Stu Nankin wears many hats. Known as a music producer, arranger, electric bassist, mastering engineer and all around music wiz in the Twin Cities area, he is seemingly always busy with a new development.
This year, Nankin is working on a comprehensive tribute to the iconic soul singer James Brown.
The project mixes Minnesota-based talent and Tony Wilson—once dubbed James Brown Jr. The goal is to highlight fan favorites as well as lesser-known pieces from Brown’s repertoire.
“I’ve played a lot of different types of music in the past, but James Brown and classic R&B has always resonated very strong with me,” Nankin says. “Now I want to give a proper tribute to this genre.”
Nankin has hand-selected other local musicians to bring this project together including faculty members of local college music programs including the University of Minnesota, McNally-Smith College of Music and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Look for the project to be completed in the next several months.
