things and time will tell.

Monty Alexander – Love And Sunshine MPS Records – G-22620 Vinyl, LP, Album, USA, 1975 info _____________________________ I recorded this album and started preparing the post almost six months ago. I intended it to be the follow up to a post talking about the Chicago elections . The punchline was that the people won, we elected a Black, progressive, union organizer as mayor and  Love And Sunshine  landed on my turntable and seemed like a good soundtrack to a hopeful moment. Before posting I realized that I had completely messed up the recording and just couldn't get around to rerecording and fixing it up again until now. My taste may typically run more to the spiritual or free jazz ends of things, but there is something I love about a straight forward set like this one by Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander. Not sure what it is- Standards, pop tunes arranged for a jazz combo, and the complete lack of pretention, maybe? Alexander cut this set for the German MPS label live in front...

Various – Xterminator Records (The Legacy - Chapter 1) Global Beats – GB002, XTerminator, XTM.Nation Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, 2021 info Again with the long breaks... I've been meaning to put this one up for a while. Here is a recent compilation of tracks from Xterminator Records, that will hopefully help brighten your day (even during a dark northern January). [Oops. February by the time I got around to finishing this- sigh.]  Philip "Fatis" Burrell's Xterminator label released some of the most important Jamaican music of the 1990s and early 2000s. Fatis and the young artists around him (including Luciano, Sizzla, and Capleton) were at the heart of a resurgence of cultural music and Rasta themes in the 90s, a major shift from the previous decade of dancehall hits.  This era is probably best remembered for the surge of militant, Bobo dread singers, but Xterminator wasn't just ushering in a new era of cultural lyrics- these were great songs and the scene was more...

Various Artists – Special Selections From The Soundtrack Philadelphia (Sampler) Epic – AED 5695 Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo, Sampler, US, 1993 info This soundtrack is questionable compared to the last one , but to be fair, Sade's track is actually just fine. She's back with the band on this one, turning in a cover of Percy Mayfield's lovely Please Send Me Someone To Love  as their contribution to the soundtrack for the Denzel Washington/Tom Hanks blockbuster, Philadelphia .  ...Which, by the way, makes this another soundtrack to a film I've never seen. (Pay attention and you'll notice a pattern.) The Sade song isn't going to wind up in your top ten, but it's definitely worth a spin. Please Send Me Someone To Love  is a nice piece of songwriting to begin with. You've probably heard five different versions of it over the years and, if you mostly remember the chorus, it's a cut with a surprisingly heavy set of lyrics . Interesting to hear Sade play...

Stro Elliot – Black & Loud: James Brown Reimagined By Stro Elliot Republic Records – B0033643-01 Vinyl, LP, Album, US, 2022 info Many years ago, I was riding in a car with someone a little older (and a lot cooler) than me. The guy went on to become a pretty successful DJ and producer, so not shockingly, we were talking music. The thing that I always remember about this conversation is this moment when the Godfather of Soul gets mentioned and the guy turns to say to me in his most serious voice "James Brown invented modern music." True enough for me. Remixing absolute legends from decades ago is risky business. Remixing an album's worth of stone classics that form the bedrock of modern music? Not likely to end well. Stro Elliot pulls it off though on his recent album of James Brown reworks.  My last post featured a Jamaican rework of James Brown from many years ago  and I thought it might be fun to follow it up with this new effort. Elliot  has become a lot more visibl...

Various Artists – Songs Of Aretha Dubwise Showcase Ariwa Sounds – ARILP 290 Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, Apr 12, 2019 info I had no idea this record existed until I spotted a used copy on a recent trip. A tribute to Aretha Franklin featuring reggae covers of songs associated with the Queen of Soul, produced by Mad Professor and accompanied by dub versions? Yes, I was an easy mark for that sale. Some of these are vintage Mad Professor rhythms put to new use, others are more recent recordings. I guess there's a CD version out there too with a handful of additional songs and dubs... Keeping my eyes peeled. I appreciated the choice of songs here- You get obvious hits like Natural Woman and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's wonderful Say A Little Prayer , but a few surprises as well.  In the liner notes, Mad Professor admits to having missed out on Aretha's brilliant One Step Ahead  for forty-plus years, only hearing it as part of a tribute show he listened to the week after her de...

Little Axe ‎– Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime Echo Beach ‎– EB 133C Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Germany, Sep 2018 (original release: digital 2008/CD 2010) info This is the 2018 vinyl version of Little Axe's sixth LP, Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime . Skip McDonald's blues-dub-hip hop hybrid "band" again features the rest of Tackhead (Doug Wimbish on bass, Keith LeBlanc on drums, and a mixdown by On-U Sound main man Adrian Sherwood) on nearly every track. But this is Skip's show, with the guitarist leading the group in some subtly different directions on their second set of recordings after signing to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records.  Bought For A Dollar...  is probably the slickest and most commercial sounding Little Axe production, but that's not a critique (and it may be my favorite of their records). Cutting to the chase: it's a remarkable record. I promise you'll love it with no background, history lessons, or color commen...

Skull Snaps ‎– Skull Snaps GSF Records ‎– GSF-S-1011 Vinyl, LP, Album, US, Reissue (Original release, 1973) Info I mentioned this 1973 LP by Skull Snaps in my last post and figured I'd follow up on it. Continuing with the saga of "It's A New Day..." The Diplomats, originated as a Washington DC area soul group, a trio (and sometimes quartet?) of singers who released  a string of 45s through the 1960s . By the early '70s, they had moved both to New York and to a new sound. As their music shifted toward funk, so did their name, dropping the R&B diplomacy of their early days and rechristening themselves "Skull Snaps." Skull Snaps only released one LP, a 1973 album recorded with George Kerr for GSF records. The Skull Snaps were now comprised of Diplomats Samm Culley (bass) and Ervan Waters (guitar) along with new recruit George Bragg on drums. They were billed as a band, not just a vocal trio, and album's liner notes credit them playing those instrume...

We return to Bim Sherman for Reality,  his 1992 album backed by Style Scott's Dub Syndicate.  Bim Sherman & Dub Syndicate - Reality Century Records - Century 1700 Vinyl, LP, Album, UK, Nov 1992 More info on  Discogs Tracklist A1 Over The Rainbow A2 Brother And Sister A3 Keep On Moving A4 Fire A5 Rock Crys Out B1 Wake Up Reality B2 Take Me B3 Go To The Mountain B4 Best Of Love B5 Too Hot The album isn't an official "On-U Sound production," being one of the few records credited to Dub Syndicate without having Adrian Sherwood at the controls. Instead, Mad Professor contributes the mix with the great Skip McDonald as "engineer" for the actual recordings. Skip McDonald is the former Sugarhill guitarist mentioned in my last post, who not only played on pivotal funk and disco recordings and helped invent the sound of recorded hip-hop, but went on to be a central figure in the On-U orbit of artists. His guitar (and production work) became def...