Over the past few years Acid Jazz has been the proud custodian of the legendary Albarika Store label, which produced some of the finest, deepest West African cuts of the last century. The mainstay of the Albarika sound was the mighty T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, who were prolific throughout the label’s activity from the late ‘60s to the early ’80s.
When they reformed for their first-ever European tour in 2009, Benin’s T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo underscored their status as one of the all-time greats of West African music.
Formed in 1968 by bandleader Clément Mélomé, their rare alchemy of scorched funk and driving Afrobeat didn’t just defy a repressive political system; across fifty studio albums, it revealed a group infinitely worthy of the world stage.
Category: funk
…feature 13 non-LP remixes and B-sides. Original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman has overseen the remastering along with engineer Chris James.
…An eternally hard-to-pin-down artist, Prince was already at work on the album when Purple Rain hit theaters and record store shelves, and the LP arrived less than a month after he’d finished touring that record. “I didn’t wait to see what would happen with Purple Rain,” he told Rolling Stone. “That’s why the albums sound so different.” (He’d call it “the smartest thing” he did in that same interview.) Influenced by the psychedelia of the West Coast-based Paisley Underground movement (but not, he was clear in one of his only period interviews, The Beatles), Around the World mixes Middle Eastern orchestration…
Soul Jazz Records’ new Soul Jamaica brings together a wicked selection of reggae funk and soul tracks from the legendary Studio One stable, featuring a stellar line-up of artists including Jackie Mittoo, The Heptones, The Gladiators, Sim Smith, Peter Tosh and The Wailers, Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks and many more. For a short period of time at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, nestled between the end of rocksteady and the arrival of roots reggae, Studio One released a small stream of superb soul and funk reggae tunes – covering everyone from Sly and The Family Stone, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Nina Simone, Gene Chandler, Tyrone Davis and more.
Most of the tracks featured on Soul Jamaica were only ever released on Studio One’s…
Perception is the 1973 second album by Catalyst, the Philadelphia jazz-funk quartet whose blend of soul jazz, fusion, and avant-garde set them apart as a cult phenomenon. Featuring Zuri Tyrone Brown (bass), Onaje Sherman Ferguson (drums, percussion), Nwalinu Odean Pope (tenor saxophone, flute), and Sanifu Eddie Green (electric piano), the album stretches from spacious, electric fusion to driving, groove-forward funk and episodes of free improvisation. Recently reissued to renewed acclaim, Perception is recognized for its raw, inventive energy and genre-defying musicianship that prefigures later jazz fusion movements.
Emerging from the fertile musical landscape of early-1970s Philadelphia, Catalyst…
VA – Jazz Dispensary Presents: Dream a Dream with Studio G: Cratedigger’s Archive (1970-2009) (2025)
Established by John Gale in London in 1966, Studio G produced a wide range of genres and styles, geared toward local TV, sports programming and adverts. As Ryan Jebavy, producer of Dream a Dream, explains in his liner notes, it unleashed “pastoral folk, maniacal horror, funk-spat jazz, quixotic pop, alluring electro and the usual novelty side spells of national anthems, children’s music and whatever other utilitarian cues society demanded of the moment” upon the commercial space. Even as more sizable outfits such as KPM, Bruton, De Wolfe and Chappell consumed the majority of the marketplace, Studio G offered a truly fetching alternative-sleek, hip art not previously seen on mostly unremarkable album covers released by neighboring companies…
Khruangbin did not know if they were actually making an album. All they knew in the first frigid days of 2025, as they shivered in the Central Texas barn where they’ve recorded almost all of their music, was that the 10th anniversary of their debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You, was steadily approaching. Months earlier, they’d bandied about ways to mark the occasion, debating orchestral arrangements or compendiums of bonus materials and alternate takes. Thing was, back before Khruangbin helped establish a new modern idiom of semi-instrumental and gently psychedelic American music, there had been no bonus material, no unused songs. And how interesting would alternate takes or symphonic extravagance really be for a band whose aesthetic-essential vibes…
Groove of ESSR III marks the next chapter in highlighting the musical heritage trapped behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet occupation.
The tracklist curated by Henrik Ehte and Ingvar Kassuk spans recordings from 1971–1983 by Estonian artists, most of whom were born under a foreign regime after the war. Nevertheless, they had relatives in the West and antennas tuned in to Finnish radio signals. In a closed-off world, they had the courage to explore the groove without borders.
Many performers and songwriters became the most sought-after players throughout all of Soviet Russia, not because they blindly followed the communist party’s canon. On the contrary, the sheer brilliance of their compositions,…
At nearly 85, saxophonist and bandleader Gary Bartz releases Damage Control, his first leader date in 12 years. It’s the first volume in a proposed trilogy titled The Eternal Tenure of Sound. Bartz highlights another side of his musical persona here: the love of popular soul and R&B. These are the jams he sings in the shower. It contains songs associated with artists including Earth Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield, Anita Baker, Patti LaBelle, El DeBarge, Dexter Wansel, Norman Connors, and McCoy Tyner.
Damage Control was produced by drummer/percussionist Om’Mas Keith (Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Erykah Badu, Frank Ocean). It was recorded at his Los Angeles studio. Bartz wrote startling charts that transform these covers…
Groove in the Face of Adversity is Don Was’ very first solo album. The A-list producer, composer, arranger, bassist, radio program host, and Blue Note Records boss co-founded Was (Not Was) with David Weiss, but this is his thing. His Pan Detroit Energy Ensemble is composed of players from in and around the Motor City: saxophonist/flutist Dave McMurray, keyboardist Luis Resto — both were in Was (Not Was) — trombonist Vincent Chandler, drummer Jeff Canaday, trumpeter John Douglas, guitarist Wayne Gerard, percussionist Mahindi Masai, and vocalist Steffanie Christi’an (Inner City vocalist and Kresge fellow). The band’s M.O: “We are on a mission to promulgate the music of our hometown.” Was was approached by Detroit Symphony Jazz Creative Director…
Recording for the Fantasy label, his singles regularly scaled the upper reaches of Billboard’s club chart, truly breaking through with the ecstatic Top 40 crossover hits “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” both of which drove the 1978 album Step II to a gold certification.
Sylvester’s genre-defining disco album Step II arrives on CD for the first time ever, as a bonus-filled Deluxe Edition featuring Tonic Funk’s never-before-heard “Space Funk” Club Mix of “Dance (Disco Heat)”, plus Bright Light Bright Light’s fresh take on “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, and new liner notes from Joshua Gamson. Described by Pitchfork as “a formative record in the queer canon,” Step II took Sylvester’s from a Bay Area icon, to a national disco superstar whose…
Baltimore-bred psychedelic funk trailblazers Pigeons Playing Ping Pong release their eighth studio album, Feed the Fire via No Coincidence Records. Across twelve new tracks, the band channels nearly two decades of fearless creativity, relentless touring, and deep communion with their devoted fanbase into their most dynamic and collaborative work to date.
For the band, ‘Feed The Fire’ is not only an album title but a rallying cry. “The fire represents passion,” explains frontman “Scrambled Greg” Ormont. “Making music feels like something we were born to do, and Feed The Fire is the perfect metaphor for our unwavering commitment to keep evolving. We’ve been given this gift of fire, this passion. So it’s our responsibility to nurture it…
Lenny Kravitz celebrates the 30th anniversary of his seminal fourth full-length album, Circus, with the release of a new digital deluxe edition. This definitive version notably boasts 13 bonus tracks previously unavailable for streaming anywhere via Virgin Records/UMe.
The unreleased material spans a rare acoustic version of the title track “Circus” in addition to live recordings of such classics as “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Let Love Rule,” “Always on the Run,” and more. Additionally, it houses a trio of bonus sought-after studio tracks, namely “Another Life,” “Confused,” and “Is It Me, Is It You?,” which previously were available only in a limited edition ten-inch EP (and were included on a 2018 vinyl pressing of the album) but never…
Seattle-based Polyrhythmics are celebrating 15 years of sonic exploration with the release of their highly anticipated new album, Life from Below. Since forming in 2010, this seven-piece powerhouse has redefined instrumental music with a sound that blends funk, soul, psychedelic rock, R&B, and Afrobeat into a kaleidoscope of rhythm and groove. Known for their dynamic live performances and innovative compositions, the band has earned a reputation as one of the most captivating acts on the contemporary music scene.
Polyrhythmics emerged from the rich creative soil of Seattle’s eclectic music community, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2011. Since then, their discography has grown to include fan-favorite albums such as Octagon (2015)…
The fourth album from the twice Grammy-nominated, New Orleans-based Afro-Indigenous funk collective Cha Wa finds the band in a transitional state, moving in new directions with Rise Up. The core of Cha Wa, musical director and drummer Joe Gelini, and “Spyboy” Irving “Honey” Banister Jr. of the Golden Sioux Tribe, worked with producer Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Jesus and Mary Chain, My Morning Jacket, Built to Spill, etc.), and a host of musicians to keep one foot in New Orleans but sonically move beyond. Where previous albums from the band were roots-based offerings, funking up Mardi Gras Indian chants, Rise Up lathers on sonic accouterments. Trumifo’s production is vibrant, crisp, and clear, but at times the tracks go way over the top.
Chip Wickham has been a mainstay on London’s music scene since the late 1990s when he served as a producer and engineer to many influential EDM creators, but jazz has always been his passion. A world citizen, he lives between the U.K., Spain, and Qatar. Earlier in 2025 he was a co-billed, featured soloist with Neil Innes’ Lewis Express on the album Doo-Ha! and returns with The Eternal Now, his fifth long-player (he also issued the wonderful Love & Life EP in 2024) and his third release for Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana label. It’s lovingly titled after Don Cherry’s 1974 classic. Halsall, whose ties to Wickham date back to 2007, acts as co-producer alongside the leader. Most of the Love & Life band re-appears here: double bassist Simon “Sneaky” Houghton, drummer…
Fueled in part by the visual aesthetics of ’80s and ’90s Sports Illustrated, Leon Michels could have taken the ball and really run with it for 24 Hr Sports. Instead, the title is only a little more indicative of its contents than that of Yeti Season, El Michels Affair‘s non-conceptual preceding album as lone headliner. There’s a marching band intro, two interstitial themes, a song with soccer-referencing lyrics (in Portuguese), and another features a chorus (however blurred) declaring “We want the gold!” In other words, nothing approaches Jock Jams territory or even remotely resembles Chuck Mangione’s “Give It All You Got.” Athletically-uninclined listeners needn’t worry about being bombarded with sports stuff. 24 Hr Sports is largely standard EMA, reconstituting…
Funkadelic‘s self-titled 1970 debut is one of the group’s best early- to mid-’70s albums. Not only is it laden with great songs – “I’ll Bet You” and “I Got a Thing…” are obvious highlights – but it retains perhaps a greater sense of classic ’60s soul and R&B than any successive George Clinton-affiliated album. Recording for the Detroit-based Westbound label, at the time Funkadelic were in the same boat as psychedelic soul groups such as the Temptations, who had just recorded their landmark Cloud Nine album across town at Motown, and other similar groups. Yet no group had managed to effectively balance big, gnarly rock guitars with crooning, heartfelt soul at this point in time quite like Funkadelic. Clinton’s songs are essentially conventional soul songs in the spirit…
On Big Money, Super Bowl-sized singer Jon Batiste opts for a surprisingly intimate sound. The just over 32-minute, 9-song set is not nearly as loud as the New Orleans’ jazzman’s eye-popping wardrobe. The stripped-down, mostly acoustic arrangements create a chill vibe. Simplicity somehow only intensifies the songs’ swing and sway.
Batiste pairs lyrics about devotion, values, angels and ecology with music that mixes folk and funk, gospel and the blues. The range is such that Batiste even plays a little fiddle and mandolin, but he shines brightest on two songs featuring his solo piano.
The first is a wonderful duet with Randy Newman, another piano man with New Orleans roots, who in recent years has been…
Listening to Prefaces’s Acqua Marina is like attending an eclectic international film festival wearing a blindfold.
The second album by the Beirut-based trio doesn’t just feature evocative instrumentals, it’s overtly influenced by library music — the stock soundtrack recordings that were licensed to film and TV productions back in the day.
And while some of the styles that make their way into Prefaces’s mix are indigenous, Acqua Marina sources ideas from all over the globe. Stirred together, those ingredients become a summery cocktail perfect for a breezy beach hang. That seaside feel is underlined both by the album’s title and by the band’s quirky decision to name all the tracks after regional varieties of fish.
“The sleeve of this album has faces that tell a thousand stories. In Hackney, east London, where photographer Andrew Holligan created a series of inspired pictures, every day people developed a vibrant culture, enlivening a part of the capital that was much maligned during the Thatcher years. The street was a lounge, a place to meet, talk, laugh, and, generally, hang. This was also the golden age of the house party.
At the dawn of the 80s the sound of black popular music that these good folk were listening to was in the grip of change. For the most part bands with horn sections were scaling down and the 8-10 piece unit gave way to much smaller ensembles with a less orchestral sound, as saxophonists, trumpeters and trombonists…
Thanks a lot!