Deep Grooves: A Soul-Soaked Journey Through Funk, Feel, and Fire

Review By Glen Parkes

Some albums demand your attention by being loud, brash, and urgent. Others ease their way into your bloodstream, subtle and irresistible, until you find yourself moving without realising it. Deep Grooves, the 11-track collaboration between Carl Baldassarre, Jacob Dupre, Nick D’Virgilio, and frontman Thair Thompson, is firmly in the second category. It doesn’t need to shout—it lets the music breathe, strut, and shimmer until you’re caught in its spell.

Drawing inspiration from the funk, soul, and R&B titans of the 1970s, yet laced with a modern polish, Deep Grooves is the kind of record that feels both timeless and of-the-moment. It’s playful but never throwaway, sensual without being indulgent, and meticulously crafted without losing the sweaty spontaneity that makes funk and soul so infectious.

The lineup here reads like a dream team. Baldassarre (guitars) provides the spine and swagger, his playing steeped in taste and tone. Jacob Dupre pulls double duty on keys and bass, laying down velvet textures and elastic grooves with equal finesse. Behind the kit, Nick D’Virgilio—whose drumming credits stretch from Spock’s Beard to Tears for Fears—anchors the entire record with a mix of precision and playfulness. Thair Thompson’s vocals glide above it all, a blend of warmth, grit, and charisma that feels born for this project. Add in the layers of organ from Billy Brock, the percussive sparks of Ray Yslas, and the brass firepower of Vinnie Cieslieski & co, and you have a record bursting with colour.

But Deep Grooves is more than a who’s who of talented players—it’s a statement of intent. Baldassarre has long harboured a passion for the grooves of Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Curtis Mayfield, and here that love is given full expression. The album was recorded and mixed in his home studio, co-produced with Dupre, giving it an intimacy and immediacy that makes every track feel close, like the band is playing just for you.

The album wastes no time, opening with a rhythm that snaps your head to attention. Dupre’s bass is thick and rounded, Baldassarre’s guitar chops lock into a syncopated groove, and Thompson’s voice slides in, instantly commanding. It’s the perfect curtain-raiser, a mission statement that says: you’re about to move. By the third track, it’s clear this album is a hook machine. Baldassarre lays down a riff so tight it practically squeaks, while Dupre layers Rhodes piano flourishes that sparkle like sunlight on chrome. Thompson’s chorus is pure sing-along material—earworm territory of the highest order. What makes Deep Grooves so compelling is the balance between technical mastery and raw feel. Every player here is an award-winning musician with decades of experience, but the record never feels sterile or overly polished. Instead, it pulses with life.

Baldassarre’s guitar is endlessly tasteful—never flashy for the sake of it, always serving the song. Dupre’s keys and bass are the glue, holding everything together with subtle sophistication. D’Virgilio’s drumming is a marvel of restraint; he could play a thousand notes a minute if he wanted, but he chooses space, swing, and groove.

So put it on, turn it up, and let it do what it does best. Let it move you. Let it groove you.