Pierre Cavalli - The fantastic guitar sound of Pierre Cavalli [1973]

Original Italian pressing on JOKER label (SM 3478), from 1973. Italian-only project from the cult Swiss jazz guitarist famous for his Un Soir Chez Norris / Chasse A L'Homme French OST single. Cavalli plays all kinds of very stylish and very funky rhythms using wah wah pedals / fuzz distortion box and other studio trickery. Several important compositions like the stunning psychedelic funk cum bumpy samba - bossa of THE TOAD, the groovy horns / orchestral strings and scat chorus theme ONCE WE WERE IN LOVE, the twisted and super-funky PLANT A SEED with psychedelic fuzz motifs and the funky beats / basslines and trippy riffing throughout WINTER WIND. Killer breaks burst out of nowhere on the otherwise mellow, EASY GOIN' too. Wonderful backing orchestra and singers with a now sound / euro Library / soundtrack feel. Track for track, this Lp is even better than his German-only, Souvenirs From Brazil session. 

                                                    Enjoy!

                          

Bilongo – A Third Collection Of Modern Afro Rhythms [2000]

This is the third volume in the set that began with Racubah, continued with Oulelele, and which comes up this time with a fantastic array of rare African funk tunes from the 70s – rarer than any other set we've seen on other compilations of this sort, and sure to keep things interesting for folks who've already bought all their Fela and Manu Dibango albums. Nearly every cut on here is from the 70s – and most are from rare French sources of the type that you'd probably never find, even if you spent your Saturdays digging around flea markets in Paris . The grooves are incredible! 

                                                                Enjoy!

John Heartsman and Circles - Music Of My Heart [1977]

John Heartsman is known as the guy who played on a thousand R&B hits. From the mid '50s to the late '60s he recorded countless sessions, backing up the likes of Jimmy McCracklin, Lowell Fulson, Sugar Pie DeSanto, and many, many more. Then is the early '70s, exhausted from constant touring and seedy late night gigs, he took up a low-key residency at a small Sacramento jazz club. Here, Heartsman finally got to do his OWN thing. And his thing went down so well with the local audience that he decided to record some material and offer an LP for sale. The album was quickly snapped up by the Basin St West regulars, and very few escaped the local area. A couple of decades later, and sadly a little while after Heartsman himself had passed away, a couple of copies surfaced on the funk collectors scene in LA and whispers and rumours of a set of sustained quality funky soul and jazz began circulating slowly. Very few copies have appeared since, making the LP almost as legendary as the long and hidden career of the man himself...

                                                              Enjoy!

Geraldo Pino and The Heartbeats - Heavy Heavy Heavy [2005]

Geraldo Pino (aka Gerald Pine) is one of the hidden heroes of African popular music. A singer, guitarist and bandleader from Sierra Leone, Geraldo had a major influence on the burgeoning soul/funk/Afrobeat scene in West Africa during the 1960s and 70s. He made a huge impression on the young Fela Kuti who praised him effusively but his music has remained largely unheard for the past 30 years.
Pino's party grooves and the Funk Imperative which underlines his musical philosophy make these dance tracks sound just as vital today as they did back then.

                                                              Enjoy!

SJOB Movement - Move In The Right Direction [1974]

Heavy heady funk from the 70s Nigerian scene – a wicked little record that's unlike anything else we've heard before! SJOB is a combo made from ex-members of the group of Sonny Okosuns – all top-shelf players who've clearly got their chops down in the groove department, but are also really willing to experiment with their sound as well! There's some hip spacey elements to the music – cool keyboards that weave in and out of the guitar and tighter rhythms – creating a sense of darkness that's totally great, even when things are still pretty funky. The structure of the tunes is far from familiar Afro Funk too – pretty offbeat and jagged – familiar rhythms one minute, then fresh ones the next! 

                                                               Enjoy!

The Flamingo Group - This is our Soul [1971]

Fabulously funky sounds from the Czechoslovakia. These tracks are mostly cover versions of songs by American artists but there's enough energy and personality here to make this album a very worthwhile listen with some great party starters.  And both sides end with a mind-melting instrumental freak-out!

                                                                Enjoy!

Soul Rebels Brass Band - No More Parades [1998]

As Dirty Dozen and Rebirth were the major players in the transition away from traditional to the modern brass band sounds that dominate the city, Soul Rebels, in a way, are the next step, incorporating more hip-hop into their sound while still staying loyal to the origins.

The perfect pedigree, the band was born when two younger members of Dejean’s Young Olympia Brass Band -- Lumar LeBlanc and Derrick Moss – struck out on their own as they wanted to add the flavors of what they were hearing on the radio into the brass band sound.

The album is a nice mix of hip-hop, Latin influences bringing to table to the up-tempo party sound that the band has honed playing hundreds of shows at the Le Bon Temps Roule, but never lost in the inclusion of so many influences is the large, booming brass band sound from second lines as well as is that strong marching band beat. 

                                                                Enjoy! 

War - Live [1974]

In between studio efforts, the band released WAR Live, a double LP documenting the dazzling dynamic synergy the band's concerts were renowned for. Recorded during a four-night engagement at Chicago's High Chapparral club, the set includes classic WAR favorites such as "Slippin' Into Darkness," "All Day Music" and "Get Down" in their original long form, as well as the previously unrecorded "Ballero," a fiery Latin jam that reached #33 on the pop and #17 on R&B singles charts. WAR Live continued the band's commercial success, eventually selling a million and a half copies. 

                                                              Enjoy!

Ocote Soul Sounds with Adrian Quesada - El Niño Y El Sol [2004]

''El Niño y el Sol" is a collaboration between Martin Perna (Ocote Soul Sounds) and Adrian Quesada. They are founding members of two of the world's most successful and progressive afro/latin/funk big bands, Antibalas and Grupo Fantasma, respectively. Antibalas (Brooklyn, NY) has been credited with reviving the afrobeat sound popularized by Fela Kuti while Grupo Fantasma (Austin, TX) has been called "the adventurous musical offspring of Los Lobos and Mano Negra.

In this welcome pseudo-soundtrack, Latin percussion and woodwinds meet electronica, conventional instruments and other sounds to create a unique mix that explores various moods. In one instance, you have '70s-inspired funk with a salsa-ish backbeat that lends itself to a lot of improvised moments on saxophone and flute. In another, you have a dreamy ambient soundscape that leads you to a completely different place. In between, you have a saxophone freely traveling through a semi-psychedelic background formed by guitar, bass, B-3 and percussion. Also, you have very short interludes that serve sometimes as introductions or simply a break between tunes. 

                                                                Enjoy!

Andre Williams & The Out Of Sighters - Red Beans & Biscuits – Rare & Unreleased Recordings 1966-1970

Some of the best material from Andre Williams' heady 60s funk days – including some tracks that were initially released as singles on the tiny Duo label in Chicago, plus a bunch more that have never been reissued at all! In the setting for the sides, Andre's working at his hardest and heaviest – really keeping things raw and hard throughout, even on the numbers that feature vocals. There's a number of really great instrumentals on the album – tunes that have the rough, ready, and nicely messed up approach of some of Andre's best Chess work of the time – and which are a seminal bridge between the soul instrumental style of the 60s, and the heavier funk of the 70s!

                                                               Enjoy!

The Funkees - Now I'm a man [1976]

This band was one of the best rock groups to come out of Nigeria in the 70s, during that country’s post-Civil War musical explosion.
They formed in the eastern university and oil town of Warri, in Delta State, and the members were veterans of the Biafran Army; their connections to people who traveled abroad often gave them access to a lot of British and American records that competing bands couldn’t hear.
After a series of singles, the band upped stakes and moved to London, where they quickly established a fierce reputation on the live circuit  and recorded two LPs. 
before they disbanded in 1977.
This is their second album,a fantastic combination of funk and rock mixed with african elements.

                                            Super!

                                                                                 Enjoy!

Sarah Webster Fabio - Jujus – Alchemy Of The Blues [1976]

An incredible album, and very unique! Sarah Webster Fabio was a hip 70s poet with a very righteous sound – and she's working here with funky backings by a tight group that includes family members, in a style that's similar to early 70s work by artists like Wanda Robinson and Camille Yarborough – both of whom also mixed together funk and poetry! The album's got a massive funky cut called "Sweet Songs" – the kind of groover we never tire of, with tight drums, great guitar, and wonderful vocals by Sarah herself. There's lots of other great tunes too ! 

                                                                  Enjoy!

Jay Mitchell - Mustang Sally [1972/2007]

 Another Numero Group gem, this time lifted from their Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay compilation. The A-side features a full thirteen minute rendition of 'Mustang Sally' that borrows heavily from James Brown in its funk-enhanced breaks, laced with a standout Hammond organ line throughout. On the other side you get a couple of extra versions, 'Le Spam's Edit' and the 'Shoes Ready To Ride Mix' which shifts into a soulful, laidback house groove in fine style.

 

                                                                               Enjoy!

Earl Hooker - Do You Remember The Great Earl Hooker [1973]

Heavy boogaloo grooves, organ slathered riffs, fatback bass and backbeat drums all lock together to form an undercurrent for Hooker’s spotlight guitar. On the tenacious funk of the title track he unrolls an ethereal web of tremolo-soaked slide patterns as the enigmatic drummer knocks out a syncopated rhythm on a cowbell and the bass bubbles along with a hip shaking ostinato. Dipping into the Stax songbook the band raises up a rousing rendition of “Hold On” again hinging on Hooker’s greasy slide work. Elmore James’ seminal slide classic “Dust My Broom” receives an organ friendly reworking replete with honking sax that is surprisingly sparse on bottleneck. Chitlin’ circuit funk opens side two in the guise of “Bertha” with vamping Junior Parker style sax and chicken-scratch guitar laying a thick coat of soul on the slippery theme. With “The Foxtrot” the band veers weirdly into teenage ballad territory winding through a syrupy series of changes drenched in heavy amplification. The effect on “End of the Blues” conjures what the Ventures might sound like if they could craft a convincing blues record, while “Hooker Special” finds the guitarist showing off his affection for Country roots by crafting some convincing lap steel style slide.

Two mystery tracks append the disc, presumably cut from the same session, the second and final meshing wah-wah and reverb-laden guitar in a rocking amalgam with over-amplified harp.

                                                               Enjoy!

Exile One - Beaucoup D'gaz A Bo, Lotsa Music Onboard [1975]

Fantastic Creole Dope Funk with long instrumental section led by singer Gordon Henderson and some cool english vocals. 7 tracks including: Ico Vole; Tout' Jeu Cé Jeu; You Have Lost The Battle; On N'Homm' Tomber; Vive Les Vacances Aux Antilles; Dem Higher; Instant Funk. 

                                                                                Enjoy!

Tim Buckley - Greetings from L.A. [1972]

Greetings from LA is about the night. About when 1960s free love became 1970s pleasure hunt.

All this is done to a deep, exotic, popping funk, provided by the best in the business: Chuck Rainey and many other funky associates. These were THE guys to get if making jazz or funk or both in the 70s.   

These songs are long, girating canvases, played perefectly by these amazing musicians. This is funk, not disco, but it is amazing how hard the beat is driven, yet how musically it is played. The opener is blues funk. "Get On Top" works as proto-dance music. "Sweet Surrender" is exotic, middle eastern, a slow naughty satin burn--the stuff of your knuckle rapping top-bottoned school teacher's most pleasent dreams.No doubt that the music is sure as hell great!

                                                                                 Enjoy!

Ouelele - Another collection of modern afro rhythms [1999]

It's unclear what is supposed to unite the tracks on Ouelele, an eclectic anthology of African and African-derived music, aside from the announcement in the too-sparse liner notes that all the tracks are "rare" and "obscure." But there is a theme here, intentional or not: All these songs -- from 12 different artists from the late '60s to the late '90s -- fuse Africa's native music with the jazz and funk devised by the descendants of Africans living in the West. And so we have South African Letta M'Bulu's "What's Wrong With Groovin'," which swings as much as it grooves; Henri Guéon's "Volcano," which marries Antillean drums to American brass; and "World War IV" by Antibalas, a band that plays hardcore Afrobeat -- in New York City. By the time Smahila and the S.B.'s concluded the nearly 19-minute "African Movement," it wasn't clear just who was being channeled, Fela Kuti or James Brown. There are no weak tracks on this album, but the best is "Unity" by Philip Cohran and the African Heritage Ensemble. From a droning, hypnotic violin line, Cohran builds a piece that would sound equally at home a million years in the past and a million years in the future.

                                                                              Enjoy!

Hailu Mergia & The Walias - Tche Belew [1977]

During the 70's  there were recorded only three albums of instrumental music in Ethiopia.Two of them made by Mulatu Astatke.The third is this,a hidden gem!

 Walias Band  were an Ethiopian Jazz and funk band active from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. Formed by members of the Venus Band, Walias backed up many prominent singers with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker. In 1977 they recorded one of the few albums of Ethiopian instrumental music in collaboration with vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, whose role as a bandleader and composer was also a major influence on Ethiopian popular music

                                                                               Enjoy!
 

Eric Burdon & War - The Black-Man's Burdon [1970]

Eric Burdon's second and final album with War, Black-Man's Burdon was a double set that could have benefited from quite a bit of judicious editing. Composed mostly of sprawling psychedelic funk jams, it does find War mapping out much of the jazz/Latin/soul grooves that, cut down to much more economical song structures, would shortly bring them success on their own. Highlights include the soulful vamps "Pretty Colors" and "They Can't Take Away Our Music" and the 13-minute "Paint It Black" medley that reflects the height of their eccentricity.
Fantastic album!

                                                                    Enjoy!   Lp1  &  Lp2

The Equatics - Doin' It!!! [1972]

    

   Rare 70s funky soul from The Equatics – just the kind of record that keeps us digging and still excited after all these years – resurrected by the like minded diggers at Now Again! You know the kind of album we're talking about, the ones you come across with enigmatic cover art, no names on the back you recognize or even anything indicating where or when it's from. Then you take a spin and it's the real thing from the get go! The production is nice and raw but not ragged, and a funky vibe that groups today emulate but just can't recapture. This set's mid 70s R&B, mostly instrumental but with a few vocal numbers, all nicely done up in a very groovy, funky fashion. There's a couple of nice covers, like their Isaac Hayes-ish take on "Walk On By" and a nice rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine", but the rest of the set's mostly originals, like "Merry-Go-Round" and some nice raggedy instrumentals like "What They Doin?", "Santana" done up in parts 1 and 2 (maybe on a 45 somewhere. . .), "Cisco Fare" and the jazzy "The Touch Of You". Amazing!

                                                            

                                                                               Enjoy!