The Sounds of Jungle Music

It's safe to say that Strut Records has been very busy recently releasing some of the year's best albums and compilations. Their hot streak continues as one of the summer's most highly anticipated releases in Walter Gibbons' first multi-label retrospective tilted Jungle Music (which was first discussed on this blog back in late May-See 'Jungle Music') has started to makes it's way to record shops, with an official release being August 17th. This retrospective sheds light on some of Gibbons' best work, as he became a fixture in the studio while setting the blueprint for all disco twelve-inch mixes. Some of the album's highlights include Dinosaur L's "Go Bang", Jakki's "Sun... Sun... Sun...", Arthur Russell's "Calling All Kids", Gladys Knight's "It's A Better Than Good Time", Bettye Lavette's "Doin' The Best That I Can", and Double Exposure's disco classic "Ten Percent" among many others. It's hard to capture the brilliance of Gibbons' legendary music accomplishments in just one release, however Strut has done an impressive job of recapturing some of the magic and musical genuineness that was Walter Gibbons. Enjoy!

Gladys Knight - It's Better Than A Good Time (Walter Gibbons Mix)



You can purchase Walter Gibbons' Jungle Music by Clicking Here
For more info on the release check out waltergibbons-junglemusic.com

Jungle Music

I was excited to receive an email this week that the good people over at Strut Records are gearing up to release the first multi-label retrospective on legendary DJ/ remixer Walter Gibbons, titled Jungle Music. During the mid to late seventies, Gibbons became one of the first to make his own reel to reel edits that where specifically designed for the dancefloor. His multi-track re-working of Double Exposure's 1976 track "Ten Percent" became the foundation and blueprint for all disco twelve-inch mixes. Gibbons' went on to be a staple, re-working mixes for many of the Salsoul twelve-inch releases, and in the end became the only remixer that Arthur Russell trusted which led to his fabulous re-working of "Go Bang!", "Let's Go Swimming", and "Treehouse/ School Bell". He also went on to remix classic dancefloor cuts from artists like Gladys Knight, Arts & Craft, Sandy Mercer, and many others. This compilation, which includes many of Gibbons best remixes, is due out sometime in July. Here is a one of my favorite Gibbons' remixes, that unfortunately won't be on the compilation, titled "Rocket Rock" by Luv You Madly Orchestra. Some called his style "Jungle Music", I would just call it pure brilliance. Enjoy!

Luv You Madly Orchestra - Rocket Rock (Walter Gibbons Mix)