JACKIE PAYNE STEVE EDMONSON BAND "MASTER OF THE GAME" Liner Notes by Scott Dirks

With the release of the Jackie Payne Steve Edmonson Band’s “Master of The Game,” Delta Groove Productions takes a sharp turn onto Funk Avenue and ends up deep in the heart of Soulsville. Payne has been knocking ‘em dead for upwards of 40 years. From a teenager in Atlanta to his journeyman years in Houston, Payne worked with such stellar names as T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Freddie King and Pee Wee Crayton among many others. But his true love, and his greatest strength, is in the deep soul sounds exemplified by southern soul heavyweights such as Otis Redding, Al Green and Wilson Pickett. Payne’s got one of the greatest natural soul voices to come along since the ‘60s. This fact wasn’t lost on legendary bandleader/talent scout Johnny Otis, who has featured Jackie as the front man of the The Johnny Otis Revue for much of the last 15 years.

In his musical cohort Steve Edmonson, Payne has found the perfect partner to bring out his best. As son of a professional musician, Edmonson has been playing a guitar since he was old enough to wrap his arms around it. Edmonson has been winning fans with his soulful blues and R&B picking around his home base in the Bay Area for over two decades, amassing an impressive discography and list of accomplishments along the way. He’s performed with blues icons James Cotton and Luther Tucker, R&B titans Syl Johnson and Sir Mack Rice, mainstream artists such as Van Morrison and Maria Muldaur, and many others. Along the way, Edmonson honed his talents to a brilliant edge. He’s adept at providing the rhythmic drive to a funky soul number as he is and a cutting blues solo. Among many other highlights on his impressive resume, Edmonson put his talents to use for four years with the Soul/Blues band The Dynatones, before forming the Jackie Payne Steve Edmonson band.

Together Payne and Edmonson have burned a trail up and down the West Coast, back and forth across the country, and jetted circles around the world, playing major festivals and clubs to universal acclaim every step of the way. Their excellent but sparsely distributed first CD, “Partners In The Blues,” was released in 2003. Payne and Edmonson have spent the last three years further polishing their smoking R&B band, developing and honing new material, and earning new fans one show at a time.

For their Delta Groove debut, the tight-as-a-drum road tested band entered the studio at the height of their powers. “Master of the Game” showcases a set list of powerful Payne / Edmonson originals augmented by fresh arrangements of great songs by the likes of Johnny Taylor and Bobby Bland. Producer Andy Santana’s tasteful helping hand in the studio (returning a favor, as the multi-talented Edmonson was in the producer’s chair for Andy’s debut CD “Tight White Dress”), plus guest appearances by Fred Kaplan and John Thomas on keyboards, and singers Cynthia Manley and Jessica Williams, have brought to life one of the funkiest, most soulful recordings in recent memory. The end result brings to mind classic southern soul, legendary names like Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge, storied places like Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Enjoy one of today’s most exciting Soul and R&B acts: The Jackie Payne – Steve Edmonson Band.