Category Archives: Funk
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-THE MATRIX TAPES BOX SET.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-THE MATRIX TAPES BOX SET. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The Velvet Underground would surely have agreed with Charles Dickens in 1969. They had just endured the most tumultuous year of their career. The Velvet Underground released their eponymous third album in March 1969. It stalled …
RIM AND KASA-TOO TOUGH.
RIM AND KASA-TOO TOUGH. Music was in Rim Kwaku Obeng’s blood. Both his father and uncle were master drummers. So it was no surprise when he followed in their footsteps. He started life as Samuel K. Mfojo, in Begoro, Ghana. However, when his career in music began, he adopted the name Rim Kwaku Obeng. He …
PRIVATE WAX VOLUME TWO.
PRIVATE WAX VOLUME TWO. Nowadays, when a record company releases a successful compilation, the followup follows hot on its heels. Sometimes, only six months or a year has passed. However, it’s a case of striking while the iron hot. After all, it’s not easy for record companies to make money nowadays. So a successful compilation …
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE-LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST-OCTOBER 4TH AND 5TH 1968-VINYL EDITION.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE-LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST-OCTOBER 4TH AND 5TH 1968-VINYL EDITION. As promoters go, Bill Graham was one of the best. He seemed to have the uncanny knack of spotting bands on their way up. Often he managed to book bands just before they made it big. This meant when a band …
EJI OYEWOLE-CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME.
EJI OYEWOLE-CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME. In the sixties and seventies, the Nigerian music scene was thriving. New bands were constantly being formed. Similarly, new artists were making an impression on Nigerian music. This included Eji Oyewole. However, the flautist, saxophonist and future bandleader was different from his contemporaries and peers. Eji Oyewole was born in …
JOHNNY HAMMOND-GEARS.
JOHNNY HAMMOND-GEARS. Johnny “Hammond” Smith’s recording career began in 1958. A year later he released his debut album Have You Heard. This was the first of two albums Johnny “Hammond” Smith released during 1959. Over the next sixteen years, Johnny “Hammond” Smith released another thirty album. His thirty-second album was Gears, which was recently rereleased …
RIM KWAKU OBENG-RIM ARRIVES.
RIM KWAKU OBENG-RIM ARRIVES. For collectors of Afro-funk and disco, many albums remain tantalisingly out of reach. This includes Ghanian drummer Rim Kwaku Obeng’s legionary lost debut album Rim Arrives. It was released in 1977, four years after a perilous time for Rim Kwaku Obeng. He found himself stranded in London, without money, documents or …
THE SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA-RESISTANCE.
THE SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA-RESISTANCE. It’s ten years since The Souljazz Orchestra released their debut album Uprooted in 2005. However, The Souljazz Orchestra were no strangers to the Canadian music scene. They came to prominence two years after a new millennia dawned. Since 2002, The Souljazz Orchestra have been showcasing their inimitable sound. Back then, The Souljazz …
ISAAC HAYES MOVEMENT-DISCO CONNECTION.
ISAAC HAYES MOVEMENT-DISCO CONNECTION. Disco. Never has a musical genre divided opinion like the D word. It’s been described as musical Marmite. People either love disco, or they loathe it. There’s no in-between. However, forty years ago, in 1976, disco’s star was in the ascendancy. Artists were jumping onto the disco bandwagon. Especially artists …
ALL ABOARD! 25 TRAIN TRACKS CALLING AT ALL MUSICAL STATIONS.
ALL ABOARD! 25 TRAIN TRACKS CALLING AT ALL MUSICAL STATIONS. Nowadays, most compilations seem to be genre specific. They feature only soul, funky, jazz, psychedelia, pop or rock. Some compilations go even further, and focus on a sub genre of music. That’s because nowadays, many people seem to gravitate to one genre of music. It …
OMAR SOULEYMAN-BAHDERI NAMI.
OMAR SOULEYMAN-BAHDERI NAMI. It’s safe to say that Omar Souleyman is Syria’s most successful musical export. He has released over 550 albums. Granted some of these albums feature Omar Souleyman singing at weddings. They’re sold in kiosks in Omar’s native Syria. That’s where his nickname the Wedding Singer comes from. Despite Omar’s prolificacy, and nearly …
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE-LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST-OCTOBER 4TH AND 5TH 1968.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE-LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST-OCTOBER 4TH AND 5TH 1968. As promoters go, Bill Graham was one of the best. He seemed to have the uncanny knack of spotting bands on their way up. Often he managed to book bands just before they made it big. This meant when a band were …
GROOVE WITH A FEELING-SOUNDS OF MEMPHIS-BOOGIE, SOUL AND FUNK 1975-1985.
GROOVE WITH A FEELING-SOUNDS OF MEMPHIS-BOOGIE, SOUL AND FUNK 1975-1985. Ever since the birth of rock ’n’ roll, music has continued to evolve. As a result, musical genres have come and gone.Those that were resistant to change were left behind. That could’ve happened to many within the Memphis music industry in 1975. By then, soul …
HENRY STONE’S-MIAMI SOUND.
HENRY STONE’S-MIAMI SOUND. Henry Stone was a record man. That was the case since he founded his first record labels in 1952. Rockin’ and Glory were the first over over 100 record labels Henry Stone founded. These labels sold over 100 million copies. The most famous, and successful of these labels was T.K. Records, which …
DISCO 2: A FURTHER FINE SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT DISCO, MODERN SOUL AND BOOGIE 1976-80.
DISCO 2: A FURTHER FINE SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT DISCO, MODERN SOUL AND BOOGIE 1976-80. Just seven months after Soul Jazz Records released Disco: A Fine Selection of Independent Disco, Modern Soul and Boogie in November 2014, the London based label return with the sequel, Disco 2: A Further Fine Selection of Independent Disco, Modern Soul …
DJ VADIM AND SENA-GROW SLOW.
DJ VADIM AND SENA-GROW SLOW. Ten years ago, Sena and her band made long the journey from Accra in Ghana, to Budapest, Hungary to play at a festival. Sena never thought anything of it at the time when she agreed to the booking. Granted she was excited to be playing at such a prestigious festival. …
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