Written by David Matthews.
(P) Creed Taylor 1977.

Sandworms

Written and performed by

James O'Keefe - Guitar
Matt Summerfield - Bass
Jonny Drop - Drums and Percussion
Dave Koor - Keys and Synths

Engineered by Charleston Morton. Mixed and Mastered by Dave Koor. Artwork by Jonny Drop.

© The Expansions 2013

Lemon Squash

Tokyo

Written by - 

James O'Keefe - Guitar
Jonny Drop - Drums and Percussion
Matt Summerfield - Bass
Dave Koor - Keys and Synths


Engineered by Charleston Morton at Invisible Studios. Mixed and Mastered by Dave Koor. Artwork by Jonny Drop.

© The Expansions 2013

Lavender

EXP-7002. A side.

Aubergine's Escape - A gritty and soulful downtempo groove, and a developing story in the life of Ms Aubergine. She needs to get out of town. Fast. This is her soundtrack. 

Aubergine's Escape

EXP-7002. B side.

Mess Up Your Mind - Aura was a San Francisco Psych-Funk band that formed in 1974 and played extensively throughout Northern California. By 1976, the band recorded their first and only album at Pacific Recording Studio in San Mateo. Over recent decades the Aura album has grown in stature to become a collectors item. In 1991, the Oakland hip-hop band,“Oaktown’s 357” sampled “Mess Up Your Mind” for their song “Turn It Up”, which raised the Aura album to cult status. 
This is our version. 

"No one else today makes this brand of cinematic, psychy filthy fusion quite like The Expansions. Can't wait for the LP!" Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s) 

Mess Up Your Mind

When The Expansions self released their first single in 2013, the laid-back jazz funk of Lavender, it quickly gained strong support from soul and rare-groove aficionados including Kenny Dope, Dom Servini, Patrick Forge and Andy Smith. A run of shows followed and before long, when someone was asking if there was a soul-jazz band around to play with, “The Expansions” was the answer. 

Although this popularity meant a hiatus in releasing music, the band have been constantly busy, playing around Europe with legendary British-Ghanaian soul singer, Andrew Ashong and the exceptional, upcoming talent Connie Constance. 

There has also been a breakout project from drummer Jonny Drop - the album Sub Plot gained massive support and love from BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne. While keys-man Dave Koor has been busy playing shows with Gilles Peterson favourite Hector Plimmer, Shaun Escoffery, and Ego Ella May, improvising with Yussef Dayes (Yussef Kamaal) and Nubya Garcia, releasing music as Deoke and collaborating with label-mate Scrimshire on their Modified Man exploration. 

But always, The Expansions has remained a central focus and the true home of these four jazz and soul lovers, with occasional trips out to the country to form ideas and practice new music for the eventual album. 

Murmuration, recorded over three days at Big Noise in Southend, is constructed of single takes, with minimal overdubs, as the band attempt to capture the feeling and energy they create live. 

Debut single Breakthrough introduced the insanely catchy but deeply soulful blend of synths and groove, but here on the album that is explored to the fullest with longer breakdowns and more expansive, experimental solos. Pocket 5 displays the, possibly unexpected, influences of broken beat and almost combative rhythm playing – particularly in the complex guitar and keys breakdown where Koor and O’Keefe layer conflicting time signatures and battle to ride it out to the heavy drum return. 

Cannonball brings warm mellowness that delicately evolves through beats, touching on bossas alongside their fundamental hip-hop sensibilities. But even here there is a raucous zenith before the band sublimely recede into the silence of the a-side ending. 

Colossal album highlight Ivory Mountain is truly an epic. Evoking moments of 4Hero, there is a lightness of groove in the first half of this soulful exploration. But at the halfway point, all restraint is let go as a live string section joins the four quarters of the band for three glorious minutes of soulful disco. Evoking sounds of Quincy Jones, George Benson and Johnny Hammond, all the way through to a beautifully cacophonous finale. 

Dragonfly undoubtedly reflects on the work of Herbie Hancock and is the most direct throwback to the band’s earlier work, which is a welcome marker of how far they have come. A quintessential jazz funker. 

The album closes with the thoughtful and introverted shuffle of Miles Away. In the final eight minutes of Murmuration, The Expansions allow space and time to take precedence, with once-more-restrained peaks and developments. It becomes clear though, that the band cannot resist one last explosive finale, as they rise with screeching synths, strings and dubs for a perfect race to the finish line. 

You can hear the influences of Idris Muhammad, Grover Washington, even parallels with South London peers Yussef Kamaal and Ruby Rushton. But The Expansions have tirelessly worked to create a sound of their own and are very proud, along with label Albert’s Favourites, to finally share it.

Murmuration

Miles Away

Dragonfly

Ivory Mountain

Cannonball

Pocket 5

Breakthrough

Jazz Funk Jam Band from LDN. 
Inspired by the sound of the 70's jazz funk scene. 
Keyboards - Dave Koor
Guitars - James O'Keefe
Bass - Matt Summerfield
Drums - Jonny Drop

The Expansions

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