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By Larry, December 18, 2012 3:35 pm

Ho Ho Hyeaahhh!

Listen/Download – James Brown – Santa Claus Go Straight To the Ghetto

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.

There are also two years of Funky16Corners Radio Christmas Specials (12/24/10 and 12/23/11) in the Archive.

This year’s Christmas show airs on Friday night 12/21 at 9PM on Viva Radio.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted 12/18/11

Greetings all.

The time has come, as it does once a year for yours truly to let loose with the Ho Ho Hos and the jingle bells and what not on account of the fact that Christmas is approaching rapidly.

As has been mentioned here before, this is a multi-religious household, with myself representing the (extremely) lapsed-Catholic and my wife repping the Jewish and the Little Corners an interfaith bouillabaisse, their eyes and hearts filled to bursting with the childhood wonder of the season.

Which is really what it’s all about, at least from my vantage point, where what I want is no more or less than their happiness, and my wife’s good health.

You know that I’ve mentioned here (every single Christmas since this blog has been extant) that I have never been a prodigious collector of holiday music. Whether this has to do with my acceptance (almost at the DNA level) of the cheesy/classic seasonal sounds of my childhood, to the point where I can sit back and take some comfort in the sound of the voices of Andy Williams or Jim Nabors (and surprisingly enough, I can), or that seeing limited appeal/value in holiday music, I’d rather spend my money on reg’lar old soul and funk is in the end meaningless, since there always seems to be something cool dropping in from the margins to satisfy the Funky Kringle in us all.

I bring you today’s selection in particular because it is a favorite of bot myself and my wife, and naturally because it is a very groovy, upbeat and cheerful Christmas offering from Mr Please Please Please (HO HO HO?) himself, James Brown.

When I listen to ‘Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto’, I realize that what we get with this record is both funky and danceable, but also poignant, especially in these days where there’s a tent city of homeless families not 10 miles from my warm, toasty house, and Mr Brown was thinking of how this, the most precious of holidays for children especially, could be rough for the poorest among us, and we should remember that while we listen to this song.

We should also remember that James Brown, who gave us such a great Christmas song, left us on that very day five years ago.

So dig the tune (there’ll be many old faves dropping as the week progresses) and remember that not everyone has the wherewithal to have a groovy holiday.

So try to remember that even if you are (like me) not a religious person, that the Christmas season can just be about brotherhood in the general ‘Family of Man’ sense, which is cool too, especially when times are tough (which they are for so many).

See you on tomorrow.

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.

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By Larry, December 16, 2012 2:20 pm

Listen/Download Bobby Hollaway – Funky Little Drummer Boy

Greetings all

I should get things started by noting that the next week or so will be filled with soulful and funky Christmas music.

I will be posting new stuff (like you see today) interspersed some old faves.

Here’s hoping that you dig it all, and that those that celebrate have themselves a groovy Christmas.

It was way back in February of this year that I featured the absolutely incendiary flipside of this biscuit – ‘Cornbread, Hog Maw and Chitterlins’ – in this very space.

Funny thing is, the record was first recommended to me (by the mighty Midnight Cowbwoy) for the side you see before you today.

I was in search of some groovy, soulful Christmas ish, and he suggested that Bobby Hollaway’s ‘Funky Little Drummer Boy’ could be had for not much scratch. So, off I went in search of said 45, found it, coughed up my ten smackers and eagerly awaited it’s arrival here at the crib.

Well, when it fell through the mail slot, I played the Christmas side, dug it and thought “Well, that was ten bucks well spent!”

Then I flipped it over.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a body cast (not really).

However, the ‘Cornbread…’ side is as deadly a bit of organ driven instro-soul as has ever rolled down the pike.

The Christmas side is a cover of a song thathas never really done much for me in its original form.

However, it seems to be the kind of song that lends itself to particularly interesting soul and funk interpretations, like the George Conedy and Lenox Ave versions you have seen/heard in this space previously.

Mr Hollaway does yet another stupendous take on ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, picking up the tempo considerably and laying a whole lot of soul on what started out as a decidedly un-soulful tune.

I have yet to discover anything about Bobby Hollaway – what little I was able to glean can be picked up in the earlier post – and I wish I knew more.

If anyone has anything to add to the story, please drop me a line.

Until then, I hope you dig the tune, and Merry Christmas.

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.

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By Larry, December 13, 2012 2:22 pm

Larry Coryell

Listen/Download Larry Coryell – Gypsy Queen (45 edit)

Greetings all

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show.

Coming to you this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio, the Funky16Corners Radio Show brings you the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there to dig the show at airtime, you can always pick up episodes by subscribing to it as a podcast via iTunes, or by grabbing a straight MP3 download here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is a little something I picked up while out digging earlier this year.

I – like many of my generation – first became aware of the song ‘Gypsy Queen’ via the version by Santana, recorded for the ‘Abraxas’ album in 1970.

It was a few years on down the line that I was hepped to the original version by the master Gabor Szabo on his 1966 ‘Spellbinder’ album (you can hear that version by checking out Funky16Corners Radio v.24.5 in the archive).

I had no idea that Larry Coryell had recorded ‘Gypsy Queen’ until I happened upon the 45 you see before you today.

He waxed in in 1971 for his debut on Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman label, ‘Barefoot Boy’.

The LP version of the track runs over eleven minutes, with the 45 coming in at just under three minutes.

I have heard the LP edit, and unless you have a taste for extended jazz freakouts/solos, the 45 really delivers all you need to hear.

The band, with Coryell leading on guitar included Steve Marcus on soprano sax (heard a lot here) and Roy Haynes on drums, among others.

This truncated version of the tune encapsulates the crossover between jazz and late 60s rock that Coryell and Marcus were both a big part of.

Things are jazzy enough, with a fair amount of psychedelia mixed in and the band really does justice to Szabo’s OG.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all 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.

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By Larry, December 11, 2012 4:25 pm

Myra Barnes aka Vicki Anderson

Listen/Download Myra Barnes – Super Good (Answer to Super Bad) Pt1

Listen/Download Myra Barnes – Super Good (Answer to Super Bad) Pt2

Greetings all

How’s about some of the dead on the one, super heavy funk to help you get on up and over the hump?

The record I bring you today is one that I was seeking for a long time, before it ultimately turned up in a box of cheapies at a record show.

It looked a little distressed, but for three bucks I could not pass it by. When I got it home and dropped the needle it was immediately evident that I had made the right choice.

That said, this 45, released in 1970 and credited to Myra Barnes (and then parenthetically to Vicki Anderson, who is Myra Barnes and vice versa…) is a killer.

It is prime, funk 45 era James Brown-and associated action, with interjections by the king himself and some cool, fuzzed out guitar (which you get to hear a lot more of in Part 2) as well.

The thing that always puzzled me, is why the double billing?

Myra Barnes is the birth name of Vicki Anderson, one of the great divas of the James Brown organization.

She recorded for a variety of labels, under both names, but oddly enough not in chronological order, i.e. even though there are ‘Myra Barnes’ 45s released on the King label in 1970 and 1971, there are also Vicki Anderson 45s released before and after those (from 1967 to 1971).

Was James trying to break Myra/Vicki in any way possible, and playing any card available? Certainly the vocals on the Myra/Vicki 45s sound like the same person, so it’s not like she was working separate personas.

There was some fluctuation in the position of ‘main female singer’ in the James Brown revue with Myra/Vicki preceded by Anna King, replaced by Marva Whitney, and then returning to the fold before being replaced by Lyn Collins.

To complicate matters even further, she recorded again for Brown’s I-Dentify label under the name ‘Mommie-O’ in 1975.

In the end, Myra Barnes/Vicki Anderson/Mommie-O laid down some of the finest records of the classic funk era, and JB himself reportedly considered her to be the finest singer he ever worked with.

I hope you get down, dig the sounds, and I’ll see you on Friday.

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.

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By Larry, December 9, 2012 3:32 pm

Funky16Corners @ Spindletop – Early Set 1/10/11

Playlist

Listen/Download 80MB/256kb Mixed MP3

Greetings all.

As you all know, I spend as much (or more) time listening to the mixes I put together for Funky16Corners than anyone.

This has everything to do with the fact that all of the content here on the blog has to pass my own “ear test” before you hear it, so the mixes/posts reflect what I’m digging at any given point.

Though – due to circumstances beyond my control -I haven’t played out in more than a year, 2011 was an especially cool/busy time in that respect.

Between stints at Master Groove and Spindletop, and guest spots at Subway Soul (all NYC), Wooly Bully and Sweet Exorcist (both in Mass) I had plenty of opportunities to spin vinyl for groovy people.

The Spindletop night (at Botanica) was an especially cool night (while it lasted) because I had an exceptional amount of freedom in the styles of music I could spin as well as providing an opportunity to play especially long sets.

Back in January of last year, I had a chance to play almost three full hours of soul jazz 45s, and I decided to get things started with a slow-to-midtempo set.

The results – which you see before you (again) – ended up being one of my favorite sets* of the last few years, and I’ve cued it up on the iPod several times since then.

I decided that I’d re-post it for those that might have missed it the first time out.

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

Keep the faith

Larry

*As mentioned when this was originally posted, the line-out on the house mixer was not functioning, so I spun and rerecorded this set live on my decks at home the following day.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

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.

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By Larry, December 6, 2012 1:00 pm

Ernie K Doe

Listen/Download Ernie K Doe – Fly Away With Me

Greetings all

Welcome back to the Corners.

The end of another week is here, and so it is once again time for the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which hits the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there to check it out at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an mp3 download here at the blog the day after it airs.

I was on another one of those periodic, internal digging expeditions, in which I probe the contents of my own crates for sounds neglected, when I pulled out Ernie K Doe’s self-titled 1970 LP.

Known to most as the source for sought after funk of ‘Here Come the Girls’, the album, produced and almost entirely written by Allen Toussaint (with the instrumental assistance of the mighty Meters), ‘Ernie K Doe’ is uniformly excellent.

One of my favorite tunes on the album, is ‘Fly Away With Me’.

Now, we have spent a fair amount of time discussing the nature of funk, and things funky, acknowledging along the way that the terms embrace a wide range of tempos and “feels”, and this song is prime illustration of that.

There is certainly a built-in quota of funk in any truly New Orleans-ian music, and when you’re talking about the intersection of the talents of Toussaint, K Doe andMeters, they could all be asleep and the snores, tossing and turning would still be funky as hell.

‘Fly Away With Me’ gets its start in a easy rolling tempo, with plenty of Toussaint piano, as well as great harmony vocals (also, partly Toussaint). There’s a laid back, almost churchy feel to things until the 2:05 mark when they pick up the pace and dial up the funk for the rest of the record.

K Doe is in rare form (an underrated singer indeed) and the playing and production are typically, effortlessly amazing.

Another hidden gem on an LP that ought to be much better known.

I hope you dig it and I’ll see you all 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.

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By Larry, December 4, 2012 3:48 pm

Drummers Jim Gordon (left) and King Errison (right)

Listen/Download Incredible Bongo Band – Let There Be Drums

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of another spectacularly crisp, post-Thanksgiving, pre-Yule day.

The tune I bring you today is a little something I grabbed on a recent dig, and on object lesson in how sometimes you really don’t need to hear a record to know it’s going to be good.

Any beat fiend worth their wax is already hip to the sounds of the Incredible Bongo Band, especially their version of Jerry Lordan’s oft-recorded ‘Apache’, one of the ur documents of hip hop.

The IBB’s first LP ‘Bongo Rock’ is fairly rare and sought after, mainly for ‘Apache’.

However, there is much to dig on ‘Bongo Rock’, up to and including the album’s opening track (and one of its singles), which you see before you presently, ‘Let There Be Drums’.

Like many of the tunes on ‘Bongo Rock’, ‘Let There Be Drums’ is a cover, in this case of Sandy Nelson’s 1961 hit.

Written by Nelson and producer/writer/guitarist Richie Podolor, ‘Let There Be Drums’ was, like so much of Nelson’s catalog, a percussion feature meant to highlight his skill on the skins.

Since the IBB was a similar showcase (created by producer Michael Viner), this time for drummer Jim Gordon and percussionist King Errison, the recordings were aimed in the same general direction.

‘Let There Be Drums’ may lack the crisp breakbeats of ‘Apache’ there are still plenty of slamming drums (do you ever really ever get sick of walls of well recorded drums?) and some cool guitar.

As far as I can tell ‘Let There Be Drums’ was only sampled in 2007 by Buck 65 on the track ‘Dang’.

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

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 (2)

By Larry, December 2, 2012 3:51 pm

Eddie Kendricks

Listen/Download Eddie Kendricks – Son of Sagittarius

Greetings all

Welcome to another week here at the Corners…

The tune I bring you today is something very groovy from one of the greats of 70s soul (as a solo, that is), Mr. Eddie Kendricks.

After helping to create the sound of the Temptations in the 60s, Kendricks departed for a solo career in the early 70s.

He was hugely successful, both artistically, and chart-wise.

1973’s ‘Boogie Down’ LP brought him his second #1 record with the title cut (#2 Pop) and continued his association with the late Frank Wilson. It was the songwriting team of Wilson, Leonard Caston and Anita Poree (with Wilson and Caston producing) that worked with Kendricks to create his influential and ahead-of-its-time disco funk sound, starting with 1972’s ‘People….Hold On’ LP.

It would be an understatement to say that Kendricks broke through in a big way. I was a 10 year old suburban white kid when he started his run of solo hits and they are still favorites of mine, drilled deeply into my brain.

Oddly though, I have no recollection of today’s selection, which was Top 5 R&B and Top 30 Pop in the Spring of 1974.

That’s too bad, because ‘Song of Sagittarius’ is a fantastic bit of dance floor magic.

My first instinct would be to classify it as ‘mid-tempo’ but there’s something in the throbbing bass drum, and the way the arrangement fluctuates between a smoother feel and slightly rougher funk that makes it feel more propulsive.

Plus, you get to listen to one of the greatest falsetto’s in the history of soul for almost four minutes, so there’s that too.

I hope you dig it (and dance to it) and I’ll see you all 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.

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By Larry, November 29, 2012 3:20 pm

Rex Garvin (ctr) and the Mighty Cravers

Listen/Download Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers – Soul Food

Greetings all

We’ve all made it to the end of another week, so raise your glass and dig (the music, that is).

You simply must join me this (and every) Friday night at 9PM for the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. If you can’t hit us up at airtime, you can always pick up the show by subscribing as a podcast in iTunes, or by picking up an MP3 download in the Radio Show Archive here at the blog.

The tune I bring you to close out the week is an early one from the catalog of one of my all-time favorite soul groups, Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers.

Mr Garvin and his fellow cats were in fact responsible for one of my soulful Top 5, that being ‘I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor)’, one of the mightiest of all soul 45s, and a record guaranteed to get me shaking like a tomato aspic.

Today’s selection hails from nineteen and sixty three, when Rex was waxing heaters for the Keynote label.

While it is not the relentless head-banger that ‘I Gotta Go Now’ is, it is still quite groovy, mainly because it is a fine addition to the long list of “soul food” records.

That is in fact entitled ‘Soul Food’ only shortens the distance between two point, that being the space between the internet and your hungry ears.

While Rex engages in a somewhat reckless rhyme scheme – matching up ‘potato salad’ and ‘drive me mad’ –  the buffet he lays out is a tasty one indeed.

You can file this one on the big bridge between R&B and pure soul (leaning in the later direction), and I assure you that were you to drop this for a room full of well lubricated dancers your efforts would be rewarded with flights of terpsichorean madness.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all 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 (1)

By Larry, November 27, 2012 2:10 pm

Roy Ayers

Listen/Download Roy Ayers – Brother Louie

Greetings all

Welcome to that island in the middle of the week where we all gather to get our heads together, make it over the hump and start marching toward the weekend.

There’s not a lot to say about today’s selection that the music can’t say for itself.

Roy Ayers, master of the vibes (the instrument and the diffuse idea), who got his start playing hard bop/modal and moved onto to become one of the masters of funky sounds in the 70s, gets into the studio with some heavy friends and works it out on a song that had been a very big hit earlier that year (1973) for Stories.

Those of you that – like me – are old enough to remember that hit, well…remember it (from then).

The rest of you for whom it is instantly familiar surely picked up on it via Louie CK’s groovy show, wherein a version of it is used as the theme.

The Roy Ayers take on ‘Brother Louie’ is from his excellent ‘Virgo Red’ LP, and sees the master and his band taking the song, strapping a little funk to it (with lots of those good vibes, literal and figurative) and there you have it.

I dig it (and the whole album) a lot.

I hope you do too, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

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, November 25, 2012 2:03 pm

The Intruders

Listen/Download The Intruders – Every Day Is a Holiday

Greetings all

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to another week here at the Funky16Corners thing.

Things are getting cool and crisp outside (and hopefully in here too) so I thought I might open things up this week with some smooth, delightful soul harmony from the great city of Philadelphia.

I have sung the praises of the mighty Intruders in this space a number of times over the years.

Led by Sam ‘Little Sonny’ Brown, the Intruders hit the charts no less than two dozen times between 1966 and 1975.

They were one of the biggest hit delivery machines in the Gamble/Huff stable, and their success provided a lot of the juice needed to launch Philadelphia International Records.

If you are not wise to the sounds of the Intruders, you need to get out and dig because their singles are by and large fairly easy to find, affordable when you find them, and uniformly excellent.

As I mentioned a long time ago, the Intruders were a bridge between the old-school Philly sound (Volcanos, Harthon et al) and the slicker, smoother sound that would become known the world over as ‘Philly soul’.

The tune I bring you today, ‘Every Day Is a Holiday’ was released both on the 1968 ‘Cowboys to Girls’ LP and as a single in 1969.

Its chart impact was minimal, though it’s a-side “Old Love” made it into the R&B Top 40.

That said, ‘Every Day Is a Holiday’ is first rate Gamble/Huff action, with a sophisticated melody, tight harmonies and a radio-friendly arrangement.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all 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, November 22, 2012 1:58 pm

Kai Winding won’t you blow one time!

Listen/Download Kai Winding – Watermelon Man

Greetings all

The end of the week is near, so don’t forget to tune into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot join us at airtime, you can pick up episodes by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes or picking up an MP3 download here at the blog.

The name Kai Winding was a very familiar one in my house when I was a kid.

My father is a huge jazz fan and had several ‘Jay and Kai’ albums (the duo of trombonists JJ Johnson and Kai Winding) in his collection.

It was only when I started collecting 45s in earnest – especially Mod soul/jazz – that I discovered that Mr Winding had waxed some very groovy stuff during the 60s.

The Danish-born Winding, who passed away at the age of 61 in 1983, recorded in a wide variety of settings from the 1940s (he played on Miles Davis’ ‘Birth of the Cool’ sessions) on until his death.

He recorded for the Verve label in the 60s, which is when he laid down the very tasty version of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man’.

Like many of his contemporaries, Winding experimented with adding all kinds of pop/R&B flavor into his records, and this is one of his best.

You get lots of that sonorous trombone, mixed in with some grovy combo organ and percussion that makes for a fusion of soul jazz and au-go-go flavors.

It has a discotheque vibe that I dig very much, and I hope you do too.

Get your groove shoes on, and I’ll see you all 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.