The Rare Groove Show

This is a little mix with some records that have been on my mind of late. As ever it's all vinyl.

Duke Ellington and John Coltrane- In A Sentimental Mood
Pharaoh Sanders- Astral Travelling
Michael White- The Blessing Song
Marcus Belgrave- Space Odyssey
Yusef Lateef- Hellbound
Grover Washington Jr- Loran's Dance
Breakwater- You Know I Love You
Chico Hamilton- Mysterious Maiden
Wornell Jones- It Must Have Been Love
Dionne Warwick- You're Gonna Need Me

At www.shoreditchradio.co.uk each presenter was asked back in May 2011 to record an 'Artist Analysis' of someone who had been an inspiration to our respective shows. Four obvious names sprung to mind for THE RARE GROOVE SHOW: James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers and Marvin Gaye- the bedrock of jazz influenced soul music.

James Brown and Stevie Wonder went pretty quickly to other presenters. I didn't feel I could do something new with Roy on my turntable and mixer set up and I was also missing one or two rarer tunes. So I went- very happily- with Marvin Gaye who, of these four, was the singer I started listening to earliest. Marvin also reflected the melancholy mood I was under at the time due to 'flu and I knew which of his songs I'd start the tribute with. You'll hear in my voice that I was suffering with a heavy cold.

Here it is: Do tune in to THE RARE GROOVE SHOW- every other Wednesday on Shoreditch Radio and download other shows at www.shoreditchradio.co.uk

A short mix of some favourite house records on the soulful tip to see you into the weekend sunshine.

Masters At Work- I Can't Get No Sleep
Norma Jean Bell- I'm The Baddest Bitch (Moodymann mix)
Elements of Life- You Brought The Sunshine Into My Life
Blaze- Wishing You Were Here- Joey Negro Mix
Blaze- Time For Love
L'il Louis- Do U Love Me?
Byron Burke- Harmattan
Nikki St Nicholas- Music Is My Life
Barbara Tucker- Beautiful People
Wall of Sound- Critical
Peven Everett- Burning Hot

This is a show that went out on Shoreditch Radio (www.shoreditchradio.co.uk) back in February 2011. Please support this new radio station.

Larry and Fonce Mizell are two of the most talented producers ever to set foot inside a studio.

Renowned for their work as Sky High Productions on Blue Note Records throughout the 70s and on collectable and important labels such as Milestone and Fantasy- they are probably best known for their collaborations with jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and the LPs PLACES AND SPACES, STREET LADY, STEPPIN INTO TOMORROW, CARICATURES and BLACK BYRD. The Mizells successfully moved Byrd from his established hard bop base to a form of challenging jazz fusion- alienating much of Byrd's fan base but allowing him to reach a new spectrum of listeners.

Before their 70s golden period Larry and Fonce were part of the The Corporation production and house writing team at Motown and had a hand in hits like I Want You Back and ABC for the Jackson 5.

Recently the Mizells have found a new generation of listeners who have heard their samples used by A Tribe Called Quest, Stetsasonic and Black Moon among many others.

My advice is clear a space in your diary, get some good headphones and turn off your phone. This selection of tracks deserves undivided attention.

24/08/2010

A mix of Jazz I've been listening to recently- much of it from the Tribe, Strata East and Flying Dutchman labels from the 70s.

Doug Carn, Billy Parker, Dee Dee Bridgwater, Marcus Belgrave, Pharoah Sanders, Leon Thomas: deep jazz with groove out of(mostly) New York and East Coast USA at a time of social and political upheaval. That is what excites me right now. Of course there has to be light and shade so I've included Vince Guaraldi's piece for Peanuts- 'Skating'- and Freddie Hubbard's wonderful jazz dancer, Gibraltar. Enjoy!

Expect follow up mixes in this style- maybe deeper.

Tracklisting:

Travelling Man- Stanley Cowell
The Edge- David McCallum
Chant- Donald Byrd
Mystic Brew- Ronnie Foster
Smiling Billy Suite Part 2- The Heath Brothers
Little B's Poem- Doug Carn
Dance of The Little Children- Billy Parker
Get With It- Billy Parker
Beautiful Woman- Lonnie Liston Smith
Forty Days- Billy Brooks
The Loud Minority-Frank Foster
Theme De Yo Yo- Art Ensemble of Chicago
Tite Rope- Harold Alexander
Space Odyssey- Marcus Belgrave
Maria Domingas- Gato Barbieri
Gibraltar- Freddie Hubbard
Skating- Vince Guaraldi Trio
Let The Sun Shine In- Sons and Daughters of Life

You may know Leroy Burgess for his vocal on 'You and I' by Black Ivory, recently sampled by Q Tip on his track Gettin' Up.

But from Black Ivory aged 17 to The Universal Robot Band, Aleem and Logg, Leroy Burgess is the man behind many records you know and love. His partnership with Patrick Adams in the late 70s and early 80s produced classics such as Barely Breakin' Even, Heartbreaker, Weekend by Phreek and Hustling by the aformentioned Black Ivory.

Leroy Burgess is undoubtedly the link between 70's soul, disco, boogie and the modern Chicago house of today and his groundbreaking influence can be heard in much of today's popular dance music. Listen to any Aleem track and you'll hear his influence on house producers.

It's been noted that Leroy's voice is the sound of happiness and positivity and hopefully that comes across in this mix. I've included mostly tracks with Leroy on vocals but he is also an ace writer, keyboard player and producer of female vocals for Phreek, Class Action and Fonda Rae among others.

Leroy Burgess is an unsung genius and is still recording. Go out, find out about him and buy his records.

Thanks to Laurence at Soul Brother Records for hooking me up with some of the hard to find cuts.

This is a tribute to the sound created by Maurice White for Earth, Wind and Fire.

I bought my first Earth Wind and Fire album in 1988 and then found the rest at a yard sale- treasuring them all since. I've tried to pick out tracks that fall into the rare groove category and avoided any of the big commercial hits. No track-listing this time as I hope to encourage you to go out and find out about their music but let's give a nod to the production of Charles Stepney on Can't Hide Love. Check out Marc Mac's page on this site for a mix of Charles Stepney produced music.

Feedback welcome.

Records from the Philadelphia International label form one of the cornerstones of my record collection. When Motown was in its death throes during the seventies, Philadelphia- founded by two genius musicians- Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff- filled the void in both quality and output. Gamble and Huff wrote most of the songs on this mix and nurtured talent such as Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays and Dexter Wansel. They wrote for the great Lou Rawls and gave The Jacksons a home after they departed Motown. Their influence on soul music cannot be overstated.

The expert of the day on the Philadelphia Sound is Norman Jay and you'll often find Norman dropping hard to find Philly Tunes into his radio show. He has compiled brilliant compilations of music from the Philadelphia label which should be sought out.

This is the first of a series of mixes from Philadelphia. Nothing here is especially difficult to find so go out, show love and stock up on the Sound of Philadelphia.

Tracklisting:

The Jones Girls- NIghts Over Egypt
The Stylistics- What's Your Name?
Jean Carne- Was That All It Was?
The O'Jays- Darlin' Darlin' Baby
Lou Rawls- See You When I Get There.
The Intruders- I'll Always Love My Mama
Teddy Pendergrass- Close The Door
The Jacksons- Show You The Way To Go
The Jones Girls- When I'm Gone
Philadelphia Allstars- Let's Clean Up The Ghetto
The O'Jays- I Love Music

Heavily influenced by djs such as Toshio Matsuura and Raphael Sebbag this mix pays tribute to the modern club influenced jazz out of Japan over the last 20 years. Most of it has something to do with United Future Organisation (UFO) who were vastly underrated and are now sadly defunct as a group, although still active as individuals. The mix is bookended by two tracks by Shuya Okino.

If you like this then check out Raphael Sebbag's recent, excellent LP El Fantasma De La Libertad.

Write for tracklistings.