Big Jim Sullivan - Sitar Beat [1967]

Top British session guitarist Jim Sullivan was not a novice to the sitar when he recorded this instrumental album in 1968, having studied it seriously and established himself as the only non-Indian session musician who could play the instrument on U.K. recordings. The record still sounds like rather cheesy East-meets-West à go-go, though. Covers of then-current rock faves like "A Whiter Shade of Pale," "Sunshine Superman," and the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" and (of course) "Within You, Without You" share space with three Sullivan originals, with John McLaughlin playing some session guitar. The rock covers are basically instrumental rearrangements that save for the sitar fit into the usual 1960s pop/rock background mood music format, though "She's Leaving Home" is changed to fit more Indian rhythms. Sullivan's original compositions (even the one titled "Flower Power") are more Indian in flavor, though nothing to set alongside your Ravi Shankar LPs, with "The Koan" buttressed by a nice jazzy breeze. 

Enjoy!

Boogie Child - "Caledonia"

MonoMono - The Dawn Of Awareness [2011]

The second release by Nigeria's MonoMono was originally released on LP in 1974. Thankfully, the folks at Tummy Touch Records revived the music of MonoMono, which features the work of Joni Haastrup and his friend, Baba Ken Okulolo. The original six songs are presented on this rerelease. The blues, rock, psychedelia, and funk elements are quite pronounced throughout. The instrumental segments are especially intriguing, as they set the stage for a perfect soundtrack to lounge around, dance, or trip-out. The down-tempo elements of 'Make Them Realise,' cnojures up comparisons to the North American group, Action Figure Party. The soul of Yoruban funk emanates from the tracks without causing boredom or sleepy episodes. The Dawn Of Awareness is a little more blues and rock-driven than the previous release. Still, MonoMono knows how to move those feet with rewarding results.

Enjoy! 

Boscoe - Boscoe [1973]

Their 1973 self-titled album sank without a trace as the band toiled in the shadows of Chicago's South Side scene. They fit right in with the other challenging acts in the scene, including the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Phil Cohran, the Pharaohs and Earth, Wind & Fire (in their pre-disco days), but in the end they just couldn't get themselves heard over their neighbors.

Their album is a swirling near-masterpiece that pulls together smoking funk rhythms, strands of free jazz and deep soul, conscious lyrics, amazingly complex and harmonically sophisticated horn arrangements, and assorted other ingredients to make music that fell outside the lines of any particular genre. "If I Had My Way" is a stone-cold classic of socially aware funk that never got its chance to reach a wide audience, "I'm What You Need" is a surprisingly tender, harmony-drenched ballad that proves they could write a pop tune when they wanted to, and "Writin' On the Wall" is a tortured, lurching plea for people to wake the hell up and look at the problems of the world around them with an eye to solving them. 

Enjoy! 

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble [2009]

The amazing full length debut of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – a cool combo from the Chicago scene who've been making some big waves around the world over the past few years! The brass-heavy group have a family legacy that links them to the Artistic Heritage Ensemble of Phil Cohran – and an approach to their music that mixes spiritual jazz, deep funk, and elements of New Orleans music too – a really unique style that has earned the group's rare singles some tremendous praise – and which is finally ready to step out fully in this wonderful album! The horns are even harder and heavier than before – honed through some touring around the globe, and brought into focus here beautifully – bristling with energy from the very first note. The set features guest appearances from Malcolm Catto, Tony Allen, Flea, and Damon Albarn – but the real strength of the record lies in the group's amazing horns and rhythms – on titles that include "War", "Gibbous", "Alyo", "Ballicki Bone", "Jupiter", "Marcus Garvey", "Party Started", "Sankofa", "Satin Sheets", "Hypnotic", and 2 versions of "Rabbit Hop".

Enjoy!

Philip Cohran & Artistic Heritage Ensemble - On the beach [1968]

Mindblowing – and a landmark recording that crosses all boundaries in the Chicago music scene of the late 60s! Philip Cohran was a visionary musician who'd played with Sun Ra during the 60s, but who left Ra to forge his own musical vision by the middle part of the decade. The Artistic Heritage ensemble was a crucially important group in Chicago – one that drew players from both the soul and jazz scenes, with a wealth of talents that later went onto work with groups like Earth Wind & Fire, The Pharoahs, Ra's Arkestra, and other ensembles. Talents on this set alone include players like Charles Handy, Don Myrick, Aaron Dodd, Henry Gibson, and Louis Satterfield – not to mention Cohran, who plays cornet (as he did with Sun Ra), plus two groovy instruments of his own invention: the violin uke and the great Frankiphone, a sort of electric thumb piano whose use on these recordings pre-dated the very famous Kalimba sound that Earth Wind & Fire would use to great success during the 70s. The album includes the driving conga funk track "Unity", the singing soulful track "The Minstrel", the incredibly haunting "On The Beach", and the track "Motherhood", which has a strong Abbey Lincoln type of feel. The whole thing's a beautiful batch of spiritual jazzy tracks with a good groove – and a perfect blend of soul and spirit, jazz and righteousness!

DG 

Enjoy! 

VA-Eccentric Soul - Soul Messages From Dimona (2008)

One of the grooviest compilations we've ever seen – a collection of work by American expatriates living in Israel at the end of the 70s – a hip blend of US funk and Hebrew spirituality! Most of the work here sounds like the best spiritual funk of the 70s – very much in an Earth Wind & Fire tradition of joy, love, and life – played in righteous ensemble mode with a good deal of jazz in the instrumentation alongside funkier rhythms on the bottom! The artists on the set originally hailed from Chicago and Detroit – and there's still strong influence from those scenes, particularly the early 70s sound of the Windy City. If you dig The Pharaohs and Pieces Of Peace, you'll find plenty here to love – and as usual with Numero Records, the whole thing comes with an amazing booklet of notes – the full story of this unique musical diaspora, supported with some great images as well. Titles include "Go To Proclaim", "Equilibrium", "Prince Of Zeal", "Junky Baby", and "Savior In The East" by Soul Messengers; "Holding On" and "Dimona" by Tonistics; "Daniel", "Burn Devil Burn", and "A Place To Be" by Spirit Of Israel & Soul Messengers; and "Hey There" and "Modernization" by Sons Of The Kingdom.

DG

Enjoy!

Osibisa - Happy Children [1973]

In the wake of the massive early-'70s success of Santana, a flurry of groups that combined rock with traditional percussion were signed to major labels. Osibisa, though a completely different animal than Carlos Santana and crew, were one of these groups. On Happy Children, the band's fourth album and one of their best, Osibisa emerge as a true world fusion group, merging a myriad of styles to an extent unmatched by almost any other unit of the period. The band usually shies away from anything like traditional pop structures, favoring long jams played on top of a repetitive bass vamp in the tradition of live Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis's Bitches Brew period. Unlike these two artists, however, Osibisa usually emphasizes group dynamic shifts and Blood Sweat and Tears/Tower of Power-style written-out horn lines over individual solos. As they were an African group recording in London, the band's basic rhythms also differ significantly from those of its contemporaries. They play a style of music that has its roots in authentic tribal drumming and chants. Consequently, there are similarities to New Orleans second line, Southern and West Coast/Sly Stone funk, Jamaican reggae, and Afro-cuban jazz, but in a raw, driving manner that seems to pre-date all of these styles. At the same time, on several tunes, Osibisa brings a Duke Ellington-like harmonic sense that belies the members' musical sophistication. Though they don't generally approach anything resembling a pop tune here (which might make the album a hard listen for the casual funk fan), Happy Children is a fascinating glimpse at a band successfully fusing a celebratory, pre-rock energy with ancient rhythms and modern jazz harmony. 

Enjoy! 

Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics [2010]

A gem from the great Lloyd Miller – backed by modern Brit jazz funk maestros The Heliocentrics – and a credit to the legacies of all involved! Miller has worked timeless, hypnotic magic on an array of Middle Eastern and Asian instrumentation throughout his career, here playing piano, Indian santur, clarinet, Chinese sona, sitar, wood flute, oud and more – and this effort stands strongly with the best of it. He's accompanied by the masterful Malcolm Catto & The Heliocentrics – showing as much depth and versatility as ever in largely acoustic and improvisational setting – and the bottom line is that it's just as wonderful as their work with Mulatu. As much as we've flipped out over the Heliocentrics efforts as headliners to date, it's quite stunning how well they work backing such influential and legendary figures. Essential! Includes "Electricone", "Nava", "Mandala", "Spiritual Jazz", "Bali Bronze", "Modality", "Salendro", "Pari Ru", "Lloyd's Diatribe", "Fantasia" (Pts 1 & 2), "Chahargah", "Sunda Sunset" and more.

Enjoy! 

Cicala Mvta - Ching Dong - Return Of Japanese Street [1997]

Avant - improv - folk - punk - prog - jazz - new orleans - klezmer - gipsy - balkan - east asian.... you need a train of words to describe.... music that starts from japanese street performances (chindon) and goes globally... madly.
The sound of CICALA MVTA is developed around the mainman/composer WATARU OHKUMA`s distinctive clarinet improvisations, by an unsual line up of musicians playing the tuba, percussions, fiddle, cello, electric guitar... The compositions are complexed, rich in multicultural references, with many unexpected turns and changes; the "street" feeling though, (lyrical, dramatic, bufooning ) is always present...
"CHING DONG..." is the german version of the first self-titled CICALA MVTA album.
Moniker CICALA MVTA honours the memory of the great, early 20th century japanese streetmusic singer, Soeda Azembo, the "mute cicada".

Enjoy!