Looking for musicians with alike interests

[Electric Velocity]

I've been in a creative rut of sorts lately and inspiration is hard to come by. I'm looking for people here that might know about jazz theory and the sounds used in funk and disco. I make electronic music but I want it to sound as organic as possible. That means I need help finding samples for funk guitar and drums, mixing bass and synths, and having good variety with composition. I usually get caught up in the technical side of making a song and feel like if I could finish composition first, I would be more focused on making the song sound good as a whole. I get stuck making an 8 bar loop sound really good and then I can't go on to any transitional parts. Any advice, song recommendations, mixing help, and support would be greatly appreciated. If you need examples of what kind of music I'm trying to make, just ask.

[Jerome]

Can't help you with the other stuff but I recommend an album by George Oban (formerly of Aswad) called 'Motion'. A blend of funk, disco, reggae and with some jazz elements. Here's a sample http://youtu.be/D-rg6USOPG0

Info - http://www.discogs.com/Motion-Motion/release/1696669

[Jerome]

When it comes to transitional parts - think of the music as a river. Sometimes it comes to a waterfall (the music just stops or makes an abrupt change), sometimes it divides into two rivers (fade out one section and bring in another piece), sometimes it comes to the end of it's course and merges with the sea (change the tempo and instrumentation to create a more grandiose effect - or add orchestration at a slower pace), sometimes it just dries up (reduce volume and select new instruments to carry the piece forward) etc. etc. etc. I always tend to think of music as a journey across constantly changing landscapes.