Neal Sugarman grew up in
Newton, Massachusetts and played saxophone for
punk rock bands Boys Life and Black Cat Bone during the 1980s. He moved to New York in the early 1990s to pursue
jazz. After a stint in New Orleans playing with musicians including
Eddie Henderson and
Mike Longo, {{cite book Sugarman returned to New York and formed a funk band with organist Adam Scone and drummer Rudy Albin. The trio, named The Sugarman 3, were influenced by artists such as
"Brother" Jack McDuff and
The Meters.{{cite magazine 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. The Sugarman 3's debut album, ''
Sugar's Boogaloo, was released in 1998. Soul Donkey'' followed in 2000, and included
cover versions of songs by
James Brown and
Lou Donaldson along with original songs by the band. 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. It featured guest appearances by funk
percussionist Bernard Purdie and
vocalists Lee Fields and Charles Bradley. {{cite journal Tom Moon of
Rolling Stone described the album as "organic, locked-tight music."{{cite web 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."{{cite magazine
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."{{cite web Sugarman, who also formed
The Dap-Kings with Gabriel Roth,{{cite news 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.{{cite web "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.{{cite web == Discography ==