Menahan Street Band

The Menahan Street Band is the brainchild of guitarist/songwriter Thomas Brenneck (Dap-Kings, The Budos Band, Amy Winehouse), and Make the Road by Walking is a sprightly album made up of funk-inflected, smooth jazz instrumentals. The "smooth" part of the jazz equation could be misinterpreted, as said smoothness speaks more to the flowing pace and easy-on-the-ears delivery than it does strict style categorization. Think of the record more as combination of (electric) Miles Davis and soul-bump and funk flavors, wrapped up in a semi-modernized package.

Jay-Z even sampled the title track (released on a 45 last year), an indication that the tunes do indeed move. These original compositions—save for "Going the Distance" from Rocky III—were recorded analog-style in Brenneck's Brooklyn domicile with a little help from friends like Homer Steinweiss, Dave Guy and Leon Michels. The songs are chock full of upbeat, brass-heavy soulsters with the occasional cool changeup or acoustic accent. By the time the listener reaches the album's final third, the absence of vocals in this style of music becomes more noticeable, especially for an album devoid of any true crescendos. However, that shouldn't preclude you from playing Make the Road by Walking at your next block party.

—Scott Alisoglu
10.26.08

It's kind of difficult to describe what kind of music the Menahan Street Band make, although the ten tracks (there's also an unlisted 11th track) presented on this debut album share a certain pleasant, easy, and sunny vibe. All are unhurried instrumentals, and while it's tempting to call this stuff soul, it isn't that exactly. There's a jazz feel here, too, but it isn't exactly soul-jazz, either, and then there's a certain intangible Jamaican dub feel to how things are mixed, but one can't really call it dub, and while things get lightly funky now and then, it isn't funk. A loose-knit group of musicians drawn from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (Dave Guy, Homer Steinweiss, Fernando Velez, Bosco Mann), El Michels Affair (Leon Michels, Toby Pazner), Antibalas (Nick Movshon, Aaron Johnson), and the Budos Band (Mike Deller, Daniel Foder), the Menahan Street Band recorded these tracks with producer Thomas Brenneck in his Menahan Street apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and if it's difficult to put a finger on what their sound should be labeled, it's not difficult to like it. Tracks like "Karina" and "The Traitor" have gently hypnotic and shifting grooves that have just enough nervous energy to stay interesting. Nothing here is going to set the world on fire but nothing here is going to make the world a worse place, either. The perfect Sunday morning listen. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide