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Following a successful EP in 2019, featuring remixes from Osunla
& Pocz, Olindo Records are proud to present “Wono”, the debut collaborative album from Koichi Sak& Afla Sackey.

The album is a deep exploration of Koichi's love of both electronic and West African music, in close collaboration with Ghana-born master percussionist, singer, band leader, teacher and songwriter, Afla Sackey.

Featuring 7 tracks ranging from the meditative “Yamb”, which features master kora player Kadialy Kouyate, to the acid infused, slow house workout of “Niege”. Passing through a contemporary highlife take on advance single “Suolo” and an album version of the previously released “Jingo”.

Koichi Sakai is a London-based producer and DJ, a well-known head in London music circles thanks to his role in co-founding the legendary Afrobeat Vibration nights alongside Dele Sosimi. He has previously recorded and released music with Kay Suzuki as Afrobuddha, and they recorded a set together for Boiler Room.

Afla Sackey is leader of 10-piece afro funk and highlife orchestra, Afrik Bawantu, and the man who the likes of Kokoroko call when they need some extra power on the percussion or a singer to lead their Church of Sound tribute to Ebo Taylor.

Koichi Sakai & Afla Sackey’s first collaborative project on Olindo Records, the “Wono” EP released late last year, received widespread support, particular from Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 6 Music, Defected Radio, Mafalda, Hector Plimmer & Zakia (NTS), Tony Minvielle (Jazz FM), Tim Garcia (Música Macondo/Jazz FM), Music is my Sanctuary, TwistedSoul, Mari* & Papaoul (Worldwide FM), Alan McKinnon and DJ Harv.

We still have copies of Koichi Sakai’s Wono ep OR004 and Betsayda Machado LP ORLP003 should you like more.

Låpsley releases her highly anticipated second
album. Titled ‘Through Water’, it is the follow up to
her 2016 album ‘Long Way Home’, one of that
year’s most acclaimed debuts. Released while she
was still a teenager, ‘Long Way Home’ featured
Låpsley’s breakthrough moments ‘Station’ and
‘Falling Short’ and spawned one of the biggest club
tracks in recent years (DJ Koze’s edit of ‘Operator’)
as well as inspiring a new generation of
electronically minded songwriters including Billie
Eilish, who namechecked it as a key influence on
her sound.
 ‘Through Water’ is without doubt Låpsley’s most
accomplished work to date, written and recorded
during her transition into young womanhood. With
Låpsley as the major producer and songwriter, the
ten songs (whittled down from over one hundred)
reflect her newfound confidence, clarity and selfawareness as an artist, documenting a wealth of
personal experiences and coming-of-age stories
set against a thematic backdrop of water, climate,
weather and the elements.

The Prisoners are one of the most influential bands of the 1980s, an astounding live act whose records were the opposite of what pop radio demanded in that era. Raw where they were smooth and full of character where those records needed to be blandly conformist. They hardly sold a record and yet they can count the likes of Noel Gallagher and political journalist John Harris as their fans. Steve Lamacq devoted a whole chapter of his book to his love of them whilst Tim Burgess of The Charlatans once said that at that time he only checked for The Prisoners and New Order. At least two UK hits used their arrangement on Joe South’s ‘Hush’ as their basis.  ‘In From The Cold’ was the final shot at success by The Prisoners the only problem was they didn’t want it. Signed by Eddie Piller to his Stiff-backed subsidiary Countdown they were put in the studio with Troy Tate (Teardrop Explodes / The Smiths) and made this astounding album which they then disowned.  By 1986 they were an incredible live band and had released three albums of their distinctive 60s influenced garage rock. A four-piece featuring Johnny Symons on drums, future Acid Jazz hitmaker James Taylor on organ, Allan Crockford on bass and backing vocals and the compellingly soulful Graham Day on vocals. Graham also wrote fantastic songs. Ten years later and they would have been lauded as heroes in Brit Pop land but the mid-80s had no place in the mainstream for a band with their influences.  ‘In From The Cold’ is full of amazing songs from the hard edges of ‘All You Gotta Do Is Say’, ‘Ain’t No Telling’ and ‘The More That I Teach You’, to the mournful ‘Wish The Rain’ and ‘Be On Your Way’. It is no surprise that Mojo journalist Lois Wilson described this as her favourite album by the band.  This reissue on coloured vinyl is the first time the album has been issued in its original form since 1986 when, due to Stiff’s imminent demise, it was deleted very quickly.

"Available again for the first time since original release in 1974, Outernational Sounds proudly presents one of the deepest custom press jazz recordings of all – Jaman’s spiritualised and funky Sweet Heritage.

The history of jazz is often told as though it was principally a history of releases and recordings. On those terms, it’s easy to mistake a small recorded footprint for obscurity or silence. But that is to put the cart before the horse, for the true history of the jazz is the story of the music as it was played night after night in the clubs, bars, concert halls and backrooms of cities and towns across America and the world. Only a tiny fraction of this living tradition ever makes it onto a recording. The far greater part is embodied in the musicians and their music as they play it and live it. And even though 1974’s Sweet Heritage is James Edward Manuel’s only release, the pianist and educator better known as Jaman has undoubtedly lived it.

Brought up in Buffalo, New York, Jaman studied classical piano before beginning formal jazz studies under greats including Earl Bostic and Horace Parlan. Quickly becoming a respected regular on the club scene in Buffalo, Jaman held down innumerable residencies and worked with top local musicians – one of his early trios included the renowned bassist John Heard and drummer Clarence Becton, both of whom were poached one night by a visiting Jon Hendricks; sometime Sun Ra Arkestra bassist Juini Booth and regular Ahmad Jamal sideman Sabu Adeyola (also of Kamal & The Brothers) have graced his groups too. At famous night spots all over Buffalo’s East Side and on excursions to Manhattan’s storied jazz clubs, Jaman has shared the stage with some of the most illustrious names in jazz and blues: Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, Joe Henderson, Ruth Brown, Frank Morgan, Woody Shaw, Sonny Stitt, and too many others to mention. His eponymous group, Jaman, was formed in 1970; they toured the US and Canada steadily in the years that followed. He became, in short, one of Buffalo’s true jazz stalwarts, and so he remains.

But despite a life lived deep within the music, Jaman only recorded a single LP, 1974’s Sweet Heritage. Pressed in tiny quantities by the Mark Records custom service, and issued with a stock landscape cover, Sweet Heritage featured the regular Jaman group playing a mixture of covers and originals. The whole LP showcases an ensemble in compete control, and with the flying, spiritual sound of ‘Free Will’ and the upful, Latin-tinged ‘In The Fall of The Year’ – both Jaman originals – the album has since become a legendary collector’s classic. Unavailable since its original issue, Outernational Sounds is proud to present Jaman’s Sweet Heritage – the soulful and spiritualised sounds of a master at work."

Taylor Swift, seven-time GRAMMY award winner, and the
youngest recipient in history of the music industry's highest
honor, the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. She is the
#1 digital music artist of all-time and is the first artist since the
Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more
weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums. Taylor has
an album on Rolling Stone's prestigious The 50 Greatest
Albums of All Time (by women) list, Time magazine has named
her one the of the100 Most Influential People in the world, and
she is Billboard's youngest-ever Woman of the Year. Taylor
has career record sales in excess of 30 million albums and 75
million song downloads worldwide, and has had singles top both
the pop and country radio charts around the globe.
LONDON, 18th August 2014 - Taylor Swift, announced her new
album 1989 and it is available immediately for pre-buy on
TaylorSwiftand iTunes. In addition, Taylor released Shake
It Off, the first single and video from her fifth studio album.
1989 is a touchstone - Taylor's songwriting and sonic evolution
surprises us more than ever before. Heavily keyboard and beat
driven, the pop sensibilities that have always been the hallmark
of Taylor's music now move front and centre on 1989. "I spent
two years making 1989. Two years gives you enough time to
grow and change and let things inspire you. I was listening to a
lot of late 80's pop music and how bold those songs were and
how that time period was a time of limitless possibilities. In
thinking about that, this album is a rebirth for me. This is my
very first documented, official pop album. 1989 is the most
sonically cohesive album I have ever made and my favourite
album I have ever made," said Taylor.

“Take The Leap!” (1994) saw Toyah revisit some of her classic hits – “It’s A Mystery”, “Thunder In The Mountains” and “I Wanna Be Free” – as well as earlier punk material in a heavy rock style. Six original compositions also feature, written with Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo), Cris Bonacci (Girls School) and Simon Darlow (Buggles). Includes previously unseen photography and adds five revisited classics on Side Four.

First ever release on vinyl, and pressed on 180 gram clear vinyl.

If someone had told me in 1992 that one day Kniteforce Records would be releasing music from such esteemed old skool artists as Sublove, Liquid, Hyper On Experience and Acen, I would have not believed it. To add NRG to that list is beyond anything I could ever have dreamed of, and with new music as well? What can I say?
This EP is not only NRGs first new hardcore in a very, very long time, it is also an amazing release which has all of the energy and sublime cleverness that you would expect from such a legendary artist. The first EP with more to come, this one contains four absolute winners. My personal favourite being I Love It because I love it, but Fire is also, well....fire. I am tempted to tell you to turn up Turn It Up and that Helpless will leave you helpless. All true, all amazing.

Following on from Myele Manzanza's acclaimed 2019 jazz album, 'A Love Requited', we have a 2020 addendum to that project; an EP of remixes by a set of diverse musicians from all corners of the globe.

Detroit legend Theo Parrish starts off the proceedings. Theo & Myele have previously worked together on various projects over the years, such as with live outfit, The Unit, whilst Myele's 'Surgery Session' of Theo's track 'Moonlight' was picked up by The Vinyl Factory last Summer as well. On his remix of 'Itaru's Phone Booth', Theo maintains the tempo & structure of the original track, whilst tempering the horns and adding some spaced-out keys & a little low end theory to the equation, making this a flip seasoned with Theo's unique flavour.

Mark de Clive-Lowe follows with the most uptempo track on the EP, a delightful bruk refix of 'Big Deal'. Fellow New Zealander, regular collaborator (notably on Manzanza's sophomore album 'OnePointOne') and hugely respected musician in his own right, MdCL delivers a hefty groove direct for the clubs; heavy drums & sci-fi synths lead the way atop of the original's powerhouse horns, switching up with some MAW-esque 4/4 tribal business to close out.

Cardiff's finest, Earl Jeffers & Don Leisure, aka First Word label-mates Darkhouse Family, kick off the flipside with their take on the appropriately titled 'Family Dynamics'. Fresh from their solo & combined projects (producing for Kamaal Williams, running house label Melange, and creating beat-tapes like Halal Cool J & Shaboo), the duo turn out some punchy boom-bap vibes which pulsate throughout the track, accompanied by some sweet vocal hooks, transposing the original into a plucky heads-down neo-soul tinged stomper.

Borrowed CS is another New Zealand artist that's been bubbling away in the underground NZ electronic scene for several years now, as a DJ and a musician. He ends this selection of remixes, taking the original jazz components of 'Pencarrow' and transforming it into a synth-boogie lead piece of brooding broken beat - a 'Clear Path Depiction' even.

Released on Worldwide Award-winning UK label, First Word Records, the original album was also co-produced by another antipodean label-mate, Ross McHenry, who released a new album recently.

The son of a Congolese master percussionist, Myele Manzanza's roots in jazz and African rhythm are well established. Adding his long-time influences of hip hop and dance music into the mix, this EP exemplifies his approach to fusion, and his persona as an ever-evolving artist, drummer & composer. Since his days as part of Electric Wire Hustle, he had his debut release on BBE, has released three solo albums, and done tours & collabs with folks like Jordan Rakei, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Recloose & Amp Fiddler. Since moving to London from New Zealand late last year, he has already shared stages with Hiatus Kaiyote, The Bad Plus & Alfa Mist, rocked The Jazz Cafe & Ronnie Scott's, and ably demonstrated his DJ side-hustle chops at stations like Soho Radio, Worldwide FM & NTS, as well as behind the decks in a few danceries across the capital, and behind his drum kit daily.

Already hard at work on brand new material, expect to catch Myele Manzanza live at various shows & festivals across the UK & Europe this coming Summer.

'A Love Requited - The Remixes' is available on 12" vinyl & all digital outlets from March 6th 2020.

The Devonns dust off the golden age of Chicago Soul.
Straight from the streets of Chicago, Illinois, The Devonns (pronounced "De vaughns") are the brand new soul outfit and the latest addition of the Record Kicks' family, whose self-titled debut album that drops April 06, is an assortment of influences taking us back to the heyday of soul. "Tell Me" is the 1st single from their anticipated full length and sees the lights on limited edition 45 on March 06 and digital. Drawing influences from bands such as The Dramatics, The Isley Brothers and Leroy Hutson, yet bringing in their own unique modern twist, influenced by artists such as Jamie Lidell and Raphael Saadiq; singer Mat Ajjarapu explains how unintentionally, the rich heritage of Chicago's history with soul music influenced him. "The city was at the epicentre of a lot of good music back in the 50's all the way to the 80's, a lot of the labels specialising in soul were based in the Chicago and we even had our own sound known as "Chicago soul". Through several years of crate digging it surprised me how many songs I loved were recorded in this city, for example one of my favourites is this great little song by The Natural Four, produced by Leroy Hutson 'Can This Be Real', and released via Curtom Records." The band started in 2016 after multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mathew Ajjarapu dropped out of med school and found himself unemployed and drifting. Listening to music constantly at the time, he found inspired to put a band together and create his own music. Pairing up with some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer, he founded The Devonns: the rhythm duty is entrusted to Khalyle Hagood (bass), Ari Lindo (guitar) and Khori Wilson (drums).
Originally he wanted to focus on 50s style doo-wop, similar to The Flamingos; rich in reverb and vocal harmonies, but in the first initial practise they had it was evident the band clicked on their love of soul music from the 70s, so their music took a natural turn towards that sound, with tracks such as the Wilson Pickett-esque single 'Tell Me'.
The release took almost two years to complete as Mat explains "I am a perfectionist, I had a very specific vision in my head about how it should sound and I wasn't going to rest until I achieved it." "This is a definitely a throwback soul record, as well as being drawn to lush and intricate arrangements of Motown, I was also inspired by the more lo-fi works of smaller labels such as Chess and Capsoul, and I wanted to capture the magic they had in those recordings in our record, as everything feels too precise nowadays" clarifies Mat. It was thanks to his engineer Mike Hagler, who introduced him to Paul Von Mertons (Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Elton John) who arranges and conducts for Brian Wilson's live touring show and after a 45 minute phone conversation about what Mat wasn't keen on, on the album, he realised Paul totally understood where he was coming from. After a few months wait for Paul to get back from touring they entered the studio with "Paul's players" and as soon as they hit record, Mat explains "I was getting chills up my neck, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and finally we had nailed it!"

We really are excited by our new release. Taken again from the vaults of Mr Stu Gardner we have the next instalment of the Twinn Konnexion story. We released the single SDE17 way back in 2016, a double sided 45 of "dont fight the love", a blistering slab of modern boogie soul that sold out very quickly upon release. The single was first championed by Dj Jeremy Underground at many of his dj nights. Move on a few years and we have discovered the original studio reels from that session. And it doesn't disappoint!Pulled from those reels are another 3 amazing compositions where no doubt Mr Gardener called on his long list of musical associates. The information of the players and singers has never been divulged with us, not sure why the secrecy & frankly we don't care. What we do know is each song oozes class from start to finish and there is something for everyones taste.

A "Sunshine of you day" has an almost gospel feel to its rhythm, with the singer telling how his women lights up his day. And to be honest its lite up our HQ since we had it. Just ripe for the dancefloor!Moving on to the B side we have two incredible ballads/2 step songs for that connoisseur amongst you. B1 "love side facing up" Well as soon as you hear the opening guitar and horn section with the male singers sultry voice you just know this is taking you down that classic 2 step sound that was big on the London and rare groove scene. We know this is going to a be a big fave for years to come. B2 "Memories dont fade away" its pretty much as above. More 2 step action that you can fail to love

The blending of Don and Phil Everly’s voices is truly one of the great sounds of post-war American popular music. Derived from Folk and traditional styles brought to the USA via immigrant communities, their seamless vocal harmonies had its precursors in mid-twentieth century duo / family Country music acts such as the Louvin Brothers, Delmore Brothers and many others. The Everlys, however, were able to bring the fraternal harmony approach into the mainstream pop market of the late 1950s by dint of their youth, good looks, and that other, far more elusive quality – timing. Recorded for the Cadence label in Nashville in 1957, their first album “The Everly Brothers” features the singles “Bye Bye Love” (US # 2, UK # 6) and “Wake Up Little Susie” (US # 1, UK # 2). Issued in a faithful reproduction of the original LP sleeve, the inner sleeve features annotation by Alan Robinson. The record is pressed on 180 gram white viny

”Are you ready to take your turn now?” asks a mischievous voice at the beginning of DJ Marcelle’s new album. But by this point you don’t have a choice: you better buckle up for a joyride through the wild, unpredictable imagination of a true electronic music auteur. ‘Saturate The Market, Now!’ is stuffed with the kind of raw, rhythmic workouts and playful humour we’ve come to know and love from the long-serving Dutch artist. Let’s start with the music: Marcelle pinballs between pumping outsider house, brilliantly weird acid and musique concrète experiments where anything could happen at any given time. Then there are her famous track titles, which take another aim at nightclub patriarchy (‘Technicians And Their Light Effects’, the successor to last year's 'Technicians And Their Smoke Machines') at the same time as displaying a keen sense of satire (‘I Fell In My Own Cesspit!’) and revealing a difficult relationship with the sour, massive rock that for her is ‘German Bread’. With artwork featuring a collage of puppets found in her Amsterdam house and Marcelle’s own on-the-road photography, this is yet another album that sets her a mile apart from the paint-by-numbers dance music producers - or “accountants” as she’s witheringly described them.

Marcelle arrived via punk, post-punk, avant garde and dub and lives by the independent, forward-thinking spirit inherent in those scenes. A sense of freedom is imbued in her work, unsurprising given that this album was written in two weeks and was made entirely on her own collection of machines (save a few choice vocal samples). It’s Marcelle’s eighth vinyl-only release for Jahmoni Music from Munich and follows on from last year’s ‘One Place For The First Time’ which swiftly sold-out and is now onto a repress. The vinyl is released alongside a 10” featuring extended and dub versions of triumphant album-cut ‘Everything Not Yet’.

So are you sitting comfortably? Well Marcelle would prefer if you weren’t. Because this is music for misfits to move to. The very opposite of business techno. A missive from a cult DJ with an enviable record collection and a fearless artist who couldn’t give a flying fuck about dance music norms. Saturate the market with pure energy – let’s do this!Seb Wheeler, Mixmag

Still deeper forays into the musical landscape of the Windrush generation. A dazzling range of calypso, mento, joropo, steelband, palm-wine and r’n'b. Expert revivals of stringband music, from way back, alongside proto-Afro-funk. An uproarious selection of songs about the H-Bomb and modern phones, prostitution and Haile Selassie, mid-life crisis and the London Underground, racism and solidarity, the Highway Code and a 100% West Indian Royal Wedding.
For example some frantic British-Guianan joropo music-hall about Eatwell Brown from Clapham, who starts out biting off a piece of his mother-in-law’s face at a party, then devours everything in his path… a chunk of Brixton Prison, a Union Jack, a policeman’s uniform. Or Marie Bryant — collaborator of Lester Young and Duke Ellington — taking time off from skewering the South African PM Daniel Malan at her West End revue, to contribute some arch, swinging filth about uber-genitalia. Superior sound, courtesy of Abbey Road, D&M and Pallas; lovely gatefold sleeve; full-size booklet, with full notes, and fabulous previously-unseen photographs, including a set from the family archive of Russ Henderson (who led the first, impromptu Notting Hill Carnival march, in 1966).

We are very proud to presents this official and first ever reissue of The First Coming, by Twylyte ’81, an extremely rare and underrated Soul-Jazz album produced and released in 1981. Twylyte ’81 was a 3 pieces band composed of Frank Jones Jr., Alfred Brown Jr. and John
Belzaguy, who, except for John, have never recorded anything else than this incredible album. The First Coming is primarily standing out by a superb composition, mixing touch of Soul, Jazz, and Disco together. It secondly shines thanks to the amazing deep and spiritual
voice of the band leader, Frank Jones Jr., whose vocals style can sometime remind of John Lucien. Even more impressive is the fact that these 3 fellas were all less or close to 18 years old when composing and recording this beauty. As did others brilliant hidden projects such as Ted Coleman Band, or Minority Band, it was also useful for Twylyte ’81 to receive the support of JSR Records, a kind of non-profit label dedicated to help young bands and artists in recording and producing their own records. Here are a few words from Al Brown Jr. about this release: “After 38 years, I still have the euphoric feeling while listening to this album. I would say that this was one of my greatest achievements. I want to say "Thank you" Pascal Rioux and associates for sharing the group's vision with the rest of the world. I pray the listeners will feel a portion of what we tried to convey through these songs. When I first began this project, I thought it was just killing time. Being 17 years old at the time, I didn't see the music we worked on being recorded. We (Frank and I) were in a basement practicing each song. Who knew that this music would be recorded let alone picked up 38 years later? I still remember every beat, drum roll, every stop/start; everything. Wow, the nostalgia of it all. I wish this album much successful and I hope in the future I can perform this album live.

The first release in Ernesto Chahoud’s ‘Middle Eastern Heavens’ reissue series for BBE Music, we are delighted to present Lebanese maestro Ihsan Al-Munzer’s 1979 album ‘Belly Dance Disco’.

In late 70's and early 80's Beirut, Lebanese organist, composer and arranger Ihsan Al-Munzer made a series of pioneering synth-driven fusion albums that reimagined Middle Eastern music. The records came at a pivotal time in Lebanon’s musical history of avant garde experimentation that was blossoming, just as the country’s 15-year civil war took hold.

Ihsan Al-Munzer’s first release as a solo artist, ‘Belly Dance Disco’ aimed to fuse ‘Western’ modern music and bellydance to make it more accessible to the local audience in the late 1970s. “I wanted to put a mixture of European beat with Arabic percussion, but I made the European rhythm and harmony very easy to listen to for the Arabic ear – soft and understandable” says Al- Munzer.

Today, the composer’s music has made the return journey back to the West; with tracks on the album featured by hip hop artists such as Mos Def, who sampled Al-Munzer’s composition ‘Joy of Lina’ on his 2009 song ‘The Embassy’.

The 10-track album was released in 1979 on the legendary Voix De L’Orient label, which was also home to pioneering Lebanese composers The Rahbani Brothers. One of the earliest artists to introduce the synthesizer to Middle Eastern music, Al-Munzer leads the band, playing the main melody lines on the Kawai Organ and Solina String Synthesizer. Three of his original compositions feature on the album, alongside creative re-imaginings of Turkish and Arabic folklore and modern classics, pushing the boundaries of bellydance music to chime with the international scene.

Al-Munzer’s five titles from the 1970's and 1980's are part of BBE’s ‘Middle Eastern Heavens’ reissue series, a collection of groundbreaking productions from Lebanon, curated by Lebanese DJ, compiler and music researcher Ernesto Chahoud.

Notes by Natalie Shooter, a music journalist and researcher based in Beirut, edited by Will Sumsuch.

Kêtu Records proudly presents, after two years looking for the artists in Nigeria, the reissue of this album from The Faces!!Originally released in 1975, Wake Up Today, differs from the Afro-Funk productions of that time by its Afro-Rock/Afro-Funk Garage style.

We let you discover this UFO and thank you for your support to the label.

Revive the legend Faces,
Vibrate the dancefloor,
!! Wake up today !!

First released in 1975, Bolan’s Zip Gun was produced by Marc Bolan, without Tony Visconti for the first time. Originally issued as a UK-only release, the album features the hit singles “Light Of Love” and “Zip Gun Boogie”. The tracks have a futuristic tone, reflecting Bolan’s love of science fiction but also incorporate elements of American soul music.

Album features Ernie K Doe’s ‘Here Come The Girls’, The Meters, Eddie Bo, Professor Longhair, Lee Dorsey, Wild Magnolias and more.

This is the definitive collection of New Orleans Funk featuring acknowledged masters next to some of the earlier artists who shaped the meaning of funk. The album is also filled with many rare, sought after and undiscovered funk tracks. It covers the period from the emergence of New Orleans Funk in the early 1960's through to the mid-seventies.

The record is an essential part of anyone in any way interested in Funk's record collection. It has some vital ingredients in it that you can't find elsewhere. With the sound of the New Orleans Funeral March Bands, Mardi Gras Indian Tribes and Saturday Night Fish Fries all as inspiration New Orleans Funk developed into a unique sound.

New Orleans is a port town. Originally owned by the French, this was where many slaves were brought from the West Indies. Many of these slaves came from Haiti and brought with them the religion of Voodoo and its drums and music. It became one of the first parts of America to develop a strong African-American culture leading to the invention of Jazz in the early 1900's.

A main feature of Jazz in New Orleans were the Jazz Funeral Marching bands. Solemn Brass bands accompanying a coffin would, on burial, be joined by a second line of drummers and dancers which would turn the event into a celebration of the spirit cutting free from earth. This African tradition is strong in New Orleans and still goes on to this day. The backline drums play a syncopated style that is neither on the beat nor the off-beat. It is these rhythms that are the basis of New Orleans Funk.

The album comes with a booklet presenting a historical explanation to how and why this music came about, and with lots of information about the people involved.


Reviews: "A Perfect Primer For Funk Fans" Q (Top 5 albums of the year). "Probably the finest compilation that Soul Jazz has released. Essential" Time Out.

A heady mix of digi killers, digital roots, dub, electro, and unlikely vocoder magic, Love Lives Forever is the first ever compilation of Miami reggae-notreggae diva Dhaima. The record gathers a collection of the original Natty Queen’s seminal ’80s and ’90s recordings, including her big 1982 chune “Reggae On Sunset,” the Ninakupenda-issued “Don’t Feel No Way,” the previously unreleased “Loving You Is My Thing,” and “Surrender”—the last song recorded before her untimely death in 2000. Pressed loud on vinyl in a long-playing format to mash up your home speakerbox.