Silver Skylarks

Silver Skylarks debut album The Number One Set and Sound is a funky, hard-grooving excursion intent on releasing a “crate classic” into the world. Songwriter/musician Danny Balis and producer Jeff “Skin” Wade teamed up to turn several of Balis’ lockdown pandemic demos into the type of record that collectors/diggers, groove aficionados, DJ’s and hip-hop producers would be elated to discover and add to their crates. 

Rooted in the grooves and sonics of '70s American R&B and West African funk with hints of afrobeat, dub, jazz and latin soul – The Number One Set and Sound aims to work on the dancefloor as well as embody the sound that helped to launch B-Boy culture and the sample generation that fueled hip-hop, house and break-based music.  

“Danny was in a prolific mode of song-writing and just cranking out one killer demo after another,” said Wade. “It was obvious to me that he was on a vibe deviating from what we were doing with Bastards of Soul and could easily lead to a separate project/sound more aligned with what I used to search for in my old hip-hop/beat-digging days.”

With a desire to evoke several decades of music simultaneously, the duo enlisted a stellar crew of friends and guests to fill all the varied roles they envisioned to complete the sound. With Balis trusty ’71 Fender P-Bass providing the pulse, they added Lunar RAE on traps and Jordache Grant on keys to round out the tight pocket that powers the Skylarks’ sound. With that foundation in place, they added a slew of elite musicians and vocalists to fully realize the project.

Special guests and contributors include Adrian Quesada (Black Pumas), Rapper/Producer Large Professor (Nas, Tribe Called Quest), Grammy-winner Mark Lettieri, and Robert Ellis as well as a very special contribution from the legendary DOC (Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg) – just to name a few.

Balis and Wade also found amazing chemistry working with Austin-based singing duo US! (Uncle Roy and Spice) who fortified the songs with tremendous feel, harmony and soul.

Legendary DJ and tastemaker Bobbito Garcia loved the advanced copy he received so much that he asked to premiere the song “Number One Set and Sound” on his Apple Music Show Stretch and Bobbito Radio months before the album was scheduled for release. Here’s what he had to say:

“Absolutely the best album I’ve heard in such a long time! Every detail was meticulously produced from the musicianship to the arrangement to the mix down/mastering, but when they added the vocals by US and Large Pro? Undeniably classic. Wooord”