Down To The Bone

Far from aligning with the usual suspects atop today’s jazz rankings, Stuart Wade and Chris Morgans trace their lineage to earlier British champions of the genre such as the Brand New Heavies and Us3. Issued in 1997, the duo’s debut outing under the name Down to the Bone, From Manhattan to Staten, found an enthusiastic audience near their Chobham, Surrey home while simultaneously climbing the American smooth jazz listings. Their follow-up, The Urban Grooves, appeared the next year and reached the summit of the U.S. jazz charts after incorporating a contribution from organist Reuben Wilson, one of Wade and Morgans’ foundational influences. Early 2001 brought Spread the Word: Album III, with Crazy Vibes and Things arriving twelve months later. Once the pair relocated to Narada, they delivered Cellar Funk in 2004 and Spread Love Like Wildfire the following year. To mark the ensemble’s first decade, the imprint compiled The Best of Down to the Bone, released in early 2007. Down to the Bone’s tenth full-length effort, The Main Ingredients, surfaced in 2011 and carried the group’s hallmark funk-and-groove aesthetic onto the Trippin ’N’ Rhythm roster.