What first started out as regular jam sessions at Ravine Records in Ann Arbor, Michigan quickly developed into fully-immersive, weekly writing and recording workshops led by guitarist/songwriter Darrin James.

Each week Darrin and his top notch musician friends came together with the the goal of writing one new song each week. Before long, this dynamic crew and their amazing creative chemistry had the beginnings of a quickly growing song catalog capturing the essence of their joyful escapism while also putting on display the band’s impressive musical skills.

Founded in a catchy fusion of instrumental jazz and funk, Disaster Relief is the name of the band as well as the name of their self-titled debut album, now available!

Remember those highly talented, Detroit-area musicians I mentioned before? Those talents include: Brennan Andes on bass, Rob Avsharian banging the drums, Dan Bennett with the baritone sax, Tim Haldeman handling the tenor sax, Ross Huff on trumpet, Darrin James handling guitar and organ and Molly Jones contributing tenor sax.

Considering the band boasts a four-piece brass section, there is no doubt that your ears and senses are going to be treated to an excellent combination of horn tones that tend to take center stage through the band’s exploration through retro funk influences including some of that lovely Memphis Style soul, Fela Kuti’s cool Afro-beat, Meters’ New Orleans syncopation and, of course, it wouldn’t be funk without some James Brown vibes.

You can find all these influences and much much more packed into this extremely funky, jazz-infused, let it all out, nine-track jam session. Disaster Relief knows how to get down and boy do they… Get! Down!

This is the perfect album for anytime. Join Disaster Relief in their joyful escapism and forget about all the worries, stress and negativity the world keeps throwing at you.

Disaster Relief is available on Bandcamp or you can listen below.

You can connect directly on their official website, Twitter or FB.