T-Groove & George Kano Experience - Lady Champagne

Billed as “T-Groove & George Kano Experience”, funky jazz drummer George Kano and modern disco producer extraordinaire T-Groove (with a little help from their friends) have combined their talents to create “Lady Champagne”, an instant classic that works not only for getting down in the club, but also to enjoy listening at home due to its focus on the players and riffs instead of vocals or hooks.

While T-Groove has made his name so far by updating late 70’s/early 80’s soul and disco (which quite frankly are the best years) for modern times similar to Dave Lee (formerly Joey Negro) and Cool Million, and George Kano has explored a range of genres (sometimes within the same songs) in his experimental solo work, “Lady Champagne” strikes a perfect balance between the two by dialing back some of the camp and cheesy aspects of disco and generating a bit more edge without being too weird. There are 18 musicians on this album, with four playing electric guitar and three on electric bass (including some overlap), yet none of them play disco strings. And despite featuring vocals by the likes of Shohei from Three1989, Marie Meney, and DAISUKE, none of these songs are disco anthems. Nothing you can really sing along to. It’s more like a mood, an “experience” so to speak.

It all starts front and center with George Kano on the drums (explained in delicious detail by Four Leaf Sound on the track “Haven”). Kano is popular for his drumming lessons on YouTube and has a mastery of funky rhythm, which you can really feel on this album. No artificial quantizing going on here, the drums are really lively with swing, power, and impact. You then get funky, dynamic bass lines and jazzy guitar licks layered on, which gives you the foundation of the songs, but the keyboards and synths really set the tone of the music, they give it a very urban feel that fits being in a metropolis like Tokyo or New York at night, but they also provide a cosmic, slightly psychedelic vibe. Add in the sax and trumpet highlights, sprinkle in some soulful vocals, and it’s a winning formula from start to finish, recorded live to boot. 

Applying this formula in different ways takes you to all sorts of places and feelings. You could be popping champagne with a beautiful lady (“Lady Champagne”), strutting through the streets (“Cityside Walk”) or seeing a show at the Blue Note (“Cantaloupe Island”). More often than not, you’ll probably feel like making love. Well, that’s just the way I feel when I listen to the album, the general lack of structured lyrics means you can derive your own interpretations and stories.

If you’re a fan of classic disco, funk, jazz or neo soul, you’ll absolutely love this album, it’s a luxurious blend of all these genres with a lot of nods to the past - the way the chords resolve in “Timeless Groove” sounds just like Earth Wind and Fire’s “September” and that vocal refrain in “Wine and Roses” sounds very Copacabana. I’m pretty sure all the musicians on this are big fans of the classics, at the same time the music has been refined and mastered to fit the modern era, all of the good stuff and none of the nonsense. Sophisticated, stylish, and sexy, “Lady Champagne” is your ultimate musical companion for the dancefloor, limousine or bedroom. Let the love flow on.

Tokyo ON also recommends: Softsoul - Timeless, Q.A.S.B. - Candy Dream, Fuminori Kagajo - Timeless