REVIEW: Tony Ozier & The Doo Doo Funk All-Stars "Keep The Funk Alive"

RATING:  4 CHET BAKERS

Keep The Funk Alive, the newest release by Portland Oregon band Tony Ozier & The Doo Doo Funk All-Stars comes with high expectations.  Ever since hearing snippets early last year, I was anxious to hear this.  Somehow the release slipped past me, because it was released late last year, and I just found out yesterday that it was out.

So I quickly forked over my money and let it play.  Overall I think it's a nice strong release.   The funk is strong with these folks, and they've even brought in The Funkin Godfather Bootsy Collins to guest on a track.  If that's not a co-sign you can be proud of I don't know what is.

There are some great tracks on here running the gamut of tempos.  You have the up-tempo jam tracks like "Dookay!" and "The Chronicles of Dookie Green", as well as the slowed down jazzy tracks such as "I'm Yours", which was a standout track in my opinion.


I guess the best way of describing the band, and this album, would be to say if you took equal parts of Buckshot Lefonque, Brooklyn Funk Essentials and the Dave Matthews Band, you'd have Tony Ozier & The Doo Doo Funk All-Stars.   Nice and funk nasty when it needs to be, and laid back and mellow when it calls for it.   The album pretty much covers all the bases as it remains accessible to a wide audience. You have the slower ballads, as well as the out and out funky jams.

It's hard to find any weak spots on here.  If you like your funk dripping, then look no further than the Doo Doo Funk.