|
contents | blues | |||||||||||||
| California Soul II Ubiquity's Sister Label Luv N'Haight to Release California Soul 2 on May 22. California Soul 2 features music recorded between 1966 and 1982 and spans eclectic genres from soul jazz, blues, heavy funk, modern soul, Northern soul, disco and even includes a ballad (previously unavailable on CD) from Luv N'Haight fave Darondo. These are tracks from artists who may not be household names but they were the sound of the underground, session musicians, players, and characters that kept the scenes from San Francisco to Los Angeles and beyond alive. Artists featured have played with everyone from Fela Kuti to George Clinton and these tracks feature members of acts like Funkadelic, War, and Sam Cooke's band. The soul jazz sounds of the Gow Dow Experience (one track taken from the rare private press album and two discovered as unreleased on the master tapes) emanate from a band comprised of a teacher and his students teaming up with some famous LA session musicians. Two bluesy stormers by Buddy Connor and Pat Hunt represent the short-lived Early Bird label, an off-shoot of Fantasy Records, while Mokie J.J. and R.O.B. add a touch of psychedelic soul. Motowner Rodney Trotter pushes things firmly into the cosmic P-Funk realm on a track which the band are supposed to have ascended from outer space to eradicate use of the N-word. An original copy of “Isn't It Lonely” by Carmelita was listed (at time of press) for over $2000 on a rare record website, and Joey Jefferson is a perennial funk collectors favorite. While wide in scope the music included on this compilation can obviously only represent a tiny fraction of the multitude of soulful styles and artists from California. The second installment of Cali Soul was not compiled because of the rare factor, or the value of the original releases alone. More importantly this is a treasure trove of music that connects the dots between artists and scenes, and should not be lost to obscurity. The booklet includes full liner notes with interviews and anecdotes supplied by the artists, plus facts and figures, rare photos, and images of the releases. While a number of incredibly rare and highly sought-after gems and some previously unreleased tracks are featured, a few party classics have been thrown in for good measure. It's all drawn from the West Coast state of mind that is California. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |