The Ill Funk Ensemble
Indie-Licks.com
By Melissa O’Neil
Published: 8/22/12

So.  Your heading out with some friends to check out a new band, maybe take in a beverage or two.  It should be a good night.  You meet up at a cool joint, grab a brew or your beverage of choice and notice the their is quite a buzz as the crowd starts to pour in.

The band is announced and takes the stage.  It doesn’t take long before you realized that your night just went from a good night out with pals to stellar!  You have just been smacked in the face with the incredible realization of “Oh my God this band doesn’t suck.  In fact they are FRIGGIN amazing!”

This is quickly becoming an epidemic when The Ill Funk Ensemble takes the stage all over the country.  Once stepping onto stages that were too small for their swagger, let alone their equipment, and setting up under dim lights.  They would drop sound checks on unsuspecting audiences. Eyes would look up, mouths would agape and the phones would come out, inevitably texting their friends to come check out this band.  Our suspicion is this will soon be a distant memory and The Ill Funk Ensemble will no longer pine for space on a stage or walk on a sticky stage floor again.

The Albany based band formed in 2006 and has a East Coast meets West Coast vibe if you will, sprinkled with some 80’s and 90’s.  They have this grab bad going on that had just come together perfectly and works.  It’s kinda like your favorite cereal and they keep adding a new flavor.  Their musical genre mashup is flawless.  Comprised of band members Jermaine Wells  (Lead Vocals/Freestyle), BJ FitzGerald (Guitar/Lead Vocals), Dennie Brooks (Drums), Joe Stoner (Keyboards/Backing Vocals) and Duane Etienne  (Bass/Backing Vocals)

The Ill Funk Ensemble is set to release their new album on August 24, 2012

Indie Licks Pick = Bringin’ The Heat