The Du-Rites

The Du-Rites couldn’t have been born from more divergent musical backgrounds for an instrumental funk band. Buenos Aires-born Pablo Martin (guitar, bass, synthesizers) brings decades of experience in punk rock, Latin and pop; native New Yorker Jay (J-Zone”) Mumford (drums, keyboards, percussion) honed his ear and skills in funk, hip-hop and soul-jazz. With Martin holding down guitar duties in the legendary Tom Tom Club and Mumford doing studio drumming for and/or being sampled by the likes of Danger Mouse, Broken Bells, Dan Auerbach, Madlib, Just Blaze, Lord Finesse, Binky Griptite (The Dap-Kings) and others, their work casts a wide net individually. So in a genre like funk that can lean towards the derivative, The Du-Rites ensure rules will be bent, albeit respecting the innate emotion and groove of traditional funk music.

Formed in 2013 after a decade-plus knowing one another, Jay and Pablo began developing their chemistry and sound during holiday jam sessions and rehearsals with Martin’s rock band. In 2016, they released their eponymous debut as The Du-Rites, a funk-driven hybrid of their punk and hip-hop backgrounds, to a warm reception. They've since released six LPs. The themes range from cinematic, Blaxploitation, 1970s detective show scores; to Booker T & the MG's-esque small combo funk; to a live album; to dabbling in psych, jazz and dancefloor driven funk.

Their work hasn’t been reserved to their own releases as a band, either. In 2018, The Du-Rites served as the primary composers and rhythm section for “Rock, Rubber, 45s,” the theme song from NYC legend Bobbito Garcia’s film of the same name. The song featured jazz legends Eddie Palmieri and Robert Glasper and put The Du-Rites in esteemed company. They showed their versatility with a remix for a Ghostface Killah (Wu-Tang Clan)-led tune from French DJ/Producer Wax Tailor and got their feet wet as the backing band on Latin Soul tunes from Mimi Maura.