Review of STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN

"They started off as jazz and blues musicians playing around clubs in Detroit. Then Berry Gordy came along and brought them all together to form the accompanying band for a new kind of sound. Thirteen of the best and most talented musicians in their field joined to form the Funk Brothers and create some of the most memorable songs of the era. As a relative layman in the music field, it’s hard to describe what Motown music is; it’s a sort of combination of the spirit of improvisational jazz, the rhythm of rock and roll, and a pleasant vocal harmony. I may not possess the ability to accurately describe it, but I know what I like. Despite the fact that the music is what separates Motown from other similar musical genres, the vocalists have always received the whole of the recognition. Standing in the Shadows of Motown is about the musicians—the driving force of the entire repertoire of Motown’s Detroit period—and the way in which they were and still are pushed into the shadows of music history."

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