The jazz / funk collective The Big Hustle returns to the forefront of the Parisian music scene with the release of their 3rd LP entitled For Life.
Betino’s records (Wellborn, Robert Helms, Playing for the city) renews its collaboration with The Big Hustle for this 8 tracks LP, after having produced 2 EP released in 2017 and 2018 well received by critics.
Like the graphic illustration used for the album cover (original creation by artist Anthony Caseiro) The Big Hustle definitely affirms (For Life!) Its identity, its values, once again demonstrating the strength of collective, and more than ever positions itself in this uncertain 21st century as the guardian of "real" organic music based on the US jazz / funk tradition of the 70's.
After Live Large published in 2018, an album composed of many prestigious vocal features (Shaun Martin, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Julie Erikssen, Mike "Maz" Maher, Electro Deluxe, Kohndo, Raashan Ahmad ...) the group has chosen for this new opus to refocus on the hard core of the group : Sébastien Levanneur (bass), Bruno Pimienta (drums), François Faure (keyboards), Benjamin Delarue, Jo Champ (guitar), Jerome Cornelis (alto sax, guitar), Sylvain Fetis (tenor sax).
A few talented guests are however present on For Life, notably the virtuoso saxophonist Baptiste Herbin (Ed Motta, Roy Hargrove…) who offers us a magical solo on Ultimate Hustle. Marie Sané, rising star of the Parisian soul scene, puts down her velvet voice to bring the afro pop tune Worldwide boy to life. Keyboard wizard Fred Dupont (Paco Sery, Dam’n’co, Angele) brings his touch and sensitivity on the organ and the clavinet. We can also cite Adrian Edeline (Clara Luciani), Rémy Béesau (Seal), Claude Egea (Ray Charles, Michel Legrand), Evan Weiss and Ben Bohorquez of the Texas jazz / funk group The Funky Knuckles.
On this album, the group returns to an approach similar to the first LP that revealed them in 2016, Worldwide, favoring instrumental tracks (7 of the 8 on the album) to vocal tracks. The two musical poles once again become rhythmic (bass, drums, keyboards, guitar) on one side and the horn section on the other.
Funk in all its forms remains the essence of this album more than ever, especially on the tracks 78 Funk and Detroit Girl Remix. We can however, identify big band jazz influences in Ultimate Hustle and its prominent use of horns, afro pop in Worldwide boy, hip hop in For life, psychedelic in GAB, modern gospel in Krispy and So far so good, or rock in Detroit Girl Remix.
Special attention was paid to production of this album. The group which had previously recorded live has this time opted for a track by track recording pattern. The overall sound of the group is therefore enhanced and thus benefits from a more advanced and refined production. We can discover new sounds brought by post production work with effects such as delay, compression which evoke the approaches of dub, hip hop and other current musical trends.
The artistic orientation here has been to favor mastery and precision over spontaneity and the raw approach of the beginnings.
Worldwide and Live Large only presented compositions by bassist Sébastien Levanneur. For the first time in the discography of The Big Hustle, For Life contains tracks composed by different members of the group. Thus GAB is co-composed with Gabriel Druot, So far so good with Jerome Cornelis, Ultimate Hustle with Samuel Maingaud.
Nicolas Gueguen (Union Analogtronics, Beat Assailant, NTM, Booster ...), who brilliantly mixed the previous album, is once again at the helm and brings his savoir faire to reveal the best of each track and highlight all the subtleties in the arrangements and interpretation.
La Villa Mastering provided mastering and cut, drawing on their decades of excellence in the field.
For life asserts itself as the continuation of the artistic path trailed by The Big Hustle: an odyssey in the making through the African American musical tradition, based on the heritage of its predecessors, enriched by the sounds of today. The Big Hustle is definitely ready to evolve in today's musical world and beyond. For Life!

(FR)
Le collectif jazz/funk parisien The Big Hustle revient avec la sortie de son 3ème LP intitulé For Life. sur le label Parisien Betino’s records. 
The Big Hustle affirme ici définitivement son identité, démontrant une fois encore la force du collectif, et se positionne plus jamais en gardien de la musique organique issue de la tradition du jazz/funk US des 70’s. 
Le groupe a choisi pour ce nouvel opus de se recentrer sur le noyau dur du groupe Quelques invités de choix sont toutefois présents, notamment le saxophoniste virtuose Baptiste Herbin, le talentueux pianiste François Faure ou encore la chanteuse Marie Sané, espoir de la scène soul parisienne. 
le groupe revient vers une démarche proche de leur premier LP, privilégiant les titres instrumentaux aux morceaux vocaux. L’orientation artistique a ici été de privilégier la maitrise et la précision à la spontanéité et le coté brut des débuts. 
Le funk sous toutes ses formes reste plus que jamais l’essence de cet album notamment sur les titres 78 Funk. On pourra toutefois relever des influences jazz, afro pop, hip hop, modern gospel ou rock. 
Le son global de l'album est marqué par une production plus poussée et travaillée. On peut y découvrir des sonorités nouvelles amenées par le travail de post production qui évoquent les démarches du dub, hip hop etc... 
Nicolas Gueguen (Beat Assailant, NTM, Booster …) est une nouvelle fois au mixage et apporte son savoir faire pour révéler le meilleur de chaque piste et mettre en lumière toutes les subtilités des arrangements et de l’interprétation. 
For life s’affirme comme la continuation du chemin artistique de The Big Hustle : une odyssée en devenir à travers la tradition musicale afro américaine
The Big Hustle est décidément prêt à évoluer dans le monde musical actuel et bien au delà. For Life !