'Rare Groove Spectrum, Vol. 3' by Lance Ferguson

The tirelessly prolific efforts of Lance Ferguson now find the New Zealand-born and Melbourne-based DJ, producer, musician and band leader unveil the third instalment of his Rare Groove Spectrum series through the hallowed walls of Tru Thoughts Records.

And any reference to Ferguson's music-making as 'tirelessly prolific' could never be seen as an overstatement - we'd all do well to keep a continually keen eye on Ferguson's ongoing musical adventures that take him from the bombastic funk & soul of The Bamboos to the spiritual jazz of Menagerie or the bossa-boogie-nu-cool of Rare Groove Spectrum.

An incredibly diverse and imaginative artist really able to cultivate any style and adapt to the sounds around him.

We fleetingly mentioned The Bamboos but theirs is also a musical contribution that should be heralded.  With over twenty years of releases and global performances with Ferguson at the helm, Australia's funk and soul luminaries serve as compulsory to the contemporary funk & soul landscape as much as the efforts of The Mighty Mocambos, The Budos Band or The New Mastersounds.

The Rare Groove Spectrum however has afforded Ferguson a compelling new musical adventure.  Spearheaded by the first in the series - unveiled in 2018 through label home at the time Freestyle Records - Ferguson set out to reimagine a series of classic funk, jazz and soul tracks, repackaging them within a groovy jazz-funk aesthetic.  It's a project that ultimately showcases a devoted affection for music stemming from seemingly disparate and unrelated realms.  From Azymuth to Anderson .Paak, the Rare Groove Spectrum to date continues to present Ferguson's unadulterated fandom through an audio smorgasbord of music and culture.

Ferguson had previously alluded to the Rare Groove perception of the songs as being conceived through the eyes of a DJ and reinterpreting songs as desired - fleshing certain songs out further while highlighting perhaps undersold aspects of the originals.  Perhaps Ferguson's years of spinning and collecting records would ultimately pave the way for the Rare Groove Spectrum series to come to fruition as so many of these boundary- and genre-less ideals are beautifully captured through Ferguson's unhindered vision.  

With a versatile selection of tracks covered included 'My Future' by Billie Eilish, Gene Harris' 'Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong' and Pyramid's 'Song for Bobby', the third instalment of the Ferguson's 'Rare Groove Spectrum is a project that lovingly wears its inspirations on its sleeve.  Each inclusion in the trilogy of full-lengths serve as small homages to Ferguson's own heroes – wonderfully recontextualising the music to produce a dynamic and versatile album with each go-round.