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Rare funk from the Kelekye Band – material recorded after their legendary Moving World album, but never issued at the time! This amazing package is totally great – four tracks of offbeat Afro Funk, with an approach that's heavy on percussion, and topped by jazzy riffs that really complicate the sound – a vibe that goes way deeper than more common Afro modes of the time, thanks to the rich solo energy of the horns! Trumpet is especially nice, and works great with the vocals – especially when they hit a warmer 70s soul mode that almost makes the record feel like Hugh Masekela teaming up with The Blackbyrds. Titles include "Mother Africa", "Munchin Session", "Too Bad Girl", and "Jungle Funk".

An incredibly rare slice of righteous soul – pulled from obscurity! "Third Eye" has this really cool little groove – jazzy, but kind of light too – with these horns that are way in the background as the core skipping rhythms set most of the scene – all to some very human, honest lead vocals that fit nicely into the whole mix! "Back Home" is a mellow ballad, but has this light stepping groove that's pretty catchy!

A massive set from Nigeria's CS Crew – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The bass is super-heavy on these grooves – way more so than on other Afro Funk records of the time, and in ways that easily match, if not beat, the early best by Fatback Band and Kool & The Gang – grooves that have amazing dexterity that few others could match, yet which always come through right on the money every time! The bass dips, turns, soars, and drops magically on each number – setting things up strongly for the group's riffing guitar, sweet keyboard lines (including a big of moog!), and few horn moments – which themselves often come across more like an American group than a Nigerian one. Vocals have this rough approach – often part of the rhythm more than anything else – and titles include "Love Is Peace", "Freaky Funkyfied Fix", "Bread Power", "Doin The Good Thing", "I've Found Love", "Last Day", and "Dig In With Time".

A massive set from Nigeria's CS Crew – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The bass is super-heavy on these grooves – way more so than on other Afro Funk records of the time, and in ways that easily match, if not beat, the early best by Fatback Band and Kool & The Gang – grooves that have amazing dexterity that few others could match, yet which always come through right on the money every time! The bass dips, turns, soars, and drops magically on each number – setting things up strongly for the group's riffing guitar, sweet keyboard lines (including a big of moog!), and few horn moments – which themselves often come across more like an American group than a Nigerian one. Vocals have this rough approach – often part of the rhythm more than anything else – and titles include "Love Is Peace", "Freaky Funkyfied Fix", "Bread Power", "Doin The Good Thing", "I've Found Love", "Last Day", and "Dig In With Time".

Rare grooves from Evans Pyramid – a sweet set of cosmic disco from the end of the 70s – recorded with a lean, almost spiritual vibe – quite similar to some of the great tracks reissued in the Soul Cal series! There's a definite ear for the dancefloor here – lots of upbeat rhythms, touched with sweet keyboards riffs, and layered with vocals that are almost an afterthought – yet have their own sort of message at the right moment. The group's the brainchild of Andre Evans, an artist whose huge legacy of music business work includes stints with Dyke & The Blazers, Little Anthony & The Imperials, and Tribe – as well as a host of key album sessions as well – but the sound is unlike any of those references, and has this great stripped-down late 70s club vibe throughout. The rare album is offered here with unreleased bonus tracks – and titles include "Rubber Band", "Never Gonna Leave You", "Dip Drop", "No I Won't", "Soul Petrol", and "Dance A Thon".

Rare grooves from Evans Pyramid – a sweet set of cosmic disco from the end of the 70s – recorded with a lean, almost spiritual vibe – quite similar to some of the great tracks reissued in the Soul Cal series! There's a definite ear for the dancefloor here – lots of upbeat rhythms, touched with sweet keyboards riffs, and layered with vocals that are almost an afterthought – yet have their own sort of message at the right moment. The group's the brainchild of Andre Evans, an artist whose huge legacy of music business work includes stints with Dyke & The Blazers, Little Anthony & The Imperials, and Tribe – as well as a host of key album sessions as well – but the sound is unlike any of those references, and has this great stripped-down late 70s club vibe throughout. The rare album is offered here with unreleased bonus tracks – and titles include "Rubber Band", "Never Gonna Leave You", "Dip Drop", "No I Won't", "Soul Petrol", "I Got A Rush For You", "Dance A Thon", and "Sugar Stop".

Rare, raw and and explosive rare soul from The Explosive Dynamiks – a group hailing from mid 60s Lexington, KY! "Whole Lotta Loving" carries quite a charge – stripped down drums, incredible organ grooves, punchy sax and dynamic vocals. This is an aptly named group! "I Need You" is a moody, slower tune, at least at the start. The organ and vocals lead the way at the beginning, but as it approachs the chorus, the drums and horns come wailing in.

A great garagey groove from Juicebox – full to the top with fuzzy guitar and heady Hammond – instrumentation that's perfect for the mod feel of the tune! Lead lyrics are by a male singer, and nice and raspy – and strut along strongly with the tune's heady rhythms – and "Heart N Soul" has lots more great organ, no vocals at all, and some great guitar lines over the snapping drums!

Amazing rare grooves from Tommy Stewart – the Atlanta studio wizard who cut some of the hippest club tracks in the south at the end of the 70s! This package digs way deeper than even Tommy's classic self-titled album – to feature some obscure and unreleased material that show the tremendous power of Stewart in the studio – the kind of energy that made him a one man powerhouse to rival some of the bigger teams turning out grooves at the major labels! As with his classics, all the tunes here have a great funky feel – not really disco, but more upbeat funk, turned towards the dancefloor – served up with lots of sharp edges on the rhythms that keep things mighty nice – and which avoid any too-familiar cliches of the time. In a way, Stewart's groove is a bit like the grittier club from P&P up north – as you'll hear on this set that features the cuts "Night Flight", "Beyond Love", "Hot Box", and "Everything's Made For Love" by Stewart – plus great collaborations with vocalist Stevo on "Pay The Price", "Universal Love", "Party Night", "Starry Eyes", "Livin For The City", "Jammin", and "Messing UP A Good Thing". Also features two Al Kent remixes, too!

Tight guitars riff away beautifully on this one – picking up an nice groove right from the start, and giving the vocals of Emanuel Taylor an infectiously funky sound all the way through! Taylor dips and turns with the cut nicely – soaring one minute, snapping with the beat the next – and the cut's got a great blend of sweetness and clubby rhythms! "Society" has a wicked drum break at the start – a bit fast, but picked up by a bassline too – and rolled together in a horn-heavy groove that's made even better by Emanuel's vocals!

They're not kidding about the title on this one – although they might have added "weirdest" to the name, too! The songs here are all familiar ones, especially if you dig rare grooves from the 60s and 70s – but the versions you'll hear are definitely unusual – often some pretty obscure takes on funk and soul numbers, plus a few bits from other styles too – done up in even funkier versions than before, partly because the production is even rawer, but also because the overall execution is too! Latin vibes mix up with soulful rhythms, deep funk solos, and even some freaky fuzzy psyche-inspired moments – and titles include "Purple Haze" by Johnny Jones & The King Casuals, "Jungle Fever" by Afrosound, "Bang Bang" by Fruko & Sus Tesos, "Pastime Paradise" by Ray Barretto, "Cloud Nine" by Mongo Santamaria, "I Turn My Camera On" by Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, "Light My Fire" by Ebony Rhythm Band, "Scorpio" by Johnny Frigo, "Rat Race" by Antibalas, and "The Next Message" by The Mighty Mo & Winchester Seven.

They're not kidding about the title on this one – although they might have added "weirdest" to the name, too! The songs here are all familiar ones, especially if you dig rare grooves from the 60s and 70s – but the versions you'll hear are definitely unusual – often some pretty obscure takes on funk and soul numbers, plus a few bits from other styles too – done up in even funkier versions than before, partly because the production is even rawer, but also because the overall execution is too! Latin vibes mix up with soulful rhythms, deep funk solos, and even some freaky fuzzy psyche-inspired moments – and titles include "Purple Haze" by Johnny Jones & The King Casuals, "Jungle Fever" by Afrosound, "Bang Bang" by Fruko & Sus Tesos, "Pastime Paradise" by Ray Barretto, "Cloud Nine" by Mongo Santamaria, "I Turn My Camera On" by Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, "Light My Fire" by Ebony Rhythm Band, and "The Next Message" by The Mighty Mo & Winchester Seven.

Sublime sounds from the legendary Stanton Davis – a rare 70s gem that's been a favorite of groovehounds for years! The set's got a really unique feel – part spiritual jazz, part soaring club – a blend that's similar to the sound you'd get on James Mason's legendary album too – a unique hybrid of American undergrounds that comes off beautifully throughout! Production is perfect – a Mizell-like blend of acoustic and electric jazz elements, layered with a bit of vocals – and Davis plays soulful trumpet lines, in a group that has some especially nice keyboards! Titles include "Space A Nova (parts 1 & 2)", "Play Sleep", "Brighter Days/Brighter Daze", "Nida", "High Jazz", and "Things Cannot Stop Forever".

Sublime sounds from the legendary Stanton Davis – a rare 70s gem that's been a favorite of groovehounds for years! The set's got a really unique feel – part spiritual jazz, part soaring club – a blend that's similar to the sound you'd get on James Mason's legendary album too – a unique hybrid of American undergrounds that comes off beautifully throughout! Production is perfect – a Mizell-like blend of acoustic and electric jazz elements, layered with a bit of vocals – and Davis plays soulful trumpet lines, in a group that has some especially nice keyboards! Titles include "Space A Nova (parts 1 & 2)", "Play Sleep", "Brighter Days/Brighter Daze", "Nida", "High Jazz", and "Things Cannot Stop Forever".

Rare early 70s funky soul from Memphis by Fabulous Fugitives! There's a raw, gritty funk groove running underneath "What The World Needs" – keeping the groove on something of a low boil, but still quite funky – leaving the more charged aspects of the number to come out in the lyricism and the the vocals of Michael Sharkey. There's even more of a chunky funk groove to "You Made Me Cry" on the flip.

Amazing rare grooves from Tommy Stewart – the Atlanta studio wizard who cut some of the hippest club tracks in the south at the end of the 70s! This package digs way deeper than even Tommy's classic self-titled album – to feature some obscure and unreleased material that show the tremendous power of Stewart in the studio – the kind of energy that made him a one man powerhouse to rival some of the bigger teams turning out grooves at the major labels! As with his classics, all the tunes here have a great funky feel – not really disco, but more upbeat funk, turned towards the dancefloor – served up with lots of sharp edges on the rhythms that keep things mighty nice – and which avoid any too-familiar cliches of the time. In a way, Stewart's groove is a bit like the grittier club from P&P up north – as you'll hear on this set that features the cuts "Night Flight", "Beyond Love", "Hot Box", and "Everything's Made For Love" by Stewart – plus great collaborations with vocalist Stevo on "Pay The Price", "Universal Love", "Party Night", "Starry Eyes", "Livin For The City", "Jammin", and "Messing UP A Good Thing". Also features two Al Kent remixes, too!

A pair of incredible late 60s gems from Barbara Lynn – together on a funky 45! "I'm A Good Woman" is one of Barbara Lynn's greatest tunes ever – a hard soul groover with a massive bottom beat – guitar riffing with the rhythms, and some totally righteous vocals from Barbara on top! "I Don't Want A Playboy" is a midtempo cut with a really unique guitar groove, but as cool as that is, there's no stealing the show from Barbara's soulful vocals!

Tight horns, wicked vocals, and a totally wonderful groove – the sort of tune that ends all too quickly, and which will have you dropping the needle right back at the start for another dose! It's hard to sum up the power of "So Much In Love" accurately in words – but it's kind of a hard-rolling blast of vocals and horns, with this upbeat pulse that's mighty nice! "You Move Me" has a unique groove too – this kind of skittish bit at the background – almost bubbling fast then stopping for a second – while tight guitar riffs alongside Roy's deep soul vocals!

Beautiful work from reed player Tony Scott – recorded during a time when he was doing a lot of soul-searching with Eastern cultures! The set's a stripped-down batch of long tracks, with Scott's clarinet in the lead, and backing by 2 Japanese musicians on Koto and Shackuhachi. The tracks are shortish, and are designed as platforms for Zen Meditation. Titles include "To Drift Like The Clouds", "Satori", "Za Zen", and "Is Not All One?".