Bridging the Gap November 27, 2024

*Koko-Jean & The Tonics: "Love Child" (Love Child 2024) Soul/blues band from Barcelona SP led by Mozambique born rock n soul singer Kiko-Jean Davis.

*Kinny & Horne: "Dirty Thang (New Mix)" (Dirty Thang-EP ) Sing/songwr. Kinny (Caitlin Simpson) is half indigenous Canadian & half Jamaican. She traveled to Norway & met Norwegian prod. Espen Horne (Bobby Hughes Exp. & Comb.)

*Bella Brown & The Jealous Lovers: "Fast As Lightning" (Soul Clap 2024) Former Harlette Carol Hatchett is Bella Brown. She takes her well deserved turn as the front woman for this high energy 70s funk/soul inspired group.

*Sun Atlas: "Message From The Snakes" (Return To The Spirit 2024) Transcendental funk & psych. jazz from mystery LA based collective. The band disguise themselves to put the focus exclusively on the music.

*Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band: "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight" (Expansions 2021) Funky steel band from Hamburg led by multi-inst. Bjorn Wagner. Bjorn lived in Trinidad & Tobago & became enamored with the steel drum and had one custom made.

*Alpacas Collective: "Surrounded" (Big Words 2023) Afrobeat, deep funk, hindustani raga with psych dub & creole rap represent the sound of Alpacas Collective. They're led by perc. comp. prod. Frederik Kuhn.

*Bobbi Humphrey: "Spanish Harlem" (Flute-In 1971) Amer. jazz flutist, singer & comp. Barbara Ann Humphrey is one of the first woman instrumentalists signed to Blue Note Records in 1971. She has recorded with Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Roy Ayers and many others.

*Dorothy Ashby: "It's A Minor Thing": (In A Minor Groove 1958) Dorothy Ashby introduced the harp as a lead instrument in the jazz idiom. She teamed with sax. flute arr. comp. Frank Weiss on this LP.

*Bei Bei & Shawn Lee: "See You Again" (Year Of The Funky 2017) Chinese guzheng master Bei Bei He now lives in Orange County CA. This is the second album of collabs with Amer. multi-inst. prod. Shawn Lee living in London.

*Zuco 103: "Telenova" (Telenova 2023) Dutch crossover band feat. Brazilian singer Lilian Viera, Dutch drummer Stefan Kruger & German keyboardist Stefan Schmid. 

*Ceu: "Falta De Ar" (Caravana Sereia Bloom 2012) Ceu is a Brazilian sing/songwr. from a musical family. Her father is comp. arr. & musicologist Edgard B. Pocas.

*Buscemi: "Labios De Mel feat. Tai" (Mistral Du Sud 2021) Belgian prod. & DJ Dirk Swartenbroekx is Buscemi. Tai is a sing/songwr. based in Belgium playing soul funky Brazilian music & Latin rhythms.

*Azymuth: "Xingo (Version 1)" (Demos 73-75, Vol. 1 & 2 ) Brazilian fusion jazz trio of Bertrami, keys,

Conti, perc. & Malheiros, bass formed in the late 60s.

*HOUR 2*

*Asiko Rock Group: "Lagos City" (Asiko Rock Group 1976) One of the most smoking African combos of the 70s. The group sings in English but are definitely Afro-funk in their approach.

*Ebo Taylor: "Kwame (Inst.)" (Love & Death 2010) Ghanian guitarist, comp. prod. & arr. focusing on high life & afrobeat.

*Hailu Mergia & The Walias: "Zengadyw Derekou" (Tezeta 2021) HM is an Ethiopian organ & synthesizer player, He played in the 70s with The Walias, a band formed by Mulatu Astatke that have backed many of Ethiopia's leading stars.

*Bobi Cespedes: "El Choko Choko" (Mujer Y Cantante 2020) Singer, comp. & perc. & a priestess of the Yoruba-Lucumi spiritual tradition born in Havana, Cuba.

*Quantic & Nidia Gongora: "Se Lo Vi" (Curao 2017) Nidia Gongora is a Pacific folklorist, sing./songwr. from Colombia & celebrates Afro-Colombian culture. Quantic is Brit. multi-inst. comp. prod. Will Holland.

*Chica Boom: "Onegai Kamisama" (Chica Boom 1992) Japanese all female salsa band led by Azusa Morimura. They were invited to Cuba's "Carnaval en la Habana" from 1989 through 1992.

*The Mackrosoft: "That Kind Of Party!" (Journey To Vaginus 2003) Seattle funk meister Aja West formed The Mackrosoft as well as the Mackrosoft Record label. He sadly passed away in 2022 of congestive heart failure.

*Medeski Martin & Wood: "Aquila The Hyun" (20 2011) Amer. avant garde, jazz funk, post rock trio of John Medeski on keys, Billy Martin on drums & Chris Wood on bass.

*Clutchy Hopkins & Fat Albert Einstein: "Zero G's" (High Desert Low Tide 2017) Clutchy Hopkins is the funky mystery man of the 'found tapes' & questionable existence. Fat Albert Einstein is multi-inst. prod. comp. Christopher Vagnoni.

*Cautious Clay & Joshua Karpeh: "Moments Stolen" (KARPEH 2023) Amer. comp. prod. Josh Karpeh is Cautious Clay. He began playing flute at age 7 & picked up the sax for his high school band. He began by remixing Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes" in 2015 and is now a solo performer.

*Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger: "Don't Look Back Orpheus" (Midnight Sun 2014) Sean Ono Lennon, son of John & Yoko & Charlotte Kemp Muhl model/songwriter & musician join for introspective psych rock. poetry.

*Khruangbin: "Dearest Alfred" (Mordechai 2020) Amer. band from Houston TX with Mark Speer on guit. Laura Lee on bass & Donald Johnson Jr. on drums. Khruangbin translates from the Thai as "engine fly" or airplane symbolizing the international influences at work in their music.

*Ghost Funk Orchestra: "Asphalt Homeland" (Golden Rules The Originals 1 2021) GSO is the brainchild of comp. multi-inst. Seth Applebaum playing soul, psych rock, salsa & beyond.