The return of Funk, Inc., one of the most popular soul jazz combos of the Seventies, is a remarkable story. Formed in 1969 by organist Bobby Watley, the Indiana-based group was signed to Prestige Records two years later by producer Bob Porter. The band’s inspired blend of impassioned jazz improvisation and riveting funk grooves was given a highly enthusiastic reception by disc jockeys and record buyers across the country, as well as by critics.

Having cut an album of standards on his first Warner Brothers album, In a Sentimental Mood (1989), Dr. John turned for its follow-up to a collection of New Orleans standards. On an album he described in the liner notes as "a little history of New Orleans music," Dr. John returned to his hometown and set up shop at local Ultrasonic Studios, inviting in such local musicians as Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and the Neville Brothers and addressing the music and styles of such local legends as Jelly Roll Morton, Huey "Piano" Smith, Fats Domino, James Booker, and Professor Longhair. The geography may have been circumscribed, but the stylistic range was extensive, from jazz and blues to folk and rock. And it was all played with festive conviction - Dr. John is the perfect archivist for the music, being one of its primary proponents, yet he had never addressed it quite as directly as he did here.

Los Angeles-based soul and jazz guitar man U-NAM (Emmanuel Abiteboul) is a busy old bee! He juggles all kinds of projects – one of which is his THE CALIFORNIA FUNK MACHINE – a soul/funk collective that features an ever-evolving raft of top musicians. The outfit have two albums to their name – imaginatively titled ‘California Funk Machine Volume 1’ and ‘California Funk Machine Volume 2’ and now, just in time for the Christmas party season, U-Nam and the gang are unleashing a third album – and guess what? Yep, it’s ‘California Funk Machine Volume 3’ Like their first two volumes this third iteration is a collection of soul and funk covers – some more well known than others.