Farida – Il Pianoforte
Farida – L’Anima
Farida – Pensami Stasera

{As we’ve done at various times in our past, this week I’m raising funds to keep Melting Pot on the web as a blog. While the music is free to listen to an enjoy, we still have to pay for the real estate. This week I’m putting up a handful of LPs and 45s to raise the money necessary to keep us going for the next year. If you enjoy all the music that you get here, from classic bits of vinyl in this section, the new releases in Heavy Rotation and especially the radio show and all of our performances, please consider supporting Melting Pot by donating whatever amount you can via the paypal link above.}

As someone who has been very slowly rebuilding his collection it’s always tough to let go of great records. But it would be even harder letting go of this blog, and so as has been the case a few times in the past, I’ve got a few records up for auction at Ebay as we try to raise funds to keep Melting Pot on the web. One of the more interesting LPs comes from an Italian singer by the name of Farida.

Though she sings in Italian, Farida found her first success in Poland, which explains why you’d find her album on the venerable Polish label Muza. The album could have easily worked as a soundtrack to an early 1970s Italian Poliziotteschi or “Tough Cop” film. Farida’s singing is suitably over-the-top in most cases, but it’s the production that is the real star of this album, with all types of interesting accents and flourishes, some small others bombastic. “Il Pianoforte” grabs the attention with all of those clean drum breaks, but virtually every track has some note worthy moments, as “L’Anima” and “Pensami Stasera” clearly show. If you’re a fan of these styles and sounds, head on over to Ebay or Rose Records to bid on the record, see more pictures and hear more songs from this LP. Most importantly if you can, please support Melting Pot!!!

Cheers,

Michael

With the events in Turkey of late, my mind has been on international affairs and that led me to this post, focusing just on a few international 45s that I’ve picked up of late. High quality 45s are tough enough to come by for stateside music. Finding great international ones digging has been next to impossible for me (with one exception below). I’m not a world traveler so I don’t get to dig in foreign lands, so like so many Ebay remains my main enabler when it comes to music from outside of the US.

Edip Akbayram & Dolstar – Daglar Dagladi Beni

I relayed this story on my guest post at Nerdtorious a while back, but it bears repeating. At some point as I was buzzing through youtube videos looking for a track that was stuck in my head, I came across this video promising “Crazy Turkish Heavy Psych Funk Breaks.”   The link did not disappoint, fuzzy guitars, heavy drums, cool singing in Turkish and, strangely, stills from Team America: World Police of turban wearing puppets.  What was not shown or mentioned in the video was the name of the artist or the song.  Having been led to youtube in an attempt to solve one riddle I had been led into another one and after hearing all those fuzzy guitars I was determined to figure it all out.  Through some deductive reasoning (starting with the label, cross checking Ebay, moving to 1970s artists on that label and then back to youtube) I finally discovered that the artist was Edip Akbayram along with his group Dostlar.

The video featured excerpts from both sides of a  45 the band released in the early 1970s, “Daglar Dagladi Beni” on one side and the equally heavy “Ince Ince Bir Kar Yagar” on the flipside (each of these tracks are also featured on Edip’s super rare debut LP though they’ve also been compiled together by Shadoks, but even that collection is tough to find these days).   As luck would have it the 45 was just waiting for me to get it on Ebay and I was more than happy to snatch it up.  Whenever I hear the opening first minute of “Daglar” I immediately envision it being used in the soundtrack of a Quentin Tarantino film, as two characters are about to face off.  It just has THAT kind of sound.

Erkin Koray – Yagmur

Though I’ve dug Turkish music from the 1960s & 1970s from some time, I hadn’t heard of Erkin Koray until Gas Lamp Killer & Gonjasufi liberally sampled his extraordinary “Yagmur” for the song “Kobwebz” on Gonjasufi’s debut. The original is perhaps one of my favorite psychedelic songs from this period of time from any country. With all those cascading waves of guitar, the song unfolds like a hallucination.

Ginger Ale – Seventh Floor

This 45 from Dutch group Ginger Ale is one of the very few international 7″s that I’ve run across in a store. I’m not sure why I didn’t pass this up while digging for Funk 45s at Bagatelle, but I’m glad I added it to my pile of things to check out. Ginger Ale only recorded a handful of singles, before the members went in other directions (notably to Ekspetion and Windjammer). The single “In The Sand” is nothing to write home about, but I really dig the production on the sample-worthy “Seventh Floor.” Like a number of international 45s, there is a picture sleeve for this one, it just wasn’t there at Bagatelle. With the way that rhythm rolls out, I wouldn’t let that, or the fact that they sing in English and not Dutch, keep me from adding it to my collection.

Jacques Dutronc – J’ai Tout Lu, Tout Vu, Tout Bu

Though Serge Gainsburg is the most recognized “bad man” of French music, Jacques Dutronc gave him a good run for his money. If Serge was more of a “dirty old man,” I like to think of Dutronc as a “merry prankster.” Virtually all of his music from the mid/late 1960s was great style and swagger to it. “J’ai Tout” is almost a half song, clocking in at only 1:36, but it packs a big punch. Interestingly enough, it’s not only his delivery that seems almost like proto-rap, but even what he’s talking about is pure Hip-Hop braggadocio as Dutronc runs down all that he’s read, all that he knows and all that he’s seen just to let you know how bad he is. It’s a great satire of more than a few people I’ve know, who seem uncomfortable admitting that there are some people they’ve never heard of, or actually read. At some point I’m gonna dedicate some time to remixing this into a proper song (inspired by what Matthew Africa, RIP, did to the Ohio Players “Ecstasy”) and if I do I’ll be sure to share it with all of you.

Cheers,

Michael

Red Allen & Kid Ory – Blues For Jimmy
Red Allen & Kid Ory – Keep Off Of Katie’s Head
Red Allen & Kid Ory – Tishomingo Blues

It’s just about to become summer here in LA, the days and nights are quite as hot as they will be and most times there’s a nice breeze that for whatever reason puts traditional Dixieland/Hot Jazz sounds into my mind. Something about the prospect of just hanging out in our house with the windows open and that breeze flowing in and those sounds pouring out of my speakers just makes my heart glad (as does the old school Verve label on the LP). It’s hard not to smile with a collaboration like this featuring two of masters at their craft. In fact, if there was a trad jazz record that someone who has never bought any trad jazz was going to get, I’d likely suggest this one. Kid Ory cut hs teeth in perhaps the first great jazz band along with King Oliver and Pops, he’s a New Orleans trombonist through and through. Red Allen always gets lumped in with the traditional crowd, but his playing on trumpet was always thoroughly modern, to the point where I doubt there are many contemporary trumpet players that could match his wit and skill when he solos. The pair together are pure heaven on the mid-tempo “blues” one of which is dedicated to Kid Ory’s former partner, a legend in his own right, clarinetist Jimmy Noone. The way the music swoons and sways always inspires me to do a little dance as if I’ve been transported back in time to a speakeasy where these sounds would have found a home in the 1930s, let alone during the revival of the late 1950s/early 1960s.

The most interesting track is “Keep Off Of Katie’s Head.” From the title alone, the song seems like a threat or a warning, but once Kid Ory tells this man to not only “Keep Of Of Katie’s Head” but also to “Please Keep Out Of Katie’s Bed” it gives the song a bt more of a playful bent, which seems to be less about domestic violence and more about some oral funtimes. If I was Katie’s neighbor I’m sure I’d probably still call the Cops on the person he’s singing to, but I think things might get awfully awkward for everyone once they showed up. For maximum effect I suggest playing the record with the windows open and loud enough to let your neighbors be aware that some misbehavin’ is goin’ on next door.

Cheers,

Michael

Black Ivory – Don’t Turn Around
Black Ivory – Surrender
Black Ivory – You And I

My Wife and I have been listening to a fair amount of Sweet Soul or Oldies of late. It’s interesting because we have very different relationships with this music. For me, growing up in Atlanta and the South, I always associated this music with the Northeast, since most Southern Soul is grittier and “deeper,” but the really sweet stuff always seemed to come from Philly, New York, Detroit or Chicago. It’s a sound for slow dancing late in the summer for me. My wife however grew up in the LA Area, and this style of music is really strongly connected to Mexican/Mexican-American communities out here to the point where we actually get in arguments over “Who’s Music Is This?” (which is the kind of thing that might just spark a bit of academic inquiry in the future).

What’s not up for debate is how lovely a lot of this music is. Black Ivory’s “Don’t Turn Around” has been something I’ve been on the look out for years and years, after hearing comedian Tommy Davidson request it during a radio appearance at a Bay Area station. Generally if I run into the album out and about it’s all beat up from being overplayed. With Sweet Soul on my mind more and more I made sure to pick up a decent copy off of Ebay and here it is. It’s pretty amazing to note how young all the members of this group were when they released “Don’t Turn Around”, not even in their twenties at that time. While it shares a lot of elements from other Sweet Soul tunes, slow tempo, falsetto lead, etc., it’s THOSE strings that keep bringing me back to this one again and again. It wasn’t until I came across this video of the group’s only Soul Train appearance that I realize that the dude in the center of the LP cover wasn’t singing that falsetto, but instead it was Leroy Burgess, who really was the creative force behind the band. In addition to missing harmonies like these, I really wish bands still choreographed their moves they way they used to:

“You And I” treads similar territory, but cranks up the levels of epic-ness as it builds and builds, ending with some sample-worthy instrumentation (especially after some says, “Don’t Stop Now,” in the background during that last minute). “Surrender” is a bit more upbeat, as are a couple of the other tracks on the album. But really what it all comes down to is that truly sweet soul sound. Hearing that, I don’t know how anyone could resist turning around for another glance. I’m sure you’re like me, once you’ve heard “Don’t Turn Around” you keep coming back for more and more.

Cheers,

Michael

Wilson Pickett – Get Me Back On Time (Engine Number Nine)
Wilson Pickett – Bumblebee
Wilson Pickett – Run Joey Run

The kind of record that should be in just about every self-respecting DJs collection, Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia is a perfect combination of contrasting styles, the grit and gruff of Southern Soul with the stately fuzz of Philly’s Holland & Dozier. “Get Me Back On Time” is an absolute classic, sampled by a few. “Run Joey Run” is a fairly weak song overall, but man oh man does it have a monster introduction and “Bumblebee” is a nice tune for the dancefloors with punchy horns and big expansive drums. For years I’d always assumed that the whole “Engine Engine Number 9″ line from Black Sheep was inspired by this song, but then again there’s a “Engine #9″ mention in “Super Good” too, and it gets me to thinking of how little I actually know about this titular engine, since I grew up in the South and have spent most of the rest of my time on the West Coast. Maybe there are a bunch of other “Engine #9″ songs out there, but even if there are, I highly doubt any are as thrilling, wild and funky as this classic.

Cheers,

Michael

Bo Diddley – Hit Or Miss
Bo Diddley – He Got All The Whiskey
Bo Diddley – Stop The Pusher

Sometime ago, I was eyeing a reasonably priced copy of Bo Diddley’s funk/psych freakout record Black Gladiator at a local spot. I didn’t have the cash for the record so every now and again I’d check to see if it was still there until eventually within that month it was gone. When I saw a copy of this album I made sure not to make the same mistake and snatched it up quickly.

Big Bad Bo finds Diddley far away from his signature sounds. Though the record was released in 1974, it sounds like it might have been recorded a few years before, just based off of the kind of funk on display here. “Hit Or Miss” is probably the best known song, because of it’s use in the LP mix of De La Soul’s “Buddy.” I prefer Diddley’s version to Odetta’s original. The pace is a bit quicker, the vocals a bit looser and Diddley injects a certain strutting badness to the song that translates nicely onto the dancefloor. It won’t please fans of Bo’s indestructible beat, but the record as a whole is a solid funky effort and worthy of a spot in not only collection, but likely in yours as well.

Cheers,

Michael

Mount Rushmore – Toe Jam
Mount Rushmore – 10:09 Blues
Mount Rushmore – King Of Earrings

Meant to actually fully post this one ages ago.  I’d mentioned it in a guest post I did for David Ma’s fantastic Nerdtorious blog, in addition to a couple of other choice cuts (all of which I need to hurry up and add here).  Here’s what I said about it there:

“Recently ran into this at the Pasadena Flea Market/Record Swap. Having heard the Handsome Boy Modeling School’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Could Never Hip-Hop Like This)” I knew that “Toe Jam,” from the band’s second LP, had served as the primary sample. Mount Rushmore were more of a blues-oriented Frisco band and fans of that sound would dig most of the other cuts on the album. For me it all comes back to those drums and the fuzzy guitar and bass. It’s a super heavy sound, almost Black Sabbath heavy once the unsampled melody kicks in. The first three minutes are so good I don’t even hold it against them for speeding things up and losing the funk for the last half of the song.”

Don’t really have much else to add, except I got this one at the PCC meet close to closing time, when deals are to be made.  I’d been on the lookout for it for a while and was hoping to run into it there but never saw it…until I was about to leave and was returning to a dealers spot and noticed this record in addition to a couple of others on another dealers crates.  I asked what was up with it and he mentioned that some guy had put them on hold but he never came back.  The price was more than fair ($10 or $12) and just like that I’d gotten exactly what I was looking for.  I knew “Toe Jam” was “the Jam,” but I was more than pleased with the mix of bluesy San Francisco rock sounds from the band.  I know the band released another record but I haven’t heard it.  I doubt there’s anything as hard as “Toe Jam” on there, but then again, what is as hard as that?  Perhaps I’ll run into that one at clsoing time at the swap, but surely lightning couldn’t strike twice, could it?

Cheers,

Michael

Danny Schloss – In A Dream
Danny Schloss – Pot Of Gold
Danny Schloss – It’s A Funny Situation
Danny Schloss – Walk Softly

It’s record store day, and while personally I try to celebrate Record Store Day at least three or four times a month, it’s still good to highlight all of the amazing vinyl record stores that supply my addiction, here in LA with Atomic Records, Record Jungle, Bagatelle Records, Mount Analog, Strictly Grooves, the Artform Studio, Amoeba Records and of course the jewel of the Bay Area, Frisco’s Groove Merchant.

For our weekly Dig Deep this is a finding from my first visit to the newest kid on the block in Highland Park, Gimme Gimme Records. Transplanted from NYC, the record features quite a few records that you rarely see on the west coast (particularly in the Jazz section) and is a more than solid addition to any crate diggers journeys through the paths of rhythm here in LA. Aside from a bunch of quality records that I already have or used to own but feel a burning need to return to just yet, I ran across a gorgeous gold label version of Ray Barretto’s classic Acid and also this interesting psych-pop record from Danny Schloss.

Haven’t been able to turn up too much about the clearly very groovy Mr. Schloss. Even though this could very easily count as “sunshine pop” which I almost always connect to California, there’s something very NYC about the instrumentation and the sound of the players (which don’t include too many names I recall, except for Johnny Pacheco who is brought in for some “latin percussion”). Schloss’ vocals fit the times and as much as I’d love to have an instrumental copy of this album, it wouldn’t have the same impact without all the quintessentially late 1960s flower power vibes that come through both the lyrics and the way Schloss sings. There’s a slight tinge of darkness and danger in quite a lot of the music that makes it stand apart from the usual “sunshine pop” fare. I posted an extra song just cause I could make up my mind and I though that the tracks resequenced in this way sounded like they were a suite of music instead of tracks that are in very different places on the original LP.

If you got the time, and you’ve got the money. Go out to local record stores today, let them know how much you love them and how you wouldn’t be able to live without them. Ultimately that’s what record store day is all about…but if you can, as I said earlier, make Record Store Day everyday you can and keep the vinyl alive.

Cheers,

Michael

Gas Mask – If You Just Think Of Me
Gas Mask – The I Ching Thing
Gas Mask – Thank You My Dear

Sometimes as a DJ you can judge a book (or record as it were) by it’s cover. You take a look at the cover of this LP and you know you’re guaranteed to have some interesting music and likely some breaktastic happenings. In that regard New York’s Gas Mask does not disappoint. Gas Mask were a large band in the style of Blood Sweat & Tears, with a slightly jazzier side of things, which I’m going to guess was largely because of the influence of Enrico Rava, an italian jazz trumpeter who’s done some particularly good work over the years on the ECM label as well as being a part of the fascinating aural freakout Escalator Over The Hill from Carla Bley (something that I just realized I’ve never posted on…perhaps I’ll do something big for it’s 45th anniversary in 2016).

As is the case with a lot of BS&T inspired bands, I would have liked Gas Mask a lot better if they were an instrumental group. There’s nothing technically wrong with the lead singers voice or even his lyrics, though neither is particular “right,” but it’s the playing on the album, on instrumentals like “The I Ching Thing” and the best vocal tracks, “If You Just Think Of Me” and “Thank You My Dear” that keep me coming back to this record…though it’s also quite possible this will end up being on Rose Records one day in the near future too.

Cheers,

Michael

Junior Mance – Thank You Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Agin
Junior Mance – Don’t Cha Hear Me Callin’ To Ya
Junior Mance – Well I’ll Be White Black

Pasadena Record Swap is coming this Sunday, as it does on the first Sunday of each new month. I’ve only been able to go a handful of times, but I always run into something nice when I do. A couple of months ago I ran into this record, which I strangely don’t run into as often as I’d expect that I would. I’m pretty sure the first time I got a copy of this was at Groove Merchant, while buzzing through the “Breaks” section. “Thank You” starts off with massive drums, which should be very familiar to fans of A Tribe Called Quest. This is not a “one-tracker,” with actually quite a few super solid funky tracks, with Mance’s soulful piano, Billy Cobham and Chuck Rainey’s popping rhythm and the often surprisingly psychedelic guitar of Eric Gale. Running into this time around made me realize that “Well I’ll Be White Black” isn’t “We’ll Be White Black” which is what I’ve been thinking that title was for at least a decade. One day I hope I find out why Cobham chose that particular play on words. Definitely seems like there’s a story to tell about that one.

Speaking of stories, I pulled this particular copy while at the record fair at the kind of vendor who I generally avoid. Totally random guy, not likely to ever be there again, with a gang of records flowing out of his van. Literally, just boxes of records hanging out in the dude’s van. Most vendors take the time to organize their albums, alphabetically, by genre, by price, but organized. This was just random records in even more random boxes and the vast majority of them weren’t at all what I was looking for. This album just happened to be sitting at the front of a pile of records. That was enough to draw me in and give it the whole college try, but digging through all the other records didn’t produce anything even close to this. Next time, I’ll probably just cut and run with what I can see. But then again, the thrill of the hunt, the possibility of digging for gold is part of what brings us out to record swaps and record meets. You never know what you may find. In this case the only record I found was one that had been on my mind (got to love it when that happens) and getting reacquainted with this classic was worth the time wasted in that van.

Cheers,

Michael

Charlie Palmieri – Las Negritas De Carnaval
Charlie Palmieri – Taxi Driver
Charlie Palmieri – Swing Y Son

Recently picked up this one and realized I’ve never owned a record from Charlie Palmieri. I generally don’t come around too many of them, but it seems I’ve always favored Eddie. Aside from an intriguing cover, this one seemed like a nice one to cop, especially with a line-up that features Roberto Roena, Tito Puente, Cachao and Cortijo. Palmieri puts the “electro” in Electro Duro by playing what sounds like one of those bizarro organs that’s in tons of 1970s cumbia tracks. It’s not a sound you hear with Salsa Dura, at times it sounds gimmicky, at times it seems to strangely fit, especially on “Swing Y Son” and “Las Negritas De Carnaval” where the sound of that organ cuts through the rhythm. In fact, I kinda wish there had been more of that organ on “The Taxi Driver,” a latin funk track that has B-Boy written all over it, if not for a slightly wonky trumpet part that I find distracting. Worth a listen and worth more than a few spins.

Cheers,

Michael

Kenny Baker – Mississippi Waltz
Kenny Baker – Wheel Hoss
Kenny Baker – Jerusalem Ridge
Kenny Baker – Lonesome Moonlight Waltz

Since this is my closing theme each time we have an all-vinyl show on Melting Pot, I’m really surprised that I haven’t posted this album before. The story of how I came to find this record, the only bluegrass album I own, and what many consider the best bluegrass record ever recorded, goes back to my time in Wisconsin at WORT-FM. In addition to hosting a jazz program there I was also the volunteer coordinator, which meant I was at the station during the day for long periods of time which means I got to hear most of our weekly programming and meet and talk with most of the people there during the day. The highlight of my week was without a doubt being able to hear what is probably the finest country music program in the entire nation, Back To The Country, with Bill Malone, family and friends. On the show, Malone used a couple of “old-timey” waltzes as bed music, generally for concert calendars. “Mississippi Waltz” was one that stuck in my mind, but for some reason I never thought to ask him what the song and the artist was for the music. Many many years later, far away from Madison, while I lived in California, from time to time the melody from that song would creep back into my mind and I’d kick myself for not figuring it out while I was at the station.

Eventually the misery and mystery got to me. I recorded myself whistling as much as I could remember about the song, which ended up being about 45 seconds of the melody, and sent the recording to Bill Malone. Thankfully my ears held on to just enough of the song to make it easy for him (though he did marvel at my whistlin’ skills and my ability to hold that melody in my mind for what must have been some 6 or 7 years) and finally I was able to track down what is truly one of the most lovely things I’ve ever heard. Kenny Baker is revered as one of the best fiddler players to have ever walked the earth. It doesn’t take long listening to this music to figure out why that was the case.

“Wheel Hoss” is one of the tunes that convinced Baker to give up Western Swing and focus full-time on Bluegrass. “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz” and “Jerusalem Ridge” must have been standards of the Bill Monroe repetoire. I’m still pretty flat out amazed that this recording was the very first one of “Mississippi Waltz.” As I mentioned above, it’s honestly one of the prettiest things I’ve ever heard and likely will ever hear. To think Monroe just had the tune sittin’ on a shelf is just mind boggling, as were the talents of Bill Monroe and the legendary Kenny Baker.

Cheers,

Michael

The Heads – Digging Your Head
The Heads – Land Of The Stoned Soul
The Heads – Are You Lonely For Me Baby

Don’t really have much to say about this one, I don’t know too much about this band and don’t have the time to do the proper research (swamped in grading right now, maybe I’ll revise this one later). When I ran into this album at Amoeba I had vague recollections of running into it before though I’d never owned it. So many elements on the mental checklist, interesting original titles, choice covers, mentions of “soul” in the liner notes…but really it all came down to the fact that dude on the cover looks just like Mongo from Blazing Saddles. Dropped the needle and the band sounded almost exactly the way I thought they would. Yes indeed, I’m digging the Heads.

Cheers,

Michael

Al Jarreau – Brite ‘N’ Sunny Babe
Al Jarreau – Thinking About It Too
Al Jarreau – All

Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking…why are you posting up a record from Al Jarreau?!?!?!?!! Well, this one has a little story behind it. In January word spread that Ma Dukes, J Dilla’s mother, was putting up a portion of the famed DJ/Producer/MC’s record collection on Ebay for fans to own a bit of Dilla’s collection. The records were discovered in a storage locker in Detroit recently and the family made the decision to sell a portion of the collection with the funds going to the J Dilla Foundation. When I first heard about this, I will admit that I was a bit saddened. I’d prefer to have Dilla’s collection preserved and archived as an artist of his growing legacy deserved. However, the more I thought about it, I took it under consideration that as a Hip-Hop DJ coming up in the years way before Serato and all the rest, it was highly likely that this collection had quite a few “Doubles,” and “driftwood” that don’t necessarily need to be archived. So actually it’s a pretty special thing, giving fans the chance to own a record that according to the family was actually bought by Dilla and was included in his collection.

Given that all of the records were just randomly selected and sent out to buyers, there really was no way to anticipate what you would get. After the first batch sold out quickly, a few people reported getting records from Deodato and Cannonball Adderley as well as George Shearing. When the second batch popped up just after Dilla Day, I decided to give it a shot and buy just 1 record. I could have bought a great deal more, but that seemed selfish. I wasn’t buying the record as an investment, it was truly about owning a (potential) piece of history if the record you bought was something that Dilla might have used on a sample. Of course I was hoping for some kind of obscure, rare private press funky gem that I’d never heard of and would be impossible to get. I knew it was a distinct possibility that I might get a complete “lemon” of a record.

Which brings us to Al Jarreau. Never, even when I was a highly impressionable kid, have I liked Al Jarreau’s music. His sorta-scat style has always struck me as being too over the top and when he really starts going I’m not sure if there is anything that is more un-listenable. So, when the record finally arrived and I opened it up and it was Al Jarreau, I’m not gonna lie, I hung my head down, shook it unbelievably and just laughed, loudly. Of all the possible records that could have been in Dilla’s collection…Al Jarreau!?!??! Seriously?!?!?!? I kept on feeling like that until I actually listened to the record. I have to admit, minus a few times where it gets too “Jarreau-y” for my tastes, this is actually a pretty nice late 1970s soul album. I’m not a Dillalogist so I don’t know if he actually sampled any of the sounds on this record, but if he did, my money would have been on “Brite ‘N’ Sunny Babe,” which just has a really nice late-summer vibe and eminently sample-able introduction.

Despite my initial shock and frustration that THIS was the record from Dilla, I have to admit, I kinda like this record. There’s no way anyone could have convinced me to consciously buy an Al Jarreau record. Only Dilla could have gotten me to check this out and for that, and all the music he created, I am thankful.

Cheers,

Michael

Lebron Brothers Orchestra – Dance, Dance, Dance
Lebron Brothers Orchestra – Don't Be Afraid
Lebron Brothers Orchestra. – Since You've Been Gone

All this talk about Lebron James over the past week got me thinking about the other Lebron…the Lebron Brothers. Recently picked this up at the PCC Record Swap (2013 so far has been a really good year for tracking down rare latin LPs, so far I’ve already copped this plus records from Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri and the Latinaires) and while I’d never seen it before, thankfully I had my trusty portable along with me to check this record’s bonafides. Really all it took was dropping the needle on the sure-fire latin soul of “Dance, Dance, Dance” to make up my mind that I wanted this one.

So far, I haven’t found a Lebron Bros. record that disappointed and Brother is more than satisfying, with some tough latin tracks such as “Pancho” and “Digalen,” a few slower soulful numbers in “Daddy’s Home” and “Don’t Be Afraid,” the “Tighten Up” inspired upbeat track “Couldn’t Give You Up” and a couple of real exceptions on Latin records like this. A pure instrumental in the “Boogaloo Lebron” and “Since You’ve Been Gone” a song that starts out in English before shifting to Spanish, ala the live version of “Azucar” (though in the reverse order). Not sure if my luck is going to continue throughout the year, but 2013 is looking like a very good year as my vinyl collection regains it’s former glory.

Cheers,

Michael