Yeah, this isn’t actually a band, or Turkish for that matter. It’s heavy Italian library action and, typically, is a four-way split between the MIGHTY saxophonist Giancarlo Barigozzi, the mighty pianist Oscar Rocchi, the composer Chiarosi (who is really just O. Rocchi) and the composer Gianazzi (who is really just Barigozzi). So, a two-way split. Which, unsurprisingly, is great. Which is to say jam-packed with enthographic jungle funk boogie groove and Third Steam indigenous instrumentation and chanting morphed into cinematic waveform soundtracking. Snippets of genius, runs of profundity, moments of boogie action, a hour of appreciation of a time and place where making this kind of music was seen as a definitive lifestyle. Rules.
You know what I love? Anything on Two-Tone. Also, any record with a song called “Destroy Them”, plus any UK-Cuban ska, plus British music from the early 80’s that in no way was involved with Malcom McLaren. I also dig soul-driven Ska with a touch of Rocksteady. I also like Cuban trombonists who helm Dancehall studio sessions heavy on trombone that sound like they would be equally at home on King’s Row as Havana as N’awlins deep into Mardi Gras. The only thing this record wants from you is to respect your inner Rude Boy, and it delivers hard. Since this is a Jerry Dammers thang, also worth mentioning that I loved that brief moment when Two Tone and its whole vibe ruled the dawn of MTV. Oh, and who plays on this one? Just Robbie Shakespeare & Sly Dunbar, Mikey Chung, Noel “Scully” Simms, Carlton “Santa” Davis, and Winston Wright. It’s pure, glorious nostalgic wonder. Oh yea.
Yeah, since this looks like a Raymond Pettibon alt Black Flag cover, with all the tortured emotion and anger that entails, it’s easy to see how you’d flip right by what is actually one of the better Aussie jazz records of the 70’s, and even more surprising, features a really lovely homage to Duke Ellington. Which is also interesting, because it otherwise vacillates between fusion and near-prog, with some definite out-tendencies. All the songs are writing by altoist Ted White, who, come to think of it, may be paid homage to in Black Flag’s “White Minority”. But probably not. Basically, these guys were session dudes who had some free time in the studio and cut a quick record before getting back to the paying gigs. Which we are all the better for, because you can almost HEAR the lack of label constraint or commercial consideration, and there’s lots of passages where this action gets both funky and BURNS in a really very forward for its time way….think Melbourne Headhunters crossed with Sydney Marc Moulin just jamming off the cuff. It doesn’t have the layers or nuance of super intentional composition, and yet the more slash and burn approach totally works! This sounds cool, toss it in! Yeah, this record is awesome if you like groovy unexpectedness (and aren’t intending to leave the cover on the mantle above the fireplace for too long). Killer action with great snippet-y individual performances.
You’d be forgiven from the cover alone for thinking this is a Cape Jazz grail, not to mention the title, year, and especially ultra funky trumpet/bass opening groove. And yet, this badboy comes out of Germany (The Dark Heart of Cologne) and is helmed by the very American trombonist Lou Blackburn. Now, if you’ve never heard Lou’s very rare and exceedingly excellent ’63 “Jazz Frontier”, you’d immediately buy Mombasa once you did, forget that the two records sound absolutely nothing alike. Each track of Mombasa is named after a different African region/tribe and the composition/rhythmic approach changes accordingly. Lou knew what he had in mind, because apparently the whole thing was cut in one day, which makes more sense when you consider that “Spiegelei” is German for “fried egg” (note initially mystifying label art.) Lou says the record is “A mixture of rhythm, folklore, blues, spirituals and worksongs” and he would prefer not to use the word jazz. Cool with me, because it’s also CRAMMED with drum and bass breaks. In fact, let’s take a second here to recognize the KILLER bass playing of Gerald Luciano Hartwig, who I’ve never heard of and appears to be a sort of Krautrock session guy, but I have nothing but respect for his groove. I’ve also never heard of Cephus McGirt (best jazz name ever?) but he’s tight as pie on drums. Charles (Hitman) Jefferson plays thumb harp and flugelhorn and Doug “Niara” Lucas and Carmell “Jay Hawk Talk” Jones are also in this band, although not on the credits for the debut release. Man, this record boogies, and I love it.
Hey, you know what’s better than Egyptian Free Jazz? NOTHING. Well, actually, that’s not true, but it still rules nonetheless. Yes, this is firmly in Ra territory as with the mighty Salah Ragheb (The Cairo Jazz Band - Ragheb was commissioned by the army and had at his disposal an entire military building, three thousand musicians, and every instruments known to man, except possibly a Gibson Flying V, but really veers more toward Heavy Ornette, mixed with Lite Ayler, than it does Space Exploration. This specific record was commissioned by the Germans, or at least the Goethe Institute, and we all owe them a solid there. I have, as it turns out, read a healthy amount of our man Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the noted poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, amateur artist, and all-around polymath, and although he was brilliant on a variety of fronts, I feel fairly sure he would have loathed this action. Free Jazz to the pre-industrial ear probably would have sounded like a barrel of rusty scissors clanging down the BratwurstStrasse cobblestones at 6am. It’s possible, though, that he would have grooved with the spiritual jazz element, and found a kinship in entreating the various deities and spirits with harmony, whether it was Lutheranism, Islam, or Thelonious Monk. In the end, this throbs with both dissonance and assonance, and it dares you not to spin it for days on end. Oh yes.
Yeah, to me this is about as essential as JP psych-prog gets, mainly because it’s also funky, super-percussive, has killer organ, sounds like a World Blaxploitation King Crimson Tokyo Afrobeat Talking Heads demo, grooves, boogies, and would have made every single baked Pink Floyd-mad teenaged friend of my youth lose their minds over how much better it does everything that the Pinks aspired to, at least in terms of post-Syd ethnographics. So, yeah, genre-wise it’s all over the place. Which is a massive compliment! Osamu Kitajima (who also goes by the hilarious alias Justin Heathcliff) apparently plays all the instruments as well as HEAVY percussion and loops, and you have to give up endless love for the dude’s chops and way-ahead-of-its time conception. Now, as everyone knows, Benzaiten is a Japanese Buddhist/Shinto goddess of everything that flows. Which includes rhymes and rhythm and groovy bass, but also water, music, eloquence, and knowledge. Benzaiten is an offshoot of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, and is one of the Seven Lucky Gods, not the least of which because it’s almost always depicted holding a (Rock Joint) biwa, which is essential a lute. Basically, this music is Ancient Japan alchemically forged into groove. And it rules.
I found this badboy sealed for $1 back when such things still happened, and although the shrink has been in landfill for decades, the wax remains NM. I mean, what MORE do you want from this banger? Our boy Joe (real name: Bataan Nitollano) comes home to his roots going full boogaloo soul funk, and you know how deeply loved he is just by reading the insane lineup who showed up to play with him: Munyungo Jackson (Bennie Maupin) on percussion, Cornell Dupree (Harlem River Drive) on guitar, Randy (Roy Porter Sound Machine) Pigee slanging git, Dave Letterman Sanborn on sax, Barry (Eddie Palmieri) Rogers on trombone, John Faddis (Mingus) on trumpet along with Randy Brecker, and Jimmy “Grodeck Whipperjenny” on drums, plus THE Swinging Salsoul Strings. I mean, Bang! I could probably go the rest of my life without ever hearing the Chico + Man theme again, but aside from that, this record is pure boogie uptown groove and just flat rules.
I don’t generally dig these JP comps packed with American rock covers, but sometimes the players transcend the form. I mean, if Kimio Mizutani is slanging guitar on it, I’m sold, period. And if Mr. Inomata swings by to lend his name, style, arrangements, and KILLER rhythms, I am also pretty much sold regardless. For that matter, how does any thinking man NOT buy a record called “Guts The Drum” on the spot at any price? Or even “ガッツ・ザ・ドラム” , or Gattsu za doramu”? In any case, all of the covers have interesting elements beyond being a ’71 JP wedding band, and many of them BURN when they turn into freeform layouts and totally forget the melody, which everyone was bored with three decades ago anyway. Fortunately, we drop Keef, Mick, Elton, and Fogarty for the third section, and it’s all Norio Maeda, and, friends, that’s where you make your money. Plus, the art! I dunno, I really dig this record, a rare bird all the way around, and a fun time on a Sunday afternoon for sure. Oh yea.
For an embarrassing percentage of the twenty years I’ve been after this banger, I thought the dude’s name was Dini Saffrar. But of course, that means “Drums Of Fire” in tribal dialect, and it’s actually the Senegalese percussionist Mor Thiam who is the namesake of this wonderful record, although his full name isn’t actually on the cover. Or at least the front of it. And since finding this in the wild back in the day was scratcher-ticket unlikely, it wasn’t easy to get the real scoop. There’s also some serious players in the lineup I had no clue were part of the groove, including avant alto hero Oliver Lake, Charles Wesley “Bobo” Shaw Jr., and production by the mighty Oliver Sain. Phillip Westmoreland, who toured with Curtis Mayfield and was on Sain’s “Bus Stop” plays a very slick mixture of bluesy funk and avant guitar, and even Billy Ingram, who is on that DEEPLY weird Lord Luther “I Am The Lord” record, which you can get as a UK ACE comp, hits hard behind the kit. Even Art Ensemble’s (and a bit of Ra) Lester Bowie shows up to toot a bit of trumpet. Even stranger, all this action comes to us straight out of Ohio. Yup, that’s not a city a hundred miles south of Dakar, it’s a swing state in the midwest. Even more bizarre, after all that time langouring on the want list, I finally scored a copy yesterday in an in-person trade! Whew. As always with vinyl, everything comes around (unless it doesn’t) and most things go around (they always do). But what do these Fire Drums sound like? Killer indigenous spiritual boogie groove that every once in a while veers into HEAVY free blowing madness. Which is to say, it’s perfect. Oh yes.
Man, there is just no arguing with this super TUFF record, that is also still weight-in-gold Cheapish Heat. It’s a righteous bomb of influences spanning four sides like a novel, from Cannon soul blues to straight improv, to fusion, to Cannon Buckshot Lefunk to avant jazz excursion. Amazingly and not at all surprisingly, it often sounds like outtakes from “A Silent Way”, before transitioning on the fly into Hancock groove, except it’s actually George Duke. Airto does his killer percussion thang, Walter Booker (check him on John Hicks’ “Some Other Time”) is on bass, Nat Adderley is all up in the cornet, the Wrecking Crew’s Mike Deasy has both an absurd mullet and also some very slick runs on guitar, and Roy McCurdy slaps the drums. Seriously, how does anyone go to bed every night without opening this goofy LIVE Swiss Army Knife of a record? It rules.
Hey, was there ever a better time to have a solid natural high going than 1979? I mean, it was the last pre-Billy Idol year, and that alone can be considered a Golden Age in and of itself. Were you recently, by any chance, mentioning to your partner across the futon early one morning after thinking it through all night long, “Babe, what I think our relationship is missing is more ultra slick heavy-horn and keys Mississippi funk?” No? Well, if it did by chance happen, this record just might save your love life. It verges on E,W & F with the smooth soul and great instrumentation, but also a kind of BT Express funky Charles Wright kind of Perfect Circle sort of The Undisputed Truth proto-disco feeling. Chimneyville is an imprint of Malaco, the Miami-based dance banger label, so it definitely has that vibe as well, but enough southern groove and roots to ride over simply spinning skirts toward the bar. The good thing about life, let alone vinyl, is that not every record needs to be Ornette’s Latest Breakthrough. It’s enough just to be a good time boogie slab that improves your day. I dig this one.
Man, since Roy died I’ve been on a heavy Ayers kick. Not that I wasn’t in general before, but now I find I’m pulling his sides back out on the regular, sort of like when I have the urge for yet another cup of coffee. I really like this record, which I feel is sort of considered Second Tier Roy, probably because it has the Stevie cover, which in truth is unnecessary, but even worse the MASH theme cover, which is a skip on any functioning 8-track, but you mostly end up sitting through it at the turntable. Beyond that, it’s more a low-funk spiritual groove for Roy, and I dig it precisely because it sounds different than his usual bag. Now this is the RL, Bob Ludwig mix, and I don’t really have an opinion on if it makes any difference at all, but I bet I could list it on Discogs for double by mentioning that and suckering in all the Zep II heads. Anyway, I miss Roy, and I find as I age that his “we are all one” spiritual groove/universe unite, late nite with the candles and ladies on the suede coach sound is right up my alley, but when I was 22 I would have squared up if you told me I would love it later in life. Ah well. Oh, and one killer cut by Eugene “Outlaw” McDaniels, just for frosting. Oh yea!
Found this badboy in the wild, just hanging mintish in the bins, last week in Washington DC. Well, any classic French be-bop is an instant buy. Anything with Barney Wilen is snapped up. Anything with this absurd a lineup is no question. Any banging mono OG priced appox 80% below market is instantaneously acquired. So I bought. Even though I’ve had the CD of this w/different cover for many years. It sounds great, HEAVY wax in a thin cover. Well, I had 2 hours to dig on this trip, so hit two spots deep in the city. It was a gorgeous sunny, crisp fall day. It looks absolutely nothing like it did when I lived there in my 20’s. It was peaceful and serene and really not in need of National Guard intervention, even in deep Adams Morgan where the best records are to be found, and where a certain President is deathly afraid of the hue of the residents. Dude in one shop and I went from talking Fela (was playing when I walked in) to Gamelan Monkey Chants and Phrygian Chords. I almost bought a super groovy but creepy Dictator-Worship record lauding the Congo’s monstrous Mobutu Sese Seko, but in the end it was too much like buying Jared Kushner’s rockabilly record. On the flight home my carry-on luggage was full, and it wasn’t with dirty clothes. I maintain that DC, LA, Oakland/SF, and Detroit are the best spots in the country for great vinyl at human prices. You can add Chicago, N’awlins, Memphis, and Austin to the second tier. Anyhow, this record is just straight giddy bop, and I love it.
I mean, if it’s on Westbound it’s not gonna be straight gospel over at the house Funkadelic built. While Bill names himself twice in this title, it’s really the scorching backing/side vocals of Essie Moss that makes it a banger’s banger. Essie’s “Amen” could strip paint off an engine block in a way that gives me just the right chills. Together they have a really lovely, if not quite blood, harmony. This action is easily in the Ike and Tina realm, and when I listen to records like this, I always think, “Wait, Sonny & Cher had a career?” The backing band is tight as a slice of lemon pie, and are completely on point, respectful but brimming with potential funk. For a religious man, Bill rocks tinted shades, an immaculate manicure, a mischievous goatee, and a suede jumpsuit that would put Barry White to shame. One suspects Bill was in the market for more than just a dollar in the donation basket from some of his sleeker flock. In any case, this album rules, one of the weirder ones on the label that Parliament built, and so much the better. Oh yea.
Have zero clue who Mason is? Don’t feel bad, his mother probably only has a vague idea as well, which is REALLY a shame, because this is a great record. Sales figures probably weren’t helped by the goofy, ungrammatical and almost deliberately impossible to recall title, the bad fonts, the bad art, and especially excessive mentioning of the playing of flute. Personally, I love Dolphy and Ronald Snijders and Alice C and Hermeto and Lloyd McNeill and Harold McNair on the flute, and even Herbie “Chest Cashmere” Mann is pretty great if you can get past the cheese, so I don’t share the flute-fear of many in the wider jazz world, but it’s worth noting that Mason plays Alto more often than not. “Dr. Thom” was really more of a professor than a cat on the after hours club scene, and so he only has a few titles to his name, but he can definitely swing, and this is top modal jazz with unexpected twists and a really nice feel for creating a very specific sound. I’m a sucker, as I imagine many reading this sentence are as well, for private press one-offs that sound like they should have gotten a better gig over at Strata.
1978 Japan RE of ’74 OG Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes “Cosmic Funk” on Flying Dutchman10/25/2025
Well, I thought I’d already posted the full early run of Mr. LLS, but apparently overlooked this one, which is odd as it might be my favorite of the bunch. While just as mind-bending and interplanetary as earlier iterations of the band, C-Funk is a bit further out of the avant jazz box as opposed to the avant funk box, while still as soulful and spiritual as previous boxes. This may have something to do with the addition of Andrew Cyrille to the percussion bank of Lawrence Killian, plus Doug “Sea Of Nurnen” Hammond stows away in the hold of the rocket with Donald “Luv” Smith and Ron “Billy Parker’s Fourth World” Bridgewater as it sets its controls for The Heart Of The Sun. No point in describing the music, which no matter how accurate will still be misleading, you’re either an Astral Traveller or you’re not. It’s not an excusing club, though, Lonnie and the boys are all about the love and universal consciousness, and there’s plenty of first class seats for those willing to expand into them. Oh yea.
The only release from these cats out of Roanoke, and the only soul release on Princess, which otherwise put out country singles. Which on the whole does not sound too promising, although what sounds and what is are often at odds with one another, and that’s definitely the case here. This record rules! Yup, I’m a sucker for smooth-but-gritty ensemble harmony with tight soul action filigreed with an edge of funk, let alone records with tracks like “Shake Your Poo Poo” and “When I Finally Get To Phoenix (??)” on it…there’s some seriously killer soul-wah clean guitar leads, and although Earl and the boys often are simply ripping James Brown off blind, even to the degree of Bobby Williams, and there are occasionally some annoying novelty vocals, other times they sound a lot like Nat King Cole crossed with your favorite local gospel choir, because when Earl stops trying to be a Sex Machine, he has a genuinely wonderful voice. This is just a great local down-home oddity with some real talent on it, especially the moneycut “Didn’t We”. Oh yea.
One of the greatest things about this iconic soul psych space funk weirdness slab of wax is that on top of the waves of space funk weirdness is the fact that the mighty Steve Potts blows alto and soprano and there are not enough recordings of Steve Potts in the world, although his “Musique Pour Le Film D’Un Ami” is one of the best Euro jazz sides of the 70’s, which is even more interesting given that he’s from Columbus, Ohio. Another great thing is the either deliberate or naive mis-spelling of Atmosphere, since the Pher ending is clearly superior in every way. In any case, a whole lotta Strata/Spiritual action happening with the Swank & Mighty Patrick Gauthier on piano and Jean-Jacques Avenel (like Potts played with Straight Horn Lacy) on bass. It’s amazing, really, that Gilson didn’t somehow get his thumb in this, although it is so clearly off the cuff and wholly improvised track to track it would had probably driven Jef insane. I love this record for many reasons, but perhaps the main one is how little it cares if you love it back.
Ultra tight and grooving modal Post Bop from the unassailable composer, arranger, and tenor, Mr. Golson. As usual, his gravitational genius attracts stellar talent, and often in provocative ways: on this date only Wynton Kelley, J.J. Johnson, Max Roach, Paul Chambers, and Kenny Dorham! Well, there’s three Golson numbers, two Grice, and the inevitable Johnny Mercer for the Gumar in the back seat on Friday nights. It goes without saying that this is sophisticated, graceful, and impeccable music. I think the true genius of straight jazz composition is to find at root a gutbucket groove and then through nuance and subtle complexity turn it sublime. My sense is that Benny, at least amongst purported modernists, is seen among contemporary jazz neophytes as something of a square. No album covers with strung out Benny smoking Winstons behind a pool hall! But it could not be further than the truth, because the man is speaking truth, which comes from a rock-solid foundation in both theory and style. Top Action, and big spins for the whole family over at Castle Wax.
Well, after posting the mighty Snoopy Dean last week, here’s another righteous slab on Henry Stone’s great Miami groove label, a subsidiary of TK. Gilmore is sort of a Party Blues legend, an uptempo and positive-force 1-4-5 maestro unwilling to wallow in Delta Miasma. It’s a sound that really would only work in Florida, where its inherent contradictions somehow make perfect sense. He started as a club R&B bass player with Frank Williams & the Rocketeers, did a deuce in the army, and when discharged raced home to find out he’d been replaced by Little Beaver! On this particular solo action, given that we’re deep in 1977, Joey put out his only funk record, which is a blues/rock proto-disco heavy banger. Again, keep in mind we’re in Florida. Our man Snoopy Dean wrote the songs and was in the booth, and therefore, unsurprisingly, it has soul and groove to burn. Definitely WAY on the DL, but if you ever see this around, grab it!
Powerful and pleasingly uncompromising British spiritual out-jazz. Their first and probably best record. Jeff Clyne and John Stevens (co-founder with Trevor Watts of the more dedicatedly improvised Spontaneous Music Orchestra) are a very tight rhythm section, with Watts (Keith Tippett, Elton Dean) punching from above on alto. The obvious parallels in name and intention to current politics requires no elaboration, which makes perfect sense as the lovely melodies entertain with dissonant dissent. Top action.
First, SIEMPRE ANTIFASCISTA! I mean, if jazz is to teach us anything, there is royalty (Count Basie, Duke Ellington, King Curtis, Prince, King Floyd, George Duke, Sir Duke, Count Five, Duke Pearson, Duke Reid, Prince Jammy, The Duchess, The Viscounts, King Crimson, Earl Fatha Hines, Earl King, and Earl Chinna Smith), but there are NO KINGS! Not only politically, but no one, not even Sun Ra, can control, contain, or corrupt jazz.
Hannibal Barca was the King of Carthage, who slaughtered so many hapless Roman soldiers there is probably a monument to him in Valhalla, and he really did lead a herd of elephants over the alps for a surprise attack before the battle of Cannae, and although verifiable specifics are not at hand, just contradictory oral recitations, word on the streets is that hardly any of the elephants survived, but even the few who did, while rampaging through the ranks, terrified the Roman soldiers to such a degree that some went mad. On the other hand, Hannibal Marvin Peterson is a killer and totally unsung trumpet player who effortless skips between multiple genres - soul jazz, spiritual jazz, straight Modal, heavy funk, Eastern Melodicism, Empowerment Vibes, proto-disco, free jazz, and Rare Groove. I found this sealed copy in the wild a week ago! It is a huge upgrade from my decidedly hammered JP copy, which I have since traded for two tacos. Man, it’s nice to hear it clean and fat and engineered in the way only The Germans can. To be honest, all you really need to know is Stafford James on bass. KILLER ACTION. Oh yeah.
Posted the first Maze a few weeks ago, so had to swing back around to this one eventually, and just like its predecessor, this action hits hard. I really don’t understand why Frankie Beverly isn’t a bigger name in the world of funky if slightly mellow soul, it’s like they never really crossed over into the wider consciousness, and listening to these records, which are a more emotive, sort of gutbucket version of Kool or E,W & F, I think maybe the vocals and lyrics are a bit too vulnerable for widespread appeal. These aren’t radio songs to be sure, or at least not corporate ones, and although full of lovely washes of sound, aren’t particularly catchy, although I say that as a compliment. Maybe they just got caught in the seventies, as the music is a praying mantis suspended in amber of the hot Philly summer of 1978. I mentioned on the last post how you can catch the video of Raw Soul, their earlier incarnation, playing live in San Francisco, and they are FANTASTIC. It’s one of the best music clips on the internet, perhaps only beaten out by that MC5 show at Detroit Community College or wherever. Oh, and also that Can video, and also James Gang doing “Walk Away” on German tv. Oh and that Monks live show, and…anyway, this record is top action if you dig a certain kind of action, which we over here at Castle Wax most certainly do.
Well, friends, there is Dub and then there is DUB. The lineup on this fantastic record is like having Miles, Elvin Jones, Mobley, Mingus/Mr PC, Kiyoshi Sugimoto, Julian Priester, and Herbie rolling up into King T’s studio…Aston Family Man Barrett on basses with Robert Robby Shakespear, Carlton Carlie Barrett on drums, Earl Chinna Smith on git, Richard Dirty Harry Hall on tenor, Vincent Don D Junior on trombone, and Bobby Ellis on trumpet. Yard Fire only had nine releases until it turned to RE’s in the 80’s, and 8 of those were singles, so this badboy sounds amazingly heavy and deep for what was not a heavy checkbook or deep pockets venture. Sure, half the track listings are wrong, but does it really matter in the end which song is “Skanking Dub” and which is “Frozen Dub” and which is “Corner Crew Dub”? Probably not. As long as melodica-banging genius Agustus is on the scene, the lava is going to flow. It’s dark, it’s mystical, it’s dripping with spliff-sweat, and Pablo’s Deep East minor chord Silk Road jamming makes it sound kind of like nothing else. I’ve heard it said that this cover of Jacob “Killer” Miller’s “Baby I Love You So” is the greatest dub track of all time. I’m not hip enough to the intricacies of the politics of Trenchtown or Reggae scholarship to know whether that statement is the least bit accurate, but from a casual fan of the form, I wouldn’t argue against it. TOP ACTION.
It’s entirely possible that this is the greatest soul jazz RE of all time. At least if you determine that by 1. The pure joyful excellence of the music (check), 2. Killer drums & bass (check), 3. The chances of finding the original anywhere, at any price (virtually none. Released by Ron himself on Vagabond King, most were ruined in a storeroom flood, apparently there really is only a small handful extant, of which most were sold by hand by Ron in street-side Philly. So, check) 4. Never-before-heard essential groove plus a huge middle finger to any notion of commerciality (check), and 5. Pure, gritty, Chicago/Philly honest gutbucket down-low after hours juke joint dancing & bourbon expression (big-ass check). I LOVE this record. Which is basically all there is from Ron, except a bunch of singles with The Castelles, a doo-woppy jump outfit that goes back to 1953. There are a couple of Euro grey market boots that sound exactly like what they are, so you have to give huge thanks to Jazzman for finally releasing a top-quality repop. Oh, did I mention those slick drum licks come from the mighty Lex Humphries (Ra Arkestra), plus trumpet from Nate Jones (JB’s), and stomping alto/baritone from Jimmy Savage and Bobby Zankel. Man, I dunno, this is just one of those sides that makes it all worth it.
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