January 6, 2012

my children kool and together

Some of the rare & sparse releases of Kool and Together (from Victoria, Texas, aka My Children +2, but not at all related to Kool and the Gang) have been recorded in the Sugar Hill studios in Houston, Texas. Kool and Together's output has just been compiled by Heavy Light (HLR-001, 2011-10). Amazingly, there's no info yet on this untitled release via http://heavylightrecords.com/ but see here instead: http://lightintheattic.net/news/?p=4292 + http://lightintheattic.net/artists/365-kool-together

December 18, 2011

johnny gangster of love watson

"Gangster of love", some twenty years after the original version. Do listen to the delicious intro, with nods to the Coasters' "The Shadow knows" and "Riot in cell block no. 9" … (and did I recognise a "Limehouse blues" too?) - a sublime performance by Johnny 'Guitar' Watson & his band from 1977, recorded in Bremen (Germany). A well documented best of JGW's early work has just been reissued on HooDoo (who still have no website) as "Space Guitar Master (The 1952-1960 Recordings)" (2011, cat. no. 263397). "Motor head baby" is off that compilation and dates from 1952. Freaks note: the man was an important influence on Frank Zappa, and Jimi Hendrix dug "Love bandit" aka "Gangster of love" too; like the Cadets, he recorded a version …

December 10, 2011

expanded dukey stick

Can't wait for those expanded Soulmusic.com editions of George Duke's "Don't Let Go" (1978) and "Reach For It" (1977)! For the sources of the tracks below, see http://soulmusic.com/georgeduke.html … and see also http://www.jazzecho.de/musik/musikproduktdetail/product/102644/my-soul-the-complete-mps-fusion-recordings/ + http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/powered-by-kontakt/george-duke-soul-treasures/ for more of his genius!

December 9, 2011

bennie maupin twofer

Two albums by jazz legend Bennie Maupin have just been reissued by (Dutton) Vocalion … "Slow Traffic To The Right" dates from 1977, "Moonscapes" from 1978. Herbie Hancock is nowhere to be seen or heard on these - he's being replaced by Patrice Rushen - but a lot of Maupin's Headhunters bandmates appear …
http://www.benniemaupin.com/
http://www.sdsystems.com/Bennie/bennie4.htm
http://www.benniemaupin.com/pdf/Maupin_Bio.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Traffic_to_the_Right
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=22723
http://www.thelastmiles.com/interviews-bennie-maupin.php
http://jazztimes.com/articles/17994-bennie-maupin-the-rebirth-of
http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=CDSML8485

December 8, 2011

belgium's dragon & insects

Dragon, from Belgium, released their untitled debut in 1976. It's no masterpiece, but this spaceyish track is rather nice. The lp has recently been reprinted by Golden Pavillion (GP1003LP, 2010-05-30), who've also released the band's so-so 1977 demo recordings as "Kalahen" (GP1009LP, 2011-03-01).
http://www.golden-pavilion.com/
http://www.psychemusic.org/60s-70s.html#anchor_365
http://www.muziekarchief.be/identitydetails.php?ID=77163
http://www.belgianmetalhistory.be/html/bands/dragon/dragon.html

November 30, 2011

hans fenger's music project at the langley schools

Once upon a time in the mid-1970s there was a man named Hans Fenger who taught music in the Langley School District outside Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) … We've already reviewed the "Innocence & Despair" cd - featuring 1976 & 1977 recordings by students of the Wix-Brown, Lochiel South Carvolth and Glennwood Elementary schools - in [uzine 02.06]. Since, George Plasketes has published an interesting chapter on the project in his book "B-sides, undercurrents and overtones: peripheries to popular in music, 1960 to the present" (Ashgate 2009-06, ISBN 9780754665618). All hail Brian Lind!
http://www.bastamusic.com/catalog/langley-schools-music-project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langley_Schools_Music_Project
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1132233
http://www.bar-none.com/langley-schools-music-project.html
http://www.scrammagazine.com/scram-magazine-fifteen
http://www.appelstein.com/langley/
http://myspace.com/langschool
http://www.hansfenger.com/
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/story.html
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/hanslett.html
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/kids.htm

October 20, 2011

riding high

Yo! It's Faze-O! As produced by the Tight Corporation = Ohio Players!

October 17, 2011

a man and a machine

Wonderful tracks off my fave comp of the year: the "A Man & A Machine III" v/a 2cd (le Son du Maquis cat no. 214, rel. 2011-09-08). I could have picked any track, really, as the third volume is the best yet in the series. (Apparently it's won a Qwartz award for best electronics compilations. Don't think Qwartz or Maquis will win prizes for keeping their sites up to date, though.)