Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Vol. 1 (2007)

Various Artist

"Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Vol.1"

One of the hippest collections of global grooves we've ever heard a side each of rare African and Caribbean tunes, both of which sound a fair different than work we've had on other compilations! The African tunes break nicely from the standard Fela groove.

01 - Idowu Funkyman Fakeye - We Gonna Make It

02 - Jerry Malekani - Diwela

03 - Sumo - Munia

04 - Oby Onyihoa - Enjoy Your Life

05 - Biosis Now - Independent Bahamas

06 - Black Machines - Soul Martinique

07 - Black Machines - Right Now

08 - Marcel Louis Joseph - Prière Au Soleil

09 - Gordon Henderson - The Higher Bidder

Link:Download

Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Vol. 2 (2007)

Various Artists

"Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Vol.2"

A second mighty batch of rare work from points south the kind of tunes we'd never have tracked down on our own making us even more grateful for a set like this! As before, the music's a blend of obscure African tunes and other bits picked from the Caribbean, the latter of which represents a strongly untapped source of funk from the 70s, finally getting its due in recent years! There's a strong influence on most numbers

from American funky 45s .

01 - Jojo L'explosif - Dig It Babe

02 - Coffin's - E Te Die

03 - Amadou Balake - Super Bar Konon Mousso

04 - Black Santiago - Don Dagbé Wè

05 - Wjw & Roots Trunks & Branches - Rising (Power Disco Power)

06 - Super Tentemba Jazz - Almamy

07 - Sookie - Rhythm On Rhythm

08 - Marius - Joe

09 - Roland Louis Orchestra - Play Up Play Up

10 - Les Vicking's - Let Stay Up Vicking's

11 - Cool Creation - Wish Upon Love

Link:Download

Joe Thomas - 1976 - Feelin's From Within

JOE THOMAS: FEELIN'S FROM WITHIN

GROOVE MERCHANT RECORDS, GM-3315(LP)

(P)1976 GROOVE MERCHANT INTERNATIONAL, INC., USA

RECORDED: OCTOBER 1976

RELEASED: 1976, USA

Joe Thomas - flute, tenor saxophone

Rhythm section:

Bob Babbitt (bass)

Jerry Friedman (guitar)

Lance Quinn (guitar)

Pat Rebillot (keyboads)

Gary Mure (drums)

Barry Miles (synthesizers)

Jimmy Maelen (percussion)

Steve Gadd (drums on 6)

Jeff Mironov (guitar on 6)

Horn section:

Alan Rubin, Lew Soloff, Jon Faddis (trumpet)

Dave Taylor, Barry Rogers (trombone)

Michael Brecker, George Young, Lew DelGatto (saxophone)

Strings section:

Peter Dimitriades, Harry Cykman, Norman Carr,

Richard Sortomme, John Pintavalle, Harold Kohan,

Tony Posk, Carol Webb, Harry Glickman,

Harry Lookofsky (violin)

Julian Barber, Seymour Berman (viola)

Kermit Moore, Jesse Levy (cello)

Background vocals:

David Lasley, Arnold McCuller (on 1)

1. Funky Fever (7:24) [Jerry Friedman]

arranged by Jerry Friedman and Brad Baker

2. Feelin's From Within (6:51) [Lance Quinn, Brad Baker]

arranged by Lance Quinn snd Brad Baker

3. Polarizer (5:34) [Joe Thomas, Lance Quinn, Brad Baker]

arranged by Joe Thomas, Lance Quinn and Brad Baker

4. Coco (6:04) [Bob Babbitt]

arranged by Bob Babbitt and Brad Baker

5. Galaxy Dreamin' (6:05) [Lance Quinn, Brad Baker]

arranged by Lance Quinn snd Brad Baker

6. Venus (4:59) [Brad Baker]

arranged by Brad Baker

Get This Rare Funky Shit

Donny Hathaway - 2004 - These Songs For You, Live!

A fantastic document of the genius of Donny Hathaway and a set that shows that the 70s soul legend was every bit as wonderful live as he was in the studio! The set features a huge number of unreleased tracks by Donny , grouped with numbers pulled from his two successful 70s live sets (Donny Hathaway Live and In Performance, neither of which are in print in the US!) The tracks feature Donny on electric keyboards and organ , leading a group of players that includes Phil Upchurch, Cornell Dupree, and Richard Tee , all coming together in a tightly-jamming small group formation that's quite different than the backing on Hathaway's studio albums. There's a warm, organic feel to the set that's really wonderful and which offers new versions of tunes you might only know from their studio incarnations, as well as a few covers of work by contemporary soul acts that come off amazingly well.

01 - Flying easy

02 - Valdez in the country

03 - Someday we'll all be free

04 - You've got a friend

05 - He ain't heavy, he's my brother

06 - What's goin' on

07 - Yesterday

08 - Superwoman

09 - A song for you

10 - Sack full of dreams

11 - Little ghetto boy

12 - I love you more than you'll ever know

13 - The ghetto

14 - Interview

Link:Download

European Jazz Trio Featuring Art Farmer - 2004 - Ballad Of The Sad Young Man

01. Che Voule Questa Musika Stasera

02. Ballad Of The Sad Young Man

03. Hello

04. Plein Soleil

05. How Deep Is The Ocean

06. Chopin; Prelude Op.28

07. Sweet Sweep

08. Jealous Guy

09. Walts

10. Sonata Nr.8 Op.13 Pathetique Adagio Cantabille

11. In Your Own Sweet Way

Link:Download

Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds - 1973 - The Black Motion Picture Experience

Artist: The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds

Album: The Black Motion Picture Experience

Label: Buddah

Original Released: 1973

Album info from www.blaxploitation.com

You might be tempted to pass up on this one because of the NASTY cover. Don't make that mistake. Buy this album. It's an instrumental reworking of all the major pre-1974 black action themes, and features the likes of Randy Brecker in a killer studio band. The album contains one of the few versions of the 'Slaughter' theme committed to vinyl.

Cecil Holmes was an executive at Buddah Records as well as a recording artist himself. This was one of his solo releases. It was aimed at capitalizing on the huge popularity of Blaxploitatin movies during the time. Many of the songs seemed shortened, but still keep to the original arrangements. Holmes included most of the well known hits like Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly and Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man/T Stands For Trouble. Also Sprach Zarathursta (2001) has a short but sweet open drum break.

A1. ACROSS 110th STREET (B.Womack-J.J.Johnson)

A2. SLAUGHTER (Billy Preston)

A3. BEN (W.Scharf-D.Black)

A4. ALSO SPRACH ZARATHRUSTA (2001)

A5. SUPERFLY (C.Mayfield) Curtom

B1. TROUBLE MAN/T STANDS FOR TROUBLE (M.Gaye)

B2. SHAFT (Isaac Hayes)

B3. LOVE THEME FROM LADY SING THE BLUES

B4. FREDDIE'S DEAD (C.Mayfield)

Link:Download

Arthur Adams - 1975 - Home Brew

Arthur Adams - Home Brew

Label: Fantasy

Catalog#: F-9479

Released: 1975

Arranged By - Wayne Henderson

Bass - James Jamerson (tracks: A1, A4 to B5) , Wilton Felder (tracks: A2)

Clavinet - Jerry Peters (tracks: A1 to A2, B1) , Joe Sample (tracks: A5, B4)

Drums - Stix Hooper* (tracks: A2 to A3) , Earl Palmer (tracks: A1, A4 to B5)

Electric Piano - Joe Sample (tracks: A1 to A2, A4 to B3, B5)

Engineer - Rik Pekkonen (tracks: A2 to A3)

Flugelhorn - Oscar Brashear (tracks: B2)

Flute - Ronnie Laws (tracks: B2, B5)

Guitar - Al Vescovo* (tracks: A2 to A3) , Arthur Adams , Dennis Coffey (tracks: A1, A4 to B6)

Horn [Baritone Horn] - George Bohanon (tracks: B2)

Orchestrated By - Donal Cooke

Organ - Jerry Peters (tracks: A3)

Piano - Joe Sample (tracks: A3)

Producer - Arthur Adams , Wayne Henderson

Recorded By - Don Cody

Recorded By [Additional] - Eddie Harris

Remix - F. Byron Clark

Saxophone [Soprano] - Ronnie Laws (tracks: A4, B5)

Saxophone [Tenor] - Ronnie Laws (tracks: A1 to B1, B3 to B4)

Strings - Jerry Peters (tracks: A4, B2)

Synthesizer - Jerry Peters (tracks: B1 to B2) , Joe Sample (tracks: B3)

Tambourine - Wayne Henderson (tracks: A2, A5)

Tom Tom - Wayne Henderson (tracks: A2)

Trombone - George Bohanon (tracks: A1 to B4)

Trumpet - Oscar Brashear (tracks: A1 to B4)

1. Home Brew

2. Do What Cha Doin'

3. The Blues

4. We've Got An Understanding

5. That's The Way You Move

6. Keep On Dancing

7. First-Class Woman

8. Chicago Sidewalk

9. Bumpin' Around

10. That's The Way It's Gonna Be

Link:Download

King Solomon - 1978 - Energy Crisis

MEGA-RARE FUNK/BLUES LP

KING SOLOMON - ENERGY CRISIS

CELESTIN USA LP 1978

Price : EUR 298.00

01. I Got a Sweet Tooth

02. Energy Crisis

03. Political Rag

04. Ain't It Funky Ya'll

05. Sexy Baby

06. Get Up Soul Brother

07. Don't Play This Song

08. Our Song (Instr.)

09. Ain't It Funky Ya'll (Instr.)

Link:Download

Sister Funk 2 - 2007 - The Sound Of Unknown Soul Sisters - Compiled By DJ Ian Wright

A second great serving of all-female funk and a collection that's arguably better than the now-legendary first volume in the series! Ian Wright's definitely outdone himself here and the selection of work here is really really wonderful , with hardly any familiar names at all , save for a few smaller soul stars who are represented by some pretty obscure tunes! The vibe is hard and gritty throughout , but also plenty soulful too , and Ian doesn't sacrifice quality of the tune in pursuit of a rare piece of wax, so that the work is all top-shelf all the way through , a collection of female soul and funk artists who easily rival the biggest names from their generations! As usual with Jazzman, the whole thing's done with notes that are as careful as the track selection.

01 - Rhetta Hughes - You're Doing It With Her

02 - Honey & The Bees - Love Addict

03 - Dolly Gilmore - Sweet Sweet Baby

04 - Barbara King - What I Did In The Street

05 - Coletta Woodson - Follow The Wind

06 - Sandy Gaye - Watch The Dog

07 - Big Ella - The Queen

08 - Sheila Wilkerson - Baby You're A Jive Cat

09 - Richi Corbin Trio - A Woman Was Made For A Man

10 - Barbara Trent - Heartbreak Hotel

11 - Althea Spencer - Take Me Baby

12 - Cheryl Johnson - It's Not Too Late

13 - Barbara Howard - I Dont Want Your Love

14 - Leon Mitchison - Whatcha Need

15 - Cheryl Dorsey - If You Want Your Man

16 - The Fabulettes - Muddy Waters

17 - Keisa Brown - The Dance Man

18 - Barbara Mason - You Better Stop It

19 - Hard Drivers - Since I Was A Little Girl

20 - Florence Trapp - Love Came Into My Life

Link:Download

Isaac Hayes - 2003 - Instrumentals

The only thing better than Isaac Hayes' vocal tracks are those wicked funky instrumentals that he used on a lot of his best early 70s albums and soundtracks , most of the best of which are included in this excellent little set! The CD does what someone should have done a long time ago , collects all the best dope instrumentals from Ike's classic Stax albums, with a focus on laidback grooves and slow funk numbers, including those that have been sampled over the years. And sure, you might already own a few of these on the original albums, but hearing them together like this opens a whole new door to Ike's genius , one that makes us appreciate him even more, and feel like we've been lucky enough to find a crate full of studio tracks laid out in a completely different way.

1. Hung Up on My Baby

2. Ike's Mood, Pt. 1

3. No Name Bar

4. Let's Stay Together

5. Café Regio's

6. Blue's Crib

7. Now We're One

8. Dorinda's Party

9. Type Thang

10. Pursuit of the Pimpmobile

11. Driving in the Sun

12. Ellie's Love Theme

13. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face [Mono Version]

Link:Downalod

Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago , Illinois , on April 1st 1949. He attended Lincoln and John Hopkins University. He wrote two novels. The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. He met Brian Jackson, his frequent collaborator. Gil Scott-Heron began playing keyboards and, teaming up with Brian Jackson, setting his political poetry to a jazz-funk fusion. First releases were on the Flying Dutchman label in the 70's.

This is the man whose attitude, poetry and "bluesology" influenced a whole generation of radical rap musicians. Renowned in the '70s and '80s as the "Minister of Information", Gil Scott Heron is the voice of humanity, whose prose dissects the ills of the world with scalpel-sharp precision. He is a writer/poet/musician and one of America's great originals. Performing work from his latest album 'Spirits', Scott Heron is a man with something to say and a message worth listening to. During the 1970s and 1980's for Arista label, Scott-Heron released twelve albums. Then, after a twelve-year break, he signed with TVT Records and released Spirits in 1993.

The first cut of this album, "Message To The Messenger," is a warning to today’s rappers, urging them to take responsibility in their art and in their communities. Since then, he has played to sell-out crowds all over the world, performing at major festivals in England. More recently he has been arrested for possession of a gram of cocaine and now faces about a year in prison. He is also working on a book "The Last Holiday" for Publisher Canongatе www.canongate.net.

Defiant as ever he turned down rehabilitation as an alternative to prison. Maybe in prison he will get a fresh perspective and produce more of his articulate insights. Gil Scott-Heron got out of prison on the 28th October 2002. Since getting out of prison he has teamed up with Brian Jackson. He has played SOB with Brian on October 2003 and there is BBC Documentary showing in December 2003. At the end of October 2003, on his way to a gig in Chicago, he was arrested at La Guardia airport, New York. He’s charged with possession of a controlled substance and detained at Rikers Island Penitentiary in New York. He got out in June 2004...

Gil Scott-Heron - 1981 - Reflections

This is one of the most incredible albums of Gil Scott witch contains real soul classics . I truly recommend that album of that "genius" of his time .I hope to enjoy the creativity of his mind like i i'm ...

The album opens with a pair that fit this sound-- "Storm Music" is a bit lifeless, limping along in reggae rhythms and "Grandma's Hands" is seeped in funk and D.C. slap bass, although "Is That Jazz?" ends up being a revelation-- a modern update on jazz and '70s fusion, with a fantastic lyric about what makes jazz and a superb fretless bass solo from Robert Gordon. Add to this a gun control statement ("Gun") rooted deep in electric Motown sounds and a couple spoken word pieces ("Morning Thoughts" and the fantastic anti-Reagan statement, "'B' Movie") and you almost have a fine album. What's missing is a completely brilliant statement, and in this case it's made in a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues". As frank a discussion of inner city life as Scott-Heron could have written himself, one master performing another with a brilliant trumpet solo courtesy of Kenny Sheffield works out to be the centerpiece the album needs.

01 - Storm Music

02 - Grandma's Hands

03 - Is That Jazz?

04 - Morning Thoughts

05 - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

06 - Gun

07 - 'B' Movie

Link:Download

Gil Scott Heron - Is That Jazz?

Young-Holt Unlimited - 1973 - Plays Superfly

Fantastic! Young and Holt lay down a monster set of grooves from Curtis Mayfield's Superfly soundtrack (all the good ones -- like "Freddie's Dead", "Give Me Your Love", "Pusher Man", and "Superfly"), and they also get into some funky tracks of their own (like "Hey Pancho" and "Mystical Man"), and do a super-dope cover of "People Make the World Go Round". The album's nice and stripped down -- perhaps closest to their Oh Girl LP on Atlantic in feel, with loads of cool electric piano by Ken Chaney, laid out over the group's harder funky grooves! One of their rarest in the original, too -- and an essential bit of early G-funk!

01 - Freddie's Dead

02 - Give Me Your Love

03 - Pusher Man

04 - Superfly

05 - Hey Pancho

06 - Could It Be I'm Falling In Love

07 - (They Long To Be) Close To You

08 - People Make The World Go Round

09 - Mystical Man

Link:Download

Eddy Senay - 1972 - Hot Thang

A heck of a great little guitar funk album -- one of two rare sides cut by the amazing Eddie Senay! The record's all-instrumental -- and Eddie's fuzzed-out guitar takes center stage over tripped-out arrangements that recall the best psychedelic funk of the early 70s -- bubbling along with just enough drums, bass, and keyboards to make for a chunky bottom groove -- while Senay wails over the top on guitar! The record reminds us of similar guitar funk albums from the time -- including the work of Dennis Coffey, Eddie Fisher, or Donald Austin -- but the groove's even more laidback and trippy, with a few nice breakway moments from the rhythm section.

01 - Just Feeling It

02 - Down Home

03 - Hot Thang

04 - Zambezi

05 - Jubo

06 - Reverend Lowdown

07 - Ain't No Sunshine

Link:Download

Frank Owens - 1973 - Brown 'N Serve

A lost bit of mellow funk, and one of the few rare releases on the Encounter label -- which was sort of a doper, more soulful version of CTI! Frank Owens plays organ and keyboards, and the group includes Bernard Purdie lending his trademark soul jazz drums (a very welcome fixture on most of the albums that appeared on Encounter), Bad Bascomb on guitar, Rick Cutter on vibes, Norman Pride on percussion, John Helstone on violin, Julian Buck on viola, Kermit Moore on cello, and others. Purdie produced the session, which includes a nice version of "Freddie's Dead", plus "Everybody Is A Star", Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady", "I Don't Need No Help", Galt MacDermot's "Suzie Moon", "Corner Of The Sky", Frank Owen's own "Brown & Serve", and more!

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums, Producer

Doug Bascomb - Guitar

Frank Owens - Organ, Piano

Hugh McCracken - Guitar

Julian Buck - Viola

Kermit Moore - Cello

Norman Pride - Percussion

Rick Cutter - Vibraphone

Selwart Clarke - Violin

01 - Freddie's Dead

02 - Brown 'N Serve

03 - Everybody Is a Star

04 - I Don't Need No Help

05 - Rock Steady

06 - Suzie Moon

07 - Corner Of The Sky

08 - Ben

Link:Download

Donny Hathaway

Biography

An exceptional soul singer from Chicago, Donny Hathaway's life ended early, but he left behind a legacy of classic music. He started singing and playing piano as a young child, and eventually attended Howard University on a music scholarship. In the mid-sixties, he played with a jazz group called the Ric Powell Trio, and was soon producing and arranging for many other acts. He also worked as a session musician, playing keys with the Staple Singers and Aretha Frankin among others. That led to him joining the Mayfield Singers, backing up Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. In 1969, he got a deal with ATCO and released his debut solo single "The Ghetto Pt. 1." His first full-length, the timeless Everything Is Everything came out the following year, establishing Hathaway as a visionary artist able to seamlessly blend funk, gospel, and social awareness in his music. His second album, 1971's Donny Hathaway was a much more somber affair, with minimalist, piano-driven cover songs.

On it, he hooked up with Roberta Flack for a duet version of "YouA’ve Got A Friend." The track became a hit and led to an entire album of duets between the two, released the following year. From that LP came "Where Is the Love," a huge hit single that won a Grammy and topped the charts. While his career was at an all-time high, Hathaway was gripped by severe depression, so much so that he had to be periodically hospitalized. His third and final studio album Extension Of A Man came out in 1973, after which he kept a low profile, performing infrequently and then only in small venues. Several years later he reconnected with Roberta Flack and scored another huge hit with "The Closer I Get To You," but it would be his final one. In January of 1979 he committed suicide by jumping out a 15-story window in New York City. Although his career was short-lived, Donny Hathaway made a huge impact on R&B and popular music in general, dozens of hip-hop artists have since sampled his records, reconfiguring his tracks into numerous rap hits.
Donny Hathaway was a star that burned brightly and too quickly was extinguished, but his legacy was a set of albums which stand comparison with the Soul superstars of the era. His first album was a classic, and comtained an instrumental giant "The Ghetto" On this, his second album from 1971, Donny Hathaway showcases his great voice and the stand out tracks for me are the big ballads - He Ain't Heavy.., A Song For You and She Is My Lady. There is no "The Ghetto" soundalike here, just great songs beautifully arranged and performed, and the gospel influence is very evident here, probably more than on any of his other albums. This is a real Soul album therefore. With the addition of a couple of bonus tracks, including the great "This Christmas", this is an album for fans of Soul. It would also serve for those fans of more recent R & B, as Donny was an undoubted influence on so many contemporary artists like India Arie, Alicia Keys, John Legend and Leela James.
Many of us will never have heard of Donny Hathaway. He was of a time when African American musicians were particularly inspired and wonderfully creative at the height of optimism for change in the early 70's (Stevie, Marvin, Isley Bros, Staple Singers, Al Green the whole bit). It is only because my mother loved Roberta Flack that I knew he existed. I also found out that he also played keyboards on a few Aretha tracks. So when I chanced upon this disc in a discount store I took a chance. Top choice. The man's voice is silk and his arrangement on the cover of "He ain't heavy.." makes the song his own. There is simply no other voice like Donny's. The pace of the disc is intense if not unique, there is a real mixture of gospel and contemporary influences, cosy up to the voice, composition and musical talents of Donny. For all the romantics in the world go straight to "Take a love song" (sing it in the air) and for the best Christmas song ever it has to be "This Christmas" then stay on for "Be there". I have all the other Donny's now and can't get through a day without listening to him.

...


Donny Hathaway - 1970 - Free Soul - The Classic Of Donny Hathaway

1. What's Goin' On (Live Version)

2. Little Ghetto Boy (Studio Version )

3. Love, Love, Love

4. Someday We'll All Be Free

5. Sack Full Of Dreams (Live Version)

6. The Ghetto (Live Version)

7. Hey Girl (Live Version)

8. Valdes In The Country (Live Version)

9. Flying Easy

10. Nu-Po (Live Version)

11. Little Ghetto Boy (Live Version)

12. The Ghetto (Live Version)

13. Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)

14. Magnificent Sanctuary Band

15. This Christmas

16. You've Got A Friend (Live Version)

Link:Part 1 & Part 2

Donny Hathaway - 1973 - Extension Of A Man

Perhaps Donny Hathaway's greatest album from the 70s, and certainly the one with the most amazing arrangements! The record was Donny's last studio session, and it's got him working at a level that's far advanced from even his groundbreaking earlier work -- using complicated rhythms and sophisticated string passages -- but also throwing in some killer jazzy bits that make for some of his funkiest work ever!

01. I Love The Lord He Heard Me Cry (parts i and ii)

02. Someday Well All Be Free

03. Flying Easy

04. Valdex In The Country

05. I Love You More Than You Ever Know

06. Come Little Children

07. Love Love Love

08.The Slums

09. Magdalena

10. I Know Its You

11. Lord Help Me

Link:Download