LOS CHARLY'S ORCHESTRA レコード& CD

Review: Venezuelan producers Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel are Los Charly's Orchestra, their sound characterized by a fusion of disco, funk and soul music with a gorgeous percussive Latin element. Clement Pony and Laura Ingalls are The Horses, their edit and remix reputation gathering nothing but praise from public and industry alike. Snatched up by French label Jazzmin, this two track release holds a plethora of influences behind its four collaborators, all of which are sprinkled liberally throughout. "Acid Village" from the Horses is a mid tempo burner, combining big arpeggio basslines, moody strings and vocal grooves with aplomb. The B-Side Los Charly's Orchestra remix comes replete with added vocals, synths and electronic percussions swerving in a totally different direction.

Review: London/Venezuelan troupe Los Charly's Orchestra handpick their favourite artists to deliver a series over genre-smelting remixes. The result is an instant party that stretches from the Latin-flecked jazz the band are best known for to G-funk, breaks, house, disco and loads more. Highlights include the tight slick chops of Cy Gorman & Ennio Styles LA beat flavoured take on "Rediscovering The Big Apple", Jimi Needles' Skeewiff-style upbeat breaks twist on "My Barrio" and Al Kent's deep dub funk disco version of "Wanna Do". Something for everyone; remix packages are seldom curated with this amount of attention to detail.

Review: Without knowing, you could so easily mistake this for an authentic piece of 70s Latin funk. The sparkling, roomy production might be a giveaway but you'll be so locked into the groove you won't care what decade you're in. It's a trick the London-based Venezuelan collective have mastered in recent years, picking up fans like Phil Asher and Joey Negro along the way. With bold Hammonds, a soft, unassuming horn section and some soul-soothing harmonies like this, it's not hard to see why.

Review: Classy release from Los Charly's Orchestra, who must have been listening to their Mizell Brothers albums when they came up with ''Dana's Dream''. Mid 80s jazz funk influences combine with Donald Byrd-esque trumpets and gorgeously warm clavinet keys - lovely stuff. On the flip wah wah guitar glides over a mid tempo disco beat. Only 300 pressed!

Review: Los Charly's Orchestra sorts Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel first worked with veteran British soul singer Omar on their 2017 double A-side single "It's So/History". All involved clearly had a good time, because they've decided to repeat the exercise. "Fire" is arguably a step up, with Omar's honeyed vocals soaring above a rubbery groove, heady female backing vocals, cut-glass strings and punchy horns on the standout "Classic Disco Mix". Elsewhere, the noticeably heavier "Neo-Soulful Disco Mix" sounds like the kind of sumptuous, all-organic soulful disco-house fare we'd expect to hear from the likes of Joey Negro and Yam Who. Wisely, the duo has also included instrumental revisions of both versions. We prefer the superb vocal takes, but it's nice to have the choice.

Review: They're back! Celebrating 10 years of LCO, Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel team up with certified don Omar for two soul-cuddling, sun-glazed fusions. "It's So" hits instantly with an Amp Fiddler flavour as its tempo, layered elements, quick-licking bass, sweeping strings and Omar's powerful vocals all gel in warm harmony. "History", meanwhile, takes a slow and smouldering route but with a bassline that gets raunchier on every listen. Don't take our word for it, though - check the instrumentals provided. Happy anniversary LCO!

Review: The latest missive from the Imagenes camp sees Los Charley's Orchestra rework two tracks from Manana, a Spiteri side project that released one jazz-fusion/samba disco album in 1981. Both "Amor" and "Disco Samba" are taken from that obscure but inspired set, and are here given "vocal" and "instrumental" revisions from the Los Charly's boys. All four revisions hit the spot from start to finish. We're particularly enjoying the spacey synths, low-slung dub disco grooves, fluttering vocals and well-placed delay effects of their "Amor" versions, though many DJs may gravitate towards the rolling, AOR disco bounce of the duo's more celebratory remixes of "Disco Samba".