Funk | Soul 435 Items

In 1980, during her run on Broadway in the musical, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and before being cast in “Dreamgirls”, singer, actress and Detroit native Roz Ryan teamed up with the legendary team of Dennis Coffey And Mike Theodore on a six song album that wound up being unreleased.

Recently, the folks at Super Disco Edits released this 45 featuring Roz’ taking on Preston Glass’ “Keep Shining / Put Love Back” composed by Eric McClinton.

Both tracks were from the Theodore and Coffey sessions and make their debut for lovers of dancin’ (“Keep Shining”) and romancin’ (“Put Love Back”). Enjoy!

Instrumental versions of Gabriel’s Stones Throw Records debut Jardín now available on limited edition wax.

Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s formidable skills have come to fruition on Jardín in his Stones Throw debut. “This album came out of wanting to make music that reminds people how beautiful life is and how delicate their heart is,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to make music that is healing, comforting, and funky. I named the album Jardín hoping for it to create a space for healing when people put it on.

“A garden is full of life, growth and beauty,” Gabriel said of choosing that unifying image as the title for his new album. “It makes me think of green and white and all the colors as they appear in different flowers.” That vivid spectrum bursts forth on Jardín itself and the album contains references to fruit of all sorts, sour mango, juicy tangerines and sweet peaches. From the heartache and aching vocals that float over the dusty drums of “Crawl” to the stutter-step thump of “Bombo Fabrika” to the high falsetto he nails on “Octave,” Garzón-Montano proves himself to already be one of 2017’s biggest breakout talents.

As Lee is out on the road spreading the love to crowds across Europe we decided to press up another undeniable two sider off the instant classic Special
Night album. Another must have for the DJs….

Side A is “Coming Home”, Lee’s incredible take on working, how we get through it, and why we do it. He sings to his wife a story a lot of people can relate to,
working all day looking forward to coming home to his family. The Expressions provide the perfect feel good backing to this midtempo masterpiece with
beautiful horn arrangements, catchy background vocals, and a guitar riff as catchy as the chorus.

Side B’s “Precious Love” is the perfect example of the song writing and arranging prowess the producers (Leon Michels & Tommy Brenneck) and the
band have honed over the years. Catchy from the intro, this love song keeps the dance floor and holds up next to the classics. Play this for your precious love.

Super sweet soul from Seattle. This is our first release with The Dip that features lead vocals and we couldn't be prouder. Super soulful, great production, and super catchy!

Thelma Houstons' unreleased Soulful AOR tracks from 1980!
After Thelma ended her contract with Motown, she went to work with Terry Woodford to record a set of tracks for her next album. Unfortunately it didn't happened and the tracks was shelved for 36 years. Until now.
Smooth breezy soulful AOR with the Wishbone inc signature sound, (Byrne and Barnes, Robert Byrnem Mac McAnally and others) remastered and released on vinyl for the first time.
Coverart by Yoko Honda - Limited to 500 worldwide!

After 3 years of captivating audiences with their unique blend of soul, jazz, and undertones of hip-hop, Minneapolis-based Nooky Jones are finally releasing their debut self-titled album via Young And Foolish Records. A truly cohesive collection of love stories and music that takes listeners to beautiful places alongside deeply provocative characters, the album is a much-needed artistic expression of self for vocalist/frontman Cameron Kinghorn.

In early 2014, Kinghorn was working mostly as a trumpet player and singing in cover bands around town when he caught the eye of local trumpet player Adam Meckler, who tapped him to front a new project he was starting with drummer Reid Kennedy. That new project would eventually become Nooky Jones, and it would be Kinghorn’s first real foray into this type of artistic expression.

Produced over the course of 15 months at RiverRock Studios in the band’s hometown of Minneapolis, their debut album relies on each musician’s unique style as a critical part of the overall sound. Atop airtight yet comfortably loose drum and bass grooves often reminiscent of 90s R&B and Hip-Hop, layers of harmonically complex piano, organ, and Fender Rhodes create a lushness associated with jazz that rarely integrates into pop music so tastefully. Adding flairs of excitement throughout, the horns bring their powerful chops to the forefront when appropriate without ever stepping on the vocals, which float effortlessly from deep sultry textures to a silky smooth falsetto on par with the best soul crooners in the business. A non-stop rollercoaster of emotions, the album masterfully draws the listener in with slow burns that eventually boil over, only to be brought back down and start over again.

Just 3 Words: Stone Cold Classic!

One of their most classic songs, a highly sought-after track on original 7" first recorded and released in 1973 having all the hallmarks of a Leroy Hutson composition and an established audience that crosses the boundaries of Northern, crossover and Modern Soul backed with another highly regarded and sought-after Modern Soul room dancefloor track previously never released on 7” single until now!

After two hip-hop albums (Got To Get Down in 2016 and Impact in 2017), the unpredictable Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra comes back to its fundamentals with a new instrumental album: MORPHEUS which repositions the band in the spirit of their previous spatial, almost cosmic albums Last Odyssey (2012) and Pulsion (2015), both released on Ubiquity Records and acclaimed by spiritual and fusion jazz lovers, library music fans, as well as rare grooves diggers (ALVO’s first 4 vinyl albums now being out of stock).
Each new ALVO new release is a millesimal which evolved and learned from its predecessors. Masta Conga, who’s still leading the herd, has for main purpose to explore the musical space-time, gaining ground on never before revealed tracks, followed by his now faithful team of atypical and farseeing musicians.
Compared to Miles Davis and his On The Corner by Wax Poetics, the band dives again in this “realm of psychedelia and beyond”, in particular with the contribution of Indian musicians. Twirling around violins, superimposed patchy keyboards and effects, just as if their conductor wasn’t already sufficiently influenced by Pierre Boulez and others such as Hiroshi Murakami…
The result is however more uncluttered and loaded with multiple vibes than its predecessor Pulsion, which already carried the ceremonial characteristics of cult movie soundtracks. Tracks “Moksha”, “Air” and “Morpheus” are the perfect demonstration, and far beyond their names. Simple grooves, lunar, but terribly efficient, emphasized by a mix that puts focus on these fiddly contributions of ethnic instruments, on percussions and horns on a drip of delay, reverbs and other space-echoes.
On the other side, the very rhythmic “Descarga Uno”, “Descarga Dos” and “Super Dopamine” show that the Parisian crew hasn’t lost its good habit to look around latin, ternary, and syncopated rhythms, in the ALVO only style!
A new millésime, a Grand Cru maybe, but for sure to taste and appreciate in all weathers including space ones.

Limited edition of 500 copies only!

An unreleased before album recorded in 1973 in Rome at the Recording Studios "Sound WorkShop" of Piero Umiliani, and a stand-out Italian Library LP to say the least.

The whole record oozes a dreamy, mysterious, surrealist atmosphere enhaced by the vivid instrumentation that open a series of mesmerising pieces which range from the gentle to the hypnotic.

Eastern sounds, ritual horns and assorted metal banging and scrapping add to the whole mix for a landmark sound that will evolve in delirious acid passages, hypnotic bass riffing, stoned funk beats, dubbed-out passages and Rino De Filippi trade-mark collage and sound manipulation make up to a really unique listening experience that submerges and puzzles the unexpecting listener. A must-have!

Oddball Japanese electro-fueled vocoder funk with occasional raps from the 80s, including unreleased material...

Japanese Electro original, Minoru Hoodoo Fushimi, self-released four albums. Two vinyl LPs and two CDs between 1985 and 1992. Melbourne`s Left Ear Records have selected twelve tracks from Minoru`s four albums, and a further two from the archives, for a double vinyl retrospective.

Minoru set out to combine his love of all things Funk with traditional instruments and song from his homeland. He uses shamisen on Thanatopsis. Where Parliament`s Flashlight, George Clinton`s Atomic Dog, ride with Osamu Kitajima`s Masterless Samurai. Shakuhachi on Mizuko No Tamashii Hyakumademo. Nohdashi puts koto with a Jimmy Castor riff. All set to popping and locking beats.

A few years ago, Melodies family members Floating Points and DJ Red Greg got their hands on a couple of original 70s obscurities. While these standout records shone brightly in their own right, the two DJs saw the potential to create their own edits behind the scenes, finely attuning the original versions to modern-day dancefloor standards. Of these new recordings, they cut only five copies for themselves and a few DJ friends of theirs.

Today, Melodies International is very proud to bring you MEL006 and MEL007. Fully licensed, lovingly mastered to the highest possible standards and carefully edited to dial up that dancefloor enjoyment, these two ‘You’re A Melody’ classics weren’t originally meant to get official releases. But due to popular request, they are now available to play and share in very special moments at parties around the world.

Limited whitelabel 7-inch deejay press of 50 copies only!

Rare UK only modern soul/boogie release recorded 1979 in Los Angeles with Fred Wesley providing the horn section perfectly de-guitarized by BTO Spider b/w in demand sensational smooth '77 modern/crossover groover!

Great retrospective of Lil Bob And The Lollipops' discography. Classic Louisiana swamp soul / R& B, recorded in the early to mid 1960s. Includes the popular dance floor fillers "I Got Loaded" and "Stop," as well as some real beautiful obscurities. Ballads and stompers to make life better. Old school "tip on" cover.

Repress edition comes in plain white generic sleeve!

Killer Unreleased mid 70's Blue Eyed Soul/AOR!
Between the sessions at Wishborne Sound Studios, the session musicians Terry Woodford, Clayton Ivey, Muscle Shoals horns among others, got down to record some of the finest funky soul and AOR. They took the name Mirage, aiming for stardom. Unfortunately no album was ever released and many tracks went on the shelves in the studio. Over 40 years later, Preservation Records are releasing two of their finest tracks on an exculsive 7". Only 500 pressed

“Superbacana” marks the return of S-tone Inc., an EP that anticipates a new album due to release in autumn 2017. Produced by Stefano Tirone, who co-wrote all the tracks with Tomaz Di Cunto - alias Toco - it contains four tracks (one in two different versions) wi th a funky Brazilian flavour, inspired by the Black Rio sound that represents the encounter between sa mba and the American soul funk music since the ’70s. An outstanding groovy effort that raises the expectations on what S-Tone Inc. will produce in the nearby future...