Review: Two more rare grooves purloined from Cultures Of Soul's Brasileiro Treasure Box Of Funk & Soul and delivered on a sweet 45: Celia's "A Hora E Essa" is a steamy Latin funk workout from 72; all horns, cuicas and soft, honeyed vocals. Franco's "Ei, Voce, Psiu!" takes a more US funk idea with Franco's spoken vocals giving off a strong air of bandleader as the band lock down a tight groove beneath. Watch out for samba flip towards the end. Blink and you'll miss it.
Review: The FunkyJaws Music label invites us deep into their world for a third time here with another delicious 12".It's a various artists EP that features one of our top disco favourites - Eddie C. He opens up with 'Do You Wanna Dance' which has vocals pacing about the mix and old school acid bass twangs under raw house drums. Elado's '25.4 Millimeters' is a Middle Eastern funk workout with spangled drum hits and the flip side brings twisted acid disco and the cosmic trip that is 'In Your Ear With It' from Funkyjaws themselves.
Review: Mushroom Pillow is on a proud and so far successful mission to bring back Latin American music from the 60s-80s via its Relatin project. it's all about mixing up the traditional and the modern and putting fresh spins on what went before. Many of the originals they look to have gone unnoticed the first time round and that's the case here as Franc Moody adds his own twist to Elia & Elizabeth's 'Alegria.' His remix is a sympathetic one that gets the hips swinging over fat and funky disco bass and beneath the sunny Latin vocals. He strips them away on the instrumental version on the flip.
Review: The new sublabel, La Sirenetta will be celebrating the vibrant Italian Afro scene of the late 80s while aiming to elevate World Music for today's dance clubs. This initiative focuses on unearthing and reissuing hidden gems from their extensive analog collections, spanning regions from Martinique to the Ivory Coast and Nigeria to Haiti. The first release features two tracks that encapsulate this vision: 'La Danza Della Giungla' on Side-1 and 'Quella E Una Bambola' on Side-2. Both tracks are expertly edited to ensure they resonate on contemporary dance floors, presenting them in high-quality, collectible 12" formats. With this launch, La Sirenetta promises to enchant collectors and DJs alike, laying the groundwork for a series of releases designed to invigorate Afro and world music scenes.
Review: Faze Action's Afro series hits a fourth and final volume with Zeke Manyika and Faze Action themselves at the helm of two new singles. The vibes on this one take their cues from Afro Latin and Balearic worlds with opener 'Maswera' bringing nice open-air festival sounds, rich horn work and expressive drum funk. Manyika's chants are the icing on the cake for this one. Then comes a nice dubbed-out remix of 'Rugare' by Faze Action with lively disco drums and loose-limbed percussion. The original on the flip is a more straight-up and dazzling disco cut while a paired back instrumental of 'Maswera' closes things down in style. Timeless Afro bombs for sure.
Review: Mr Bongo's gold-standard Brazil-45 series turns up more irresistible musical goodness here with steamy underground bubbler 'Quero Ver Voce Sambar'. This is thought to be the only ever recording by Homero Franca and it came originally on a 7" in 1976. It's warm, soulful, quite deep for Latin music and has great vocals. On the flipside is the more fiery Silvinha tune 'Mas Nao Deixe De Ir' with the raw vocals and big horns all making for a great call and response chorus with soulful samba sounds to spare.
Review: This is a real lost South American Latin Jazz-Funk treasure from Argentina taken from some original 1974 recordings led by Carlos Franzetti. Known for his late 70s jazz-fusion album Graffiti, Franzetti recorded Dedos after returning to Argentina from Mexico where he was musical director at Fermata International. His friend Mochin Marafiotti, A&R at Music Hall, proposed the Latin Jazz project and the session featured Ruben Rada, Ricardo Lew, Emilio Valle, Osvaldo Lopez and Franzetti himself. Though initially overlooked, Dedos and Doce y Diez now receive a long-overdue reissue as they remain high on energy and deeply jazz gems with a Latin twist.
Fogo No Chap (Fire In The Ground) (DJ Muro edit) (4:26)
Casino Bangu (Lembrancas Do Lincoln) (feat Banda Utopia - DJ Muro edit) (4:32)
Review: .You'd be hard pushed to find a more lively collision of sounds than this one from Friends From Rio. The Brazillian outfit mixed up jungle funk, samba, Latin, soul and plenty more on their 2014 album Friends From Rio Project. 'Fogo No Chap (Fire In The Ground)' is one of the single rom it and here it gets an edit job by DJ Muro who draws out the good bits, lets the loose rhythms flow and gives plenty of room to the steamy wind leads. Flip over this fine 7" and you'll find another summer ready sound in 'Casino Bangu (Lembrancas Do Lincoln)' (feat Banda Utopia - DJ Muro edit) which is more percussive and just as vibrant.
Review: Samosa Records returns with Afrikano Vol. 3 which is a lovely Afro-themed, genre-blending EP featuring four standout tracks from trusted artists. Kicking things off is Vincent Galgo's 'African Rebel,' a 125bpm fusion of horns, driving rhythms, and Afro-pop bass. Frank Virgilio follows with 'Mistress,' a jazz-infused mid-tempo groover, packed with guitar riffs, organ stabs, and hypnotic bongos. Newcomer Casper Leo delivers 'Tom Tom,' a tribal delight featuring Kora guitar and melodic Marimba. Closing the EP is Lego Edit's 'El Safari,' a sultry Afrobeat banger that grabs hold and doesn't let go.
Jorge Ivan Martin - "Yo Tambien" (feat Frank Santiuste - Born74 & Fradinho remix) (4:57)
Fradinho - "Iberica Latina" (4:59)
Review: Eclectic Beats Music is building up a fine head of steam and the sixth outing is a tidy 7" featuring two red-hot Latin broken beat cuts. The opener is a collaborative remix from Born74 and Fradinho who do a superb job of flipping Jorge Ivan Martin's original gem 'Yo Tambien Baile La Conga' into something more contemporary with fresh broken beats, plenty of steamy Latin flavours all finished off in electric fashion with Frank Santiuste's trumpet solos. Flip this one over and you will find Fradinho unearth an easier cut and again update with some compelling broken beats and funk as well as a rich bassline and silky synth solos.
Review: Mukatsuku has a well-earned reputation as a gold standard label for boogie, disco and Afro gems and that isn't going to change once you've heard this new one. It's packed with revived Afro disco sounds from Fred Fisher Atalobhor and His Ogiza Dance Band. 'WTFS' kicks off and was originally released back in 1981 but its infectious low end and funky rhythms, colourful synths and vocals laden with soul will still resonate on modern floors. On the B-side, 'Ebi Lolo' goes big on bold brass notes and jangling guitar riffs that all coalesce into an irresistible funk sound. This 12" also comes with a nice button badge and sticker.
Painel De Controle - "Relax" (extended Waxist version) (5:54)
Rabo De Saia - "Ripa Na Xulipa" (Charles Maurice extended version) (5:28)
Famks - "Labirinto" (Nick The Record extended version) (6:17)
Review: France's Favorite label dabbles in all things funky and disco-flavoured, and this time they've decided to go with a Brazilian edge on their latest 12". Painel De Controle begins with a Waxist mix of "Relax", a chilled-out boogie monster with sultry vocals, while "Ripa Na Xulipa" by Rabo De Saia is more uplifting and heavy on the disco strings. Finally, Nick The Record rewires "Labirinto" by Famks into a subtly electro-fied boogie nugget. Nice!
Review: Octave Japan collaborate with legendary illustrator Hiroshi Nagai to oversee and handle the artwork for a rare single reissue. Sourced from the vaults of the OG T.K. Records, to whom Nagai has been listening since day dot, The Perfections' super rare 1973 cut 'Love Storm' is a swelling romantic soul sundry from the Milwaukee muses, with impressive vocal glidings from the band's lead singer Harold Stewart lending to an unexpected mondegreen - we first heard "can't keep living this lifestyle" as the incorrect lapsus of "can't keep living this love storm". On the B-side comes Funky Nassau's 'Bahama Soul Stew', a much-loved modern rarity first released in 2005, much-loved indeed thanks to its 4x4 swag-bag and mellifluous Hammond dexterities.
Digital Justice - "Theme From "It's All Gone Pearshaped"" (12:12)
Dorothy Ashby - "For Some We Loved" (4:04)
Frantz Tuernal - "Koultans" (5:55)
Review: Melodies International is a real favourite label here at Juno HQ, headed up famously by Floating Points and finds including Mafalda. The third volume of their Melodies record Club is as good as anything the label has put out to date: it features a trio of jazz cuts selected by the one and only Hunee. First is Digital Justice's 'Theme From "It's All Gone Pearshaped"', a 13 minute live jam packed with synth action. On the flip is a spiritual piece from harpist Dorothy Ashby and Frantz Tuernal's 'Koultans'. Says Hunee, "these three distinct pieces of music tap into different layers of my memory."
Review: The vibrant Cuban music scene of the 1970s thrived with creativity, and FA-5's self-titled 1976 album perfectly captures that energy. Part of Mr Bongo's Cuban Classics series, the record blends Latin rock, funk, soul, disco, and Afro-Cuban rhythms into an eclectic and captivating sound. The funk-heavy opener, 'Muevete Con Las Fuerzas Del Corazon' features an infectious bassline, lively horns and drum breaks, setting the tone for a genre-hopping journey. With standout tracks like the Latin disco-funk 'Casa De Ladrillo' and a cover of Commodores' 'Brick House' this hidden gem, which was produced by Tony TaNo, is a must-have for both fans and collectors.
Curimao (Sons Onomatopaicos E Folk Da Guine) (6:48)
Solito (Solo De Balaue) (4:29)
Danado Cantador (Balaue, Orquestra E Declamacao) (A Fagner) (4:46)
Review: For the first in a series of must-have reissues of obscure Brazilian treats, Optimo Music and Selva Discos have joined forces to offer up a new pressing of Fernando Falcao's superb 1981 debut, "Memoria Das Aguas". The eight-track set has long been considered something of a slept-on and hard-to-find classic, with Falcao conjuring up an octet of tracks that brilliantly join the dots between neo-classical movements, dreamy, percussion-led soundscapes (see the sublime "Amanhecer Tabajara (A Alceu Valenca)"), spiraling big band Afro-Brazilian jazz ("Ladeira Dos Inocentes"), intoxicating classical-jazz fusion ("Revoada") and experimental, beat-free sound collages ("Mercado"). In a word: exceptional.
Review: Craft Recordings get back on their curatorially expert business with this serious new reissue from Fania All Stars, the long out-of-print Latin-Soul-Rock. This eight-track gem from the 70s salsa ultragroup (literally; FAS consisted of over 25 members at the height of its fame), released via their own label in 1974, documents the moment at which over 40,000 salsa punters visited New York's Yankee Stadium to catch a glimpse of their talents, alongside a myriad of other Latin greats. Fania All Stars threw a curveball, however, by not only playing pure salsa but blending it with styles like funk and soul, thus sticking out from the crowd and adding a spicier punch. We welcome this record, out via Craft Latino, with alacrity, as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of this 'wow' moment, which deserves to be documented even if solely for its powers of FAS' fusional imagination.
Review: Habibi Funk present a legendary Lebanese work from Issam Hajali's group Ferkat Al Ard. This groundbreaking release from 1978 is a truly international affair, as Arab, jazz, folk and Brazilian styles criss-cross with flair under the arrangement guidance of Ziad Rahbani. The sound moves between pop and psych to touches of bossa nova and tropicalia. For diggers who have been after this record for some time, it's worth noting the band insisted on two tracks being excluded which were on the original version, but they have been replaced by the equally stunning 'Juma;a 6 Hziran'. This is a gem of Lebanese musical history, and a quintessential release in the ever-essential research undertaken by Habibi Funk.
Review: By the time he recorded "Brazilian Dorian Dream" in 1976, Brazilian composer, musician, producer and bandleader Manfedo Fest had already worked on countless bossa-nova, samba and jazz albums, both in the United States and his native Brazil. Yet the album, which Far Out has now reissued, is like nothing else he recorded before or after - and not just because it was based on "the principle of the modal diatonic scales of the Dorian mode". Musically, it's deliciously vibrant and colourful, combining elements of his native Brazilian samba and bossa-nova with Azymuth style jazz-funk, American jazz-fusion, and futuristic, then cutting edge synthesizer sounds. Above all, though, the album strikes a near perfect balance between funkiness and the sweet sunniness that defines some of the greatest Brazilian music.
Review: Admirable reissue imprint Comb & Razor Sound continues to unearth, license and re-print lesser-known gems from around the world. Their latest find is Fire Woman, the incredibly rare third album from little-known nine-piece Foundars 15. Interestingly, the album's tracks are not straight-up Afro-funk or Afro-beat workouts. Instead, they various take in Cymande style reggae/soul fusion, psychedelic '60s style pop, wild funk rock/Afrobeat fusion, Hammond-laden torch songs, and skewed Afro-jazz. It's a curious but hugely entertaining hotch-potch of styles that makes for hugely enjoyable listening from start to finish. Highlights include fuzzy, solo-laden closer "Ekele", the anthem-like "Simin Boogie" and Fela Kuti-ish "True Light".
Review: 'Independance Cha Cha' was something of a historic anthem that immortalised Congo's independence and marked the debut release from a Congolese-owned record label, Surboum African Jazz, under the guidance of Joseph Kabasele. This pioneering move sparked a wave of new record labels in 1960s Kinshasa, led by the era's many musical luminaries. Planet Ilunga's Les editeurs Congolais series pays homage to these trailblazing label owners, starting with this, Les Editions Populaires, founded by Franco Luambo Makiadi in 1968. This compilation of 16 tracks from its early years showcases Franco's vision, spanning rumba, Lingala ballads, Kikongo traditionals, and even Yoruba influences, alongside American funk pastiches.
Review: What drives Amaro Freitas in life is experience. In 2020 the pianist, who hails from the Northeastern Brazilian coastal city of Recife, was drawn to Manaus, located in the Amazon basin, some 4600 kilometers to the west. His experience in that lush wilderness led him into a new realm of musical creation, one rooted in magic and possibility and tempered by a sense of stewardship for the earth's bounties and a connection to the Satere Mawe indigenous community. Crucial to the experience for Freitas was the maintenance of a true exchange of knowledge. According to Freitas, in the resulting album, Y'Y (pronounced: eey-eh, eey-eh), he pays "homage to the forest, especially the Amazon Forest, and the rivers of Northern Brazil: a call to live, feel, respect, and care for nature, recognizing it as our ancestor." This album is an artful conversation between its traditions, rooted in the unique sounds and rituals found in Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous cultures. With Y'Y, Freitas further codifies his fresh, 'decolonized' interpretation of Brazilian jazz, one that may well shatter preconceived notions of what jazz can be.
El Expresidiario (feat Humberto "huango" Muriel) (2:49)
Bang Bang (El Tiroteo) (3:07)
Langaruto (feat Humberto "huango" Muriel) (2:29)
Todo Es Todo (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:20)
Oriza (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (4:20)
La Chica Del Barrio Obrero (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:22)
Perlas Negras (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (4:15)
El Dia Que Naci Yo (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (5:36)
Algo Pa' Goza (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:38)
Yo No Vuelvo A Querer (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:04)
El Coco (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (4:46)
Dame Un Break (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:34)
Canto A Panama (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (4:23)
Cumbia Bacana (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (4:45)
Pa' Los Bomberos (feat "Piper Pimienta" Diaz) (3:38)
Caifaz (feat Joe Arroyo) (4:29)
Va A Llover (feat Wilson Saoko) (5:10)
Fruko Presidente (feat Joe Arroyo) (3:57)
La Loteria (feat Joe Arroyo) (4:22)
Review: Given that it can be tricky to track down the original album releases by Colombian 'salsa drura' greats Fruko Y Sos Sus Tesos, this compilation from Vampi Soul makes an excellent introduction to their trademark sound - even if it is made up of 'deep cuts and rarities; from the band's releases on the iconic Discos Fuentes label. This is fiery, dancefloor-ready salsa from the era of psychedelic rock, and it's that aural colour and low-end heaviness that catches the ear throughout. There's not a duffer amongst the 20 tracks on show, which makes picking highlights tough. That said, our current favourites include 'Bang Bang (el Tiroteo', the effervescent 'Oriza', the horn-heavy cheeriness of 'Perlas Negras' and the richly percussive 'Canto a Panama'.
Little Black Woman (feat Alfredo D'Ecclesiis) (4:36)
Maledetta Discoteca (4:06)
Boogie With Your Baby (4:14)
Divine Dance (4:20)
Juanita Shing-a-Ling (4:51)
Review: The Italian Funk ensemble Funkool Orchestra debut album 'Latin Freaks' is here. After a couple of highly regarded singles made the rounds, the full album was eagerly anticipated. Get ready for another dose of Neapolitan Funky Disco Boogie madness with a Latin touch. This album has a mixture of rare grooves, Napoli sound, disco Boogie, Latin soul and boogaloo, which is ideal music to soak up the culture of their native Italian coastline. The first run of releases sold out quickly and so might this reissue. Act fast and get one of best new funk bands in the style.
The Road Is Hard (But We're Going To Make It) (5:34)
Above The Rainbow (LP5) (3:28)
Love Lock (3:21)
What Can I Say? (5:01)
Musikana (7:03)
The Happy People (3:41)
Dom-Um (A Good Friend) (5:46)
Hungry On Arrival (7:30)
Review: Airto Moreira and Flora Purim are known as the legendary King and Queen of Brazilian Jazz. For the last 60 years they have been serving up rich and vivid albums as well as playing exhilarating live shows all over the world. They have fans all over the world from Japan's concert halls to the UK's jazz funk and jazz dance scenes and their latest album in 2022, If You Will, was nominated for a Grammy, proving that they very much still have it. A Celebration: 60 Years - Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories is a collection of their many best bits from over the years.
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