Vinyl Wednesday: GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION - RELEASE YOURSELF
Graham Central Station is the band of bass player and singer Larry Graham. "Larry Graham, Jr. is an American baritone singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as both the bass guitar player in the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and front man of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "Thumpin' and Pluckin'." (Bass Player magazine, Apr 07). So.. what about that slapping technique? According to Dutch wikipedia, in the 60's he played in a duo formation with his mother on piano and by the absence of drums he started to use the noises of the snares in a percussive way so it made a drum sound. There's a whole article on English wikipedia about slapping technique in general. Graham is mainly famous for using his thumb and index finger, while Mark King also paradiddles and performs the left hand slap... not to forget Victor Wooten with his more efficient technique plus index/middle finger plucking.. yes.
Back to this album: I think my favourite tune is "Tis your kind of music".
Horns of this album are performed by Tower Of Power plus Hershall "Happiness" Kennedy, Grahams' trumpet player. Funny enough, the Tower Of Power horns are not credited as such, but with their apart names.. Gregory Adams, Emilio Castillo, Michael Gilette, Stephen Kupka, Leonard Pickett. More credits: Produced by GOD Co-produced by Larry Graham. I was already wondering what kind of job God would do and how I could get in touch with him.. I can just meet him at the studio! The studio he used at the time: Record Plant, Sausalito, California. Enjoy listening.
This is a tune called Kalunga Dance, from my latest album Dark Horse, order it here or buy it at a concert, the next one is Brebl, Nijmegen 1 day after my birthday on 16th of April! Hope to see you there!In this performance, we featured percussionist/vocalist and world citizen Helene Jank. She lived and worked in Brazil for quite a while and I really think it's audible here. I love the way she and the band creates this moment of space within the concert and this is also why - I think - visiting concerts is important because then you get to experience the whole context of the concert. How is the program build up, how does the audience respond and what does music makes you feel. More info:Susanne Alt: sax, Matthijs Geerts and Ike van Bergen: keys, Thomas Pol: bass, Yoràn Vroom: drums, Helene Jank: percussion Performed at 16th of January 2026 at Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Recorded by Onno Prillwitz Filmed by Robert Glass and Albert Nooij. - Graham Central Station is the band of bass player and singer Larry Graham.Larry Graham, Jr. is an American baritone singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as both the bass guitar player in the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and front man of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as Thumpin' and Pluckin'. (Bass Player magazine, Apr 07).So.. what about that slapping technique?According to Dutch wikipedia, in the 60's he played in a duo formation with his mother on piano and by the absence of drums he started to use the noises of the snares in a percussive way so it made a drum sound. There's a whole article on English wikipedia about slapping technique in general. Graham is mainly famous for using his thumb and index finger, while Mark King also paradiddles and performs the left hand slap... not to forget Victor Wooten with his more efficient technique plus index/middle finger plucking.. yes.Back to this album: I think my favourite tune is Tis your kind of music.Horns of this album are performed by Tower Of Power plus Hershall Happiness Kennedy, Grahams' trumpet player. Funny enough, the Tower Of Power horns are not credited as such, but with their apart names.. Gregory Adams, Emilio Castillo, Michael Gilette, Stephen Kupka, Leonard Pickett. More credits:Produced by GOD Co-produced by Larry Graham.I was already wondering what kind of job God would do and how I could get in touch with him.. I can just meet him at the studio! The studio he used at the time: Record Plant, Sausalito, California.Enjoy listening.
