MENAHAN STREET BAND - Take the Road By Walking

Menahan Street Band consists of members of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band, and other bands who producer Thomas Brenneck brought together to "record hits" in his Bushwick apartment. In fact the band is named after Menahan St. in Bushwick.

"Led by Dap-Kings/Budos Band guitarist Thomas Brenneck, the album is, as THE FADER puts is, "filled with untouched palettes waiting to be sampled," while XLR8R says "most of the all-instrumental tracks waver between Motownish and Stax/Volt-esque flavor; the mood is very 'Soulsville'-era Isaac Hayes-meets-The Funk Brothers. Crisp, tight ensemble playing defines tracks like 'Tired of Fighting' and 'The Contender'...this is a must-have.""

The new album Take the Road By Walking hits stores today. The title track was sampled by Jay-Z last year on his hit "Roc Boys". Check out the original...

Menahan Street Band - Make the Road By Walking (mp3)

"There must be something in the water in Brooklyn these days that has kept this family of musicians going. Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Ghostface Killah, The Hitmen, Wu-Tang Clan, Al Green, Nas, and now Jay-Z all coming to the same bunch of guys in their homemade studios in Brooklyn to get the stuff that today’s biggest records are made of. However, this is far from a pop record. Make the Road by Walking is a soulful exploration by a talented young group of musicians into the possibilities of instrumental music; an original, personal, and uncompromised creation that embodies the sound of a select group of musicians in one distinct place, at one particular moment in time. “This album is kind of a window into our world on Menahan Street,” says Brenneck. “In a way, we’re simply the street’s unofficial house band.”"