Detroit-native funk collective Will Sessions has announced via social media a new set of “Mixtakes,” which will feature legendary Detroit performers Dennis Coffey and McKinley Jackson.
The group’s first “Mixtake” series focused on recreated sounds from favorite songs. The two-part series was visually-documented by The Work, and offered as a digital and physical audio release.
This time around, listeners can expect involvement from two of Detroit’s infamous studio musicians/producers/arrangers: Dennis Coffey and McKinley Jackson. Both of these artists are wildly regarded as two of the greatest studio funk/R&B/soul musicians of all-time, let alone in Detroit.
Dennis Coffey, a late Motown guitarist and first-ever white “Soul Train” musician, performed with artists such as, Funk Brothers, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Del Shannon and countless others. Coffey also scored the classic 1974 blaxploitation film starring Jim Kelly: “Black Belt Jones.”
McKinley Jackson, one of funk’s premiere trombonists, has worked with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Holland Brothers, Paul Riser, Popcorn Wylie, HB Barnum, Norman Whitfield, Gene Page and others. He is also the father of late Detroit-hip hop legend Proof, of the Detroit-based group D12.
Details of the release are minimal, but Will Sessions has warned listeners that “Mixtakes 3-4” can be expected “this winter.” Will Sessions has also announced a special performance on December 20, alongside GRiZ, Odesa and Gosh Pith, at the Masonic Temple.
Watch Will Sessions perform during “Mixtake 1-2” below: