THE MUSIC CLASSIC INFO

Discovered this album while researching "People Make The World Go 'Round" covers, and dicovered just how damn near perfect this album actually is. Lead by session Saxophonist Ramon Morris, this was (unfortunately) his only solo outing as a band leader, and apparently one of the rarest albums on the "Groove Merchant" label. He gained notable recognition throughout the Jazz community by playing with the likes of both Woody Shaw & Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The most notable track on the album (for me) is "Lord Sideways," which takes use of the almost confusing at times 6/8 time signature, and has Morris and other players layering their solos almost oozingly of the track in the standard 4/4 progression. Take a listen, and you'll know what I'm talking about...

The Players:

Ramon Morris (ts)
Albert Daily (el-p)
Mickey Bass (b)
Granville "Mickey" Roker (dr)
Cecil Bridgewater (tp)
Lloyd Davis (g)
Tony Waters (congas)

Track Listing:

A1 First Come, First Serve
A2 Wijinia
A3 Sweet Sister Funk
B1 Sweat
B2 Don't Ask Me
B3 Lord Sideways
B4 People Make The World Go Round

Thanks to these sites for their original posts of this album: Soul Food, Hard Funk, Avaxhome, and Oufarkhan.

There's also a tremendous write by on of the alumni at this website regarding this same album: http://www.heavysoulbrutha.com/ -- Enjoy everybody. Glad to be back!!

Side 1
01 On To A-Pot-O-Max
02 Sodomy
03 Black Boys / White Boys
04 Ripped Open By Metal Explosions
05 The Bed
06 Don't Put It Down

Side 2
07 Walking In Space
08 Colored Spade
09 Donna / Hashish
10 Freakout
11 Air

Features the classic cut "Ripped Open By Metal Explosions" & the renowned drummer Idris Muhammad on drums/precussions. I had been looking for this record for years, and thanks to SPIRAL here it is, but unfortunately, just like with every "Hair" record, it lacks that certain PUNCH that it's most famous cut so predominately displays. Still a great album though. Enjoy.

Track Listing:

01. Stephane Saunier Intro
02. Ohio Players
03. Love Comes And Goes
04. Money Is King
05. Let’s Talk It Over
06. Ladies
07. Honey Dove
08. My World
09. Do You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)
10. Stephane Saunier Ending

Visit SoPedradMusical for the original link. Back soon, I hope. Blogger has decided to start pulling my posts completely, even though I'm not hosting the links directly. I've tried to use this spot as a friendly guide to what we all want, but they've decided that I can't even do that anyone... I think I have to relocate. What do you think!?!

"Gaspare "Gap" Mangione (born July 31, 1938) is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader from Rochester, New York, United States. Born and raised in Rochester, Mangione's younger brother is Grammy-winning flugelhornist Chuck Mangione. Members of a music-loving family, both Gap and Chuck took up instruments. In 1958, they started performing together as the Jazz Brothers, eventually recording three albums for Riverside Records. In 1968, Gap Mangione released his first solo album, Diana in the Autumn Wind, featuring drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Tony Levin in their first recordings, and new compositions and arrangements by Chuck Mangione who conducted as well. The 1970s brought more solo albums along with tours with his own group and many as featured pianist in his brother's orchestral performances. In the 1980s, Mangione began to spend more time playing in and around Rochester and less time on the road. In 1990, he formed the Gap Mangione New Big Band, which remains the premier dance and concert big band in the Rochester area. The New Big Band has released four CDs since 1998. Many major rappers and producers, including Madlib, Slum Village, and Talib Kweli, have sampled Gap's Diana in the Autumn Wind for their recent works. Today, Mangione continues to make regular appearances at Rochester locations, among them the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa (since May, 1987) and the Rochester International Jazz Festival, as well as private gigs; he can be found playing solo, with the 14-piece New Big Band, the "New Blues Band" (a quartet) or his sextet. He and Chuck continue to play together, mainly for appearances with symphony orchestras, or with Chuck as special guest with Gap's big band.
In 2004 he received the Artist of the Year Award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester. Mangione lives in the Rochester suburb of Greece, New York with his wife, Janet; his children are Ardis Mangione-Lindley and Jason Mangione..." courtesy of Wikipedia.

Track Listing:

01. Boy With Toys
02. Diana In the Autumn Wind
03. Long Hair Soulful
04. Yesterday
05. The Xlth Commandment
06. St. Thomas
07. You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
08. Pond With Swans
09. You Are My Sunshine
10. Free Again
11. Dream On Little Dreamer
12. Graduate Medley: Scarborough Fair, The Sounds of Silence, Mrs. Robinson

I'm sure you'll recogonize the all too famous sample by Ghostface, and J DIlla as well. Visit the original post for the link at: SoPedradMusical

Marva Whitney – The First Lady Of Funk by Charles Waring

"When it comes to feisty femme funk or sassy sock-it-to-‘em soul, mighty Marva Whitney has no equal.
Blessed with a lithe yet powerful church-raised voice, she first made her mark with the James Brown Revue in the late-1960s. Such was her impact during that time that she earned the titles “Marvellous Marva” and “Miss Excitement” for her dynamic stage performances. James Brown even went so far as to proclaim her “Soul Sister #1.” Many of the records she cut while she was the Godfather Of Soul’s protégé are now extremely rare and eagerly sought after by Rare Groove disciples, who regard Marva as the funkiest of all James Brown’s female singers.



Marva was born Marva Ann Manning on May 1st 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas. She was the eldest of seven children belonging to Ray Manning, a worker for the Santa Fe railway, and his wife, Willa Mae. Interested in music at an early age, Marva sang her first solo in her local church when she was only three years old. Later, during the1950s, she began singing and playing piano alongside her younger brothers in the Manning Gospel Singers, and toured the USA.
In 1960, when she was 16, Marva joined another Kansas gospel group, the Alma Whitney Singers, and ended up marrying Harry Whitney, the brother-in-law of the group’s leader. Now going by her married name, Marva Whitney, she also started playing piano for a local all-girl harmony group. Eventually they disbanded and Marva, who had elected to embark on a solo career, began studying voice and composition with the legendary jazz pianist and big band leader, Willie Rice, at the Kansas City Conservatory Of Music.



After Marva left school at 18, she got a job working at Fashion Built Garments, where she sewed fur collars to coats. She did this for two years, before getting an office job and doing clerical work.
But what she really dreamed of becoming was a professional singer. At weekends she performed in nightclubs and took part in talent competitions. By the mid-‘60s she had became lead singer for a local R&B group called Tommy and The Derbys, led by Tommy Gadson, brother of legendary drummer James Gadson (who rose to fame with Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band). When the group moved to California, Marva stayed behind.
Continuing to perform in Kansas clubs, she eventually caught the ear of Clarence Cooper, a local music entrepreneur who became her manager. In 1966 Cooper set up a meeting with Ben Bart, owner of Universal Attractions, James Brown's booking agency. Bart was going to Kansas with Brown, who was scheduled to play there. However, a riot broke out at the concert, which unfortunately prevented the meeting from taking place.



At the end of April 1967, James Brown visited Kansas again to play at the Memorial Hall. Cooper went along and discovered that the self-proclaimed “Hardest Working Man In Show Business” was seeking a new female vocalist for his Revue to replace the departing Vicki Anderson. Cooper persuaded Brown to grant Marva an audition. After the gig ended and the hall had cleared, Brown’s bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, brought Marva onto the stage and went through some songs with her. He was evidently impressed by her audition and strongly urged The Godfather to hire the 23-year-old singer.
By May, Marva was riding on the Brown tour bus. She also signed to the funk meister’s record company, the Cincinnati-based King label, and in early summer began cutting tracks. James Brown was actually absent from her first studio session, which yielded the debut single, Your Love Was Good To Me, a searing soul ballad penned and produced by Motown singer, J.J. Barnes, with Walter Whisenhunt. The Detroit-based duo also helmed the record's flipside, Saving My Love For My Baby, a driving uptempo soul tune, which is now popular on the UK's Northern Soul scene,
In June 1967, Marva joined Brown and his entourage at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theatre, where Soul Brother #1 recorded his second landmark in-concert album, Live At The Apollo Volume II. She duetted with Brown on the album's energetic opener, Think.
Marva then went with the Revue to Europe in September 1967, appearing in England, Germany, Denmark and France. Around this time, her second single, If You Love Me, a plaintive country-tinged ballad - and her first record featuring the input of James Brown - was released on King.
After it failed to chart, Brown decided to take Marva in a radically different direction and masterminded her recording of a tune called Unwind Yourself. A ferocious, highly charged chunk of funk characterised by manic horn lines and heavy rhythmic syncopations, the record featured an intense, strident vocal from Marva. Although it didn’t chart when it was released in January 1968, Unwind Yourself heralded Marva’s new funk-oriented sound.
Marva toured incessantly with James Brown throughout 1968. In March, she ventured as far as Africa’s Ivory Coast before embarking on a tour of the Far East in June, where after stops in Korea and Japan, a smaller version of Brown's group was allowed to play for US servicemen in war-torn Vietnam. Attired in combat fatigues and ferried by airplane, helicopter and armour-plated buses to various military bases within Vietnam, Brown and his group played to thousands of appreciative soldiers. But their adventure wasn’t without risk – while travelling by helicopter, the Viet Cong actually fired at them.
Further singles in 1968 by Marva (including I’m Tired I’m Tired I’m Tired and What Do I Have To Do To Prove My Love To You) heightened her profile, though sadly, national chart action still proved elusive. In January 1969, Marva performed with James Brown at President Richard Nixon's inaugural ball alongside Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Barbara McNair. Four months later she was rewarded with her first R&B hit, It's My Thing, co-written by Marva with James Brown and intended as an answer song to The Isley Brothers’ It’s Your Thing. The record spent seven weeks in Billboard's US R&B Hot 100, peaking at #19 in the summer of 1969 (#82 Pop).
Cover features on Marva followed in the US press – the prestigious magazines Jet and The Scene both included in-depth profiles. Marva also made numerous appearances on national television, performing on The Merv Griffin Show, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, the Mike Douglas Show, Playboy After Dark and many other TV programmes.
Further funk 45s, Things Got To Get Better and I Made A Mistake Because It's Only You, also made their presence felt on the US R&B Top 40. This prompted James Brown to consolidate Marva's success by releasing a long-playing record. She had already recorded an album of jazz standards for King with the Dee Felice Trio at the beginning of the year. Entitled I Sing Soul and assigned a record company catalogue number, the LP never came out, though test pressings were made. It is thought that King decided to shelve the album and release the harder hitting It's My Thing to capitalise on Marva’s newfound success as a funky diva.
Despite having some hit singles under her belt, the album It’s My Thing didn't experience any chart action. Even so, Marva scooped a “Golden Mike Award” from the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers that year. But by the end of 1969, Marva decided it was time to leave the James Brown camp. Her final engagement with Mr. Dynamite was at The Apollo Theatre just before Christmas in December 1969.
King issued a second LP, Live & Lowdown At The Apollo, in early 1970, by which time Marva was at home in Kansas waiting to make her next move. She wasn't inactive for long and cut a tremendous funk 45 called Giving It Up on Love, which was released on the Isley Brother's T-Neck imprint. But the record was poorly promoted and Marva withdrew from the music industry for a while.
In November 1970, she married Ellis Taylor, who began his own independent label called Forte based in Kansas. After a year's respite from the music business, Marva began recording for Forte and between the years 1972-74 released a clutch of strong but poorly promoted 45s – among them were Daddy Don’t Know About Sugar Bear and Live & Let Live, both of which were picked up for national distribution by Nashboro’s Excello subsidiary.
During the rest of the ‘70s Marva kept a low profile but in the early 1980s she briefly performed as part of a trio called Coffee, Cream & Sugar. In 1988, Marva’s career was revitalised by the release of James Brown’s Funky People, a CD showcasing the work of Marva and other members of The Godfather of Soul’s Revue. The success of that album (and a second volume released later the same year) resulted in several successful European tours as a member of the JBs Allstars alongside Bobby Byrd, Vicki Anderson, Lyn Collins, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis.
Marva’s music also provided some of hip-hop’s hardest working samples during that time. DJ Mark The 45 King famously looped the intro to Unwind Yourself on the dance hit, The 900 Number, in 1989 and introduced Marva to a new generation of listeners. In 1997, seven of Marva’s songs were featured on a Universal 2-CD retrospective called James Brown’s Original Funky Divas, while in 2000, Britain’s Soul Brother label reissued the in-demand It’s My Thing on CD for the first time.
In 2004, Marva’s career gained new impetus when she joined forces with DJ Pari and the Hanover-based Soulpower organisation. Recent high voltage performances in England, Germany, France, Sweden and Finland, attest that Marva is enjoying a new lease of life on the road. More importantly they confirmed that Marva Whitney is still the voice of funk."

"Shot Me In the Heart" music video, off of the "Black Dynamite" Original Score, available from Wax Poetics...


Adrian Younge & The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra from the ASCAP Music Cafe 2010 (Sundance Film Festival...


The Wax Poetics "The Midnight Hour" featuring Adrian Younge & The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra...


And coming soon, Adrian Younge gives insight into the inspiration, and the making of the "Shot Me In The Heart" music video...

A fantastic bit of tripped out funk! Cane & Able were one of the many groups that came out of the collective surrounding the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band in the early 70s -- and like that group, Cane & Able draw on a wide range of influences to create a heavy funky sound. The album mixes the African influences used by the LARB with more of a hard soul vocal approach, with some cuts sounding a bit like material from Atlantic albums of the late 60s, but handled with more of a fuzzy edge. Includes a great funky reading of Wilson Pickett's "Don't Knock My Love", a cover of "Who's Gonna Take The Weight", and the long tripped-out groover "Girl You Move Me"! © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Line-up: French Thompson (Lead Vocals,Arrangements), Blinky Bostic (Conga,Timbale), Garland Edwards (Guitar), Norris Ridguard (Trumpet,Valve,Trombone), Pee Wee Carter (Drums), George Alford (Trumpet,Vocal), Doc Brown (Bass), Billy Ellis (Alto & Tenor Sax).

1. Girl You Move Me
2. Starchild
3. Who's Gonna Take The Weight
4. Don't Knock My Love
5. Green Grass
6. Toe Hold
7. Found A Child

Enjoy. Back soon. Peace!!

Heavy funk from the Indy scene of the late 60s -- the lost album by one of the funkiest combos in the Midwest! Ebony Rhythm Band have an incredible sound that seems to take the heavy bottom of New Orleans Funk and merge it with the trippier elements of Detroit psychedelic soul -- no surprise, considering they hailed from Indianapolis, a point about halfway between the two cities! The tracks on the set have a really great tripped-out groove -- using lots of guitar and organ over heavy rhythms, in a style that's a bit like the Meters at times -- but a lot freer flowing. The album features 2 tracks that formed the basis of one of the group's singles -- plus a lot more that were never issued at the time, including a few by other incarnations of the combo! Titles include "Soul Heart Transplant", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Light My Fire", "Vanilla Fudge", "Get Yourself Together", "Drugs Ain't Cool", "Fool Am I", and "It's Too Late For Love". CD contains the bonus alternate version of "Light My Fire". © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Ebony Rhythm Band: John R. "Ricky Jackson (vocals, organ); Robert L. "Master Boobie" Townsend (guitar); Lester L. "Pig" Johnson (bass guitar); Matthew R. "Phatback" Watson (drums).

1. Soul Heart Transplant
2. Light My Fire
3. Ode to Billy Joe
4. Vanilla Fudge
5. Drugs Ain't Cool
6. Medley: Get Yourself Together/Smiling Phases/Sunshine of Your Love
7. Thought of Losing You [Edit][Alternate Take]
8. Can I Call You Baby
9. It's Too Late for Love
10. Fool Am I
11. Light My Fire [Alternate Take]

Enjoy. Back Soon. Peace!!

Rounding off my memorable holiday listening is this Curtis Mayfield soundtrack from the film "Short Eyes." Now this is one depressing ass record, but considered by me, personally, one of Curtis' best I've ever hear. He really taps into some classical elements on a lot of these compositions. Short Eyes is set in an unnamed House of Detention in New York City, the prisoners of which are predominately black or Puerto Rican. One day, a new prisoner is brought in: Clark Davis, a young, middle-class white man accused of raping a young girl. His fellow prisoners immediately turn on him — pedophiles are considered the lowest form of prison life — except for Juan, one of the institution's older prisoners, who treats him with dignity. While Davis insists he doesn't remember raping the girl, he admits that he has molested several other children. Nevertheless, the case against him is weak and, unless Juan tells prison authorities about Davis' confessions to him, it is only a matter of time before he is set free. As Juan struggles with what to do, the other prisoners plan to rid themselves of Davis permanently... Curtis actually appears in the film as a prisioner performing the song "Doo Doo Wop Is Strong In Here"... The album is brought to us courtesy of Blog - O - Blog, where the really believe it's quality over quantity, so stop off and see them...

Track listing:

1. “Do Do Wap is Strong in Here”
2. “Back Against the Wall”
3. “Need Someone to Love”
4. “A Heavy Dude”
5. “Short Eyes/Freak, Freak, Free, Free, Free”
6. “Break It Down”
7. “Another Fool in Love”
8. “Father Confessor (Instrumental)”

This here is some more of my holiday listening, courtesy of the HIPHOPKILLERZBLOGSPOT. This compilation contains 60+ Tyrone Davis tracks ranging from 1969-1983, and is over 350mbs. Sheesh! There's some really good cuts contained here, and some really crappy disco ones too, but hey, it's Tyrone Davis, right!?! The vinyl headz will love the crackle on a lot of these tracks as well; must be a straight vinyl rip. Good stuff. Stop by there blogspot and give 'em a shot out if you could; they got some really good stuff. Enjoy.

Tracklisting :

01 - Knock On Wood
02 - Can I Change My Mind
03 - You Can't Keep A Good Man Down
04 - A Woman Needs To Be Loved
05 - The Waiting Was Not In Vain
06 - Let Me Back In
07 - I Keep Coming Back
08 - After All This Time
09 - This Time
10 - Was I Just A Fool
11 - You Wouldn't Believe
12 - Without You In My Life
13 - True Love Is Hard To Find
14 - I'm Just Your Man
15 - Happiness Is Being With You
16 - I Wish It Was Me
17 - I Can't Make It Without You
18 - You Don't Have To Beg Me To Stay
19 - What Goes Up (Must Come Down)
20 - It's All In The Game
21 - HomeWreckers
22 - I Ain't Me No More
23 - It's So Good (To Be Home With)
24 - Forever
25 - Saving My Love For You
26 - Don't Let It Be Too Late
27 - Close To You
28 - Put You Trust In Me
29 - Beware Beware
30 - I Just Can´t Keep On Going
31 - I Got Carried Away
32 - You Need Love
33 - Get On Up
34 - All I Ever Need
35 - Bunky
36 - I Can't Go On This Way
37 - I'm Still In Love With You
38 - Do You Feel It
39 - Be With Me
40 - Heart Failure
41 - Love You Forever
42 - Really Gonna Miss You
43 - We Were In Love Then
44 - All The Love I Need
45 - Ain't Nothing I Can Do
46 - I Don't Think You Heard Me
47 - I Can't Wait
48 - In The Mood
49 - I Just Cant Keep Going On
50 - Overdue
51 - Never Stopped Loving You
52 - Wanna Make It Good
53 - Are You Serious
54 - I'm So Excited
55 - Where Did We Lose
56 - Leave Well Enough Alone
57 - Do You Feel It
58 - Love (Ain't Over There)
59 - Just My Luck
60 - Satisfy You (Before I Satisfy Me)
61 - Let Me Be Your Pacifier

I spent alot of time listening to music this passed holiday week, and one of the albums that stood out to me in a MAJOR way was "Skull Sessions" by Oliver Nelson. This is a primo record, riddled with some heavy-hitting funk drums, and with all of the electronic synth work contained here, it reminds me alot of William Fischer's work the "Akelarre" album, but with a harder, classic Jazz edge to it; take a listen, you'll understand what I mean... Brought to us courtesy of GREG @ OUFAR KHAN, this one is definately worth a listen. Stop off and leave him some comments. Back soon. Peace!!

Track Listing:
1. Skull Session
2. Reuben's Rondo
3. 125th st, and 7th avenue
4. One for Duke
5. Dumpy Mama
6. Baja Bossa
7. In A Japanese Garden
8. Flight or Freedom

Personel includes:
Laurindo Almeida - Guitar;
Willie Bobo - Percussion;
Oscar Brashear - Trumpet, Flugelhorn;
Bobby Bryant - Trumpet, Flugelhorn;
Dennis Budimir - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric);
Buddy Childers - Trumpet;
Buddy Collette - Clarinet, Flute (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Flute (Tenor);
Vincent DeRosa - French Horn;
Chuck Domanico - Bass;
Jim Gordon - Drums;
Billy Green - Sax (Tenor);
Paul Hubinon - Trumpet;
John Kelson, Jr. - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone);
Shelly Manne - Percussion, Drums;
Grover Mitchell - Trombone;
Richard Nash - Trombone;
Oliver Nelson - Arranger, Conductor, Sax (Alto);
Bill Perkins - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor);
Jerome Richardson - Clarinet, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano);
Lee Ritenour - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric);
Bud Shank - Clarinet, Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor);
Lonnie Liston Smith - Piano, Piano (Electric);
Maurice Spears - Trombone (Bass);
Donald Waldrop - Tuba;
Chauncey Welsch - Trombone;
Mike Wofford - Synthesizer, Piano, Harpsichord, Piano (Electric), Arp.

Mediocre at best, and heavily disco, but contains a nice version of "Love & Happiness" - and not to mention I'm a sucker for any cover of "Brother Louie" that's out there... Arranged By - Mark Davis (2) (tracks: A1, A5, B4) , Paul Riser (tracks: A2 to A5, B1 to B3, B5) Artwork By [Creative Assistant] - Asari Graham Bass - Bob Babbitt , Eddie Watkins* , James Jamerson Bells, Percussion [Tympani, Vibes, Gourd] - Jack Brokensha Bongos, Congas - Bobbye Hall , Eddie "Bongo" Brown Drums - Aaron Smith (2) , Andrew Smith (4) , Ed Greene (2) , James Gadson , Richard "Pistol" Allen* , Uriel Jones Engineer - Art Stewart , Bob Robitaille , Cal Harris , Larry Miles , Russ Terrana Guitar - Billy Cooper , Eddie Willis , Joe Messina , Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin* , Paul Warren , Robert Ward , Robert White Mastered By [Mastering Engineer] - Orson Lewis Organ - Johnny Griffith , Mark Davis (2) Percussion, Tambourine - Jack Ashford Photography - Jim Britt Piano - Earl Van Dyke , Mark Davis (2) Producer, Mastered By [Mastering Engineer] - Norman Whitfield..

TRACKLISTING:

Side A
1. Help Yourself 3:15
2. Big John Is My Name 4:38
3. Brother Louie 4:28
4. I'm A Fool For You 3:02
5. Our Day Will Come 2:27

Side B
1. Just You 'N' Me 2:50
2. Love and Happiness 3:08
3. Law of the Land 4:36
4. The Girl's Alright With me 3:34
5. Save My Love For A Rainy Day 4:00

Enjoy.

Steve Reid is a true pioneer of boundary-breaking music. This latest project/collaboration is a continuation of a musical path that stretches back to the late 1960s. As a master drummer Steve Reid has played with Sun Ra, James Brown, Ornette Coleman, Fela Kuti, Archie Shepp, Miles Davis, Lester Bowie and many more. (Soul Jazz records)

"Steve Reid is one of the greatest living drummers. He has played with Sun Ra, knew Coltrane, played at Motown. I mean this is a guy who at 19 was playing drums with Fela Kuti in Africa. He is a musical genius. It’s a creative joy and honour to work with him." Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) After a number of groundbreaking live shows between Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) and legendary New York drummer Steve Reid, these two artists have embarked on two amazing new recording projects. The first release is the Steve Reid Ensemble (featuring Kieran Hebden) "Spirit Walk". This will be followed by a second album by Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid which will be released by Domino Records at the beginning of 2006. Both albums blend electronic experimentation within the frame-work of Steve Reid’s musical heritage. Gilles Peterson will be touring the UK in November alongside The Steve Reid Ensemble. An ardent fan of the music, Peterson has contributed the sleeve-notes to "Spirit Walk" along with another long-time musical admirer Val Wilmer. Steve Reid is a true pioneer of boundary-breaking music. This latest project/collaboration is a continuation of a musical path that stretches back to the late 1960s. A self-taught master jazz drummer Steve Reid played in Sun Ra’s Arkestra as well as being a session musician at both Motown Records (he plays on for instance Martha and The Vandella’s "Heatwave") and in James Brown’s in-house band at the legendary Harlem Apollo. In the mid-60s Reid went to West Africa, playing and learning the music of Ghana, Nigeria (playing with Fela Kuti), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal. On returning to New York he joined Sun Ra’s The Science Myth Solar Arkestra. In 1968 as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam war he was sentenced to 4 years in prison where he then taught a Black history course to his fellow inmates. In the 1970’s Reid formed the Legendary Master Brotherhood as well as running his own record company, Mustevic Sound, which released a series of his albums (2 of which have earlier been released by Soul Jazz Records). In a career now spanning over 40 years Steve Reid has worked with artists such as Lester Bowie, Miles Davis, Charles Tyler, Arthur Blythe, Ornette Coleman, Gary Bartz, Chief Bey, Archie Shepp, Sam Rivers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Leon Thomas and more. This new project is the latest part in Steve Reid’s musical odyssey. "A truly phenomenal artist. This is the album we've all been waiting a long time for. Steve Reid is steeped in musical history and yet this album has a modernity all of it's own." Gilles Peterson

Tracklisting

01. Lugano
02. Drum Story
03. Bridget
04. For Coltrane
05. Blind Tom
06. Which One
07. Lions Of Juda
08. It Cannot Be True
09. Unity

Still yet to be heard by myself, personally, but let's give it a go, shall we!?! Everyone report in with you thoughts on this one, I'd love to hear it, and so would everybody else... Divided into two parts, here is one, and here is two... Password in comments...

This classic album of deep Jazz was originally released in 1976. Steve Reid is one of the featured artists on Soul Jazz Records "Universal Sounds of America" alongside The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders. This record has never been released in the UK and was limited to 1000 copies in the USA in 1976! Steve Reid has played with, amongst others, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Dionne Warwicke, Archie Shepp, Chief Bey, Olatunji, Arthur Blythe, Lester Bowie, Dextor Gordon, Gary Bartz, James Brown, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sam Rivers, Leon Thomas, Fela Kuti, Fats Domino, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Lonnie Smith, Horace Silver! He has played in the house band at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, accompanying James Brown, as well as playing in Sun Ra's Arkestra! Also, Steve Reid lived next to John Coltrane, worked in a department store with Ornette Coleman, has a son who is the drummer for NWA, spent two years in jail as a conscientious objector of Vietnam, played drums on Martha and The Vandellas "Heatwave" (aged 14), released records on his own Mustevic Sound label in the 1970s and is a very cool person.

Tracklisting

1. Nova
2. Lions Of Judah
3. Free Spirits-Unknown
4. Long Time Black
5. Sixth House

Definately one of my favorite albums. Enjoy. All credit is due to ORGYINRHYTHM for turning me on to this one, long, long ago...

"It’s been a long time coming. In fact, for the past 8 years and 37 issues, we’ve wanted to do a Curtis Mayfield cover. It finally worked out for our unofficial Film/Hustler Issue, in which we take a look at Mayfield’s epic soundtrack recording, Super Fly. New York writer Michael Gonzales pulls from his own 1996 Curtis Mayfield interview as well as tapping Curtis associates, guitarists Craig McMullen and Phil Upchurch and composer/arranger Johnny Pate, to tell the story of the finest blaxploitation score of the 1970s.

Once again, we’ve created a split cover–with Curtis on front both times and the back shared by two classic films: Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (Radio Raheem in full effect) and Ralph Bakshi’s Coonskin (a Wax Poetics favorite). Besides speaking with both of these groundbreaking filmmakers, we also take a look at the new film Black Dynamite (an official Wax Poetics Records release), and music supervisor David Hollander reveals the fundamental facts of once-mysterious library music.

Last but not least, we finally unveil the Robert Beck aka Iceberg Slim story by longtime contributer Mark McCord (aka Mark Skillz). As the greatest hustler of all time, Beck finally gets his due.

Featured Articles:
Curtis Mayfield
“I don’t see why people are complaining about the subject of these films,” Curtis told Jet magazine in October 1972 in a statement that foreshadows the words of modern-day rappers. “The way you clean up the films is by cleaning up the streets. The music and movies of today are the conditions that exist.”

Spike Lee
What gets me mad about Bamboozled is that the New York Times refused to run the ad with Tommy Davidson and Savion Glover in blackface. The whole thing about the film was to show that there is a history behind this imagery.

Ralph Bakshi
When I was doing Mighty Mouse and The Mighty Heroes, I didn’t like what I was doing. That wasn’t the raw edge of life I grew up with. Bob Dylan was singing, the freedom marches were happening, Miles Davis was blowin’, and the stuff Coltrane was doing was brand new. So doing this stupid, old bullshit wasn’t good enough.

Also Includes:
Re:Discovery Melvin Van Peebles, Manfred Krug, Marvin Gaye, Judgment Night OST & John Carpenter; Roc Raida The Grand Master; Shadows and Phonographs: This sinister role of the turntable in Hollywood classics; Brotherman Blaxploitation soundtrack for a film that wasn't meant to be; Adrian Younge: Black Dynamite composer refuses to cut corners with his authentic old soul; Gangs On Film The South Bronx of 1979 documented in 80 Blocks from Tiffany's; Night Life Photographer Michael Abramson captured the magic of 1970s South Side Chicago; The Rhythm of Film DJ/producer David Holmes approaches soundtrack composition with a less-is-more philosophy; Mood Music European libraries created soulful instrumentals for '70s film and television; The Next Hustle Ex-pimp Robert Beck transformed into writer Iceberg Slim, introducing a new genre for literature, film and music; Comic Truth Animation and indie film pioneer Ralph Bakshi drew attention to race and culture;
Gangster Boogie Curtis Mayfield injected his own cultural commentary into the Super Fly legacy; The Provocateur Director Spike Lee continues to tell personal stories by any means necessary; Playing It Straight Black Dynamite director Scott Sanders crafts high-caliber blaxploitation homage; Analog Out Cybernetics, Louis and Bebe Barron, and the sonic life-forms of Forbidden Planet...

Issue available Friday November 13th

Another HUMUNGOUS drop by my man Ivan over @ HIPHOPISREAD. I had been personally bugging the shit outta him on TWITTER to drop this, and lucky for all of us out here in musicland, he did. Personally the sample track for "New-Wu" makes the comp well worth it... Coming in at a wopping 135MBs, you will definately not be disappointed with the amount of music which is contained here. Cheers HIPHOPISREAD... Here's a track listing:

Wax Poetics presents the Midnight Hour, with special guests the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, playing a bonus track from the original score available only at WaxPoetics.com - brought to you by Anaconda Malt Liquor.

Coming in at just under 5 minutes in length, you'll gain some rare insight into exactly what it took to create one of the most original soundtrack scores of this decade, courtesy of Adrian Younge, WaxPoetics, and the makers of the film "Black Dynamite." Cheers!!

Got turned on to this while searching the net for something rare, and out of the ordinary, and started to notice a lot of funk/soul/break sites talking about this VERY hard to find LP, and low & behold, our friends over at A Pyrex Scholar were nice enough to unearth this soul/funk/gospel for all of us. This post has gotten a shitload of views since it's debut back in January, so if you could please stop off and drop him a comment or two, and read his write-up concerning the record, it'd be much appreciated. Later.

Here it is, ladies & gentlemen. A pure labor of love. Recorded from January 2007-January 2008, and due to financial constraints, as well as line-up changes, has been delayed until now. Enjoy it, and leave comments to tell me what you think... Great to be back, y'all. Back soon. Peace!


Track List
1) Ain't Afraid of No Man
2) Who Goes There?
3) Distress Call
4) Endtroducing... Starkiller
5) George Jefferson
6) Silke Golden Words
7) Sunshine (Part 1 & 2)

Enjoy.

Bonus Track:
Livin' With Me Is Like (Keepin' A Fool)
Available here.