52nd Street - 'Something's Going On'.

Widely acknowledged as one of the best jazz songs ever to come out of the UK and now seen as a jazz standard
(Check out the Will Downing version).
52nd Street's 'Something's Going On' could of been recorded in the 40s so natural was the production by jazz legend Lenny White and engineering by Alec Head.

52nd Street started life as a jazz funk band in 1981 and were influenced by the likes of Lenny White, Stanley Clarke, Roy Ayres, Brecker Brothers, George Benson, Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock and Billie Holliday. The move to Factory Records in 1982 opened doors and enabled the band to incorporate their jazz and funk education with the ever emerging sounds of electronic sequencing and hip hop beats. The band never throughout those years forgot their
jazz roots and even recorded a jazz song on their debut Virgin/MCA album titled 'Children of the Night'.

Something's Going On was cut live in New York with an all star guest line-up:
Michael Brecker on Tenor Sax, Lenny White on Acoustic Drums, Pete Levin on Organ and Orchestral arrangements.

Thanks to Gwarn Music we have access to priceless photos of those sessions which included Levin, White, Brecker and the band: Bowry Bass, Henry Guitar, Dennison Piano and Charlemagne Lead Vocals.

Brecker stated in a few interviews in the 80s that his performances on the 52nd Street sessions were some of his most memorable. Michael died recently but his memory lives on.

God bless
RIP Michael Brecker. (more) (less)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Jazz
• Jazz-Funk
• British
• Manchester
• 52nd-Street
• Hacienda
• Factory-Records
• Lenny-White
• Michael-Brecker
• Soul

[footyclub1]

the first albums were great, untill they fired the bassplayer

[eyesley]

@duart310 WHAT? Man, I would have snatched that up too....This is best song to me off the second album...

[PerseusTraxx]

@AnnieBodyElse Also the vocals for "Inner City Life" by Goldie

[peterpiessens]

Great song,great vocals, from which album is this taken from?

[AnnieBodyElse]

later then she (Diane Charlemagne) did the vocals for the ´93 chart smasher "the key the secret" with the Urban Cookie Collective

[pasylvain]

This is music !!!!! Her vocals are sensational !!!!! I always love the groups from the UK !!!!! I will have to plan a trip to the UK just to listen to all of this great stuff !!!!!!

[UltraPOPDJ]

I love Will Downing and I only heard his version. I skipped this song on 52nd Street's LP of the same name for some reason. OK, so I am wrong. On a another post I said she lost that jazzy soulful style on this LP, I guess I did not listen to the non-singles on the LP. My bad, there.

[croncook1972]

This song reminds me so much of the 80's. Where have all the good times gone.

[Blackpool77]

Great sound ; great times in Manchester - along with the Jazz Defecktors - they really stamped a Manchester sound on the progressive Jazz/Soul Scene .When I was at Wythenshawe in 84-86 use to see a few of them around , as well as Berlin on the Tues !!!

[duart310]

i was lucky enough to find this album in a 25 cent bin at the thrift shop and didnt relize how good it was until now!