{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist |name = The Sugarman 3 |image = |caption = |image_size = |background = group_or_band |alias = |origin = New York City, New York, United States |instrument = |genre = Funk, R&B |occupation = |years_active = 1996–present |label = Desco, Daptone |website = |current_members = Adam Scone, Neal Sugarman, Rudy Albin }}
'''The Sugarman 3''', sometimes titled '''The Sugarman Three''', is a retro-funk band from New York City formed in 1996 by saxophonist Neal Sugarman, Hammond organ player Adam Scone, and drummer Rudy Albin. The band has released four studio albums—''Sugar's Boogaloo'' (1999), ''Soul Donkey'' (2000), ''Pure Cane Sugar'' (2002) and ''What the World Needs Now'' (2012)—and one compilation album, ''Sweet Spot'' (2001).
== History == Neal Sugarman grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and played saxophone for punk rock bands Boys Life and Black Cat Bone during the 1980s.<ref name="boston">{{cite web | date = 2003-03-13 | last = Carioli | first = Carly | url = http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/events/future/documents/02749828.htm | title = Soul Fire: Cooking Up the Deep Funk with Daptone Records and the Sugarman 3 | publisher = The Phoenix (Phoenix Media/Communications Group) | accessdate = 2010-02-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110605140158/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/events/future/documents/02749828.htm | archive-date = 2011-06-05 | url-status = dead }}</ref> He moved to New York in the early 1990s to pursue jazz.<ref name="boston" /> After a stint in New Orleans playing with musicians including Eddie Henderson and Mike Longo,<ref name="allmusic"> {{cite book | last1 = Bogdanov | first1 = Vladimir | last2 = Woodstra | first2 = Chris | last3 = Erlewine | first3 = Stephen Thomas | title = All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul | edition = | publisher = Hal Leonard Corporation | page = 650 | location = San Francisco | year = 2003 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&pg=PA650 | isbn = 978-0-87930-744-8}}</ref> Sugarman returned to New York and formed a funk band with organist Adam Scone and drummer Rudy Albin.<ref name="allmusic" /> The trio, named The Sugarman 3, were influenced by artists such as "Brother" Jack McDuff and The Meters.<ref name="exclaim">{{cite magazine | date = February 2000 | last = Cowie | first = Del F. | url = http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=1&csid2=4&fid1=1177 | title = Retro Active | magazine = Exclaim! | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref> The band was among the musicians who established Desco Records, a label that released reissues of 1960s and 1970s funk and jazz records in addition to material by current acts.<ref name="boston" />
The Sugarman 3's debut album, ''Sugar's Boogaloo'', was released in 1998.<ref name="allmusic" /> ''Soul Donkey'' followed in 2000, and included cover versions of songs by James Brown and Lou Donaldson along with original songs by the band.<ref name="exclaim" /> A compilation album, 2001's ''Sweet Spot'', contained selections from the trio's first two albums. In 2002, the band released their third album, ''Pure Cane Sugar''.<ref name="allmusic" /> It featured guest appearances by funk percussionist Bernard Purdie and vocalists Lee Fields and Charles Bradley.<ref name="cmj"> {{cite journal | last = Kisliuk | first = Bill | date = November 2002 | title = Reviews | journal = CMJ New Music | publisher = College Media Inc. | volume = 1 | issue = 107 | page = 76 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LyoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA76 | issn = 1074-6978 | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref> Tom Moon of ''Rolling Stone'' described the album as "organic, locked-tight music."<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite web | date = 2002-11-14 | last = Moon | first = Tom | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/sugarmanthree/albums/album/322894/review/5945743/pure_cane_sugar | title = Sugarman Three - ''Pure Can Sugar'' - Album Review | publisher = Rolling Stone (Wenner Media) | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Maurice Bottomley of PopMatters said, "Play this at your next party and watch your coolest friends unwind and start to Boogaloo. This is the real thing, undiluted and impossible to dislike."<ref name="popmatters">{{cite magazine | date = 2003-03-31 | last = Bottomley | first = Maurice | url = http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/shorttakes/030331.shtml | title = Music Short Takes | magazine = PopMatters | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref> ''Dusted Magazine'''s Andy Urban said the album "sounds good, but it operates in a vacuum of sorts, music that is pretty, but fundamentally anachronistic and relevant in aesthetic terms only."<ref name="dusted">{{cite web | date = 2003-03-17 | last = Urban | first = Andy | url = http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/603 | title = Reviews - The Sugarman 3 - ''Pure Cane Sugar'' | publisher = Dusted Magazine | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref>
Sugarman, who also formed The Dap-Kings with Gabriel Roth,<ref name="laweekly">{{cite news | date = 2008-07-18 | last = Wang | first = Oliver | url = http://www.laweekly.com/2008-07-17/music/the-dap-kings-soul-8217-s-new-royalty/ | title = The Dap-Kings: Soul's New Royalty | newspaper = LA Weekly | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref> was a session musician during much of the late 2000s, playing on albums by Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Robbie Williams, Al Green, Nas, Mark Ronson, as well as the Dap-Kings' own recordings led by vocalist Sharon Jones.<ref name="sugarman">{{cite web | url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p398897|pure_url=yes}} | title = Neal Sugarman - Credits | publisher = Allmusic (Rovi Corporation) | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref> "You Don't Know What You Mean (To A Lover Like Me)", a 2004 single by Lee Fields and the Sugarman 3, appeared on the soundtrack to the 2008 comedy-drama film ''Soul Men''.<ref name="soulmen">{{cite web | last = Jurek | first = Thom | url = {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1423201|pure_url=yes}} | title = Soul Men: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Review | publisher = Allmusic (Rovi Corporation) | accessdate = 2010-02-14}}</ref>
== Discography == === Studio albums === * 1998 - ''Sugar's Boogaloo'' (Desco Records) * 2000 - ''Soul Donkey'' (Desco) * 2002 - ''Pure Cane Sugar'' (Daptone Records) * 2012 - ''What the World Needs Now'' (Daptone)
=== Compilation album === * 2001 - ''Sweet Spot'' (Unique Records)
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20170606043951/http://daptonerecords.com/sugarman-3/ The Sugarman 3] at Daptone Records *{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p359885|label=The Sugarman Three}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugarman 3}} Category:American funk musical groups Category:Desco Records artists Category:Daptone Records artists Category:Musical groups from New York City