CALIBRO 35 –
SPACE
Wonderful
work from Calibro 35 – a funky combo who just seem to get better and better
with each new record! These guy started out in territory that was strongly
influenced by older Italian soundtrack material – which they could copy with
effortless ease – but this time around, they really seem to have found their
own voice – kind of a cosmic approach to keyboard funk that's every bit as
spacey as the cover! There's still plenty of 70s elements in the mix – and the
rhythms have all the heavy grooves you'd love in a cop/crime soundtrack – but
the instrumentation is often a lot more complex, and really reaching for new
sounds too – using both keyboards and electronics along with acoustic elements
on woodwinds and percussion – plus some other cool sounds that we can't figure
out at all. Titles include "Across 111th Sun", "74 Days After
Landing", "Bandits On Mars","Brain Trap",
"Violent Venus", "Universe Of 10 Dimensions",
"Serenade For A Satellite", and "A Future We Never
Lived". ~ Dusty Groove
VOILAAA - ON TE L’AVAIT DIT
Beautiful
grooves from Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart – a set that mixes his
classic-styled club sound with some sweet Afro-funk touches – all to create
this wonderful hybrid of sounds that makes for one of his best records in
years! The style here is more in the Afro-disco mode of the late 70s –
particularly the groove that occurred when African acts would get a chance to
record up in Paris, and create this wicked interplay of heavier roots and
European grooves – often with results that were extra-funky in the process!
Earthy percussion mixes with sweet keyboards, riffing guitar, and plenty of
massive basslines – and vocals are by Sir Jean, Pat Kalla, Foule Badiaga, and
Renaud Bilombo. Titles include "Niarela", "Spies Are Watching
Me", "On Te L'Avait Dit", "Bark", "Le Disco Des
Capitales", "Vampires", "Enlevez Moi Ca", and
"Jungle Fire". ~ Dusty Groove
MATTHEW
HALSALL – INTO FOREVER
The music of
Matthew Halsall really opens up here – still staying in the spiritual jazz
style we love from earlier records, but with an even more expansive vision
overall! The album brings in some added string players to a core group that
includes flute, harp, and koto alongside the usual jazz instrumentation – but
the overall feel is still quite intimate – as the group's still under the
larger assemblage you might think from the "orchestra" on the cover!
Instead, the strings act in this way to expand and shade in colors initiated by
the various members of the group – at a level that makes the sound incredibly
rich, and which gives the harp, piano, and koto even more focus. Halsall's
trumpet lines are as wonderful as always – soulfully breathtaking – and the
record also features vocals on a number of tracks, from righteous singers
Josephine Oniyama and Bryony Jarman Pinto – both of whom hit a 70s current that
takes us back to Jean Carn with Doug Carn on the Black Jazz label, or maybe
some of the female vocals on the first few Oneness Of Juju albums. Titles
include "Only As A Woman", "As I Walk", "Dawn Horizon",
"The Land Of", "Jamais Vu", and "Daan Park". ~ Dusty Groove
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