be heralded as one of the best bands ever on the scene. Ever. Ric Wilson may blow one of his rotund sax charts , then turn around and pop some soaring lead or backing vox at ya and then beat the congas into oblivious synergy with the rest of Mandrill’s sturdy, nasty, improvisational grooves. And then Louis , the trumpet man/MC. The brothers gave up a propulsive, orgasmic ,organic groove that went in every direction at once, but precise and tight at the same time. The concept was truly original, eccentric even if you will. I mean, three horn men out front, sanging there asses off with smooth harmonies and precise diction. And then doubling and tripling up on percussion & congas, guitar. 'OG' drummer neftali santiago is super tight as well , says he’s been with the band since the early 70s. Pounding and laying plenty of fast foot into the hyper-draulic soul-filled beat of Mandrill’s horn assault. At any time, a Jericho -like horn blast could come charting across at the stage to cut thru the bottom of Louis Castro’s heavy bass groove. Just walking all over that mutha. Their singing is like Ray, Goodman and Brown turned out Island style. Chops as strong and smooth as modern day Cadillacs. But gritty too.

The Montreux crowd was in a worn out frenzy for these master of rhythmic, at times Third World sounding funk. There is some calypso in the Mandrill groove too. You can only characterize it as Mandrill Funk. Not only do they put down a special blend booty-bumping funk. The stew also find these boys elaborating on their profound influences in the Central/South American music of their youth. This flavor is quite naturally evident, as the bro’s themselves were born in Panama and have plenty of Jamaican and Barbados ancestry, a flavor that can’t help but come across in this potent , melodic blend of grooves. After migrating to the US, they grew up honing their chops in Bed-Sty, Brooklyn.. Rock & roll, Bush music( Carribean) jazz, salsa, Latin, Cuban and Brazilian seasonings all come together. This music is all feeling, and sprit, earthy and real. You can feel this vibe coming from the stage that can only be in the blood, in the genes. These are no Johnny-come-lately’s but seasoned vets of the game. Bands beware, whoever goes on-stage behind these boys is gonna have to work for their supper. I wouldn’t want to do it. According to an spell-binding interview also included (DVD is chock full of great extras) they give a stunning historical perspective of their sound. They started off "playing pots and pans" before graduating into rehearsing in their mom’s downstairs beauty parlor once Carlos got back from the Navy in ‘68. Like the rest of history’s top funk bands (PF, Sly, JBs, EWF to round out the top five), it’s easy to see and hear why there is nothing else like a Mandrill concert They just crush all of the tracks. Pulling deep all night from the Mandrill catalogue that started way back in 1971 when they debuted with the self titled "Mandrill". Not only did the group leave a rich legacy of hits at Polygram (check out Fencewalk:The Anthology), there is a whole nother cache of the Mandrill albums over at United Artists that are hardly talked about yet included some of the group’s finest hour. And like a fine wine, they have truly gotten even better and more locked in the pocket than ever. Whether a ballad or the more up tempo material, they play with an energy seemingly impossible to keep up with at times, just cooking the groove up black- skillet like. More bonus footage includes a smoldering Philly set, that had ai body and in the mostly urban crowd swanging completely off their asses and demanding an encore. Business as per usual, The Wilson Brothers at it again. Almost 40 years along the way, they put the muscle on ‘em one more time..

Reviewed For TheFunkStore.com..By Funk Journalist&Atlanta Radio Personality~"Bustin'"Bob Mitchell

Compiled For TheFunkStore.com..By:Tylard Tatt II

This 2-1/2 hour DVD features a 90-minute live concert recorded at the prestigious Stravinsky Hall in Switzerland. It also includes interviews, behind the scenes footage, a photo gallery and bonus musical surprises. The group also highlights the plight of its namesake, the Mandrill (West African baboon), which has been classified as an endangered species **EDITORS NOTE:THE ACTUAL AUDIO & VIDEO QUALITY OF THIS DVD IS SUPERB,THE SAMPLES ARE **NOT** REFLECTIVE OF ACTUAL QUALITY ...

Track Listing (DVD): 1.OUTTA DA' BUSH 2.MANDRILL 3.ROLLIN' ON 4.COHELO 5.HANG LOOSE 6.MANGO MEAT 7.PEACE AND LOVE 8.HOUSE OF WOOD 9.GIT IT ALL 10.FENCEWALK **USUALLY SHIPS WITHIN 24HRS

OUT OF STOCK ... (FIRST CLASS WORLD WIDE SHIPPING) list Price =$29.98 TheFunkStore Price =$19.98//$3.50 s/h