If It Rotates We Can Control It

Orchestral, jazz, gospel, acoustic, soul, and disco - all packed into 30 minutes! It sounds too varied, but really, there's something that holds all these songs together - a kind of joyousness that I'm really feeling. You can hear it in Pharoah Sanders' voice, in the rolling gospel of Mary Lou Williams, and in the drums of Ginger Baker. There's also the new soul of Myron and E - and I have been jamming this track hard all summer. Check it out at Timmion records. The show also has a couple of tracks from 1981 - Rene & Angela with the deep groove, and Jewel with an absolutely phenomenal stringed disco track. I love playing this song out, because even if you don't know it (it's an obscure recording), you know it.

Listen

Rotary Connection - Amen
Mary Lou Williams - Clap Your Hands
Pharoah Sanders - Goin' To Africa
Ginger Baker - Blood Brothers 69
Linda Lewis - Spring Song
Myron and E - Cold Game
Rayfield Reid & the Magnificents - Dynamite Party
Jewel - Paradise
Rene & Angela - I Love You More

PS There's more African music coming - stay tuned!

Posted by APanther at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just a break from the African stuff for a minute here... I was playing a show out the other day, and I was ending off the night, and really enjoying playing the slower, deeper grooves. So I made a little half hour mix of it. End of the Night, All Night!

Listen

Gwen McCrae - 90% of Me is You
Arnold Blair - Trying to Get Next to You
Sharon Forrester - Silly, Wasn't I?
Al Green - I'm Glad You're Mine
The 8th Day - She's Not Just Another Woman
Pamoja - Oooh Baby
OV Wright - Let's Straighten It Out
Lani Hall - Love Song
Jorge Ben - Eu Vou Torcer

Posted by APanther at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Part two of records brought back from my recent trip to West Africa. I had intended this mix to get into the Afro-Latin & Guinean stuff, but as I started recording it turned into a strong funk set, with a touch of disco. That's what you get when you don't plan in advance! So this set is heavy on Nigerian artists (ending with the incomparable Fela), with some sweet disco-y sounds from Cameroon. And you know I couldn't leave out the Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo from Benin, here with 'Ne Te Faches Pas' from their 'Special 80' LP.

It starts off a bit slowly, but really picks up. Hope you like it. As before, sorry for the pops & noise - getting records to survive in West Africa is not easy. Looks like afro-latin will have to wait for Part 3!

Listen

Amadou Balake - Wayisjelequeyele (Burkina Faso)
City Boys Band - Obaa Mpe Wo A Ompe Wo Ka (Ghana)
Ofege - Nobody Fails (Nigeria)
Christy Essien - Life Is A Game (Nigeria)
JM Tim & Foty - Funky Bafoussam (Cameroon)
Ekambi Brilliant - Aboki Mon Copain (Cameroon)
Matata - Gimme Some Lovin' (Nigeria)
Bongos Ikwue & the Groovies - No More Water In the Well (Nigeria)
Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo - Ne Te Faches Pas (Benin)
Fela Kuti - Lady (Nigeria)

Posted by APanther at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What's up everybody?  No activity on this blog for A WHILE now... anyways, I've just come back from Africa, specifically West Africa (Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin), and while I was mostly touristing, if I had a chance to look for records I would take it, so I've come back with some cool stuff.  More stuff than can fit in one mix, that's for sure.  But this is the start!

I had to cut some songs down - that Honore Avolonto track goes on for like 12 minutes, as does the 22 Band, so I mixed out.  For this mix I didn't want to concentrate on any area or style too much, just to play some tracks from all over.  There is persistent crackle throughout the mix, sometimes worse than others, sorry about that.  I washed all the records (in the bathtub!), but they could probably stand to be washed again!

Hope you like it!

Funkees - Dancing Time (Nigeria)
Apostles - Never Too Late (Nigeria)
Honore Avolonto & Black Santiago - Assounon Dje Dokoli (Benin)
Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo de Cotonou - Hwe Towe Hun (Benin)
Balla et ses Balladins - Nyo (Guinea)
Tentemba Jazz du Mali - Yayoroba (Mali)
22 Band Kankan - Deny (Guinea)
Pierre Sandwidi & L'Orchestre Super Volta - Yamb Ne Y Capitale (Burkina Faso)
Orchestre The Black Dragons de Porto-Novo - Ohunyo (Benin)
Docteur Nico & Orchestre African Fiesta - Sookie (Nigera)
Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo de Cotonou - Wodeka Roe (Benin)

Listen

Posted by APanther at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 For some reason I'm finding a lot of latin jazz lately in the stores & thrifts... Since it's cold and rainy out, here are some top tuned to have you thinking summer.

 Pete Terrace - I Love Paris - you wouldn't think that a record of Cole Porter songs could swing like this!  From 1960.

Machito - Mambo!  Serious players here - Charley Parker on Sax, Buddy Rich on drums... and a hot mambo - check out the piano at the end.  1961, I think.

Candido - Tin Tin Deo - With Oscar Pettiford. 1957!

Finally, both the Beny More and the Tito Puente records do the same track - Babaratiri - I prefer the Beny More version, but take a listen to both, see for yourself!

Tito Puente

Beny More

Posted by APanther at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So I've been reading articles lately in the newspapers about a vinyl comeback, and the argument most frequently used for people's preference for vinyl is that vinyl sounds better.  Now I don't really know about that, but I do know that I much prefer vinyl, but for a completely different reason - it exposes me to music that I didn't know that I liked.  When you're downloading mp3s, you have to search for the titles, and then download them.  You have to know about it in advance.  When I go digging, I can find a new record that I'd never heard of before, and love it.  I would never have thought to search for it on mp3.  And then end result of all this is that my tastes get expanded, and I learn to love music that I perhaps wouldn't have liked before. 

Listen to Show #70 right here.  Odeo

Michel Legrand - Marins, Amis, Amants ou Maris
Gimmicks - Mas Que Nada
France Gall - Zozoi
Clan Murphy - Eventail
Odyssey - Battened Ships
Terry Winter - Thanks
Tom Jones - Hide and Seek
Dale Hawkins - Susie Q
OV Wright - Let's Straighten It Out

Posted by APanther at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sorry for the hiatus, I've been away travelling through Turkey, Syria, and Jordan.  Great times.  I didn't really look for records all that much, given how much more there is to do there, but definitely there is some cool music from the area.  This gives me a chance to plug a very cool website - Radio Diffusion - there's entries on excellent music from around the globe, with an emphasis on 60s & 70s tracks.  Check the Turkey entry, and scroll down to 3 Hue El for an awesome track! 

And, for your pleasure, another great Turkish track - from the 'Bosporus Bridges' compilation of a few years back, here's Mustafa Kozent - Dolana Dolana!

Posted by APanther at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week - all 45s from my collection of funky singles, and, in an extra twist - all groovy tracks from soul sisters!  Some great tunes in here, from classic funk (Betty Harris, Jodi Gales), reggae (Marcia Griffiths), soul (Tommie Young), new (Sharon Jones), old (Shirley Ellis), and more stuff that deserves more shine (Bonnie & Sheila, Little Ann).  Funky females, doing it for themselves!

Listen to Show #69 right here.  My Odeo Channel (odeo/b4f95457dcd9c38b)

Posted by APanther at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Show #68 - Boogaloo Mania!  Well, it's not all boogaloo tracks for the whole show, but I can explain myself.  You see the thing is that boogaloo is all about the party.   Party sounds for people to get down to and have a good time with.  There's no pretension, just party music.  And that sums up this show - once the first three tracks set the mood, I abandoned my playlist, and just went along with the flow - so you get hoppin' boogaloo, upbeat soul classics, Venus, and killer funk, all together - just how I like my parties!

Listen to show #68 right here.  My Odeo Channel (odeo/b4f95457dcd9c38b)

Joe Loco - Shing-Ah-Ling
Charlie Palmieri - Boogaloo-Mania
Ray Barretto - The Soul Drummers
Stevie Wonder - Uptight
Jackie Wilson - Higher and Higher
Freddie Terrell - Soul Know How to Make Music
Shocking Blue - Venus
Hudson County - Bim Sala Bim
Miguel de Deus - Black Soul Brothers

Posted by APanther at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's all about SOUL for this episode.  George Clinton said: "soul is a hamhock in your cornflakes" - I think of soul as music with feeling - and grooves.  I take a look at soul in a few different contexts in this show - from the "folk funk" of Barbara and Ernie to the discoteque of Lalomie Washburn, to the organic sway of Sly, it's all got that soul... some classics in here, too - Alice Clark, Eddie Drennon, and Martha and the Vandellas cover of the Jackson 5 tune!

Listen to Show #67 right here.  My Odeo Channel (odeo/b4f95457dcd9c38b)

Barbara and Ernie - Somebody to Love
Arnold Blair - Trying to Get Next to You
Alice Clark - Hey Girl
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - I Want You Back
Lalomie Washburn - Give Me Love With the Music
Eddie Drennon - Do It Nice and Easy
Sly and the Family Stone - Say You Will

Posted by APanther at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)