J.D. BLAIR 2012? vixrecords.com Only one song on the latest from this groove master comes with the parenthetical “(Smooth Mix)” appended to the title, but the tag could apply throughout. An ace session and touring drummer, Blair has played with everyone from Bootsy Collins to Yo-Yo Ma, earning special recognition for his country work. It all comes together on 2012?—an album that, true to its title, transcends time and place. Blair’s Nashville... 

BOOTSY COLLINS The funkiest bass player in the universe throws an all-star party “I am the funk, I’m with the funk, the funk is within me,” declares legendary bass player Bootsy Collins—and you’d better believe it. Whether holding down the mighty grooves of James Brown’s early-1970s band the J.B.’s, slapping his way through extraterrestrial funk workouts with George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, charting solo hits such as “Bootzilla,”...