Tunji
Last Night’s Wine
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Although they’re from Austin, Tunji’s sound has a distinctive New Orleans flavor to it. Lots more voodoo hoodoo and craw gumbo than lone star state Armadillo pie being served up here. Does anybody remember Robbie Robertson’s "Storyville?" Same sorta vibe on this record. Just a bit more earthy... lots of passion and lean, edgy grooves, without the pretension or overproduction.

From eyes-closed-and-nose-scrunched-with-emotions vocals, to exotic percussion textures that include much more than just ornamental use of the didgeridoo, Tunji’s music has a spiritual, at times mystical element. That doesn’t mean they’re too spacey to dance to. Far from it. There’s plenty of organ drenched funk pushed by an in-the-pocket bass and drum combo to keep your toes tappin’. With a guitar from outer space and a horn section that’s sometimes funky, sometimes jazzy, and occasionally bluesy, Tunji’s sound flows in a lot of different directions. They’ve got upbeat Samba ("Flipside") and easy skankin’ rubba-dub ("Lush Life Lane"), not to mention an assortment of different flavored bayou-funk sonic libations that the Tunji faithful refer to as, "Last Night’s Wine,"the morning after one of their killer live shows. ###