Global Grooves — LPs  

A great album that Roy Ayers cut after his co-led record with Fela Kuti – and one with the same sort of hard-driving Afro-Funk grooves that you'd find in Fela's classic recordings! The songs are shorter than Fela's, and with more of Roy's usual smooth jazzy production style – but the overall influence is very much in the Afro-Funk vein, and the album's sort of a "part 2" to the Music Of Many Colors set that was cut a few years before. William Allen worked on the record with Roy – playing choppy Afro-Funk bass, and arranging and producing a lot of the material with Roy and Jaymz Bedford – and the record also features a host of extra percussion players, as well as some vocals by the lovely Sylvia Striplin. Includes the great groover "Africa, Center Of The World", plus "The River Niger", and a great remake of "Third Eye", which was on Everybody Loves The Sunshine, but is redone here with a heavier sound!

A landmark New York session from Dollar Brand – recorded in the late 70s, with a larger group than usual! Brand spins out some really magical African-tinged jazz grooves – stretching forth in his usual modal mode, but augmented by a great set of horn parts that includes work by Don Cherry, Carlos Ward, and Hamiett Bluiett. Rhythmically, the album is incredibly strong as well – as it features bass work by Johnny Dyani, percussion by Claude Jones and John Betsch, and drums by Roy Brooks – working here at the height of his spiritual powers. One track on the album gets quite free, and titles include "Sister Rosie", "Jabulani" and "Hajj".

Amazing work from the legendary Mulatu Astatke – one of Ethiopia's funkiest musicians of the 70s, making a rare appearance here on this lost American recording! The album has been a holy grail for years amongst beatheads – loved for its killer blend of weird rhythms, sweet funk, and super-dope vibes – and the grooves on the set are really unique – slow, snakey, and with a sinister, almost other-worldly feel. There's not nearly as much vibes on Mulatu's Ethiopian recordings – and their appearance here really gives the set a nice American sort of twist – almost Roy Ayers meets Sun Ra with a hot dose of African funk thrown in for good measure! Titles include "Chifara", "Munaye", "Kaselefkut-Hulu", "Mascaram Setaba", and "Mulatu".

The first-ever recording from this legendary Senegalese band – unissued for years, and finally brought to light in this beautiful package! The set was recorded live in 1979 as a night club performance – and because of that, it's got a really cooking sound right from the start – a bit more grit than you might hear from a group like this in the studio, with an especially strong emphasis on the percussion – which is often the highest element in the mix! Yet there's also some great guitar and horns – ringing out brilliantly over the top, with lots of jazzy elements in their phrasing – all of which makes for a really unique set all the way through. Titles include "Dagath", "Mariama", "Gossar", "Sama Yaye Boye", "Righie Righie", "Cherrie Coco", and "Kouye Magana".

Not the Caravan group of Brit jazz rock fame, but a later Thai combo – working here in sharp protest of American military action in Southeast Asia during the 70s! The set's got a really unique regional flavor – a folksy blend of acoustic instruments and voices that often has guitar coming into play with violin, mouth organ, and flute – all to provide a hypnotic backdrop for the Thai language lyrics of protest! The album's got a compelling quality that goes way beyond the boundaries of language – possibly a bit more restrained than American protest records of the time, but still bold enough to get plenty of copies of the record (and the master tapes) destroyed by the repressive government of the time. Titles include "Up Raising", "Dangerous American Words", "Mr Kaum", "Come Together", "Common Please", and "Letter From Farmer".