A really cool idea for a collection – a set that brings together vintage 70s tracks and more contemporary cuts – all with a globe-spanning ear for a groove, and an approach that's as heavy in soul as you'd expect from the title! This isn't your usual collection of sample tracks or funk classics – as the selection moves way past the obvious, and does a brilliant job of combining tracks we never would have thought to put together – while also introducing us to a number we'd never heard before too! Titles include "Every Time I See Him" by Metropolis, "Eva" by Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti, "O Galho Da Roseira" by Airto, "Apocalypse Now Ho" by Nar'Chiveol, "Wache" by Francisco, "After All" by Soylent Green, "Space Queen" by King Errison, "Robot Man" by Yusef Lateef, "Stay This Way (lunar dub)" by Brand New Heavies, "Le Train" by Chene Noir, "Southern Freez" by On, "The PL (ext edit)" by Typesun, and "Le Cyclope" by Daniel Humair, Francois Jeanneau, and Henri Texier. ~ Dusty Groove
Saxophonist Chris Greene just keeps maturing more and more as an artist and leader over the years – a quality you'll definitely hear even before he blows his horn, as he speaks a bit at the start of this live performance – then rolls into some really great work on both tenor and soprano sax, both horns that really show his strong development of an individual style in recent years! The quartet is rock-solid throughout, in that they're very responsive to Greene's leadership and change of mood from track to track – with work from Damian Espinosa on piano and keyboards, Marc Piano on basses, and Steve Corley on drums and percussion. Titles include the originals "Samba Fu Maga" and "Divers" – plus versions of "Caravan", "You Win Again", and "Omi". ~ Dusty Groove
A great installment in this long-running series from tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander – a player who also picks up a bit of alto on the record too! As with the previous volumes, this is way more than just a set of sleepy ballads – as the presentation is way more than "gentle", and the music moves with some nice currents of soul – thanks in part to superb accompaniment from John Di Martino on piano, Dezron Douglas on bass, and Willie Jones III on drums! Alexander approaches the tunes in ways that really echo his roots on the south side scene in Chicago – using them as bare frameworks, really – never losing the melody, but also really constructing his own songs as well – and reminding us again that he's one of the greatest mainstream saxophonists to come our way in recent decades. Titles include "Bright Moments", "Estate", "So In Love", "Moon & Sand", "Hush A Bye", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", and "Say It". ~ Dusty Groove
A really unique project from Philippe Samiguel – recorded in Bamako, where Samiguel has worked as a producer for many years – during which time he's pulled together ideas from all sorts of different projects, and forged them into a new groove of his own! Samiguel's worked most famously with Samba Toure – who's here on the record alongside other artists who include Hugo Race, Mariam Kone, Mamadou Sidibe, and others – working on music that has roots in Malian blues, Tuareg guitar, and other west African modes – but which has a quality that's also very much all its own. There's an experimental nature to the project that takes us back to some of the best global experiments from the early days of the Crammed label – and titles include "Are U Satisfied", "The First Tone", "Minamba", "Heaven Sands", "Mad Girl Lament", "Quicksand Blues", and "Golden Cage". ~ Dusty Groove
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