The Lyman Woodard Organization – Don’t Stop the Groove (Live)

There is nothing better than sexy jazz funk.  I got turned on to the Lyman Woodard Organization via their 1975 classic Saturday Night Special after reading a profile in Wax Poetics magazine a couple of years ago.  This is a live album from 1979 and it cooks.  A much looser jam than the highly orchestrated Saturday Night Special.

Lyman is a Detroit cat with strong connection to Motown (he was the musical director for Martha and the Vandellas) and was in a pre-Motown band with guitar legend Dennis Coffey.  Lyman mixes jazz, funk, and Latin into one hell of a booyah.

This a very well recorded and performed recording.  I am assuming the Lyman Woodard Organization was a pretty obscure band in its day, but I swear I can hear some influences on the jazzy side of Prince (the timing is about right to be impressionable on a young Prince). This pretty exquisite grease.   Available through emusic for a lot less then iTunes.  Check out a little sample below: