Vecchio - Afro Rock

Vecchio is lead by one Luis Vecchio, resident of the Canary Islands, and his album for the Sound Library label DeWolfe is one that is frequently mentioned in hushed reverence amongst the beat digger DJ collecting crowd. And it's easy to see why, given its massive brass charts, funky bass lines, fluttering flute, choppy organ and additional hand tribal percussion. Unlike most incidental film music, the album works as a whole and isn't just a disparate bit of sounds and rhythms. 

This library LP is incredible. Heavy organ, heavy brass, heavy percussion and heavy bass work on all ten songs. Afro-Rock is one of the best De Wolfe records ever. 

The album is opened by Megaton that includes smooth organ play combined with an aggressive bassline. It is suitable described as "dramatic, furitive movement" on the back of the cover. Next up is Renegade that would have been perfect for a blaxploitation flick. Repetitive bass riffs are joined by nice bongos. 

Facade is a little up-tempo groover. The funky organ and the horns are dominant on this tune. There is a great percussion solo in the mid-section. Chabati could have been on an Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Africa '70 recording. Pure afro-funk! The last track on side one is Green Hell. 6.41 minutes of moody, paste changing jungle madness. 

Side two is no different from side one. Boss is opened by heavy drums. Brass and organ come in shortly after the bass and in the end, the flute just adds up to the feeling of this mean up-tempo track. 

Nsambai and Wabaco are both stunning examples of the quality of the music to be heard on Afro-Rock. 

The highlight is the fantastic funky organ and brass work. The description for Cult truly says it all: "Steady movement – sinister overtones". My favorite track is Ngoma-Ku. A rare groove gem with a bluesy, jazzy feel. With all the decent solos, I never get bored listening to this one.

The album is an afro funk bomb from start to finish. I think it's a lot better than KPM's Afro-Rock by John Cameron. 

AfroRock (1971)

SAMBA SOUL

In the late '60s and '70s the funk and soul music of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and many other African American superstars sparked a cultural awakening of black pride around the world. In Brazil that awakening expressed itself in the music of young people of color from Rio to São Paulo, who Brazilianized those North American styles into their own groove thang. The result was a musical movement called samba soul, and this thrilling 16-track collection offers a sizzling, seductive, and syncopated snapshot of the best singles from the period. The genre emphasized snappy backbeats, deep and funky bass lines, and jazz horn sections with tinges of salsa and homegrown samba. Jorge Ben's uptempo "Cosa Nostra," performed by Erlon Chaves, was the anthem of the era, and organist Ed Lincoln's pioneering De Savoya Combo, along with Trio Mocoto, laid the foundations for the genre with their respective hits "Jogaram o Caxanga" and "Que Nega e Essa." The musical range of Samba Soul reaches from the CTI Records-sounding jazz fusion of Orlandivo's "Onde Anda o Meu Amor" to guitarist Bebebto's discofied shoutout to Africa, "Princesa Negra de Angola," and the proto-bossa nova of Wilson Simonal's "Não Vem Que Não Tem." The great Afro-Cuban conguero Mongo Santamaria is given tribute on Som Tres's south-of-the-equator boogaloo "Homenagem a Mongo." Today DJs from around the globe are sampling this music, but with this disc you can dance and trance to the real thing: a truly African American music on a hemispheric scale. Eugene Holley Jr.

Samba Soul 70

Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye (Soul)

Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place in 1972 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Featuring vocal collaborations by Gaye and Ross, widely recognized at the time as two of the top soul and pop performers, respectively.

Diana & Marvin became a multi-chart success that managed to sell over a million copies worldwide. The album was remastered and re-released on compact disc with four bonus tracks on February 6, 2001. The duo's cover of "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" has been sampled and interpolated by several hip-hop artists over the years including 50 Cent, Smilez and Southstar (who had their one and only hit with "Tell Me", which sampled the song), while Ja Rule and Ashanti's "Mesmerize" interpolated the song's melody. Michael McDonald and Toni Braxton re-recorded the duet cover for McDonald's album, Motown II.

The album's classic cover featuring Ross and Gaye's Afros facing different sides would also be imitated by several artists following its release. In 2001, the album was re-released with four additional songs including three leftovers from the 1972 sessions including "Alone", "The Things I Will Not Miss" and "I've Come to Love You So Much" while the duo's 1978 duet, "I'll Keep My Light in My Window" was also placed on the reissue.

Diana & Marvin

Alternative Link

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Shaolin Soul - Funk & Soul Music

Shaolin Soul is a two-volume compilation of music sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan, and their various solo albums. The samples are principally for the tracks produced by RZA, and as such, largely cover the earlier years of their career.

Shaolin Soul - I

Shaolin Soul - II

Eagles - Rock (USA)

The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner. With five number-one singles, six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards, and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, were ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and the band was ranked number 75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

The Eagles are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 150 million records—100 million in the U.S. alone—including 42 million copies of Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and 32 million copies of Hotel California. Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) was the best selling album of the 20th century in the U.S. They are the fifth-highest-selling music act and the highest-selling American band in U.S. history.

The band released their debut album, Eagles, in 1972, which spawned three top 40 singles: "Take It Easy," "Witchy Woman," and "Peaceful Easy Feeling." Their next album, Desperado (1973), was less successful than the first, only reaching number 41 on the charts; neither of its singles reached the top 40. However, the album does contain what would go on to be two of the band's most popular tracks: "Desperado" and "Tequila Sunrise." The band released On the Border in 1974, adding guitarist Don Felder as the fifth member midway through the recording of the album. The album generated two top 40 singles: "Already Gone" and their first number one, "Best of My Love."

Following the death of Frey in January 2016, Henley stated in several interviews that he did not think the band would perform again. However, in March 2017 it was announced that the Eagles would be headlining two concerts in July 2017.

Eagles 1972

Desperado (1973)

Alternative Link

On The Border 1974

One Of These Nights 1975

Hotel California (1976)

Alternative Link

Live At The Los Angeles Forum Oct. 20-22 1976

The Long Run (1979)

Alternative Link

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Radio Moscow - Psychedelic Blues Rock (USA)

Radio Moscow is an American psychedelic rock band from Story City, Iowa. Formed in 2003, the band currently features singer-guitarist Parker Griggs, bassist Anthony Meier and drummer Paul Marrone. Signed to Alive Naturalsound Records, the trio has released five full-length albums as of June 2017. Radio Moscow are often compared stylistically to blues rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly fellow power trios like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pretty Things, The Who and Blue Cheer. Reviewing the band's self-titled album for music website AllMusic, Greg Prato described the group's sound as "a throwback to the classic rock of the '70s", comparing certain songs to artists such as Ram Jam, The Allman Brothers Band and The Jeff Beck Group. Following the release of Brain Cycles, Radio Moscow have also been cited as an example of the stoner rock genre.

Magical Dirt

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Mulatu Astatke - The Father of Ethio-Jazz (Ethiopia)

Mulatu Astatke (born on 19 December 1943; surname sometimes spelled Astatqé on French-language releases, and ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ in his native Amharic) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger best known as the father of Ethio-jazz.  Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Astatke led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums—instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music—as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards and organ. His albums focus primarily on instrumental music, and Astatke appears on all three known albums of instrumentals that were released during Ethiopia's Golden 1970s.

Mulatu Of Ethiopia (1972)

LEI SECA Symphonic Prog • Brazil

Lei Seca biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=204)

After the rebirth of Symphonic sub-genre in Scandinavia (Sweden mainly), one of the countries that embraced the original wonderful excesses of it was Brazil. 

The available data about LEI SECA is very rare and misleading there's almost no information about their formation date except the late 90's but due to unconfirmed references about a first album called "Rottenness Way" in 1997 it could have been in the mid 90's, despite this info, most sites talk about one only release in 1999.

The band was formed by Valdir Guimaraes (Bass and vocals), Valdir Zamboni (Guitar, Mandolins and Backing Vocals), Micky Nicolas (Keyboards and Backing Vocals) plus Auro Okamoto in the drums later replaced by Cesar Frezzato.

Before being able to get a copy of their official release "Art Rock" read all the information about them and people describe them as a combination between ELOY and PINK FLOYD, but honestly my impression is totally different.

I see no Psyche or Space Rock connection mostly pompous and overblown (Love the sound of it) early Symphonic, the keyboards are impressive and it's evident Micky Nicolas is a Jürgen Fritz fan being that the TRIUMVIRAT connection is more than casual with a touch of "Look at Yourself" era URIAH HEEP.

The opener and 16 minutes "Krakatoa" reminds me of the epic aspirations of Spartacus and the elaborate characteristics of Illusions on a Double Dimple. Simply bombastic and reminiscent of the German scenario of the early 70's .

The vocalist is really less than efficient, thankfully the album is based more in long instrumental passages than in vocals because at some points the accent is totally disappointing.

I will keep searching for the supposedly first lost release and if I'm able to find it will be adding it to the discography because this guys released really strong Symphonic Prog.

Iván Melgar Morey - Perú

Art Rock

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INDEX Symphonic Prog • Brazil

Index biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=159)

The INDEX band, founded by guitarist Jones Júnior (ex-Quaterna Réquiem), blends Classic Symphonic Prog with some south american music influences and nice accoustic passages. Vintage keyboards bring a classic prog feel to the music. 

Their (debut?) album is purely instrumental, blending different styles of '70 prog like CAMEL and ELP. For fans of instrumental jazz-prog! "Liber Secundus", the second album, is typically classical style of progressive rock with various references made to the founder bands of this genre such as YES, GENESIS and RENAISSANCE. Interesting combination overall.

INDEX

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Mustafa Ozkent (Turkish Groovy Jazzy & Funk)

Compared to what he has done during his long career, Ankara based Turkish composer, arranger, conductor, producer and guitarist Mustafa Özkent is still relatively unknown to the big world. He started his career as early as in 1960 in a pop group called The Teenagers. At some point in the early 1970s he formed his own orchestra, simply named Mustafa Özkent ve Orkestrası (Mustafa Özkent and Orchestra). In 1973 the first album Gençlik Ile Elele (in English Hand in hand with youth) was released and the second album Elif was released in 1975. They also released two 45s (in 1972 and 1974). During that time in 1975 – 1976 Özkent was studying in the Academie D’e music D’ixelles in Brussels. For a short period in 1976 his close friend and a fellow Turkish musician Baris Manço was also spending time in Brussels. In 1976 he was also working in a big band for the Montreal Olympic Games as an arranger and guitarist. During his career Özkent has been an in-demand session guitarist, arranger and conductor and has worked closely with numerous Turkish musicians and band including his close friends Baris Manço, Okay Temiz and Mogollar. And he has still been active throughout the 2000s.

For his new orchestra, he called in organist Umit Aksu (later of Aksu Orkestrası fame), second guitarist Cahit Oben as well as two drummers and a percussionist (not mentioned anywhere). Özkent himself played the lead guitar naturally. In 1972 the freshly founded independent label Evren had heard about Özkent and decided to give him a shot to do an fully instrumental album wit mixture of jazz, psychedelic rock, funk, traditional Anatolian sounds and new stereo effects. The album was recorded with a live take but some effects were added later.

In those days, outside the core of Western musical culture, an instrumental album with somehow psychedelic improvisations was never called “psychedelic”, more labelled as A Go-Go, often dance rhythm related item. Acid jazzrock was more often one influence for such music.

(Mustafa Özkent)

Gençlik Ile Elele is clearly the funkiest of all anatolian rock albums that ever came to my ears. With it’s heavy drumming, hard grooving organs, funky Anatolian melodies and of course the large amount of breaks it belongs to my all time favorites. The album starts with a heavy midtempo funker “Üsküdar’a Giderken. It’s followed by the massive “Burçak Tarlaları” that starts with a huge break and continues as a heavy Anatolian funk track with some traditional melodies and psychedelic electric guitar work. There’s even an another heavy break in the end. Next one is called “Dolana Dolana”. It’s an uptempo heavy funker with some electric guitar and organ melodies and a huge break in the beginning. Then comes “Karadır Kara”, another midtempo track that starts with a percussive break and the same break pops up few times during the track. Next one is again a midtempo psychedelic funk track called “Emmioğlu”, starting with a break and having the heavy electric guitars there too. The first track on side b is “Çarşamba”, again a heavy midtempo funker. Next up is one of my favorites, “Zeytinyağlı”, an uptempo breakbeat funker with electric guitar melodies and short breaks every now and then. Then comes another midtempo one called “Silifke” with sound very similar to the rest of the album. Fourth track on side b is “Lorke”, another uptempo track with a slightly different and more straight forward beat than the others. Last one is the very hectic, almost batucada sounding “Ayaş”. And for the last words, the album cover.. what’s happening in there?

Genclik ile Elele (1970)