Cory Henry

One Liner: Keyboard prodigy playing fun funk and critically acclaimed jazz.

Wikipedia Genre: R&B, soul, jazz, gospel, jazz-funk

Home: Brooklyn

Poster Position: 18
Weekend One Only.  Friday.

Thoughts:  When I first read the top line of his Wikipedia entry, I thought it said that he had been a member of Skinny Puppy.  When I was a teen, for reasons that I do not know, I would always allude to Skinny Puppy's album Rabies when I was talking about music that frightened me.  I don't know why, I doubt I ever even heard the music back then, but it was a weird shorthand I always leaned to.  But as I'm jamming these tunes, I can't believe that this dude was part of a Canadian industrial rock band.  But then, and here is where reading comprehension is so useful in life, I realize that he actually belonged to something called Snarky Puppy.  Sorry, now you know randomly about Skinny Puppy.

For some reason, I reviewed a Snarky Puppy album in 2016, and had this to say:

"Snarky Puppy - Family Dinner, Vol. 2.  I have no recollection of how this band crossed my radar or why this album is in the New Stuff playlist, but I do know one thing.  Do not come to me for hot takes on new jazz music, as I am the absolute wrong person to ask.  I have no clue what this music even is - jazzy jam jazz?  Is this jazz?  Are we not men?  Is this in English?  Here is a ten minute video to a song from the album, called "Don't You Know."

It's like Phish with 128 people in the band.  And $280,000 worth of headphones, or was this just a headphone commercial?  And people in the comments to that video are going nuts for the piano guy, who is apparently Jacob Collier.  He sure seems like he can do his thing well. Honestly, that video just made me like this album more.  That whole crew of people are having the best time of their lives jamming that song out.  And its pretty damn funky when you get into the groove with them.  Huh.  At least check out that video, then you can decide whether you want to go for the album too."

So there you go - jammy jazz!  But this cat was making music from an early age, even playing a show at the Apollo Theater at age 6!  He has toured with a murderers row of artists - Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonald, P. Diddy, Boyz II Men, The Roots, and Kirk Franklin.  He's also been on albums for Kanye West, Imagine Dragons, and Frank Ocean, among others.  His first album came out in 2014 (although Spotify lists an album back in 2012?), his second in 2016, and both were hot on the jazz charts.  He went out on his own in 2018 with Art of Love.  Then released 2020's Something to Say, 2021's Best of Me, and then 2022's really fun Operation Funk.

His top tracks are from the Something to Say album, with two of those boasting over 3 million streams.  The top one is the good-mood maker "Happy Days."  3.2 million streams.

Fun times!  Smooth grooves!  Stevie Wonder vibes from that harmonica part.  "Switch" is also a cool sounding groove.  The new album is funky fo sho.  "The Line" sounds like a Prince jam.  "The Fool" is the top streamer with 340k and another Prince-esque jam.  

That bassline is sweet!  Especially in the chorus, with that handclap and those harmonies, you get some serious Purple One vibes.

I wouldn't say that I normally angle towards jazz, but that funk infusion of the new album is pretty damn fun.  I might go check that out.