Rock Candy Funk Party

Rock Candy Funk Party emerged as a jazz-funk fusion revival supergroup from an instrumental project titled Grooove, Vol. 1 that drummer and producer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron DeJesus captured in 2007. Subsequent performances at the Baked Potato jazz club in Los Angeles brought additional players into the fold through casual sit-ins, and the ensemble coalesced over time into a stable unit that included Bergman, DeJesus, bassist Mike Merritt, keyboardist Renato Neto, and guitarist Joe Bonamassa, who joined in 2012. Their first release under the Rock Candy Funk Party name, the album We Want Groove, appeared in 2013 on Bonamassa’s J&R Adventures imprint, with Provogue Productions handling the European edition. Two years afterward came Groove Is King. The group’s third studio effort, The Groove Cubed, arrived in 2017 and showcased contributions from Vintage Trouble vocalist Ty Taylor along with singer Mahalia Barnes; the set also contained the single “Don’t Even Try It.”