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By Larry, June 5, 2014 11:51 am

Funky16Corners Presents: Walking In Space

Quincy Jones – Walking In Space (A&M)
Wes Montgomery – Up and At It (A&M)
Deodato – September 13 (CTI)
Lonnie Smith – Stand (Edit) (Kudu)
Grover Washington Jr – Masterpiece (Kudu)
Gabor Szabo – Rambler (CTI)
Johnny Hammond Smith – Big Sur Suite (Kudu)
Milt Jackson – People Make the World Go Round (CTI)
Bob James – Nautilus (CTI)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Presents: Walking In Space

NOTE: This – the first of two mixes I put together for this year’s Allnighter is a tribute to the sounds that Creed Taylor produced (usually engineered by Rudy Van Gelder) for A&M, CTI and Kudu in the late 60s and 70s. 

I’m a huge fan of the entire CTI aesthetic, from the amazing sounds (listen to the drums, brass and strings)  to the classic album covers. It’s no mystery why so much of the CTI catalog has been sampled over the years, and many of those sample sources are in this mix.

This one was a real labor of love, and I’ve given it a grip of listens since I recorded it.

I hope you dig it, too.

See you on Monday with a new mix from Kris Holmes!

– Larry

Greetings all

Welcome to the 2014 edition of the Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

This is the ninth annual Pledge Drive, and the fifth Allnighter.

If you haven’t experienced the Allnighter/Pledge Drive, it can be explained as thus: once a year, the Funky16Corners Blog, your home for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove vinyl for almost 10 years comes to you with hand outstretched, asking for donations to offset the operating expenses of the web site.

The Funky16Corners ‘operation’ (as it is) included the Funky16Corners and Iron Leg blogs, the mix archives for both (containing well over 200 mixes), and the Funky16Corners Radio Show/Podcast (another 200+ files available for download, or through subscription in iTunes).

The money raised during the pledge drive goes to pay for the server space and fees associated with hosting the whole megillah.

As has been attested to many times in the past, Funky16Corners has humble beginnings, starting out on the old (free) Blogger service, moving to WordPress, and then to self-hosted WordPress. The move to paid hosting was necessitated by increased bandwidth usage, as well as the need for a place to store all the mixes (and eventually the radio show episodes).

The Allnighter/Pledge Drive is a once-yearly occurrence, in which yours truly, and some of the finest selectors out there whip up new mixes for your delectation.

In past years, I have posted all of the mixes in a single post, and left it up for a week.

This year, the quality and quantity of the mixes spurred me on to try something a little different, i.e. posting a new mix each weekday for a period of just over two weeks. This way, each selector gets their moment in the spotlight, and the mixes get spaced out so that the listeners don’t suffer from mix-fatigue.

Each day, you’ll get a fantastic mix (there really are some amazing ones this year) from one of my favorite DJs, most of whom have participated in the Allnighter before, as well as a great new contributor.

So, if you dig what we do here at Funky16Corners, click on the Paypal link and toss some cash into the barrel.

Contributors will receive a 2014 Allnighter badge (see below), as well as some stickers from the archive (as long as they last).

This year I will also be drawing the names of contributors at random for groovy swag, including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul and LugnutBrand Records, and CDs from Light in the Attic and Secret Stash.

So, dig the sounds for the next couple of weeks, and make sure you stop back on a daily basis to pick up new mixes and contribute for a chance to win some cool stuff.

Thanks, and as always,

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, May 27, 2014 12:08 pm

Jimmy Wisner, tickling the ivories

Listen/Download Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine – Mrs. Robinson

Greetings all

The tune I bring you today is a very groovy bit of swinging soul jazz, with an interesting pedigree.

If you are a casual music fan, I wouldn’t expect the name Jimmy Wisner to raise any eyebrows.

However, if – like me – you are one of those obsessives that peruse the label of every record that comes into your possession, then Wisner’s name should be a familiar one indeed.

Based out of Philadelpia – thus his presence on so many local records – Wisner was a pianist, composer, arranger and producer for a very wide variety of artists during the 1960s and 1970s.

He was also a successful recording artist, though he rarely used his own name.

His first success came with the reworked version of Edvard Grieg’s ‘Piano Concerto in A Minor’, released as ‘Asia Minor’ under the artist name of ‘Kokomo’, which was a hit in 1961. Wisner released the record under a pseudonym so as not to compromise his career as a jazz pianist.

He also recorded the Northern Soul sleeper ‘Choppin’ Around’ (itself another classical adaptation, this time of a Chopin piece, thus the pun in the title) under his own name in 1966.

When I first happened upon the version of ‘Mrs. Robinson’ you see before you today, recorded as Mr. Jim and the Rhythm Machine, my first impression was that it was a successful attempt at hopping onto the Ramsey Lewis train and taking it for a ride.

Basically a piano trio record, with some very tasteful strings added in the background, the Mr. Jim version of the Simon and Garfunkel tune is a solid swinger, which I wouldn’t hesitate to whip on the dancers.

Interestingly, this predates the version by Booker T and the MGs (a Top 40 R&B hit) by a year and was competing for airtime with covers by Chet Atkins and bandleader Don Costa.

As far as I can tell it didn’t chart anywhere, which is a shame because it’s quite good, but Wisner had so much on his plate (he was just about to take over A&R at Columbia Records) I think he probably just kept on rolling.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, April 27, 2014 12:53 pm

Baby Face Willette

Listen/Download Baby Face Willette – Amen

Greetings all

How about we get the week started fine and mellow with a little slice of Hammond heaven.

Roosevelt ‘Baby Face’ Willette is one of those players that was always kind of floating on the periphery for me.

While I saw his name pop up here and there, and saw pictures of his albums on inner sleeves, it was a long time before his actual playing entered my ears or his records found their way into my crates.

Willette was the son of a minister and a missionary, and when he started tickling the ivories, he did in service to the lord.

He ended up playing piano as a sideman in a number of R&B and jazz groups, eventually switching to the Hammond organ.

Willette recorded a few sessions as a sideman on Blue Note before waxing his own LPs as a leader in 1961.

He moved from Blue Note to the Chess subsidiary Argo, recording two LPs and a number of 45s for the label.

The disc you see before you today was released in 1965 and also appeared on his LP ‘Behind the 8 Ball’ that year.

The song ‘Amen’ often credited to Jester Hairston but almost as often listed as ‘traditional’ was a hit for the Impressions in 1960 and covered by the Winstons in 1969 (the one with the famous break).

Here Willette takes things slow and easy, swinging the choir loft as it were, with able assistance from guitarist Ben White and drummer Jerold Donavon.

It is a very groovy disc indeed, and a fine example of the kind of thing you might hear pumping out of a tavern jukebox back in the day.

Baby Face Willette passed away a few months before his 37th birthday in 1971.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 17, 2014 2:53 pm

Joe Zawinul

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

Greetings all.

The track you see before you today first appeared here at Funky16Corners back in August of 2010.

It is a very groovy one, indeed, and I thought it would fit in nicely beside both the mixes I posted this week.

Don’t forget to check out the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, or subscribe to it as podcast in iTunes.

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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.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 15, 2014 7:19 pm

Nina Simone – Seeline Woman (Philips) / Dorothy Morrison – Rain (Elektra) / Paul Jones – Not Before Time (Bell) / Titanic – Sultana (Epic) / Candido – Jingo (Salsoul) / Doc Severinson – Footprints of the Giant (edit) (Command) / Dixie Cups – Two Way Poc A Way (ABC) / Area Code 615 – Stone Fox Chase (Polydor) / Quartette Tres Bien – Boss Tres Bien (Decca) / Booker T and the MGs – Melting Pot (Stax) / The Peddlers – Impressions Pt1 (Philips) / Sly Stone – Rock Dirge (Woodcock) / Fatback – Going To See My Baby (Perception) / Brother Jack McDuff – Hunk of Funk (Blue Note) / Manu Dibango – New Bell (Atlantic)

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Presents: The Sound of the Drum

Greetings all

As promised on Monday, I come to you midweek with yet another new mix.

This one was created at the behest of my man Studebaker Hawk, and first appeared on his Acapulco Nights radio show on WMUA-FM, 91.1 in Amherst, Massachusetts.

This is another one of those mixes that was percolating for a long time, coming to life the first time I heard Nina Simone’s ‘Seeline Woman’ and then moving ahead when I found the Paul Jones b-side you hear in the mix.

I should also mention – though some of the deeper heads will pick up on it when they see the set list – that this mix owes a big debt to one of the pioneers of DJ/dance culture, David Mancuso.

It was Mancuso’s deep and far ranging tastes that brought all kinds of unusual and unexpected records onto the dance floor of his legendary Loft parties, some of which are included in this mix.

It’s called ‘The Sound of the Drum’ because that’s the thread connecting all of these records, whether it’s the insistent beat of hand drumming, the snap of a master on the traps (dig that Quartette Tres Bien!), or just a wicked break.

So slap on your headphones and dig in.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, April 13, 2014 3:41 pm

The Mothership,now boarding…

Parliament/Intro
Afro-Samurai
Dick Hyman – Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
Capt Sisko
Jimi Hendrix – 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
Morpheus/1
Scientist – The Dark Secret of the Box
Morpheus/2
Dorothy Ashby – Soul Vibrations
Gene Harris – Don’t Call Me Ni**er Whitey
The Brother From Another Planet
Phil Upchurch – Elektrik
Lando Calrissian
Electrostats – 21st Century Kenya
Mace Windu
Isaac Redd Holt Unlimited – Listen to the Drums
Darth Vader
Roots Radics Band – Son of Darth Vader
Mr Spock/Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Brother Jack McDuff – Moon Rappin’ (Edit)
Lt Uhura
Rotary Connection – Tales of Brave Ulysses
Danger Mouse/Murs/Free Design – To a Black Boy
Shuggie Otis – Pling!
EddieHarris feat Blind Willie Johnson – Dark Were the Silver Cycles (F16C Mash)
Sun Ra

Listen/Download Funky16Corners Presents: The Mothership Mix

Greetings all

Welcome to the new week.

I have something very groovy for you today.

A while back, one of my favorite Facebook-made acquaintances, the author Bill Campbell told me that he was assembling an anthology of afrofuturistic stories, and was thinking about using a mix as part of the Indiegogo campaign.

That anthology, ‘Mothership: Tales From Afrofuturism and Beyond’ is very, very cool, and I would suggest you avail yourself of a copy either in paper, or digital form. Make sure to check out the Rosarium Publishing web site as well.

Always looking for an interesting challenge, I offered my services in furtherance of that goal, and Bill said yes.

The mix you see before you is one of those that I had rolling around the back alleys of my mind for a long time before I actually stated pulling out records, digging for drops etc.

The concept of afrofuturism is especially intriguing, and the thought of finding its application in musical form really got me thinking.

There are musicians included in this mix that worked the conceptual side of things rather directly, like Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, and some that worked their way into the groove stylistically (Eddie Harris, Shuggie Otis) and others that just created a specific piece of music that seemed destined for inclusion in the mix (Dick Hyman’s epic reworking of JB for instance).

I was trying to create a vibe – which is what you ought to be doing with a mix, anyway – but in this instance, it was far removed from the dance floor and drilled deep inside the head (via the ears, naturally).

This is definitely one for the headphones, trippy, often deep, sometimes weird and in several spots traveling outside the known boundaries of the Funky16Corners universe.

I’m proud to have been given the opportunity to work with Bill, and very happy with the mix.

I hope you dig it too.

I’ll be back later in the week with another brand new mix.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, February 27, 2014 1:06 pm

Joe Thomas and his lady friends…

Listen/Download Joe Thomas – Chitlins and Cuchifritos

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, so it’s time for our regularly scheduled announcement that the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be return to the airwaves of the interwebs Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join me at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes.

The record I bring you today is another one from way back when I first started getting my fingers dusty in the crates of the hinterlands.

Of course, back then I was digging without a portable, and depended on my as yet undeveloped Spidey-sense, as well as a grab bag of visual/verbal clues to lead me down the funky path.

Working with even that somewhat spare tool-kit, it was nigh impossible to pass up a record like Joe Thomas’s ‘Chitlins and Cuchifritos’.

First of all, that title, y’know?

Second, there’s that very groovy Today records label with the big peace sign on it.

How could I pass it up?

Good thing I didn’t, because when I got it home and slipped it under the needle I discovered that the record in question combined some of my favorite flavors.

Number one, it’s funky.

Number two, funky flute! You all know I dig some funky flute, and Joe Thomas (an artist with whom I would become much better acquainted over the years) was one of the best.

‘Chitlins and Cuchifritos’ is a delightful bit of atmospheric Latin-influenced funk, with all of the above listed ingredients wrapped inside a very funky bass line, as well as a chorus singing the title over and over again.

It is, like the Willie Bobo number we opened with this week, very nice for the ears and the feet (should you choose to dance) as well.

I’ve had this record in my crates for a long, long time and I still dig it the most.

I hope you do too, and I’ll see you all next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 2, 2014 1:13 pm

Young-Holt looking badass!

Listen/Download Young-Holt Unlimited – Mystical Man

Greetings all

The end of the week is near, so it is time to remind you to set the dial on your wireless set to bring in the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which airs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you are unable to join me at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes.

How about something mellow to close out the week?

The Young-Holt organization, Unlimited, LTD etc has been featured in this space many times over the years.

Isaac ‘Red’ Holt and Eldee Young, from their days as two thirds of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, on to their string of outstanding soul jazz LPs in the late 60s and early 70s, have long been favorites of mine.

Though they are known to most for their 1969 hit ‘Soulful Strut’ (which, oddly enough they are rumored to have not played on), they laid down a string of great albums and 45s for the Brunswick, Cotillion and Paula labels between 1966 and 1973 (with Holt carrying on as a solo for a while afterward).

The tune I bring you taday hails from their 1973 LP ‘Young-Holt Unlimited Plays Superfly’, and is a testament to the often unsung hero of the group, pianist Ken Chaney.

Chaney, who replaced Hysear Don Walker when the group changed from the Young-Holt Trio to Young-Holt Unlimited was the driving melodic force of the trio, as well as composing some excellent tunes.

Today’s selection is the meditative, soulful ‘Mystical Man’, the final track (and one of only two originals) on the ‘Plays Superfly’ album.

It is a great piece of spiritual, late-night jazz, with some very groovy electric piano, arco and pizzicato bass by Young and some very restrained drumming by Holt.

The album is one of their best, and worth the investment if you can locate a copy.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

  ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, December 31, 2013 1:56 pm

Miss Della Reese

 Listen/Download – Della Reese – It Was a Very Good Year MP3

NOTE: I had something else ready to go for today, but this morning someone posted Frank Sinatra’s version of ‘It Was a Very Good Year’ to mark the New Year, and I thought “Why not post the astoundingly good version by Miss Della Reese in the same spirit here at Funky16Corners!”

So that’s what I’m doing.

It has actually been a pretty good year here at base camp.

My wife’s health has continued to improve, the kids are healthy and happy, and I’m not doing too poorly myself. 

It already looks like 2014 will bring some opportunities to DJ, and of course the Funky16Corners blog and radio show will continue apace.

I hope all of you have had a good year,and if not, that 2014 has nothing but good things in store for you and yours.

That said, I’ll see you all on Friday.

Happy New Year!

Larry

Originally posted 3/27/11 

>>Greetings all.

How’s by you?

All is as well as can be expected on my end of the interwebs.

The weekend was relatively uneventful, and despite anything the calendar says, Spring has yet to arrive in any real way.

I should mention that I have a couple of very groovy DJ gigs in the pipe, details to follow soon.

I’m not going to be able to make it to the Allentown 45 show this year, but I don’t really mind.

The vinyl gods have been good to me these last few months, bringing in all manner of cool stuff, including a couple of longtime white whales, as well as a bunch of low priced, but uniformly excellent groovers.

I’ve also been edging up to the second big push in the reorganization of the Funky16Corners Record Vault and Podcasting Nerve Center, which always yields cool stuff from deep in the crates that had been unjustly neglected.

I just dug out a groovy Northern 45 last week that I had either forgotten about – or more likely – had not listened to closely the first time I found it. I like when stuff like that happens.

The tune I bring you today is one of the aforementioned white whales, which I chased like Ahab for a long time before finally landing it late last year.

When you mention the name Della Reese to folks, the reaction you get depends on generational variables.

Folks my parent’s age remember her career as a pop/jazz vocalist that produced a couple of big hits in the late 50s.

Younger folks will remember her mainly as a TV actress, on shows like ‘Touched By an Angel’.

Sit down with a couple of hip DJs, and you very well may hear tell of a lesser known, but truly interesting part of her career, when despite a lack of commercial success she managed to make some very soulful, very danceable records.

Back in the early days of the blog (2005) I featured one of these sides, Ms. Reese’s excellent take on Gene McDaniels’ soul jazz epic ‘Compared to What’, recorded for AVCO in 1969.

The tune I bring you today hails from 1966, and like that session was made with jazz trumpeter Bobby Bryant (search the F16C Podcast Archive for some of his groovier tracks) and his band.

The tune ‘It Was a Very Good Year’, was written in 1961 by Ervin Drake. It was originally recorded by the Kingston Trio, but the song will forever be identified with Frank Sinatra, who recorded – and had a hit with the song – in 1966.

The Sinatra version is a doleful lament, sung by an old man looking back on his life.

Della Reese’s version is a radical reworking of the song, both lyrically (she embellishes the verses) and stylistically. Arranged by Bryant, the song is recast as a funky, hard charging cri de coeur, less wistful than the musical equivalent of a fist in the air. Reese sings the song like someone who despite a colorful past, is looking forward to bigger and better things.

Her vocal is powerful, often sounding as if she was testing the limits of the recording equipment.

The band is on fire, with a pumping Hammond and remarkable drums. The recording has a very hot sound, and the snare and kick drum are – next to Della – the loudest things on the record.

This is one of those records that would have languished in obscurity, had it not been revived by DJs on the jazz dance scene in the UK. It has become increasingly popular with funk and soul DJs, and was reissued by the Jazzman label (with a live version on the B-side).

As far as I can tell, this version is not in print on CD and the 45 can be quite expensive, so unless you need one to play out, slip the ones and zeros on your pod-like-thingy and dig.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

  ______________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, December 22, 2013 12:26 pm

The LP (above), Miss Dorothy Ashby (below)

Listen/Download – The Soulful Strings – Jingle Bells

Listen / Download – The Soulful Strings featuring Dorothy Ashby – Merry Christmas Baby

NOTE: This year – as in years past – the run up to Christmas will be filled with re-postings of some of my (and your) fave soulful and funky holiday tunes.

This gives you all a chance to catch up on some soulful Christmas jams, and gives me time to rest my blogging muscles and enjoy the holiday.

Ho Ho Ho!

Originally posted 12/2007

Greetings all.

As I’ve stated repeatedly in the past, I’ve never been much of a holiday music collector. However, once in a while a personal obsession of mine also happens to have a Christmas record. In the case of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings, their 1968 LP ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a real gem.

The first tune I selected was the obvious choice (at least for me) because I can’t think of another version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that opens up with an honest to goodness drum break. I’m not sure who’s laying it down here (though I’m guessing that it is in fact Morris Jennings Jr.).

The second selection is a lush, sublime reading of Charles Brown’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ which features the brilliant Dorothy Ashby on harp. If you aren’t familiar with Ashby – I included her ‘Soul Vibrations’ on my collab with DJ Prestige ‘Beat Combination Pt2’ (check out the Flea Market Funk Mixes page)– she was one of the few harpists who could actually play jazz on the instrument, and the three albums she recorded for Cadet between 1968 and 1970 (in collaboration with Evans) are brilliant.

If your nerves are frayed (like mine) and the consumerist madness of the holiday season has you down, give this version of ‘Merry Christmas Baby’ a listen and all will (at least for a few minutes) be well, as it is positively sublime.

I’ll be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with my family and do a little visiting. I will most definitely be back with something for New Years Eve, so hang tight, enjoy your Christmas and I’ll see you all soon.<<

Peace

Larry

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, October 27, 2013 10:57 am

Harvey Mandel

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt1

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt2

Greetings all

We’re going to start off the week with something a little special.

We return – after a little more than a year – to the old Funky16Corners/Iron Leg Twin Spin.

I’m not sure why I haven’t done one of these in a while, since my brain is always making connections like this (not sure if it was working like that before I started writing about music or if it’s something that developed concurrently).

The song featured today is one of my all-time favorites, ‘Wade In the Water’ (featured here a few months back by the John Bishop Trio). ‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, and has been interpreted countless times in both gospel and secular settings.

It was about a year ago that I was tuned in to my man Kris Holmes’s radio show and he dropped the mind-bending track you see before you today.

Upon first listen, I thought I was hearing an unreleased Soulful Strings cut, or at least something that had the involvement of Richard Evans. I immediately popped open a messaging window and asked Kris who I was hearing.

The answer was, Harvey Mandel.

If you’ve spent a large part of your life reading about, and listening to music, Harvey Mandel is one of those names that pops up frequently (especially in the late 60s) enough to make itself known, but never prominently enough to explain why.

After a little digging, I discovered that Mandel was – for a hot minute at the end of the 60s – one of those free-range, guitar gunslingers who seemed to be everywhere.

He got his start in Chicago, playing with Charlie Musselwhite, before findig his way (like so many others) out to San Francisco. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Cristo Redentor’ (which included ‘Wade In the Water’) in 1968, splitting his time between Los Angeles and Nashville.

Mandel’s version of ‘Wade In the Water’ kicks the door down with a big, fat drumbreak (‘Fast’ Eddie Hoh on the kit, Armando Peraza on congas) before the piano* and bass join in (in unison), paving the way for the strings and the many voices of Harvey’s guitar.

When Mandel starts playing, he layers on the fuzz, before switching to a clearer, more ringing tone.

The string arrangement is by Nick DeCaro, who worked in a wide variety of pop settings (Randy Newman, Lorraine Ellison, Little Feat) as an arranger and producer through the 60s and 70s.

Mandel’s ‘Wade In the Water’ manages to tap into a certain soul jazz feel and still be deeply psychedelic. Presenting it as an instrumental (certainly not the first, Ramsey Lewis had a fairly significant hit with his version in 1966 (R&B #3, Pop #19, and a big Northern side) illustrates how powerful the melody is.

If it seems simple it is only a mark of the perfection of its structure, which in turn allows an improviser like Mandel to run circles around it without ever losing sight of its core.

‘Wade In the Water’ is one of those songs that sounds like something deeper/elemental. That it has been around as long (longer) as recorded music, and is the very definition of ‘spiritual’, in the broadest, Joseph Campbell sense of the word makes versions like this (and the one I have posted over at Iron Leg) cut so deep.

‘Wade In the Water’ (pulled from the 45, so you get it in two, juicy parts) is a heavy, heavy record, great for your head (in a hippie stylee) or just for your ears.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry  

*Note – Thanks to Monk1950 for letting me know that the piano player was NOT the famed guitarist but a different person entirely. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page. Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).   PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, September 22, 2013 2:57 pm

Roy Ayers

Listen/Download Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Running Away

Greetings all

Things being what they are, with the air cooling and everyone finding their wayback into the post-summer groove, I thought I’d like to get the week started with something a little funky.

But before we get started, I have something very cool to share with you.

This past Saturday morning I was sitting on the sofa, still waking up and getting ready to post the link to the archive of Friday night’s Funky16Corners Radio Show (i.e. a routine Saturday…).

While I was on the Funky16Corners Facebook page, I noticed a message I hadn’t seen from a fan of the blog that contained the following text:

“I’m probably late to the party on this, but I just finished reading Telegraph Avenue and was psyched to see one of my favorite blogs listed in the acknowledgements!”

Well, this came as something of a shock, mainly because I had read Michael Chabon’s ‘Telegraph Avenue’ (excellent novel centered around a record store) and while I enjoyed it immensely, I never noticed the acknowledgements.

Fortunately for me, the book was sitting in a stack on the telephone table right next to me, so I excitedly pulled it from the pile and this is what I saw:

I had no idea.

If you haven’t read the book, you should really check it out (it’s in paperback now).

Not only is Chabon an excellent writer (The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) but he really manages to capture what music lovers and vinyl fiends really love about record stores, all woven into a complex and satisfying story.

I’m glad I only found out about this after I read the book, because I probably would have approached it differently.

Anyway, that was my weekend, now, on to the music.

I think it’s probably a safe assumption that you al know who Roy Ayers is.

Whether you’re tuned in only to the later ish, like ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ or you have a grasp on the deep, jazzier end of his catalog when he was vibing behind cats like Jack Wilson and Curtis Amy, you know that the man is nothing if not versatile.

I found my way into his discography from the bottom up, meaning the first time I ever heard him on the vibes was when I was lucky enough to find a copy of Jack Wilson’s early 60s ‘Ramblin’ LP, which quicklybecame one of my favorites.

From there, it was on to Ayers work as a sideman for Herbie Mann, as well as his own solo albums from that period, and then on into the heavily sampled 70s era.

It is from that latter period that I bring you today’s selction, ‘Running Away’.

Released in 1977 from his ‘Lifeline’ album, ‘Running Away’ is fast moving jazz-inflected funk that was catchy enough that it made it into the R&B Top 20 that year.

The bass line and percussion is especially sharp, and vocals by Edwin Birdsong keep things moving.

The tempo made the record perfect for disco dance floors, though you’d probably never think of it as disco.

The record was later sampled by Big Daddy Kane and A Tribe Called Quest.

It’s a groovy track, and I hope you dig it.

I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

PS Yes, I know it’s the “old” URL but I’m sure the whole package was put together more than a year and a half ago

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.