Got To Move Something is the latest, most definitive CD release from one of the most influential Afro-funk-fusion groups ever, Plunky & Oneness (formerly Oneness of Juju). This double CD album contains one disk full of the group's new studio tracks of funky R&B, soulful vocals and groovy instrumentals; plus a bonus disk of the group recorded Live in Atlanta playing their original Afro-Pop, World-jazz and hot funk fusions. Produced by group leader J. Plunky Branch, this specially priced 2-CD set has it all: radio friendly Adult Urban R&B, love songs, international jazz appeal, African rhythms plus high energy P-Funk captured live.
Last year Strut Records of London released a retrospective compilation of the group's recordings called African Rhythms 1970 - 1982 to widespread critical acclaim. Earlier this year P-Vine Records of Japan reissued six of the group's earliest albums. But Got To Move Something moves Plunky & Oneness out of the past and into the future.
Although all of the new songs on the studio disk were written or co-written by Plunky, Got To Move Something is an expansive work to which all of the group members contributed. Lead vocalist Tonya Lazenby-Jackson's soulful voice is featured on several of the R&B tracks. Her delivery is mellow on songs like "You Make It Happen" and the smooth ballad "Will You Smile" and powerful on "Funk U Up." Guitarist Chris B; Plunky's son, Jamiah "Fire" Branch; and former keyboardist Kevin Christopher Teasley all contribute rhythm tracks and co-production skills to give the project hip-hop beats and neo-soul sensibilities. Bassist P. Muzi Branch brings the funk to the bottom frequencies and also designed the CD's graphics as he has done for many of Plunky's 16 previous releases. But it is Plunky most often at the center of things interpreting his lyrics vocally and blowing saxy licks throughout.
The live CD captures the high-energy performance of Plunky and Oneness at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA in July 2002. The event was billed as an Afro-pop concert and dance. The music on that night was diverse and intense and featured Plunky's hot sax and funky exhortations along with some amazing percussion work by African Master drummer, Asante, who formerly performed with Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Lonnie Liston Smith and Hugh Masekela.
Got To Move Something is over two hours of new music to move you with love, peace and positive energy.
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J. PLUNKY BRANCH BIOGRAPHY
Saxophonist J. Plunky Branch is an experienced performer, songwriter and producer and he is president of N.A.M.E. Brand Records, through which he has released 16 albums. At one time Plunky was a studio musician for television's top-rated "The Cosby Show. His song "Every Way But Loose" was a top-ten soul music chart hit in London. He has appeared on avant-garde jazz albums by Pharaoh Sanders, Hamiett Bluitt and others. Now he spends his time making music in his own studio and onstage with his bandmates playing funk, R&B, jazz, African, reggae and rap.
Plunky has toured in Europe, playing England, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has twice toured Ghana, West Africa, once for the Ghana National Commission on Children, and again as a cultural specialist for the U.S. Information Agency. During the last 12 months he has performed and explored music business opportunities in France, Brazil, Cuba and England.
With his group, Plunky & Oneness, he has opened shows for a number of stars, including Patti Labelle, Ray Charles, Najee, Yellow Jackets, and Frankie Beverly & Maze. Plunky's group performed at the New Orleans World's Fair, at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta (four times) and at the Hampton Jazz Festival in his native Virginia (twice). For more than 10 years Plunky has toured continuously with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA).
Plunky's career accomplishments are as varied as his music and his diverse interests, which include: African art and culture, history, digital technology, politics and the media. In addition to being a veteran saxophonist and a composer, J. Plunky Branch is also an administrator, lecturer and teacher. He has been a frequent arts panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Plunky is a two time recipient of the NEA Jazz fellowships and he served on the Governor's Task Force for the Promotion of the Arts in Virginia. He has been Director of the Jazz Ensemble at Virginia Union University as well as an instructor of Afro-American Music History at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.
He was Richmond Magazine's Musician of the Year for 1999. He is a sought after artist-in-residence and performer for public schools systems. He has written film scripts, journals of his travels, poems and over 150 songs.
Over his career Plunky has entertained and taught thousands, and in the process, he has developed a broad-based following. During his 1987 West African tour, critics proclaimed Plunky "one of the greatest living saxophonist!" And in a context where rhythm, ritual, power and emotion reign supreme, he might be!
For further information contact: J. Plunky Branch, 2218 Rosewood Avenue, Richmond, VA 23220, 804-355-3586, Fax 804-355-7240, Email: plunkyb@aol.com
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