Comments (4)

By Larry, October 21, 2010 9:31 am

Byron Lee

Listen/Download – Byron Lee and the Dragonaires – Who Done It

Greetings all.

The end of a very busy week is here, and so is some music.

I have to start things out with the news that after about three and a half years of posts, my other blog, Iron Leg is going on hiatus.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and an increasingly busy schedule and the resulting lack of free time finally forced my hand.

I say hiatus – as opposed to a complete shutdown – because I’d like to get it going again some time in the future, but right now, for my own sanity, and for the quality of the blogs, I’m going to take a break.

Funky16Corners, and the Funky16Corners Radio Show are in no danger and will continue on as scheduled.

That said, make sure to tune in this Friday at 9PM over at Viva Radio for this weeks show, which features a tribute to the late, great Solomon Burke.

I’d also like to say thanks (again) to Sean Rowley on the BBC for giving Funky16Corners props on his Joy of Music radio show. I’ve added him to the blogroll, so make sure you take a listen.

All of that out of the way, let’s get to today’s selection.

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires have been featured in this space a few times in the past.

Lee was a producer and bandleader who recorded in a wide variety of island styles, releasing a huge stack of LPs. Many (most) of these were fairly middle of the road affairs aimed at folks flying into Jamaica for rum drinks and suntans, but every once in a while, Byron and his band hit the nail right on its soulful head.

One such example is the track I bring you today, ‘Who Done It’.

Does the title sound familiar?

If so, then the song itself will ring and even bigger bell, since although it’s credited to Jackie Mittoo (and the spelling of the title has been altered), this is clearly a cover of Monk Higgins and the Specialties 1966 R&B Top 40 hit ‘Who Dun It’ (originally released on Chicago’s St. Lawrence label).

While Mittoo had already covered the song on the Coxsone label (where the song is credited to Coxsone Dodd) it’s entirely possible that Lee was unaware of the song’s origins.

Jamaican music of the 60s and 70s is filled with adaptations of American R&B, soul and funk, some presented as a straight cover version, others altered ever so slightly and yet others providing little more than what might be considered a sample in today’s more technologically advanced world.

Lee’s version of ‘Who Done It’ strips away the saxophone that leads the original and appears on the Mittoo version, putting a chicken scratch guitar and organ in its place.

I have no idea who’s playing the organ on this one. If any of you know, please drop me a line.

The result is a great bit of soulful, ever so slightly funky reggae.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg

Comments (7)

By Larry, October 9, 2010 12:49 pm

John…

and Antoine…

Listen/Download – Fats Domino – Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey

Greetings all.

This is a previously unplanned post, but that’s just the way we roll here, since one must allow themselves to be guided by inspirado, or something like that.

This weekend marks what would have been the 70th birthday of John Lennon.

I have gone into my deep and abiding love for the Beatles in this space before (and over at Iron Leg), but something I haven’t discussed is my growing ambivalence about Mr. Lennon.

I would not have discussed it at all were I not spurred on to introspection about this specific subject by various and sundry celebrations of the aforementioned occasion in every conceivable nook and cranny of the media, but especially the postings of my many Facebook friends, many of whom have exceptional taste in music.

The Beatles were the first music that I truly loved and connected with, and for a few years in the time when I was passing from childhood into adolescence they were pretty much all I listened to with any regularity (other than the jazz and classical music that was played by my father).

The walls of my room were plastered with clippings about the Beatles that I had collected from newspapers and magazines, as well as posters and ephemera like the inserts from the ‘Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album.

This is all said only to indicate that the Beatles – as musicians, cultural avatars and people – and the music they made meant, and mean a great deal to me.

However, over the many, many years (I turned 48 this year) I have read a great deal about them, their impact on the culture and the way they created their records, and my impressions of the four Beatles have evolved considerably for a wide variety of reasons.

Back when I was younger, obsessed with rock’n’roll and with all the signifiers of “authenticity” that go along with it when you’re young and full of a wide variety of things, from beans, to piss and vinegar, and what in retrospect – if you’re being honest – something that is clearly shit, I followed the script that said that McCartney was the sellout, Lennon the rebel, Ringo the good natured post-Fabs hitmaker and Harrison the incorruptible mystic.

This had a lot to do with my brain being young, soft and unable (or unwilling) to process anything more complex than a handful of cliches.

That said, as I aged, and read more, I came to understand that the Beatles were much more complex and human that I was willing to allow them to be when I first fell in love with them and the wondrous sounds that they made.

Unfortunately, this evolution softened my appraisal of McCartney (no mean feat) and poked a number of holes in how I saw Lennon.

I’ll let you read up on your own, but I came to the end of this long reappraisal not liking John Lennon all that much.

What I’ve come to discover over the last few weeks of thought and discussion is that this is ultimately my own problem, and should be rightfully separated from his music.

That and the fact that while he wasn’t a saint, he wasn’t a complete asshole either.

John Lennon was a human being, just like the rest of us.

A prodigiously talented (and flawed) human being, but a human being nonetheless, who was never comfortable with the idolatry of many of his fans, and at the end of the day, he was also a Beatle, and responsible for some of the finest music of the last half of the previous century.

And when I say music, I don’t mean the Beatles recordings exclusively, but also their songs as interpreted by others.

Funky16Corners, while always a kind of free-flowing deal – as far as musical style goes – has always found it’s way back to a focus on funk, soul and jazz, and it was by way of that short list that I’ve paid my own sort of tribute to the Beatles and their music over the last five years.

I did so by compiling six mixes (se below) of funk, soul and jazz Beatles covers (one’s a shorter one, but I like it anyway), all of which I’ve pulled out of the Podcast Archive to repost today.

I’ve also included a cover of ‘Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey’ that I picked up after all of these mixes were assembled.

The version here is by the mighty Fats Domino. It was recorded in 1970 (I picked it up on an old Warner/Reprise sampler) and John Lennon was reportedly pleased to have one of his songs covered by one of his own idols.

Fats does a very nice version of the song, which is groovy, and brings things full circle since he was the stylistic inspiration for ‘Lady Madonna’.

I hope you dig it, and that – have you not already partaken (partooken???) that you dig into these mixes.

The day when Lennon would have turned 70 (!?!?) is a big deal, and since we only have two Beatles left, it’s worth celebrating.

There’s lots of groovy stuff.

See you later.

Peace

Larry

__________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners Radio v.28 – Rubber Souled Pt1

Funky16Corners Radio v.28 – Rubber Souled Pt1

Playlist
Billy Preston – Eight Days a Week (Exodus)
Music Company – TheWord (Mirwood)
Bunny Sigler – Yesterday (Parkway)
Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out (Tamla)
Vontastics – Day Tripper (St Lawrence)
Chris Clark – Got To Get You Into My Life (Motown)
El Chicano – Eleanor Rigby (Kapp)
Junior Parker – Tomorrow Never Knows (Capitol)
Bill Cosby – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (WB)
Soulful Strings – Within You Without You (Cadet)
Bud Shank – I Am the Walrus (World Pacific)
Soulful Strings – Hello Goodbye (Cadet)
Soulful Strings – The Inner Light (Cadet)

Listen/ Download 37MB Mixed MP3
Download 37MB Zip File

____________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners Radio v.29 – Rubber Souled Pt2

Playlist
Ramsey Lewis – Mother Natures Son (Cadet)
Bobby Bryant – Happiness Is a Warm Gun (Pacific Jazz)
Orchestra Harlow – Larry’s Complaint (Me & My Monkey) (Fania)
Ramsey Lewis – Back In the USSR (Cadet)
Chubby Checker – Back In the USSR (Buddah)
Groove Holmes & Ernie Watts – Come Together (Pacific Jazz)
Jazz Crusaders – Golden Slumbers (Chisa)
Gene Ammons – Something (Prestige)
Ike & Tina Turner – Get Back (UA)
Shirley Scott – Get Back (Atlantic)
Mohawks – Let It Be (Supreme)

Listen/ Download 37.5MB Mixed MP3
Download 37.5MB Zip File

_____________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners Radio v.30 – Rubber Souled Pt3

Playlist
Overton Berry Trio – Hey Jude (Jaro)
Freddy McCoy – Hey Jude (Cobblestone)
Jimmy Caravan – Hey Jude (Vault)
Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers – Hey Jude (Atlantic)
Fabulous Counts – Hey Jude (Cotillion)
Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude (Atlantic)

Listen/ Download 25MB Mixed MP3
Download 25MB Zip File

__________________________________________________________________

Funky16Corners Radio v.54 – Come Together

Funky16Corners Radio v.54 – Come Together

Playlist

Funky16Corners Radio v.74 – Day Tripping

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 7, 2010 5:11 pm

Richard Marks

Listen/Download – Richard Marks – Funky Four Corners (inst)

Greetings all.

I’m back, but I wouldn’t swear that I’m all there, if you know what I mean.

I make reference in this space repeatedly to the storied “real world moves” and I’m not kidding. In addition to the recent health-related stuff (things are cool, but I’m taking a little time to bounce back) we’ve had a full slate of responsibilities here in the Funky16Corners compound, which are on the cusp of a shift, which, if not resulting in a net gain of free time, will at least preclude a loss thereof.

That said, I’m whipped right now (physically, not philosophically), so I’m going to keep it relatively brief.

First off, I have one of my Marvin sets from the DC trip recorded and ready to go, bit it’s been so mix-heavy here lately I figured I’d drop some individual tracks and bring that mix into the lineup in the next few weeks.

I’m also working on a special election mix. I was pulling records for it this morning, but I still have a little theoretical/curatorial cooking to do, and there’s still four weeks until the rise of the cranks, so just know that it’ll be here sooner or later.

There’s also a brand new edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show this week (I made sure to whip it up before all the recent excitement), so you’ll want to set aside an hour this Friday to dig it (though you can always fall by the blog on Saturday and pull down the ones and zeros for your personal listening device).

The track I bring you today is one of my DC finds, and it was a groovy one indeed.

I already knew Richard Marks’ ‘Funky Four Corners Pt1’ via a comp (it appeared here in the ‘Getting the Corners’ mix) but I hadn’t scored a copy of the 45 until my trip to Washington.

When I got the 45 and gave it a spin, I was very pleased to discover that ‘Funky Four Corners Pt2’ was no run of the mill ‘second half of a funk 45’ but rather a very cool version of the tune as guitar instrumental (a la Lowell Fulsom’s ‘Tramp’/’Pico’ pairing).

According to my man Brian Poust over at the Georgia Soul blog, Marks was an Atlanta-based guitarist, which naturally makes me think that it’s him plucking the funky git-box on FFC2.

I love the production, and the reverb and fat tone of the lead guitar on this one, so much so that I think were I to slip it into my record box, I’d be happy playing either side of this one for a room full of dancers.

I hope you dig it too, and that you all have a groovy weekend.

I’m gonna go get some snoozeration….

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some proto-powerpop

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 30, 2010 3:04 pm

Ekseption and their shiny silver sleeve…

Listen/Download – Ekseption – Ritual Fire Dance

Greetings all.

Please allow me to begin by making a simple statement of fact.

I am definitely getting too old for this shit.

Hooboy….

I piled myself and my records into the trusty Funky16Corners-mobile last Saturday morning, and set off (alone) for a whirlwind weekend of DJ-ing and digging in Washington, DC.

That was the easy part.

I had a grip of podcasts to keep me company on the trip and the drive down was uneventful (and quick). I rolled into the city by the early afternoon, meeting up with my buddy DJ Birdman and his lovely family (finally getting to meet Birdman Jr.!), followed by some digging (natch…whatup to Marshall and Mike) and then on to some delicious bar-b-que ribs.

That night Birdman and I did the late shift at Marvin where the crowd was predictably lively (with many predictable and unsuitable requests, but that’s how these things go). I recorded one of my sets (funk and disco), which I’ll be posting here sometime in the next few weeks.

The next morning, following an all too brief bit of sleep, we got up and rolled out to the DC Record Fair, where Birdman (and some other DC heads, whatup Neal and Nightkrawler) were running the show and had to get things set up. The U Street Music Hall was a very nice space, and the Record Fair produced some stellar results which will see the light of day well into the next year (or two) here on the blog.

I spun a set of uptempo Northern Soul at the Fair, which I did not record (left the recorder in the car…), but if you want a taste go back to the Northern set I did at Master Groove earlier this year (Funky16Corners Radio v.82 Groovin’ at the Go Go) which repeats about half of what I played on Sunday and you’ll get the idea. I’ll whip up an all-new Northern mix sometime in the not too distant future.

The folks at the Record Fair were very cool, especially the old school soulie right in front of the DJ booth (perhaps the most luxurious DJ booth I’ve ever been in, I felt spoiled) who requested the Just Brothers ‘Sliced Tomatoes’ about ten seconds after I’d already cued it up (it was kismet I tell you!), and it was very cool to meet up with some old friends and make first-person contact with a couple of interwebs acquaintances.

I have to say that DC is always a chill scene, with cool people and tons of great records to be had. The thought of restricting my digs to the DC area crossed my mind, but then I remembered what a degenerate record collector I am and realized that just wasn’t going to happen.

I rolled out of the Record Fair about an hour after I finished my set with a HUGE stack of vinyl, including more than a few longtime want list items (on 45 and LP). The only bummer being that I don’t have any pics, since I didn’t bring my camera, instead relying on my new phone, which I still haven’t learned to operate properly, rendering the few pictures I took tiny, low-res and unusable.

As is always the case, Igot lost on my way out of DC. It wasn’t too bad, but by the time I hit Baltimore I also hit the wall. My tired old carcass is not used to being treated like it’s 25 again, and I ran out of steam, forcing a pit stop at Starbucks where I loaded up on coffee and food and hit the road once again.

Unfortunately, as easy as my ride down to DC was, my ride home was plagued with difficulty, including an insane traffic jam in northern Maryland (understaffed toll booth related) and then another jam up in NJ which forced me to alter my route and take a time consuming detour.

This all followed by the fact that I had yet another medical procedure scheduled for Tuesday morning, and I’m sitting here at the laptop just about ready to go into hibernation.

I have something cool in the cooker for Monday morning (just waiting for all the pieces to arrive in the in-box) and after that I’m not sure what I’ll do, since I now have so much to choose from (in addition to everything else aging in the oaken barrels in the vinyl cellar).

I figured I’d close out the week with something I’ve wanted to post for a while now. Even though I’d digi-ma-tized it weeks (months?) ago, when I went to post it I discovered that I had neglected to photograph the label, but – as is always the case – when I was pulling records for the DC trip I put aside a number of records similarly afflicted, and I bring it to you now, better late than never.

I first posted something by the Dutch prog band Ekseption way back in 2007 when I included their version of the soul jazz classic ‘This Here’ in Funky16Corners Radio v.32. Some time after that, while engaged in a little e-digging, I discovered a 45 of yet another of their classical pastiches (something they did a lot), this time a version of Manuel de Falla’s ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ from his 1915 ballet ‘El Amor Brujo’.

I posted a couple of other jazz-funk reworkings of classical pieces a while back (with Deodato and Woody Herman covering Strauss and Copland), and while I’m not likely to make it a regular feature here at the Corners, the Ekseption 45 is so groovy I would be remiss were I not to share it with you.

I have to admit that I was not familiar with de Falla’s original piece when I first heard it (check out Artur Rubinstein playing it here, for comparison), but after hearing it in its original setting, it’s safe to say that aside from some heavy drums and organ (and giving it that Euro-swinger je ne sais quois), Ekseption don’t really stray too far from the source.

I don’t think I’d be telling tales out of school were I to suggest that this particular gem might get some of your modder types out onto the floor, with a little bit of that au-go-go flavour.

In other news, don’t forget to tune in Friday night at 9PM for this week’s all-new edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio. I assure you that the collection of funk, soul, jazz and rare groove that awaits you get your weekend off to a groovy start.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some puh-sike-a-dellia….

Comments (8)

By Larry, September 26, 2010 5:46 pm

Funky16Corners Radio v.88 – Throbbing Organs

Playlist

You can check out this mix in the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast Archive

This is being prepared in advance of my excursion to Washington, so any reporting on that trip will have to wait until later in the week.

Hopefully it was a gas and I found lots of groovy records.

That said, it’s been a while since the last organ mix (a live mix, back in January), and I can’t go very long without a Hammond infusion, so I figured it was time.

This mix is all over the map, with some hard driving R&B, soul, funk and even a little bit of soul jazz, but since we’re talking about the universe of the Hammond organ, that’s kind of how these things swing.

A couple of these tracks have seen the light of day here on Funky16Corners individually (none recently), but since two slices of bacon is always better than one, and organ records are the soulful and delicious equivalent of bacon in the musical food pyramid, it couldn’t possibly hurt to hear them again.

Anyhoo… this week might be a little light, since I’m one hundred and eleventy seven percent that I will be returning from DC exhausted, and then I have a little surgical type thingy on Tuesday which is sure to knock me on my ass for a few days, but it’s one of those ‘gotta do it when you gotta do it’ deals, so there.

I hope you dig the mix, and I’m sure I’ll make it back onto the scene by the end of the week (if not sooner).

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PPS – Make sure to fall by Iron Leg for a new psyche mix!

PPPS Make sure to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 23, 2010 3:33 pm

Jimmy Smith

Listen/Download – Jimmy Smith – The Cat

Greetings all.

I have so much stuff to do this weekend that I was going to forgo the regularly scheduled Friday post, but thought it might be a good idea to touch base with you all about the goings on here in Funky16Cornersville that I changed my mind.

First and foremost, I’ll be traveling down to Washington, DC this weekend with my records for a couple of DJ-type extravaganzas.

Saturday night I’ll be sharing the decks with my man DJ Birdman at Marvin (2007 14th Street, NW), and while we’re likely to get started on the mellower side of things, you know that as soon as the little hand starts pointing up the place will be banging, so if you dig delicious food, Belgian beer and the best in funk, soul and disco, you should fall by and join us.

The following day I’ll be doing a set at the DC Record Fair, and naturally also buying some records. I expect I’ll be running into all manner of interwebs friends, so stop by and say hi if you’re there.

Of course if you’re about on Friday night, say around 9PM you should head over to Viva internet radio for the Funky16Corners Radio Show for an hour of the best funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all from original vinyl sources. The show will be then be archived (as an MP3) for download.

The track I bring you today is one of the truly great things that Jimmy Smith recorded during the 60s (maybe his best).

‘The Cat’ is a stunner, and that my friends is all I going to (or have time to) say this fine day (aside from the following bit of hyperbole…or is it???). It smokes from start to finish and is the bad-assiest of all the bad-ass, bad-assery ever committed via the intercession of Mr. Hammond’s mighty electric organ-o-phone.

Dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday with a whole new mix of Hammond organ goodness.

Have yourselves a great weekend.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some puh-sike-a-dellia….

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 21, 2010 10:15 am

F16C Soul Club Presents – Funky16Corners Live at Master Groove 9/19/10

Playlist

You can check out this mix in the Funky16Corners Soul Club Archive

The middle of the week, and I’m up to my ass in hungry alligators, with the real world crap and preparing for my excursion to our nation’s capitol, during which I will address congress on my solutions to all the big problems currently driving us crazy (or at least those members of congress willing to come down to Marvin on Saturday night, or the DC Record Fair on Sunday and extract said solutions from within the grooves of various funk, soul and disco records).

Since I am so occupied, I figured I’d whip out my massive custodian’s key ring and open up the Funky16Corners Soul Club so that you might check out my set from this past Sunday night at Master Groove.

DJ Bluewater has things back up and running at Fat Buddha (formerly Forbidden City, same place, same great food, but now with a swanky DJ booth for the likes of me to spin the records) with the mighty M-Fasis at his side and a stellar line up of guest selectors and their 45s every Sunday night (212 Ave A NYC). You should fall by some time, grab a pork bun, dumpling or other delicious morsel and fill your ears up with the good stuff.

This set includes some old faves, a grip of newer stuff that will soon be appearing in this space with the trenchant analysis you’ve come to know and love, and a couple of things from deep in the crates.

There are a couple of inelegant segues, but that’s the way it happens when your DJ is checking his phone when he ought to be hovering over the mixer. As always we present these unvarnished turntable exercises in the form a single MP3, without the zip file that accompanies the regular Funky16Corners mixes.

I hope you dig it, and hopefully I’ll be back on Friday with a little something to hold you for the weekend.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PPS – Make sure to fall by Iron Leg

PPPS Make sure to hit up Funky16Corners on Facebook

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 2, 2010 3:30 pm

Not Freddie Scott…

Listen/Download – Freddie Scott and the Seven Steps – The Thing

Greetings all.

The end of a very busy week has arrived and I feel the need for the freeing vibe of a soulful slab of of wax.

The kids (and the wife, a teacher) have returned to school and the routine hereabouts has been upended once again, with our vast and confusing network of appointments, comings and goings having to be reshuffled for a new season, which, since it only involves about two dozen people is predictably, what the great sages of our time have come to call a clusterfuck.

It’ll all probably settle down in a week or two, but right now my brain is mush.

The tune I bring you today is another hot Florida soul 45 from the mighty Freddie (Freddy) Scott.

Last we heard from Mr. Scott was a little over a year ago, when he and his Four Steps let us have it with the ‘Same Ole Beat’.

At the time, I mentioned that one should not confuse Freddy Scott (drummer and bandleader from Florida) with Freddie Scott, soul singer who recorded for Shout and Colpix among other labels.

Then, while out digging I happened upon the 45 you see before you today, and discovered that Florida Freddy, but a few catalog numbers down the line was rechristened ‘Freddie’, nailed three more Steps onto his band and confused matters all by himself.

Variable spelling aside, I have no doubt at all that this is the Florida-based cat (for a variety of fairly obvious reasons).

As I mentioned, today’s selection ‘The Thing’ is only two catalog numbers further along from ‘Same Ole Beat’, and a quick listen to the song would seem to indicate that the extra Steps were employed in the horn section.

‘The Thing’ is a mid-tempo dancer with enough grease to get he kids sliding on the dance floor, and a refrain that sounds like a not so distant cousin to the soul jazz standard ‘Coming Home Baby’.

If you get a minute you should head over and check out Iron Leg Digital Trip #32, where I included the flipside of this very 45, a swinging organ instro version of Tom Jones’ ‘It’s Not Unusual’ as part of that au go go flavored mix.

So crack open a cold beer, sink your fist into a bowl of chips and stuff you ears full of ‘The Thing’.

I hope you dig it and I’ll see you on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for mid-60s LA garage punk

Comments (2)

By Larry, August 31, 2010 5:17 pm

Joe Zawinul

Listen/Download – Joe Zawinul – Soul of a Village (45 edit)

Greetings all.

The middle of the week is here, and I may be tired, my nerves may be frayed, my brain may want to shut off, but I have a craving for some of that deep, deep stuff, so here we go.

The record I lay before you today is something I first heard during a long ago Asbury Park 45 Sessions, with my man Vincent the Soul Chef working the wheels du steel.

As I’ve said here many times before, the 45 Sessions are without fail, a DJs paradise, with the selectors slipping 45s under the needle that have the heads running up to the turntables to see what’s going on.

This blog has seen many, MANY sides that I first heard at the Lanes, and of we ever get it back up to speed, this will surely continue.

Anyway, when Vincent pulled this one out of his record box, and I heard the laid back but funky drums, and the electric piano (you know I love me some electric piano), and the spooky strings, my spidey sense started tingling, and when I found out that the music I was hearing had been created by none other than Joe Zawinul, I set out to find a copy of my own.

This took a little longer than I expected, and while I was waiting I pulled down the entire album from which it originated – ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream’ – and was surprised to discover that there wasn’t much on that album that resembled the 45 I had heard (though the flip side of this 45, an edit of the track ‘Lord Lord Lord’ has a decided gospel edge).

For those of you to whom the term ‘Third Stream’ doesn’t ring any bells, I’ll tell you that it was affixed to classically influenced jazz in the 50s and 60s by folks like John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. There’s a lot of string-based action on ‘Rise and Fall..’ but the overall effect is much more jazz than classical.

Zawinul (and the name should be very familiar) was the Austrian born pianist who made his mark in Cannonball Adderley’s band (Zawinul composed ‘Mercy Mercy Mercy’ and ‘Country Preacher’ among others) , moving on to work with Miles Davis (on ‘In a Silent Way’), and then eventually as one of the founding members of Weather Report.

‘Rise of the Third Stream’ was recorded in 1968 and was only Zawinul’s second solo effort in 10 years. It came a year before his work on ‘In a Silent Way’, and echoes of ‘Soul of a Village’ can be heard in his work with Davis.

Though the 45 lists the piece as only ‘Soul of a Village’, the music you’re hearing is actually an edited version of ‘Soul of a Village Pt2’, having been preceded on the album by just over two minutes of prepared piano and strings droning in an approximation of an Indian raga.

The 45 version of ‘Soul of a Village’ has such a perfect, self-contained vibe that I’m torn as to whether you need to hear both parts. The album is overall a much more challenging listening experience than the 45, but if serious jazz is your bag, I’d suggest you seek it out.

That said, the 45 version of ‘Soul of a Village’ (roughly one and a half minutes shorter than the Pt2 on the LP) is a slice of groove perfection. It opens (again) with the drone, before Zawinul comes in with the electric piano, followed by funky drums (either Roy McCurdy or Freddie Waits), Jimmy Owens’ muted trumpet, and even more strings, and the really groovy thing is that the string section actually swings along with the drums.

The tune was written (like almost every track on the album, save one) by saxophonist/arranger William Fischer, who as far as I can tell was first and foremost a classical composer/musician, and as a result ‘Rise and Fall of the Third Stream’ must be considered a  collaborative work between Fischer and Zawinul (a prolific composer in his own right).

This is serious ‘head’ music, in that it both spins around the inside of the cranium for full, mystical effect, but also compels the head to nod with the rhythm. I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that anyone not sufficiently intoxicated might get up to dance, but it’s not entirely out of the question.

A truly unique and captivating record, and I hope you dig it.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for a cool Nilsson cover.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 26, 2010 4:37 pm

The Commodores

Listen/Download – The Commodores – Machine Gun

Greetings all.

The week is at an end, and if I’m lucky, by the time you’re reading this the fam and I will be away on the vacay, as it were (thus I’m canning and vacuum sealing this one a few days in advance).
I meant to drop this one a while back, since I picked up the 45 last year when I was spinning with DJ Birdman down in DC. Unfortunately, which is often the case around here as my mind deteriorates more rapidly each day, I neglected to take a picture of the 45, then I filed it away in the giant heaving mass of vinyl that sits behind me while I type this. However, recently, while I was pulling some records for to be digimatized, I happened upon the Commodores Greatest Hits LP, so in essence what you’re hearing is the 45, what you’re seeing is the LP, but since it’s all the Commodores, you’ll have to bear with me.
I have to admit that I wrote the Commodores off for years, thanks in large part to the lame, middle of the road and largely un-soulful solo career of Lionel Richie.
No matter that ‘Brick House’, the official funk song of elderly relatives (which they all dance to at weddings), is actually quite good, it all blended together for me into one big, unpleasant heap.
My bad.
Years back, I’m sitting there watching the movie ‘Boogie Nights’, and all of a sudden a very groovy song comes on the soundtrack in a discotheque scene, and I’m all ‘What’s that?” and then the credits rolled around and I was all “The Commodores, eh?” and therein lies a minor re-evaulation thereof.
That, and the fact that a cursory listen will set your ears a-tingling when you recognize the sample from the Beastie Boys ‘Hey Ladies’ pop in.
All that aside, ‘Machine Gun’ is a badass number packed end to end with enough clavinet to blow your mind, some very tasty wah-wah guitar and – if I might – not a single note of Lionel Richie’s melodious voice to screw things up.
The Commodores came together in the late 60s at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and signed to Motown releasing their first album (also titled ‘Machine Gun’) in 1974. The title track (written by guitarist Milan Williams) was a hit in 1975, and despite the presence of synthesizers (or maybe because of it) ‘Machine Gun’ manages to be solidly funky, and eminently danceable (without being stereotypically disco-ey, though it was clearly a hit on the dance floor).
I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some groovy mid-60s pop.

Comments (1)

By Larry, August 24, 2010 5:28 pm

Howard Roberts

Jackie Cain and Roy Kral

Listen/Download – Howard Roberts – Crystal Illusions

Listen/Download – Jackie & Roy – Crystal Illusions

Greetings all.

When I left you on Monday, I promised that I would return with something mellow.

Back in the day, when I was falling in love with the sounds of Tropicalia, I happened upon a reissue CD of an album by a singer who’s name was familiar, but who’s music I’d never actually heard.
That man was Edu Lobo, and the album was ‘Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo’.

This is not to say that Lobo was part of the Tropicalia movement, but rather that I was seeking out any and all Brazilian music from the late 60s and early 70s in the hopes that I would discover sounds of a similarly progressive bent that mixed Brazilian music with contemporary pop from other points of the musical landscape.

It was this search that led to to Edu Lobo, and folks like Dom Salvador and Tamba 4.

‘Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo’ was recorded in the United States (in 1970) with a number of Brazilian musicians (including several members of Brasil 66), and includes rerecorded versions of a number of songs that had appeared (generally sung in Portuguese) on Lobo’s ‘Cantiga de Longe’ LP (which has also been reissued).

Lobo’s sound at the time was an updated take on MPB, which was already a mixture of traditional Brazilian music and other Western pop and rock styles. Lobo also whipped jazz into the mix, though you kind of get into a chicken/egg situation when it comes to jazz and Brazilian music at the time in that it’s not always clear whether what your hearing is the influence of Brazil on jazz or vice versa.

I was completely captivated by the ‘Sergio Mendes Presents…’ album, and it quickly became a favorite. Among the many great songs on that album (which I’ve never been able to score an original copy of) is the sublime ‘Crystal Illusions’.

I haven’t been able to nail down when ‘Crystal Illusions’ was first recorded, but there are a number of versions from 1969 and 1970, including those by Brasil 66 (who’s singer Lani Hall is credited with co-writing the song) and jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond, who’s ‘From the Hot Afternoon’ album is composed entirely of covers of songs by Lobo and Milton Nascimento.

That said, the tune was clearly getting around.

The first of the two versions of ‘Crystal Illusions’ I bring you today is from guitarist Howard Roberts’ 1970 album ‘Spinning Wheel’. I grabbed this record following the diggers credo of ‘never pass up a version of either ‘Spinning Wheel’ or ‘Get Out Of My Life Woman’ because of the possibility of drums’, and was pleasantly surprised when I found the version of today’s selection.

Featuring a young band that included Dave Grusin on keys, John Guerin on drums (nice drums on this one) and Tom Scott on sax, Roberts’ version of the song applies some sharper edges than the song is usually played with. It is unlike anything else on the album and is a real gem.

The second take on the song is from a 1980 album by hip singers Jackie Cain and Roy Kral.

Though Jackie and Roy go back to the big band era (where they recorded as part of Charlie Ventura’s band) through the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s they perfected a light, swinging style touching on wide ranging sounds like Bob Dorough, Mark Murphy and Lambert Hendricks and Ross, that while something of an acquired taste (there‘s a supper club/cabaret feel to some of their work), I happen to dig a lot.

Their take on ‘Crystal Illusions’ comes from their ‘Star Sounds’ album, which was devoted largely to the sounds of Brazil. You get a little more of a feel for Lobo’s delicately crafted melody in the Jackie and Roy version. The arrangement may be a little ‘light’ for some of you, but it’s all about the song.

Both ‘Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo’ and ‘Cantiga de Longe’ can be obtained via iTunes. If you want either of the versions presented here today (in solid, vinyl form), you’re going to have to start digging, since I don’t think either one has been reissued.

I hope you like the tunes, and I’ll be back on Friday.

Peace

Larry

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for a Lennon/McCartney tune.

Comments (1)

By Larry, August 19, 2010 6:44 pm

Ivan Joseph Jones aka Boogaloo Joe

Listen/Download – Boogaloo Joe Jones – Right On

Greetings all.
I hope everyone has had themselves a nice Funky16Corners Radio kind of week, filled with the dulcet, flute-y tones of this weeks mix.

I was going to double down on the flute-stravaganza and post a funky flute 45, but I couldn’t find the label pic, so it’ll have to keep.

Instead, may I request that you all get your hot pants on and your get-down shoes zipped up, because the track I’m going to whip on you today requires both.

I don’t suspect that those among you not enrolled in the crate digging or jazz collecting fraternities know the name Ivan ‘Boogaloo Joe’ Jones (how could you forget a name like that if you had?) but once you pull down the ones and zeroes on this one you shant soon forget it.

One might assume that he attached the ‘Boogaloo’ to his extremely common name merely to separate himself from the drummers Papa Jo and Philly Joe (both prominent Joneses) and that’s probably true to an extent, but if anyone ever deserved to be referred to as ‘Boogaloo’-anything, Ivan Joseph Jones was the man.

‘Right On’, one of my favorite Prestige jazz funk 45s (and they are legion) is as close to an all-star session as you’ll find with these things, plus you get that bad-ass, iconic Prestige blue-label 45 to stare at.

It’d be all groovy gravy if it was just Boogaloo Joe burning it up on the gee-tar, but you also get Charlie Earland on the Hammond, Pretty Purdie socking the shit out of his drums, Rusty Bryant on the sax and Jimmy Lewis on the bass.

And you REALLY have to dig the guitar. Boogaloo Joe winds his way in and out of the rhythm like a Ferrari on a race course.

All star-power aside, ‘Right On’ is an ass-whooper of the first order, with the head nod, and the hip slip, and all the rest of the involuntary anatomical expressions that go along with records that are this funky.

Funky, right, tight and outta sight, with enough chops for the jazzers and enough groove for the dancers, ‘Right On’ is a frequent flier in my DJ box, and though it’s a little on the crackly side (I tried to diminish the sound of sizzling bacon fat  as much as I could), this record is so hot you forget about it pretty quickly, unless you’re some kind of Hi-Fi hobbit nestled in the shire alongside a million dollars worth of audio equipment, in which case this isn’t for you anyway, so go have an herbal tea and come back when you’re feeling funky.

I know you’ll dig it, so do so, and I’ll see you all next week.

Peace

Larry

PS Make sure to hit up the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva internet radio Friday night at 9PM. Your ears will thank you.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some hippie rock with a Native American twist.