Dirty Bottom

R&B

Dirty Bottom

Doc Ramone and Corduroy Kid Present Dirty Bottom

(Oldsofamusic.com)

Funky fusion heads digging on albums such as Guru's Jazzmatazz would do well to check out this mega-smooth, super-tight and tasty local crew. Shawn Hall, Langston Raymond and Brennon Saul lay down dynamite grooves while an assortment of singers, players and MC/DJ Kilo-Cee layer on the love for songs such as the Middle Eastern tinged "Feel" or spliffed-out "Beep-Beep." With no shortage of ideas, textures and styles, it must just kill live. See and hear for yourself at Dirty Bottom's MySpace. B

- Stuart Derdeyn - Pacific press

Funky-ass Beats

Jan 30 2008

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, once said, “I only got a seventh-grade education but I have a doctorate in funk, and I like to put that to good use.” Vancouver band Dirty Bottom may only be on their Bachelor’s of funk at this point, but I imagine they’ll be graduating with honours. Big, fat, funky basslines and fluid, rolling beats make up the backbone of their incredibly tight, danceable, sexy funk sound. Their evocative band name comes from, as they say, a “love of the dirty lower end on ’70s funk, nasty four-track reggae recordings and gut-bucket soul.” These guys are insanely funky.

A 2005 gig up in Bella Coola—where band member Langston “Doc Ramone” Raymond hails from—spawned an exciting collaboration between Raymond and Shawn “Corduroy Kid” Hall. (Yes, they go by aliases—like I said, these guys are super funky.) It didn’t start all out that promising—Hall says they were “opening for an animal-balloon-making clown at 11 a.m.”—but the duo found themselves closing the festival as the house band, accompanied by Bocephus King and Mary Anchetta. And the balloon-animals weren’t half-bad either.

From Bella Coola, they came back to Vancouver and hit the studio, putting together their debut release with the help of Brennan Saul, a drummer who had worked with Hall for over five years on OldSOFA, Hall’s indie label project. Bringing in a host of collaborators and guests for the recording, they created a unique sound they call SOS—Skanked Out Soul. “[We wanted to] create a great live-sounding album with a rhythm section that breathed,” says Hall.

Whatever the recipe, Dirty Bottom succeeded. The album plays like a live recording, but with impeccable levels and a few nice effects chucked in over the jam. Their MySpace page describes the vibe of the album as “King Tubby meets Blue Note at an East Vancouver BBQ with celebrity chef James Brown.” It’s raw, but it’s not rough; smooth—with a capital “smoo.”

The trio names Al Green, the Stax Sound and Sly Stone as influences; Doc Ramone includes ’70s musicals on his list, and Saul—the only band member without an alias—chucks in jazz drummer Mel Lewis. This diversity is part of their whole formula for success: Hall is a Peace Corps kid who brings Torontonian soul; Raymond is from Bella Coola, raised on a diet of reggae; and Saul drops Vancouver jazz into the mix. It’s an eclectic but happy blend of styles. And they really are accomplished musicians—both Hall and Saul have recorded with a certain popular children’s performer, author of such classic tunes as “Baby Beluga” and “Bananaphone.”

I ask the guys if they could play any gig, any place, with any band, living or dead, who would it be, and where. “[John] Scofield, Al Green [and] Sly Stone on a river boat on the mighty Fraser River,” is their quick reply. Now that would be a show to remember. Another show to remember will be Dirty Bottom’s CD release party at Lucky Bar on Friday night. Hall says to expect “one honest blue-collar, sweaty show.” (Sorry, no balloon animals.)

Judging from their record, these guys are going to kill onstage. And expect to dance—this is not chair music, it’s dirty funk full of bottom-shaking grooves.

—Matt J. Simmons - Black Press

"Available for weddings and funerals, Dirty Bottom ( Langston 'Doc' Ramone and Shawn' Corduroy Kid' Hall) conjure up a weird, almost psychedelic amalgam of barrelhouse roots and basement funk that will surely leave you begging for more-if not mercy."

Global Rhythm Magazine March 2008 Compilation CD
- Zenbu Media

Doc Ramone and Corduroy Kid Present: Dirty Bottom

Top Summer Albums of 2008

You'll want to be wearing your shades when listening to this album, because it'll make you feel so cool in a jazzy, funky style. These boys, Shawn Hall, Brennan Saul and Langston Raymond, get you down to the bottom of the bowl and it's tasty all the way. There are a lot of guests, like jazz chanteuse Laura Crema, who add their own bit of sugar to the mix. The bass digs a groove deep enough to swim in, and the horn calls out to keep you from drowning. It's solid jazzy, soul-funk with some serious grease.


- CFBX Kamloops