Funky soul from Witchita, Kansas – an unlikely locale, but home to some really great music – courtesy of the Smart brothers, and their ultra-hip club! This wonderful entry in the Eccentric Soul series from Numero really brings that lost scene to life – telling the tale of the brothers, their club, and some of the wickedly funky artists that graced their stage – a host of obscure groups, singers, and instrumentalists who really made Kansas cook, back in the day! The groove here is plenty darn hard – as raw as some of the best funky 45s you might find from points north, warmed up with occasional southern soul elements – and always produced with rough-and-ready vibe that gets to the heart of the grit right away. The set comes with a beautiful 28 page booklet – filled with vintage photos, in support of the Smart story, told by Dante Carfagna and Rob Sevier – but even without this added feature, the CD itself would be wonderful – essential listening for fans of all things funky! Titles include "Herbie's Bag" by John Smart's Band, "Mercy Baby" by Tim Jacob, "Dedicated To You" by Hard Road, "Let Me Be Your Christmas Toy" by Chocolate Snow, "Smart" by Smart Brothers, "I Was Made To Love Her" by Theron & Darrell, "I'm Not Ashamed" by Baby Neal & The Smart Brothers, "Everybody Needs Somebody" by LT & The Soulful Dynamics, "Don't Hate Let's Communicate" by Kenneth Carr with John Smart's Band, "It's Your Love" by Theron & Darrell, and "Let It Be" by Chocolate Snow. CD

A wealth of rare European grooves – most recorded in the late 60s and early 70s, all making their debut on CD! The package brings together previous vinyl-only reissues from the Sonorama label – 7" singles that feature material dug from German sound library recordings of many years back – all in a great blend of jazz, funk, soul, and bossa! Given the strength of the material, the collection may be the best release so far on Sonorama – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the already-great titles the label has brought to the market. CD features two tracks appearing here for the first time ever – "Woe's All Over Me" by Jazz Orchestra Rob Pronk and "By The Help Of You & Me" by Ray Christoph's New Sound – plus "Happy Samba", "Summertime", "The Lady Is A Tramp", and "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Mark Murphy & Louis Van Dyke; "Baby I Love You", "Fever", "Cold Sweat", "I Got A Feeling" by Kadri Six; "Love Cage", "Hard Work", "Neptune's Walk", and "Scotch & Soda" by Orchestre Pete Jacques; and "Wordless Blues", "Soul Organ", and "The Very First Day" by Ray Christoph's New Sound. CD

Older grooves, given a great remix treatment – in a style that's somewhat in the territory of the Verve Remixed series, but a lot hipper overall! Part of that quality comes from the original tracks – very obscure work from the European jazz scene of the 60s and 70s – the kind of gems that we've loved on the Sonorama label series of reissues, re-presented here by an equally well-chosen array of remix talents – DJs and producers who go way beyond the more familiar names on the global scene! Original cuts are a mix of jazz, soul, funk, Latin, and bossa – served up here in a set list of 18 titles that includes "Hang Em High (Chadeo re-edit)" by Memphis Black, "Massai (Dr Rubberfunk re-spice)" by Mombasa, "Exotic Drums (Devil McDoom rmx)" by Berry Lipman, "Sax On The Rocks (Minimatic rmx)" by Berry Lipman, "Happy Little Sunbeam (Ben Human rmx)" by The Elsie Bianchi Trio, "You And I (Rob Smith rmx)" by Gretje Kauffeld, and "Dreaming (Ben Human rmx)" by Edgar Schlepper. CD