Roy Brooks & the Artistic Truth - Ethnic Expressions (JMANLP.034)
Easily one of the most coveted and sought-after of all jazz LPs is the elusive Holy Grail that is Roy Brooks’ Ethnic Expressions. It’s not just rarity that makes a record of this nature so desirable, nor is it the compelling music within… sometimes, like a Van Gogh or a Picasso, it’s the personality of the artist himself that’s inexorably entwined with the record itself that lends a fascinating, mesmeric and mythical quality that simply can’t be contrived.
The sixth release in our HOLY GRAIL series is an attentive reissue of one of Detroit drummer Roy Brooks’ two LPs for the tiny Im Hotep label out of New York. This Jazzman release is in conjunction with P-Vine records of Tokyo, whose Japanese reissue has already vanished with only a handful having reached these shores late in 2009.
Ethnic Expressions was recorded live in NYC in 1973, and exhibits a powerful message of black consciousness and spiritual freedom. This is post-Coltrane progressive jazz of the highest order! With a cry to his African roots, Brooks’ music combines modal, rhythmic and Afro-centric jazz with politics, spirituality and a positive vibes. The result is deep, esoteric spiritual jazz that any fan into real deal vibrant jazz will require as essential listening.
The LP is a reproduction of the original, pressed on 180g virgin vinyl. The CD also contains a colour booklet with extra pictures and liner notes translated from those written by respected Japanese jazz collector Yusuke Ogawa.
Tracklisitng:
Side 1
1. "M'Jumbe"
2. "The Last Prophet"
Side 2
1. "The Smart Set"
2. "Eboness"
3. "Eboness (Kwanza)"
Kellee Patterson - I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby/Mr Magic 7" (JM.075)
As covers go Kellee Patterson’s versions of the Barry White-penned classic and the theme made famous by Grover Washington Jr don’t fall far short of spectacular! Recorded back in sunny ’76, this is sublime femme soul with impeccable production, a classy double-sider that cannot fail to please!BACKGROUND
Back in the ‘70s, when Kellee wasn’t winning beauty contests, she was winning singing competitions. The talented lady won a contract to record an LP for the esteemed Black Jazz label, before turning her hand to a more soulful album venture for Shady Brook. The single taken from the album included an abridged version of Barry White’s ‘Im Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby’, but here for the first time is the FULL LENGTH version, released here in its entirety as it was always meant to be heard. Backed on the flip with a stunning vocal rendition of ‘Mr Magic’, the tune that catapulted Grover Washington Jr into the big time, what we have here is a soulful seven that’s too good to ignore. DJs watch out for immediate dancefloor reaction, whichever side you decide to play.
Tracklisting:
1. I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby
2. Mr Magic
BUNKER HILL - You Can’t Make me Doubt My Baby / Little Red Riding Hood 7" (JUKEBOX/JAZZMAN)
When David Walker did a spot of moonlighting under the pseudonym ‘Bunker Hill’ with Link Wray and his band, the alter-ego was necessary not only to avoid a conflict with his other commitments but also to allow Walker to break out from his gospel shackles and raise some hell – which he most certainly did on the unique and astounding set of recordings he made under this new moniker. Redefining the term ‘Blues Shouter’, Bunker Hill’s vocals are screamed, barked and growled with a truly wild abandon, like a deranged synthesis of Little Richard and Howlin’ Wolf. The accompaniment from Link Wray and his Raymen, meanwhile, is a masterclass of stark, primitive blues noise. ‘You Can’t Make Me Doubt My Baby’ is a bass heavy stomper, a rolling rhythm with cool piano hits and of course Walker’s gruff vocal. On the other side, ‘Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf’ showcases Bunker Hill’s (even) wilder side as he yells and riffs a call and response sermon based on the nursery rhyme of the same name over an insistent, sparse, clattering drum-led back drop.
It’s worth mentioning that all of the original singles were released on terrible styrene, which as most collectors know deteriorates progressively on repeated playing. So not only is it a pleasure to offer up Bunker Hill’s unique madness to a wider audience, but also to preserve these two tracks on good quality vinyl for the first time.
Tracklisting:
1. You Can’t Make me Doubt My Baby
2. Little Red Riding Hood
WALTER WILSON - Love Keeps Me Crying / Not Now But Later 7" (SOUL7/JAZZMAN)
Another northern rarity on Wand - out now on SOUL7!!! And as usual this SOUL7 reissue is FULLY LICENSED and restored from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES so it SOUNDS GREAT – unlike what you get from SHODDY BOOTLEGS! And in keeping with the spirit of collecting the pressing run is limited to ONLY 500 COPIES worldwide!Through our Soul 7 label we are committed to the continuing pursuit of the rarest and most sought after quality soul sides on the planet. For our latest release, few could argue that we haven’t kept our part of the bargain as we bring you a reissue of Walter Wilson’s awesome two-sider from the Wand catalogue. A real lost gem of mid-‘60s soul, the single gives us a Northern dancer from the very tip-toppest shelf on the ‘A’ and a real beauty of a mid-tempo ballad on the flip. Why the single is so scarce is anyone’s guess.
Wand was a large and prolific independent and though it is common to find obscure titles on such labels – records which perhaps had one promo run and were then canned – rarities of this magnitude are unusual full stop. What we do know is that you could likely count the known copies of the original on one hand and that the last (perhaps the only?) to go through at online auction fetched a healthy figure of over $6000 (yes, six thousand US dollars).
Of course, such glaring figures make interesting reading but it’s no use if the record doesn’t hold up musically. Have a listen below, and we think you’ll agree that Walter Wilson’s two fine ‘60s soul sides hold up perfectly.
Tracklisting:
1. Love Keeps Me Crying
2. Not Now But Later
