Sam Cooke
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Composer and keyboardist John Carroll Kirby presents Septet. Septet was recorded live in studio with John on keys, Tracy Wannomae and Logan Hone – woodwinds, Nick Mancini – vibraphone, John Paul Maramba – bass, David Leach – percussion, Deantoni Parks – drums. For the “Rainmaker”video, we take it back to circa 1981 …John: “The video is a dramatization of studio characters I’ve encountered over the years. The egomaniacal producer, the eager engineer, the snobby record exec, the random guy in the corner, the musicians feeling themselves. Visually I wanted to play with the chaos of jazz fashion in the 70’s/80’s: bands like Weather Report, and Miles Davis’ constantly rotating cast. Musicians dressed themselves with a strong sense of individuality while still achieving a cohesive look, a theme I also look to achieve musically on the album Septet.”Video by Kalliope Pictures, directed by Michael Hili. The video stars John Carroll Kirby with a fictional cast of characters: Mac DeMarco as Studio Engineer; Kerwin Frost as Record Producer; Cola Boyy as Label Executive; Eddie Chacon as Body Guard; Victoria Mordoch on Percussion; Logan Hone on Flute; Leland Naylor on Soprano Saxophone; John Paul Maramba on Bass; Lemar Carter on Drums.The actual band on “Rainmaker” is comprised of John Carroll Kirby – keys, Tracy Wannomae and Logan Hone – woodwinds, Nick Mancini – vibraphone, John Paul Maramba – bass, David Leach – percussion, Deantoni Parks – drums.

Zretro are a Naarm (Melbourne) based duo made up of vocalist Zima and producer 2nd Thought. Their self-titled debut LP blends 90s R&B vocals with golden era hiphop production and elements of Kwaito and Afrobeats. Zima’s voice is honey sweet, 2nd Thought beats sound fresh out of an MPC and their album is tied together by the elastic bass guitar contributions of jazzy house don Horatio Luna. Raw, simple production lets the beats and vocals dominate with only minimal instrumental accompaniment.Zima aka Mzimazizi Mpofu was born in Buluwayo, Zimbabwe and raised in Melbourne and Canberra. He grew up on TLC, Tupac, MJ and Oliver Mtukudzi and has been singing for at least 20 of his 26 years graduating from church and family events to clubs and studios around Australia. 2nd Thought aka William Stephanus was born in Australia but grew up in Namibia and returned to Melbourne in his late teens where he started making beats and rapping in Melbourne’s underground hiphop scene with crews like Pang Productions and his own outfit JXN. Zima and Willy met on a construction site and then put their heads together in the studio with immediate results but the record was put on ice due to Covid 19. Pandemic delays done with, the duo is ready to take on the world.Unsurprisingly, given Retro is right there in the name, there’s a huge 1990s influence throughout Zretro’s music. There’s slick RnB and West Coast flavour of equal parts SWV, Boyz 2 Men and Death Row in a lot of the vocal delivery, tempos and melodies. There’s also a decidedly grimy East Coast boom bap tinge to the boxy MPC drums and that brings to mind Hi-Tek, Alchemist and Pete Rock productions. The other thread, less obvious but woven throughout the album is the influence of early 2000s Southern African music. There’s musical and lyrical nods to Afrobeats, Kwaito and SA House and inspiration from pop stars like Brenda Fassie, to underground icons like Mzekezeke.

Marijata was a group made up of three members – Kofi 'Electric' Addison on drums, Bob Fischlan on organ and Nat Osmanu on guitar, hailing from Ghana. ‘This Is Marijata’ is the groups first LP; released originally on the Gapophone label – it is pure, rootsy, raw, driving African funk music of the highest order, now highly sought-after in both its original and previously reissued forms.Personnel: Drums – Kofi 'Electric' Addison / Guitar – Nat Osmanu / Organ – Bob Fischlan / Recording Engineer – F. KwaakyeProduced in 1976 at Gapophone Records, Accra, Ghana. Recorded At Ghana Film Industry Corp. Studios. Licensed from George Prah, founder of Gapophone Records. Official Mr Bongo reissue. On the original pressing the sides were incorrectly labelled. On this version they are correctly labelled. The artwork apart from this point, is replica.

Habibi Funk is happy to present a selection of works by Algerian-born, Amazigh artist Majid Soula. With synths, driving drums, prominent repetitive guitar lines, Majid’s music blends the best of Kabyle sounds, disco, highlife and groovy funk into something wholly unique. At the same time for Majid Soula music is a vessel for his political message.

Solar Shield kicked off the Austin Boogie Crew Records discography with a bang in 2014 with his "Reesis" 45 -- so much so that the labelhad to press it 3 times to meet demand. Now , Austin boogie Crew present his much anticipated selftitled LP with 9 tracks of laid back modern funk!Austin musician Chris McDowell is a wonder on the keys. Under his Solar Shield moniker Texas producer Chris McDowell creates exuberant compositions that elegantly walk a tightrope between modern funk and electronic beat music. This quality nine track release features songs created between 2011 and 2013, settling into the modern funk cannon of 2018 with ease.

Bay Area jazz guitar legend Calvin Keys released his debut solo record, Shawn-Neeq, in 1971, and it remains one of the most beloved albums on the Black Jazz label. But that record was mere prelude for 1974"s Proceed with Caution; this time around, the arrangements were more complex, the instrumentation more diverse. In short, a quantum leap forward; indeed, as Calvin tells Pat Thomas in his liner notes for the release, 'I started going to the Los Angeles School of Music studying orchestrations and I was putting it to use!' And he recruited the band to fulfill his ambitious musical visions to their fullest, including legendary drummer Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler, fellow Black Jazz mainstays Henry Franklin on bass and Kirk Lightsey on keyboards, and Charles Owens (Horace Tapscott, Buddy Rich, Terry Callier, John Mayall) on sax and flute. Despite being hugely collectible, Proceed with Caution has never been reissued on vinyl before!