Tabu Ley Rochereau & L’afrisa International : Karibou Ya Bintou
taken from the album “Karibou Ya Bintou” on Sonodisc (197?)

Tabu Ley Rochereau & L’orchestre African Fiesta : Caroline Mama
taken from the album “Seigneur Rochereau” on Sonafric (196?)

Orchestre Regional de Kayes : Nanyuman
taken from the album “The Best ot the First Biennial of Arts and Culture for the Young” on Mali Music (1970)

I’ve often thought it would be quite alright to skip the majority of adulthood and go right into being a grandpa. I imagine it’s a lot less pressure than being an actual parent in the first degree. Rather than being the enforcer of rules and harbringer of spankings, I could be the spoiler, the precious gift giver, the kooky and eccentric source of history and wisdom. Perhaps I’d partake in a little cheek pulling and repetition of tale telling, but what really interests me most is kicking back in my rocking chair with a refreshing breeze ruffling what’s left of the hair on my head and a little block of soft wood to whittle with my wrinkly but agile hands. One signifigant detail which likely distinguishes me from the average American geriatric, is that somehow I picture myself growing old in West Africa. Don’t really know why, can’t explain it. I guess it might have something to do with my affinity for music like this.

Every music lover has an absolute weakness- if not several. It’s that soft spot in the ear drum that’s triggered by a specific combination of harmony, tone, fuzz, static, and something entirely supernatural. Once caught in the all-powerful rapture of this particular musical combination, the listener is rendered powerless in the world of mortals. Earthly concerns disintegrate, the fundamental separations that comprise our daily cognition become indecipherable, language is seen as the mere shadow that it always has been, and in the place of all our menial life’s travail, the listener is given a momentary glimpse of heaven’s horizon! This is the stuff that grandpas whittle for. While the phonograph spins another round under a Guinean moon.

Tabu Ley is a cat that lacks a pretty face, but more than makes up for it with his musical tastes. Although, I might suggest skipping over some of the “high octane soukous” of his late 80’s work. But that’s just me. The man has written more than 2,000 songs and his records still sell more than almost any other African artist- a living legend. As for the Ochestra Regional de Kayes, sadly this is their only record. And it has yet to be re-issued. Another beautiful song from this LP was recently compiled on the super-dope (required listening for people with similar soft spots) Love’s A Real Thing: The Funky Fuzzy Sounds Of West Africa.

Also, been meaning to post this for a hot minute. Some friends over in Austria really dug the Gumbo Funk EP and decided to put together this CRAZY music video for “The Don” in their free time (when they’re not shooting commercials and movies). Can’t really describe it, kinda gotta see it for yourselves. Check out the video from Illuminati Films right HERE.

Final Note: you can find a lot more classic African grooves at Aduna Blog. And there’s always Benn Loxo too!

Dom Um Romao : Lamento Negro
taken from the album “Spirit Of The Times” on Muse (1975)

Osvaldinho Da Cuica E Grupo Vai-Vai : Vendaval
taken from the album “Vamos Sambar” on Discos Marcus Perreira (1974)
note: the song title on the actual record label reads: “A Beleza E Voce Menina”, not sure which is the correct title.

Novos Baianos : Preta Pretinha
taken from the album “Acabou Chorare” on Som Livre (1972)

Swing is one of those things that’s quite difficult to put your finger on. It’s a bounce and a lag time. It’s the enemy of all things quantized. It’s far enough off beat to describe a whole lifestyle- that of the graceful yet wildly playful swinger. And swing also seems to be entirely at home in Brazil, where it evolved into a completely different genus than that somewhat tamer version which can be found here on records with Blue Note labels or the Creed Taylor stamp of approval. Not that American jazz is anything to goff at, ’nuff swing from Blakey and Roach, but Brazilian music seems unable to escape from swing’s grip. I’m not an expert in the area, like my man Gregzinho, but I feel like batucada, samba and bossa managed to thoroughly saturate the country’s musical output- at least enough to instill some of that swaggering swing as an ever-present Brazilian phenomenon. I’m giving you a funk-fusion track, a somewhat more straightforward samba joint, and a folk-rock hippie jump off here- all from 70’s Brazil, featuring some serious swing in effect. Maybe it’s just that shaker that I keep hearing?

Partly in the mood since lil’ brody proposed the highly tempting idea of trekking down south in the direction Rio, Sao Paulo, and Bahia during the rapidly approaching winter break. Trying to figure out right now if I can gather the necessary funds in time to make it happen. We’ll see…

Lucky for you, the Dom Um Romao album has been re-issued. Cop it here for a nice price. The Osvaldinho album is probably not so easy to find, but if you dig the soulful singing (loving that falsetto) from Papete, then you should look out for this album. The Novos Baianos album (really a beautiful collection) has also been re-issued, you can find it here.

Also, a Crate reader hipped me to this site where you can find TONS of ill Brazilian music (even some of the HIP HOP has swing!).

Tito Puente : Fancy Feet
taken from the album “On The Bridge” on TICO (1969)

Larry Harlow : Freak Off
taken from the album “El Exigente” on Fania (1967)

Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Sound : Shades Of Time
taken from the album “2” on Fania (1970)

Joe Bataan : Make Me Smile
taken from the album “Mr. New York And The East Side Kids” on Fania (1967)

Low ceilings. Little light. Sweltering heat. Lack of oxygen. Dust. Mold. Sweat.

And VINYL. Thousands upon thousands of old dirty records. Covered in the funk of ages. I had never seen so many records in such a small, tightly enclosed area- with such a minimum of consumer traffic! At the end of an enlightening and resuscitating Caribbean excursion, I found my place of yogic peace in amongst these alleys of long forgotten Latin hits, and misses. Surrounded by the countless products of creative individuals experimenting in their respective primes, I found myself reverently calm and silent. Here were the highest hopes and reveletory dreams of multiple generations of artists, mass produced masterpieces shelved and left for dead. Sadly, I walked into this digger’s heaven only three hours before my plane was scheduled to leave from San Juan back to NYC. But it’s almost better that I didn’t end up staying in that place any longer. I’m still sneezing up black boogers, and it’s been a full week now.

Finally, the last of my plastic picks has been windexed clean and all of the covers have been scrubbed and scraped of mold. A smell lingers, but I’m pretty used to the fine scent of a nicely aged attic mold at this point. The French appreciate their cheese don’t they?

So here is a small portion of my latest dig. Some crackles and pops to be sure, but the louder you play the music, the less this interferance is noticeable. I’m in an old-school upbeat soulful mood, thus the boogaloo and shingaling over the salsa and ballads today. But there’s plenty more where these tracks came from.

Curious to find out more? Tito, Larry, Roberto, and Joe were all (and everyone but Tito remain) highly prolific and groundbreaking Latin artists… well, Larry is Jewish, but still. I actually got to see Roberto play live down in Puerto Rico and I met him afterwards. I gave him a copy of my E.P. and challenged him to find the place where I sampled him. Real mellow guy.

Check it out, the everbusy Future Boogie crew from Bristol have put up a new mix that I made for them and have kindly included a little feature interview on the true nature of “Gumbo Funk”. Thanks for the shine guys!

Some tunes you’ll hear on the mix: Last Poets, Ralfi Pagan, Patchworks, Gilberto Gil, Gaspar Lawal.

There’s about three hundred pounds worth of other good music on the site, including multiple mixes from Gypsy Bogdan (of Turntablelab) who I’ll be spinning with this Thursday – DEEP CRATES!

I’ll put up some of the fruits of my Puerto Rico digging session this weekend, stay tuned…

Little Brother : The Way You Do It (Captain Planet Remix)
this here’s a Captain’s Crate exclusive

Little Brother : The Becoming
taken from the album “The Minstrel Show” on Atlantic (2005)

Long before I started scrutinizing the periphery of pop culture in search of forgotten gems and original source material, prior to my developing a powerful appreciation for all things funky and foreign (or even knowing that those things existed), I was a hip hop head. I was aware of other kinds of music and was generally open about the vastness of my ignorance, but hip hop music provided the fuel that burned in breakbeats and drove me to my current state of musical obsession. Within hip hop’s layers of samples I began my digging outward and backwards in time. And honestly, not being a musical prodigy by any means, it was the do-it-from-scratch formula to hip hop music that made me imagine I could have any type of future in music making at all.

Which brings me to Little Brother. The self-proclaimed younger sibling to all of those great names (Tribe, De La, JB’s, Pete Rock…just scratching the surface) that played in my walkman and served as the fodder for my formative mixtapes. I don’t want to say much for fear that I’ll dive way out into the deep end of an olympic-sized pool of cheez whiz (which I may already have done), but it’s a very rare thing these days when I am truly excited about a hip hop album and will continue listening to it in its entirety- and will continue to be blown away by it! The Minstrel Show accomplished this feat. The Listening did too. Haters say that they’re not doing anything new, but doesn’t rock solid soulful consistency stand for something in an over-flooded market-driven galaxy of wack fools? And yes, I thank god for The Roots, Outkast, Missy, Common, Kanye (slightly wincing about that last one), but 50 still outsells them, and drops a book, and makes a film that is “based on fact” just enough to actually really mess with millions of kid’s heads (I’m an ex-public school teacher, not a republican). If hip hop is alive and healthy, then why does 90% of hip hop radio sound so fake? And if you actually believe the shiz they’re saying, you’re definitely getting duped. [Have to admit here that I still listen to and enjoy the radio, I still dance to 50, and I’m generally entertained by the videos that I see on BET]. I don’t want to be a hater myself, my point is more to bring attention to the underdog [no 50, not you]. I just want to see a little more balance, that’s all.

Flick a fat middle finger in the face of the countless record execs and industry cronies [excluding the good people at Atlantic who hopefully won’t drop LB after this album] who put less faith in the listening public than I do in my four-year-old brother, and help this album go platinum. ‘Cause right now, it ain’t. As for the remix, I made this beat for another song which hasn’t been recorded yet (Chinaka, where you at?), and with minor tinkering it fit quite nicely over an accapella from The Listening. Not trying to outdo 9th or nothing, just putting a crispy clean (and nostalgic like WHAT?!) spin on it. Hope you enjoy it. And try not to get weirded out if you hear a similar beat with different vocals on it down the road…

Also, I’m heading down to Puerto Rico next weekend for the Candela Music Festival. I’m real excited to be spinning alongside cats like Quantic, Bobbito, Rich Medina, Garth Trinidad, Nickodemus… but don’t expect a post from me for a minute.

Timmy Thomas : Why Can’t We Live Together and Rainbow Power
taken from the album “Why Can’t We Live Together” on Glades (1972)

Darker Than Blue: Soul From Jamdown happens to be one of my all-time favorite compilations (look to the last post if you’re confused). It has all the right elements- superb soul songs, done in cover version (which always adds a point of interest for me), and all the selections (big up to Mark Ainley & Steve Barrow) had barely seen the light of day prior to re-release. Don’t hesitate if you see that album, splurge, and buy an extra copy to give to the person you choose to marry. My post is related as follows, Tinga Stewart’s extended disco version of “Why Can’t We Live Together” appears on the comp that I’ve just been exalting. I’m not giving it to you because the OG really stands in a league of it’s own. Sade did a cover version too on her “Diamond Life” album, but you don’t need me to give you that one either.

The album is simply Timmy and his organ. No frills, no backup, no production know-how. With the possible exception that he knew how to freak the organ drum machine like no one I’ve heard since. There’s also that moment in “Rainbow Power” when he takes his hands off the keys to clap, that gets me good. RAWness. The LP plays like a jawdroppingly powerful demo reel from a guy who’s about to blow up. But Timmy never really did blow up. His story leaves much to the imagination for those of us on the outside. I’m left wondering if there exists in his basement some stack of un-released recordings that Timmy made during lonely, dreamy hours that passed with as much potency as the moments which produced this bit of genius. I’m thinking there must be. A profoundly simple and piercing sound like his doesn’t slip away in the night. If Syl painfully presents the problem, Timmy proclaims the solution: “Rainbow Power”. Nuff said.

Gotta give respects to Pandamonium Jones for introducing me to Timmy via “Funky Me” 45 – I feel like you were mixing it with some crazy 60’s pop record at the time?