Adamo and his producer/guitarist Jerry Stucker take Tower of Power’s classic funk number and give it a more sinewy vibe, elasticizing the vocals and the bass, while crackling up the song’s more timpanic elements. This exuberantly self-assured remake recalls the Acid Jazz insouciance of the early 90s while harkening back to the Big Band era and the Vegas-y stylings of suave masters of self-confidence such as Tom Jones and Al Jarreau. Adamo has a brash self-assuredness and a sense of showmanship that’s neither unearned nor in your face. You can almost picture him taking a drag from an unfiltered or sipping from a martini in between some of his spoken-word lines. And the arrangements are crisp, solid and spicy–punctuating Adamo’s vocals and his been-there sung-that attitude.
http://www.strokeland.com
http://www.myspace.com/tonyrocadamo

Devon Jackson
Magazine Editor – Freelance Music Journalist

Devon Jackson has written about music and film for a variety of publications–from Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice to Rolling Stone and Details. He is also the author of Conspiranoia! and currently the editor of Santa Fean magazine

“I love Tony’s version of “What Is Hip?”. He evokes the beatnik-bongo days of my youth and gives a whole new slant to a hard-charging funk tune. Congrats to both Tony Adamo and Jerry Stucker!” Stephen ‘Doc’ Kupka, Tower of Power co-founder
http://www.strokeland.com
http://www.myspace.com/tomyrocadamo