Keeping with the same theme as Grow Up, here is a superb disco re-edit titled "Party Together" by Tom Noble. This edit was released a few years ago as the B-Side track to Noble's twelve-inch Africa Bump release. I haven't been able to hunt down much information regarding the original track, however the edit has a nice uptempo boogie feel that really plays off of the tracks very soulful vocals. Overall, a solid edit that is primed perfectly for the dancefloor. Enjoy! 
I'm finding that this is rounding out to be a huge couple of weeks for new releases, especially for Strut Records. Last week, the label partnered up with the Afro-Latin crew Sofrito to release one of the best new compilations of the year in Tropical Discotheque. This week, Strut is releasing the much anticipated debut album by Arthur's Landing. For those that may not know, Arthur's Landing is a group that features many of the musicians and close friends that Arthur Russell collaborated with during his lifetime. These members include Ernie Brooks, Mustafa Ahmed, Joyce Bowden, Steven Hall, Elodie Lauten, Bill Ruyle, John Scherman, and Peter Zummon. If you have read Tim Lawerance's excellent biography on Arthur Russell, titled Hold On To Your Dreams, many of these names will sound very familiar as they are featured throughout the book playing an important part in Arthur's development as a musician and an artist. The whole purpose of this group is to help pay tribute and build from the wide-range vision of Arthur's music. Some of the tracks feature new arrangements of some of Arthur's most notable work including "Miracle 2" which is a new take on "In The Light of The Miracle" and "Love Dancing" which is a new version of "Is It all Over Your Face?", while other songs like "Bobby", "You Can't Go Back", and "Your Motion Says" are re-interpretations of Arthur's lesser known compositions. Even though there is certainly one important member of the group missing, in Arthur Russell himself, Arthur's Landing has nicely captured Arthur's complex vision and nicely funneled it through to these new recordings. It's truly hard to say because Arthur's music was always changing and re-inventing itself, however I would like to think that this album might help shed a little bit of light on what Arthur's music might have sounded like today if he was still with us. At least some of his closest friends and former bandmates have come together and released this great new album that helps give us a little more insight into Arthur's world. Let's Go Swimming!
Keyboardist Kiki Gyan might be best known for his contributions to the Afro-funk group Osibisa during the early and mid seventies. However after he departed from the group, the renowned Ghanaian musician released a couple of solid solo records. One of these notable records came in 1983 when he released the album Feelin' Alright off of the small Nigerian label Top Records. Many of the tracks off this album, including the title track "Feelin' Alright", had a more boogie-feel than any of his previous Afro-funk sounding records. Over the many years since it's intial release, the album has become a much sought after item by many record collectors. Kiki unfortunately past away in early June of 2004 at the young age of 47. His memory and legacy is now celebrated in the wealth of great music from both his Osibisa and solo recordings that he left behind. Enjoy!
Two heavy-weights in Strut Records and Sofrito have come together to release the best new compilation of the year so far in Tropical Discotheque. This highly anticipated release, which was put together by Sofrito deejays Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis, and The Mighty Crime Minister, bring together fifteen unmixed, dynamite tropical grooves old and new ranging from raw cumbia, heavy Congolese soukous, bassline calypso, and cosmic highlife. Some of the many highlights found on the compilation include an exclusive cumbia jam by Quantic Y Su Conjunto Los Mỉticos Del Ritmo titled "Cumbia Mochilla", a funky re-edit of Victor Uwaifo's disco gem "Ohue", alongside classic cuts like Gnonnas Pedro's "Yiri Yiri Boom", Roaring Lion's "Carnival Long Ago", Adolfo Echeverria's "Sabroso Bacalão" and one of my personal favorites in Frente Cumbiero's funky intrumental gem "Pitchito". If you've been following Sofrito over the past half decade, you already know that everything these guys put out is of the up most quality and the same can be said about this incredible new release. From what I've been able to notice, this compilation has already been flying off the record shelves, therefore I highly recommend picking up a copy while some still exist. Strut and Sofrito, between the two of them, have definitely put out a number of amazing records, however their collaborative release of Tropical Discotheque might be their best yet. Enjoy!
This past weekend, I was excited to pick-up a copy of Luv N' Haight's new reissue of the Afro Soultet's rare album Afrodesia. This superb album, which nicely blends together elements of Afro funk, Latin jazz, tropicalia, and rock was originally released sometime between 1968 and 1971 on a small label called Banyon. The original pressing of the release was very limited in quantity, somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 and 1000 LPs. This album came together when the group, which was originally named Afro Latin Blues Quintet +1, changed their name to the Afro Soultet and placed their sights on putting together a concept record based around world music, or like the actually linear notes of the LP suggest, "Afrodesia! A Musical collage of many peoples...". Overall, Afrodesia is an amazing record that has a very unique and original sound (especially for the time it was released). I highly recommend snatching up a copy of this new reissue before they quickly become out-of-print. A lot of credit has to go to the people at Luv N' Haight for once again re-introducing us to another long lost gem! Enjoy!
Today I thought I would keep it short and sweet with another funky jazz gem in The Hi-Fly Orchestra's Latin-flavoured cut "Roda De Samba". This funky dancefloor-friendly track was released as a 45rpm single off of the label Record Kicks. This single represents just one of the many great releases this German jazz group has released since the 2005, when the group was established. I highly recommend checking out this single, as well as many other their other releases. Enjoy!
One of the greatest soul-jazz records, in my opinion, is Johnny Hammond's classic 1975 album Gears. This hard-to-find album blends together jazz, funk, soul, and disco together to help produce a superb group of tracks that helped give the record, over time, a mass appeal across a wide and diverse audience. The album features a number of classic gems including Fantasy, Los Conquistadores Chocolatés, Tell Me What To Do, and my personal favorite Shifting Gears. I was very excited to find a used copy of this record a couple years ago at one of my favorite record shops in Seattle (Jive Time Records), and the LP has continued to be one of my favorites within my personal record collection. Overall, when it comes to great soul-jazz records of the seventies, there probably isn't a better album that Gears. Enjoy!
Here is a funky "nu disco" gem titled "Paiste" from the Finland based band G-Litter. This track was released way back in 2002 off the group's self-titled album, which was released off the Finland label Lifesaver Records. I only came across this album recently when the label this past year decided to reissue the record. This previously out-of-print album seems to have slipped through the cracks a bit on it's initial release, however through the recent reissue, has started to get some well-deserved attention. I find that the album was well ahead it's time, as it reminds me of a cross between Linstrom & Prins Thomas's early material and the more down-tempo grooves by Faze Action. While it seems that for the past decade the Finland group has pretty much operated slightly "under the radar", they have definitely managed to do so while releasing some superb and well-crafted nu disco gems, and it's now exciting to see that all the group's hard-work is finally receiving some well-deserved praise. Enjoy!
To help celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I thought I would post Joe Henderson's funky jazz gem "Forgone Conclusion". This track is just one of the many great cuts off of Soul Jazz Records' superb Freedom, Rhythm, & Sound compilation, which features funky revolutionary jazz gems from the sixties, seventies, and early eighties. The two volume compilation series coincided with an amazing complimentary book of rare revolutionary jazz record artwork compiled by Stuart Baker and Gilles Peterson. The compilation includes incredible tracks by Sun Ra And His Outer Space Arkestra, Oliver Lake, The Pharaohs, Horace Tapscott & The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Roy Brooks & The Artistic Truth, and many others. The track "Forgone Conclusion" can also be found on Henderson's 1972 album Black is the Color. Overall, Freedom, Rhythm, & Sound is a brilliant and well put together release that truly captures the essence of the underground jazz scene during this important era for music and civil rights. Enjoy!
Let's end the week with the Afro funk gem "Jangolo" by Jo Tongo. This funky track is featured on Tongo's rare self-titled album, which was release back in 1976. More recently, Tongo has recieved some attention due to the recent reissue release by the French label Still Muzik of his classic late seventies album Dig it Baby, which I also highly recommend checking out. Overall, a superb track from an artist that released a number of great Afro funk gems during the seventies. Enjoy!
You can make a strong argument that the most erotic disco song of all-time is Tony Silvester & The New Ingredient's mid-seventies track "Pazuzu". This sleazy disco classic, which sounds like an audio excerpt from a seventies adult film, was released on the 1976 album Magic Touch. This album represented Silvester's first solo album after he left the seventies soul/funk group The Main Ingredient. The rare album has continued to be a much sought after item by record collectors and deejays. A couple years ago, the label Skylax released a twelve-inch single that included both the original version of "Pazuzu", along with a superb re-edit of the song done by Prins Thomas. Overall, when it comes to disco, there certainly isn't any shortage of erotic classics, however Tony Silvester's "Pazuzu" might qualify as being the most sexually explicit of the bunch. Enjoy!
Continuing to reject the current cold weather climate, I thought I would warm things up a bit (musically speaking of course) with the rare Brazilian funk track "Embalo Diferente" by the group Os Devaneios. This tropical gem was featured on the group's hard-to-find 1978 album Embalo Diferente. More Recently the track, "Embalo Diferente", has appeared on a number of solid Brazilian compilations including Nascente Records' The Brazilian Funk Experience and Brasilia Discos' Via Brazil Vol.4, however the funky track continues to be a very rare find. If you come across the original, I highly recommend snatching it up. Enjoy!
Let's start the week off with the funky boogie gem "Hunk of Heaven" by the Hawaiian based funk group Lemuria. This track was featured on the group's 1978 self-titled album, which I believe is the group's only release. Much like the state that the group comes from, the funky track has an overall "feel-good" boogie groove that is perfect for all of those "not-currently-happening-due-to-the-cold-weather" summertime outdoor disco parties. However, if the winter does have you a bit down this year due to all the crazy blizzards we seem to be having this year (not in SF of course), then a track like "Hunk of Heaven" might be the perfect remedy to tie you over until the warm weather begins to approach us once again. Enjoy!
I've found myself listening to a lot of "Spiritual Jazz" records as of late, therefore I thought I would post the African-flavoured jazz gem "Kamili" by Kuumba-Toudie Heath, aka jazz percussionist Albert "Tootie" Heath. This funky spiritual gem is found on the hard-to-find album Kawaida and features an amazing cast of musicians including Herbie Hancock (piano), Don Cherry (Trumpet), Jimmy Heath (Saxophone), Buster Williams (Bass), and Mtume (Congas). Much like the track "Kamili", the entire record has a heavy psychedelic and spiritual African jazz groove that tends to build on itself nicely from track to track. For those that really enjoy the more African-influenced jazz compositions, Kawaida is a great record and one to certainly keep an eye out for moving forward. Enjoy!
Today I find myself in a very laid-back mood as I continue to recover from last night's Grow Up party, therefore I thought I would post this funky lounge gem "Ocean Song" by the German group Sunbirds. Sunbirds is another group that features the legendary Kraut-Rock drummer Klaus Weiss (Also See The Sounds of Niagara). The track "Ocean Song" was originally released on the group's 1973 album Zagara and was more recently included on the Compost Records' compilation Glücklich, which consists of a solid collection of rare and funky Brazilian-flavoured German fusion tracks. Overall, "Ocean Song" is a solid instrumental track, that has a bit of a laid-back Brazilian jazz feel to it that makes it perfect for the days that follow those late-night parties. Enjoy!
Looking back on last year, one of the artists that released some of the year's best original material, in my opinion, was Norwegian prog-disco king Prins Thomas. In 2010, Thomas released a superb new solo full-length album, as well as a solid new twelve-inch single titled Morfar. At this point, we all know the amazing work he does with Lindstrom, as well as the continually great remixes and edits he constantly cranks out, however it was nice to see Thomas find some time to produce his own work with both of these new solo releases.
Just as you begin to catch your breathe from New Year's Eve, Grow Up starts the year off right this Wednesday(TONIGHT!) at Madrone (500 Divisadero Street @ Fell). I am very excited for this month's party as it will feature special guest deejay Renmin, who is one-thirteenth (no joke) of San Francisco's superb Sweaterfunk crew. When it comes to Boogie here in the bay, nobody does it better than the Sweaterfunk crew, therefore we are certain this Wednesday night is about to get "way funked-out", as Renmin drops his pricey collection of Boogie and Disco gems! Some parties are important not to be missed...if you live in the bay, this is one of those parties. I look forward to seeing everyone for a fun night as usual!
Well I hope everyone had a good holiday season and happy New Year. It's good to finally be back on a normal schedule again, even though I must say the time off was very much appreciated and much overdue. Anyways, I thought the best way to ring in the new year, on this site, would be to go about it the same way I decided to end the last year, with a new re-edit!
