I've had a long and exhausting day, so I'm going to keep this short and very sweet with a funky Latin-flavoured gem in Candido's "I'm On My Way". This cut was released on Candido's solid 1971 Blue Note records released album Beautiful. "I'm On My Way" is just one of the many great tracks that is included on the record, and I highly recommend checking out the entire release. Enjoy!
In a nice transition from yesterday's post, here is Jazz Techniques' "Afro Beat". I came across this funky heavy-weight, when I picked up a used copy of the Counterpoint Records released compilation Jazz Bizniz! which features rare and hard-to-find jazz-funk, cosmic soul, and boogie cuts. My favorite track on the record, "Afro Beat", was actually originally released on dance instructional record by dance teacher Lynda Gache. I haven't been able to find out when this actual dance instruction record was released or the artists' that actually contributed to the song. Regardless it's an amazing song that has an overall Afro-funk groove that will definitely get the dancefloor moving. Enjoy!
Lately, I have been really enjoying music by Latin jazz percussionist Sabu Martinez. One of my favorite "Sabu" releases is his 1973 funky LP "Afro Temple". On top of having one of my all-time favorite LP covers (artwork), the record consists of a steady diet of funky Afro-Cuban gems including "My Son Johnny & Me", "All Camels Hump", and "My Cristina" among many others. The record features a heavy dose of funky Latin conga grooves that will have you movin' from start to finish. As I continue to explore the many recordings and collaborations Sabu was involved with, the more I'm convinced that he is definitely one of the greatest Latin percussionists and artists of all-time. In the next few weeks, if not already, Mellotronen records out of Sweden will be releasing some hard-to-find material from this amazing artist. From the tracks I've already heard, I highly recommend snatching up these records when you get a chance. Until then, here is one of my personal Sabu favorites in "Hotel Alyssa - Soussie, Tunisia". Enjoy!
It's the beginning of a new week, therefore let's start it off with a disco classic and personal favorite track of all-time in Dinosaur's 1978 gem "Kiss Me Again". As many probably already know, Dinosaur is the short-lived tag team of Arthur Russell and Nicky Siano. As I continue to read Tim Lawrence's "Hold On to Your Dreams", I was intrigued by the section of the book that covered the recording process and background to this amazing track. According to the book, "Kiss Me Again" completely bombed in the charts and in the record shops. Arthur Russell blamed the record's bad showing to Jimmy Simpson's more dancefloor-friendly extended mix, which he never liked. He also blamed Sire records, who released the record, because of there lack of promotion. Regardless, all of that is history and as time has gone on, I believe the track has continued to receive more and more praise because in my opinion, the song was just a bit ahead of it's time as most of Arthur's songs truly were. Here is the original version of the track. Sit back and enjoy!
Over the last few years, Soundway Records has been releasing some the best compilations focusing on all different kinds of funky rare world grooves from Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. This is why I'm excited that tonight, San Francisco's Elbo Room will be hosting Soundway's DJ Beto alongside Groove Merchant's Vinnie Esparza, and DJ Guillermo for a Panama! 3 release party. The Panama! 3 compilation, which has been mentioned before of this site, was one of my personal favorites of the year comprised of rare and impossible-to-find Calypso Panameno, Guajira Jazz, and Cumbia Tipica grooves. According to the Soundway website, part 3 will make up the last of this increadible series. Therefore, I highly recommend everyone in the bay to head down to the Elbo Room for this very exciting one-time event.
One of the best releases of 2009 that went a bit unnoticed was Kings Go Forth's seven-inch release titled Don't Take My Shadow. Kings Go Forth is a ten-piece combo from Milwaukee that made some headway this past year by releasing a number of solid seven-inch releases and more recently a twelve-inch release of featuring of a new Tom Moulton mix of "Don't Take My Shadow". The group has an overall funky soulful sound that is basically a throwback to the seventies. It's safe to say that new groups like this don't come around that much anymore, so it's nice to see a full band releasing new music of this calibur. It will be interesting to see how this group evolves over the next few years. Until then, sit back and enjoy this funky gem!
Detroit deejay Proxy has made a incredible 80 minute mix of Pat Les Stache edits. The mix consists of re-edits found on all the Cabana Disco records, as well as some of the unreleased edits like Tony Rallo & the Midnite Band's "Burnin' Alive" and Arthur Russell's "Make 1, 2". I recommend everyone checking out the mix, as well as all of Proxy's mixes by visiting his Virb page.
I've been on Twitter for awhile, however I'm finally taking an active role. I will be updating my twitter page with tweets discussing disco, new releases, re-edits, blog posts, life, sports, and of course politics. Anyways, you can follow me on twitter by clicking here.
A few months back, I picked up a rare used copy of a 70's era Brazilian compilation that featured all the usual Brazilian musical greats like Gal Costa, Jorge Ben, and Gilberto Gil. Now most of the time these artists I just mentioned would of been the reason why I decided to purchase the record, however on this occasion that wasn't the case. The track I was most interested in was by a female singer named Lady Zu, which I previously had never heard of, and the track was "A Noite Vai Chegar". With one listen I was pretty much hooked, as the song, originally released in 1978, has an overall feel-good tropical disco groove that reminds a bit of a Dr. Buzzard & The Savannah Band, with of course being sung in Brazilian. With that kind of combination of a groove, it was safe to say that I picked the compilation and the song has been a personal favorite ever since. From the little bit of research that I've done it looks to be that Lady Zu has released a few albums that tend to blend towards a Brazilian disco sound. If "A Noite Vai Chegar" is any indication as to the kind of music Lady Zu has released, hopefully at some point in the very near future, I will be able to hunt down some more of her music. Enjoy!
I was sadden to hear that Philadelphia disco/soul legend Teddy Pendergrass died last Wednesday at the age of 59, due to cancer. In my opinion, Pendergrass had one of the most amazing and signature voices in the history of soul and disco music. Just about as big to the "Philly Sound" as Gamble & Huff, Pendergrass was the voice of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes which released amazing classics like "Bad Luck", and "Don't Leave Me This Way". Pendergrass' also had a remarkable solo career, releasing gems like "Only You", "You Can't Hide From Yourself", "Life Is a Circle", and "The More I Get, The More I Want", among many others. I still remember when Nicky Siano dropped "You Can't Hide From Yourself" and "Bad Luck", when I saw him deejay last fall, and the songs absolutely had the dancefloor rockin'. On a more personal note, the beautifully sung "Don't Leave Me This Way" has consistently been one of my personal favorites to end a dance night with, and the song will now forever, in my opinion, serve as a tribute in many ways to Pendergrass. Overall, it's safe to say that we truly lost one of disco and soul music's greatest lead vocalists, therefore I challenge everyone who reads this blog to play at least one Teddy Pendergrass track at your upcoming dance nights this month, which given the material you have to work with, this assignment shouldn't be very difficult..
Boris Midney has written and produced many great disco tracks under a numerous of aliases including Beautiful Bend, Double Discovery, Pinocchio, and Companion to name just a few. He even produced his own musical interpretation of Star Wars' The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. With that being said, one of his finest efforts came in 1983 when he released the twelve-inch single D-D-D-Dance. My former deejay counterpart and good friend Terry (aka DJ H.M.A.) first brought this amazing single to my attention during our time putting on the Studio parties in Seattle. As we noted then, the song has a bit of an early Metro Area vibe, mixed with sporatic vocals throughout. Lee Douglas has recently released a re-edit of the track on one of the latest Editions Disco twelves. For all of the great disco and electronic based gems that Boris Midney has produced, D-D-D-Dance has to rank among one of his greatest productions.
Here is a post disco-era gem by Greg Henderson titled "Dreamin". Even though this twelve-inch single came out in 1982, this funky track has a bit of late seventies overall sound and feel. Fans of the boogie, take notice and enjoy!
The good people over at BBE records recently released another great compilation, this time of lost disco gems from the forgotten vaults of The Windy City. The new compilation, titled The Real Sound Of Chicago, was compiled by Mr. Peabody Records. This compilation mostly consists of hard-to-find tracks from Chicago disco/ boogie/ early house artists and labels that never got much attention on the national level. Some of my personal favorites consists of Sidney Thomas's "Look, Let's Make Love (And See If You Like It)", Premonition's "Your Love Is In The Pocket", and Lonnie Givens's "Running To A Disco" among others. Overall with this fabulous collection of rare Chicago based music, BBE puts together another fine compilation worth snatching up.
One of the more surprising favorites of 2009 was my personal choice for compilation of the year in Soundway Records' Tumbele! Biguine Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean 1963-74. This compilation is far from being considered "disco", however the record is one of the funkiest compilations I've ever heard. From start to finish, this album is very solid. Most of the songs and artists, before this compilation was released, I've never heard before, and this record really highlights the lost rare grooves from the French Caribbean. Some of my favorite cuts, even though I enjoy the entire record, include Barel Coppet Et Mister Lof's "Jeunesse Vauclin", Robert Mavounsy Quartet's "Henri Te Vle Maye", and Raphael Zachille's "Manze Mona" among many others. Overall, this might be one of those compilations that you find yourself sitting on the fence when it comes to purchasing, which makes sense due to the comp's very unknown and rare material, however if you enjoy funky rare world beats and Latin/ Afro grooves, this amazing record is an absolute masterpiece. Enjoy!
It's Friday and I'm ready to start the weekend, therefore I'm going to keep this short and sweet with another classic funky disco cut from Buari, titled "Advice From Father". This African-flavored disco gem was originally released on Buari's hard-to-find 1975 self-titled album, which also features the amazing track "Karam Bani". Overall, it's just another solid cut from one of the greatest African disco artists. Enjoy your weekend!
Here is another standout gem, titled "Africa Africa" from Black Soul's amazing 1977 self-titled album. I've posted other tracks from this record in previous posts. The album, which was mixed by Tom Moulton, is solid from start to finish with funky African disco cuts like "Black Soul Music", "Mangous Ye", and "People", among others. Overall, I can't recommend this album enough as it remains to be one of my all-time favorites. In my opinion, this record should be considered as one of the greatest African disco records of all-time. Nothing more needs to be said. Enjoy!
As I mentioned in my end of the year post, I'm going to make a major part of this year, on this blog, about opening up to a lot of funky "crossover" gems that maybe fit a little bit outside the "disco" label. I hope to touch upon a lot of the forgotten African, Latin, and jazz gems from the seventies. With that being said, here is a funky latin-flavoured jazz cut that I've been listening to a lot lately in Carlos Franzetti's "Cocoa Funk". This funky track was featured on Franzetti's amazing 1977 album Grafitti that successfully blends latin percussion and strings alongside the keyboardist's moog, electric, and rhodes piano arrangements. Let's just say there is plenty of funky tracks on this album to go around. Anyways, the Grafitti album was reissued a couple years back which makes it a bit easier to hunt down. Anyways, it's a great track from a solid record that I highly recommend checking out.
Strut's recent release of Mulatu Astatke's collection of retrospective works, titled New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975, can hardly be considered disco, however I feel the amazing album has a rightful place on this site. This greatest hits-like release sheds light on one of African music's greatest artist. Astatke is pretty much the pioneer of Ethio jazz, which I find is very funky, with a blend of traditional Ethiopian melodies mixed nicely with the free-form improvisational elements of Western jazz. An interesting and fascinating fact about Astatke is he became the first African student to attend Harvard, which during time he also lived and recorded in New York. When I first picked up this record I really wasn't that familiar with Asatke or Ethio jazz. However, after just one listen, I was pretty much blown away and knew that this album would amount out to be one of the best releases of 2009. I couldn't also help to hear all the potential sampling material this record and Astatke's music, in general, could provide for some future amazing disco cuts. Overall, I continue to enjoy this record more and more, with each and every listen. For those maybe a bit on the fence, I highly recommend snatching up a copy while they still last.
Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Years. Mine was pretty low-key with me and my wife choosing to avoid the crowds and share a bottle of champagne in the middle of an "upscale" San Francisco park.
