Review: This is another reissue of a record that remains an ongoing favourite. Original Gravity delivered again with the original pressing featuring two unique versions of 'Burning Spear'. Nestor Alvarez opens with a lively, Latin-inspired rendition filled with fluttering flute melodies, raw drum beats and vibrant dancing keys that radiate sunny energy. On the flip, La Machine D'Argent takes a more cosmic approach, smoothing the vibe and layering spaced-out sounds for a dreamy, immersive journey. This release showcases Original Gravity's knack for reimagining funk with flair by offering two distinct yet equally good takes on a timeless groove.
Review: After a 14-year absence, early '90s jazz-funk and street soul label Boogie Back Records returned to action last year which a superb slab of revivalist boogie from Cheri Maree. Here the London-based imprint continues in a similar vein via a fresh two-track "45" from in-house crew BB Soul and honey-voiced vocalist Laura Jackson. A-side "Make It Out" is superb: a wholehearted musical tribute to the smooth, synth-heavy sounds of 1980s soul rich in D-Train style synth bass, wild synth squiggles, warm Rhodes chords and authentic electric guitar flourishes - all topped off with a sublime Jackson vocal. Flipside "Reach Out" is a smoother, arguably even more soulful number that sits somewhere between early '80s electrofunk, mid-80s synth-soul and simmering British street soul. It, too, is impeccably performed and produced.
Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.
Lynn Williams - "How Can You Call Love Fascination" (2:26)
Review: Jimmy Bo Horne brings his raw and expressive vocals to this new release on Japanese label Ultra Vybe. The oft-sampled America singer, writer and producer has been turning out such sounds since the mid 70s but remains on top of his game here. The big horns bring energy, the rolling rhythm section gets you up on your feet and the whole thing screams floor filler. On the flip is Lynn Williams with 'How Can You Call Love Fascination,' a much more slow and sensual soul tune with acrobatic vocals and nice piano fills next to a big horn section.
Review: It might be getting cold and dark and wet here in the UK but music will always be able to transport us to warmer, sunnier, happier climes. And so it is with this new 7", which includes a booklet, from Discodelic. It's a two tracker from Cizana and La Nueva Generation that is flame hot and bristling with energy - Cizana's 'She Sold Her Soul' kicks off with its joyous flutes, hand drums and percussive Latin grooves then La Nueva Generacion slow things down and up the brass with their carnivalesque Afro-funk workout 'Uhru Sasa'.
Ebony Evans - "Loving You Is All I Wanna Do" (4:38)
Lewzarius - "Step Up" (4:54)
Review: Ebony Evans is a superb soul talent who for this single worked with Manny Campbell who wrote and arranged. Originally recorded in 2004, 'Loving You Is All I Wanna Do' appeared on the Luv's Fire CD Maxi Single and later on a full album in 2006 through Coastal Records but now debut on vinyl thanks to Soul Direction. On the flip side, Lewzarius' 'Step Up" shines as a rich collaboration between Campbell and Haran Griffin, who is best known for 'Movin' Much Too Fast.' Atlanta-born Lewzarius recorded this track during his time at Coastal Records in the late 90s.
Review: Five years on from their debut collaborative EP 'Frisina Meets Toco', modern Brasilian dance artists Gerardo Frisina and Toco return for a second faceoff, this time with liaising artist Luzia Dvorek serving as ringmaster. Centring on samba-infused jazz and deep house with mystical and folk influences, "deixa passar" translates from Portuguese to "let it pass", though the mood is certainly not outright passive. This delectably quartered slice of carnivalesque dance music is rather rich in sonic papaya juice, charting sustained vocal contrasts between Toco and Luzia against smoky and furnaced beats. Aperient track 'Deixa Passar' leans heaviest on languid piano, whilst dozier mists emerge on the B-side in the form of 'Ile' and its rework by Gerardo Frisina, bringing pan flutes, strings, breathy vocal counterpoints, cabasa shaker, and subtle bass undercurrents.
Review: The new joint on Wildcards comes from a hornsman sometimes known as Lucky Brown, sometimes as plain old Joel Ricci. He's done plenty of excellent work in the past, but after a few quiet years he's back in the saddle and this new single really takes the cake. 'A Thing Of Beauty' is a lilting slice of instrumental funk which lets Ricci's playing soar, and it's all rendered with a dusty, red-lining charm which will make it all the hotter in the dance as well as appealing to crate diggers hankering for more hot n' heavy grooves to sample. Speaking of which, the flip 'Drums Of Beauty' gives you breaks for days - B-boys and B-girls take heed.
Review: Former band "Kadri Six" - five men plus singer "Lamia" - have devoted themselves to the real spirit of funk and soul music with the release of 'Cold Sweat' on Sonorama. Their trademark sound is "real", "alive" and "black", with raw vocals, moving organ, hard hitting bass lines and trombone or sax riffs to set every dancefloor on fire.
Review: After releasing two 10" and 12" records in 2019 and 2020, Paris-based punk-jazz duo La Recre are back to complete their EP trilogy with this fresh 45 rpm. '137' brings together the worlds of jazz and electronica with shimmering, skyward and celestial synths bringing mysticism to shimmering jazz drums and warped synths. 'La Lune' is another intense and cinematic sound with spoken words from a spacecraft launch adding grandeur to the cascading melodies and ever-evolving beats.
Review: After her magnetic debut EP for Running Circle in 2017, Nottingham's Yazmin Lacey lands on our charts with her follow-up 12", a piece of work that sounds deeply accomplished and expansive for being her second EP to date. Largely roaming within the jazzo-sphere, When The Sun Dips 90 Degress is a beautifully seductive five-tracker, with the artist's voice reigning supreme over the cascading showers of piano keys and subtle electronics, somehow tapping into the Alice Coltrane sort of vibe. There's no harp here, but plenty of soulful charisma. Fear not thy devout jazz fanatic - this can get real deep and real smooth. It's a broken beat fan's dream some true. More from Lacey is, indeed, expected in the remainder of the year. Marvellous stuff.
Review: Foundation Music take two of the standout tracks from Lady Blackbird's critically acclaimed debut album 'Black Acid Soul' and enlist the expertise of some of jazz's finest talents - Greg Foat and Emma-Jean Thackray - to step up and remix these absorbing cuts. Jean-Thackray delivers a casual, hypnotic, broken-beatific dream-imagining of the track 'Blackbird', replete with bustling piano backings and amphitheatrical echo. Foat, meanwhile, pulls out the smoother-edged, slow-jammed stoppers on his version of 'Collage', in what amounts to a deeply sensuous downtempo funk head-nod.
Review: Primetime smooth soul on the long-awaited 7" release of the fourth collaborative work between Lagheads and HIMI, 'Dance'. With impeccable production scooping out a thick copse of luscious basses, watery chorused electrics and glittering twinkles, the track is difficult to compare to any other; HIMI's vocals are fay as they are nimble, sounding sultrily pucklike over the sheer sonic city-soul fabric that is the instrumental piece. The B-side hears a remix by Hikaru Arata of WONK!A fame and fleshes out the latent weight of the track for a jazzier hip-hop version.
Review: 2 more gems from the ever growing Dynamite Cut 7 inch series. First up and first time ever on a 45 featuring Linda ''Tequilla'' Logan on vocals on a dirty funk drenched groove. On the flip the rare super sexy 7 inch version of the infamous Turn Off The Lights taken from the original tapes is presented here. Infectious essential classic funk for the nu & old generation alike.
Review: Last time we heard from Cleon and Jazzy Pidjay, otherwise known as Last Bongo In Paris, was back in 2013 on EDR...and here they are back on the same label, and out the bottom of a hat. Similarly to last time, "Bahia Swing" manages to conjure the right balance between jazz, funk and something a little more tropical, a sound and panache that is carried through to the following four cuts of juice. Our favourites are "Ritmo Loco" for its Latin energy, and the delightfully broken "Jarumba". If you're looking for something a little jazzy and saucy, but that pushes beyond the genre's natural confinements, this is it.
Review: This is the debut release by the French duo Last Bongo In Paris, also known as Cleon & Jazzy Pidjay. Both are DJs and producers with a background in Latin funk and jazz-funk, and these influences more than strongly shine on 'Green Season', a release whose priority is heavy breakbeats backed by a whismical, live-instrumental flavour. The title track swims and sways through meandering kazoos and psychedelically-filtered falsettos, while the B-side brings up the flip with yet three more incredible live-but-edited-in-post numbers, plus a really weird, never-heard-before 'Bonus Scratch'.
Review: Dynamite Cuts is one of the most aptly named labels in the game. Its latest releases have focused on The Last Poets with 'Tribute To Obabi' droopy on the same day as this one to kick off 2023 in style. As per that 45rpm, this one features a special 7" edit of a longer tune in 'Blessed Are Those Who Struggle'. It's laced with musings on oppression and slavery with funky drumming and speak-sung vocals making for a compelling mood. On the A-side is the Afro-jazz of ''It's A Trip' complete with unique vocal styles and funky basslines.
Review: 1977's Delights of the Garden, which saw The Last Poets accompanied by legendary soul-jazz sticks-man Bernard Purdie, remains one of the proto-rap innovators' greatest albums. The team behind the Dynamite Cuts label clearly agree, because they've decided to stick two of the set's most magical tracks on one must-have 45. On the A-side there's a chance to savour LP highlight 'It's a Trip', where the band sings and speaks over skittish, loose-limbed Purdie breakbeats, fizzing funk guitars and rubbery bass. Turn it over for special (and tastefully executed) 7" edit of 'Blessed Are Those Who Struggle', a classic chunk of politically charged proto-rap featuring killer drum work from the ever-impressive Purdie. In a word: essential!
Review: Unsettled Scores Records presents the long-overdue release of the soundtrack to The New York Graffiti Experience 1976, a seminal documentary by Fenton Lawless. One of the earliest films to document NYC's graffiti culture, the project began in 1974-75 as a slideshow created by Lawless and producer Justine DiIanni and featured original photos as well as the track 'French Fry 97.' That song, along with other recordings from 1974 by Lawless and his band, now appear on this official soundtrack, which is previously unreleased. The music captures the raw thrill and creativity of a pivotal moment in underground culture so this is a vital piece of NYC history.
I Don't Know What It Is But Keep That Light Shining On Me (Keith Lawrence Refix version 1) (4:26)
I Don't Know What It Is But Keep That Light Shining On Me (Keith Lawrence Refix version 2) (4:32)
Review: Keith Lawrence is a DJ and producer from Brixton in South London with plenty of credentials, and here he serves up a pair of refixes of 'I Don't Know What It Is But Keep That Light Shining On Me', a reggae jam with an edge. The first one is laden with hooky guitar riffs and has soaring call-and-response vocals expanding the sound up top. The second is more raw and a little stripped back with a focus on the timeless rhythms and sounds. Two tunes that demand to be played loud and with bass - obviously - pushed to the max.
Review: Jarrod Lawson's latest release pairs his soulful stylings with the dynamic vocals of Raquel Rodriguez in 'Next Move,' a nostalgic yet fresh r&b slow jam. Channeling the feel of classic 90s ballads, the track explores a charged intrigue between two strangers with a blend of innocence and allure. Years in the making, this collaboration reveals each artist's strengths, weaving a groove that feels timeless. Released via Dome Records, 'Next Move' is set to be a highlight of this year, merging retro influences with contemporary energy.
Review: Food Stamps is a great example of a record that fell between the cracks on its original release back in 1982. The one and only release from Baltimore-based funk-rock explorer Billie Senger, it has achieved cult status amongst record collectors due to its obscurity (finding original copies is notoriously tough). This reissue - pressed on green vinyl with new cover artwork - should, then, prove popular. "Food Stamps" - a riotously loose and floor-friendly chunk of funk from the Rare Earth school of white funk-rock - is the real killer, though the MC5-influenced flipside "How Do I Know" impresses with its fuzzy, recorded-in-a-shed feel and extra-cosmic production.
Review: Dreamy, lo-fi souldance from Curtis Lee, a rare name in the world of soul and funk who released but one small on Canton, Ohio's Spade Records in 1979 - this now cutely-reissued single, 'Steppin'. Featuring the crooner doubling up with an uncredited female vocalist on a late-night boozy rendezvous, we're keen to learn a new meaning of the word "steppin'". 'Funkadize Me Please' is an equally charming and naive B-side, predictive of the stark minimality found in much UK soul.
Give Me The Sunshine (extended UK 7" Grapevine RED 3 mix) (4:40)
Review: Leo's Sunshipp is an iconic rare groove record that gets a reissue here on Expansion. The special Record Store Day 2021 limited and hand-numbered 7" offers up two different versions, both of which are primed and ready to add at least 10 degrees of heat to even the sunniest DJ set. The original US 7" mix is languid and long legged, laidback and in a hurry to go nowhere fast. The soaring strings and steamy vocal, tumbling perc and distant horns capture a lazy afternoon soaking up some rays. The extended UK 7" Grapevine RED 3 mix ups the ante a little for slightly more energetic moves.
Review: The Leonhart Brass Band, the latest project from trumpeter Michael Leonhart, was born out of the 2020 lockdown, an inventive response to the halt of his 18-piece orchestra performances at NYC's Jazz Standard. Stripped down to a brass-heavy ensemble that could perform outdoors without amplification, Leonhart took inspiration from classic brass bands like Dirty Dozen and Rebirth, blending in hip-hop and funk influences to create a unique sound. The opening track, 'Jabbar', is a tribute to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball icon with a rich jazz background. Centred on an infectious bass riff in C minor, Leonhart's trumpet and Jason Marshall's bass saxophone deliver bold, brassy solos, conjuring the vitality and strength of the track's namesake. Another standout is 'The Iceman', a nod to George Gervin, the basketball great known for his unflappable demeanour on the court. The brass section splits into two distinct groups, creating counterpoint melodies that mirror Gervin's grace and intensity. Stuart Bogie's baritone sax solo, complete with tape echo, adds an unexpected texture, grounding the track in a deep, funky groove. With members from Antibalas, the Dap-Kings, and Red Baraat, the Leonhart Brass Band fuses tight musicianship with an exhilarating energy that carries the weight of New Orleans tradition, while forging its own path in the modern jazz and funk worlds.
Review: Two formerly passed-over bonus tracks from two of Lettuce's earlier records, 2008's Rage! and 2012's Fly respectively. The US collective and Berklee College graduates, seasoned stalwarts of funk and soul, first featured 'Monorail 3000' and 'Star Children' as afterthoughts on their otherwise sprawling third and fourth records, both funded by Velour Recordings. The tracks alternate between dextrose sweetness on the light-rail A and cosmic rocketship B-side, demonstrating the great versatility of these all-heart alumni.
Review: The Lewis Connection was a Soul / Funk band from Minneapolis who may have looked like your average local band save for one exception - the guest member addition of Prince. These tracks are lifted from the self-titled album and "Got To Be Something Here" with Prince on background vocals and guitar marks the first time he appeared on a release by another artist on a track he did not write. In addition, it's also considered an early record of what would become the signature Minneapolis funk sound. This fine historically rich tune will be available in 45 rpm format for the first time.
Review: Numero are taking a look through the cult Chicago label Magic Touch and dusting down some of the most coveted releases from their archives, starting with this smokin' hot joint from Light Touch Band. It's a record of two halves which kicks off with the laid back rap of 'ChiCAGO (Is My Chicago)', a funky-as-hell jam which pays tribute to the Windy City in fine style. The flip is the real gem though, as 'Sexy Lady' swerves into P-funk flavoured waters with dazzling results. The OG copies of this record were changing hands for crazy money, so don't hang around while this one's in reach.
Review: Occasionally a single comes along that shows off a contemporary group's samplework. 'Hustler's Convention' from Dynamite Cuts is one. This new 7" recalls funk supergroup Lightnin Rod's album of the same name - originally released in 1973, it is renowned for being one of the major influences on hip-hop, bringing a sociopolitical commentary to black music at the time. Here the original track 'Sport', named after one of the album's protagonist hustlers, is blended with the B-side 'Four Bitches Is What I Got', which builds a smoke-filled narrative story involving poker tables and underworld czars around the funk backing.
Review: While Last Poets are rightly regarded as the 'godfathers of rap', others would insist that Hustlers Convention - a 1973 solo album from member Jalal Nuriddin under the Lightnin' Rod alias - had more influence on the birth of hip-hop. In part, that's down to the funk backing he received on the album from his chosen backing bands, which included the mighty Kool & The Gang. Here, Dynamite Cuts prove the point by offering two killer cuts from the set on 7" for the very first time. A-side 'Sport' is a Blaxploitation style delight - all ear-catching horn motifs, shuffling funk breaks, weighty bass, wah-wah guitar and languid spoken word vocals - while 'Four Bitches Is What I Got' sees our hero make merry over a more stripped-back take on the same backing track.
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