THE BROOKS are a hard gigging funk band working out of Montreal, Canada. The band is made up of Maxime Bellavance (drums), Alexandre Lapointe (bass), Marc-André Bellefleur (percussion), Philippe Look (guitar), Daniel Thouin (keyboards), Sébastien Grenier (saxophone), Hichem Khalfa (trumpet) and Alan Prater (vocals).
They came together via a shared love for all things soulful and funky and so far their CV includes work with The Doobie Brothers and Kool & The Gang while they played a leading role in the Montreal Jazz festival’s tribute to Prince.
The Brooks have just launched their second long player –a blistering funk attack called ‘Pain And Bliss’ but a quick glance at the track title would tell you that any way. I mean cuts like ‘Funkyshit’ and ‘Funklife’ speak for themselves!
The eleven tracker (there a few brief interludes) is almost 100% funk with the mellowest moment coming via the steady soul groove ‘Last Chance’… though even that one has a toughness all of its own. Our standout is the album’s title cut…’Pain And Bliss’. This one’s a sparse, funk rumble with a growling vocal that evokes the best of a certain James Brown.
