Towards a definition of “Gezellig”
“Gezellig” is a central concept in Dutch culture. Too bad it’s pretty much un-translatable. The track below, especially in combination with the accompanying video is as close as it gets…. plus it was filmed in Rotterdam, and features loads of bicycles!
El Jazz Mexicano
tino contreras – orfeo en los tamboras (taken from “el jazz mexicano de tino contreras“, jazzman 2011)
tino contreras - safo ‘la sacerdotiza del amor’ (taken from “el jazz mexicano de tino contreras“, jazzman 2011)
Dear readers, circumstances are (still) baby-, work and familyheavy – blogging is taking a backseat and will be less frequent for a bit. That said, check out the Tino Contreras anthology that Jazzman releases last year: varied latin jazz with a wide range of styles and influences… highly recommended! Scroll down here to buy a copy, and click on the album title for some background info.
Bloop Bleep
gary mcfarland – the in sound (verve records lp, 1965) album
The faucet keeps a-drippin’ and I can’t sleep.
This LP by composer/arranger/vibes player/producer Gary McFarland occupies a unique corner of the sonic universe, and is the best thing in his impressive discography as far as I’m concerned… which other records combine subtle multi-layered arrangements with a child-like sense of wonder, nonsensical lyrics and a great bossa-cover of the Stones’ “Satisfaction“? None that I know of.
I have always passed this album by due to the combination of 1965 + the Verve label + poppy post-bossa jazz. Luckily record collecting mirrors life in the sense that it is irrational (and that unfounded preconceptions always come back to haunt you). I now stand corrected, and am very happy to have finally discovered this. Desert Island Disc material? I think it might be!
Original Rockers
various artists – greensleeves disco 45: original rockers (1979)
I’m very busy at the moment – here’s a quick post while the baby sleeps. Jacob Miller, Alton Ellis, Augustus Pablo and King Tubby team up for a heavyweight excursion into roots reggae from 1979. Both sides of this 12″ feature the vocal tune, a dub and a melodica version.
Abiriwa
peacocks guitar band – abiriwa (emi nigeria lp, 1972) album
Straight from Nigeria, it’s Raphael Amarabem and his men – better known as the Peacocks Guitar Band. Raphael started out as a member of the group led by Rex Lawson, and founded his own group in the early seventies. “Abiriwa” is their debut album, and immediately established the band as stars in the wider African region. Their music is a pretty open and catchy take on the highlife sound, with lyrics sung in both English, Efik, Ewe and Igbo.
I featured the opening track “Eddie Quansah” on a mix I did back in september 2008; it took me another 40 months to track down a copy of the whole album. It was totally worth the wait…. don’t you think?
Will someone reissue this already?
Have been listening to a digital copy of this dubby disco monster for years now, would like to own this on vinyl, but am not ready to fork over close to a month’s rent… thanks in advance,
C
Eso es Latin Jazz… Man!
antonio (chocolaté) diaz mena – eso es latin jazz… man (audio fidelity lp 1963) album
It’s a latin jazz Tuesday… man. The only solo-album recorded by drummer Antonio (Chocolaté) Diaz Mena is a star-studded affair: Lalo Schifrin, Duke Pearson, Jerome Richardson, Clark Terry, Felipe Yanez, Johnny Coles and a host of others feature on twelve short and fiery tracks. A lot of these are covers – including the first version of “Take Five” I can listen to in years – and the style is a hybrid of big band jazz and a rootsy latin approach. I’ve just realised I’m beginning to sound like a review over at Dusty Groove; time to let the music do the talking.
Meanwhile, in China:
Candomblé
mario castro neves & samba s.a. – candomblé (taken from “st” lp, 1967)
One of my all-time favorite bossa tunes.
Despatches 1995-2003
hidden agenda – the metalheadz singles 1995-2003 album
Regular readers of Club Cortez have been able to suss out that I was big on drum ‘n bass between 1995 and 2000 – pretty much my whole record budget was spent trawling various stores for the latest white labels and promos, and the weekends saw me play out in Holland, Belgium, London, Ireland and Egypt alongside people like Matrix, Aphrodite and Dutch DJ’s like Roscoe and Pan (now known as Martyn).
My interest faded when the music took a turn for the uber-masculine: the continuous onslaught of frantic drums, hoover basslines and jittery synths made for an increasingly cold atmosphere, and ladies on the dancefloor became few and far between. Over the last few months I’ve been revisiting tracks and artists I used to love. It’s been a (re)discovery of sorts: some old favorites sound angular and repetitive, while stuff I remembered as lightweight sounded surprisingly fresh. Time + evolving tastes will do that…
While trawling my archives and listening to artists like Boymerang, Adam F, Calibre, Photek and Bill Riley one duo stood out: Hidden Agenda. The five 12″ singles they released on the Metalheadz label between 1995 and 2003 combine crystal clear production values with a jazzy approach, are melodic and manage to surprise at every turn. I’ve recorded them and zipped them up in a single folder – are you ready to take the plunge?
Home Again
michael kiwanuka – home again (taken from “home again ep”, communion/polydor 2012)
For the third time in under a year, Michael Kiwanuka has released a great EP. Following “Tell me a tale” and “I’m getting ready“, “Home Again” serves as a taster for his debut album with the same name. That will be released on march 26th – check out the title track in the meantime, and join me in hoping the album will live up to the high expectations.
29 x 7″: On a tropical island
anna valentino – on a tropical island (jazzman/popcorn 45, 2011)
ray mckinley and his orchestra – similau (jazzman/popcorn 45, 2011)
The second appearance of the new(ish) Popcorn label run by Jazzman – after the storming cuts by Frank Minion we head for the tropical side of things. Ms. Valentino longs to be on an island, while Mr. McKinley gets busy covering the 1948 Arden Clar / Harry Coleman composition “Similau“.
Don’t lose that good thing
barbara lynn – you’ll lose a good thing (jamie lp 1962) album
The sassy Barbara Lynn is back for a second visit to Club Cortez, this time with her 1962 debut album. Recorded in the New Orleans studios of Cosimo Matassa when she was just twenty years old, “You’ll lose a good thing” takes influences from blues, early soul and the swampy surroundings and results in an album that’s the perfect antidote to this dreary time of year.
Best of 2011
This year’s list-mania is modest – no video and mixes with partner in records DeLuca from Royal Groove*, but a neat set of top-fives. 2011 was a great year for music, and also turned out pretty fertile in the fatherhood department… Everything listed below has my warmest recommendation; feel free to reply with your personal highlights of 2011 in the comment section (I’m curious!)
(* check out a best-of-2011 mix by Deluca here)
Albums
- Tim Knol – Days (Excelsior)
- Sully – Carrier (Keysound Recordings)
- Big K.R.I.T. – Returnof4eva (Self-released)
- Greg Foat – Dark is the sun (Jazzman)
- Zomby – Dedication (4AD)
Tracks
- Jamie XX – Far nearer (Numbers)
- Kendrick Lamar – Rigamortis (Top Dawg)
- Michael Kiwanuka – Tell me a tale (Communion)
- Grouper – Alien Observer (Type)
- Objekt – The goose that got away (Objekt)
Reissues
- Jim Sullivan – U.F.O. (Light in the attic)
- Darondo – Listen to my song: the music city sessions (BGP)
- Drexciya – Journey of the deep sea dweller I (Clone classic cuts)
- Father’s Children – Who’s gonna save the world? (Numero Group)
- Phil Cohran & Legacy – African Skies (Captcha)
Labels
Mixes
- FACT Mix 234: Pangaea
- Dj Day – Way out of living
- Joy Orbison x TTT x Hinge Finger
- Time is Endless and Blue Flame, both by Little Danny of Officenaps.com
- Afro Deep by Dreamsinaudio
Favorite finds
The world of the Boddie Recording Company
eddie & the ant hill mob – i’m a number runner
chantells – why won’t you say (what you want)
headlines – he’s looking for kove (demo)
corinthian singers – why? (it’s a shame)
mod squad – you got me hummin’
(all taken from “boddie recording company: cleveland, ohio“, numero group 2011)
Chicago label The Numero Group ends an already terrific 2011 (Willie Wright, Father’s Children and more) with what I can only describe as a knock out of a box set. “Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio” is a 5LP or 3CD documenting the work of Thomas and Louise Boddie running their eponymous record label / studio / pressing between 1958 and 1993. Five years in the making, the Numero team went trough endless reels of recordings to come up with the cream of 10.000 hours of recordings.
The contents of these tapes? Everything from lo-fi eccentric soul, psychedelic funk, doo-wop, fiery gospel, raucous instrumentals and more. The Boddie boxset offers a guideline by way of the labels that the husband-and-wife-team operated: Soul Kitchen for funk and socially conscious soul (check out the tracks by Eddie & The Ant Hill Mob and The Chantells above), Luau for soul, doo-wop and instrumental cuts (listen to the Headlines demo above) and Bounty for gospel (represented faithfully by the Corinthian Singers in the tracks at the top of this post). The first 500 first owners of the vinyl edition also received the rare live LP by the Mod Squad; check out their version of “You got me hummin” above to hear why I’m happy to be one of those lucky few.
“Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio” lovingly recreates the life and work of the Boddies trough music, images and detailed background stories. I’m the kind of music lover that likes his aural pleasures in context, and listening to these discs knowing the where, why and how of the music’s creation makes me very happy.
Both vinyl and CD come in suitably impressive packaging loaded with ephemera, information and photographs. The pictures at the bottom of this post are of my unpacking and opening of the box set; the CD version looks like this. Looks expensive? It’s not. The vinyl edition retails for $60, the CD version for $50.
