Herbie Hancock: Large and In Charge

Fat Mama - Herbie Hancock
Fat Albert Rotunda - Herbie Hancock
both from Fat Albert Rotunda on Warner Brothers (1969).

After an extended hiatus, I am back to try to bring you some enjoyable tunes, maybe a little knowledge, and hopefully some positive feelings. Maybe it is all the cake I've consumed while hurdling the matrimonial bar recently, but I've been enjoying Herbie Hancock's ultra-pun entitled Fat Albert Rotunda album on near repeat for weeks now.

Hancock left Miles Davis's group in 1968 and also left Blue Note at that time. FAR was simultaneously his first album for Warner Brothers and his first recorded effort at combining jazz and funk. The songs are extensions of music Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert TV Show and the two selections here definitely have a happy, grooving attitude that fits will with the show. However, this is hardly simple children's fare. The arrangements are dense and the solo-ing is classic throughout especially from Joe Henderson (sax). "Jessica" and "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" are often singled out as slow, soulful mood-pieces at odds with the rest of the album's upbeat spirit, but thematically I think the full albums works together well.

Still, up today are two of the more upbeat track "Fat Mama" and the title track, neither of which would be out of place with current nu-jazz dance compositions from folks like Quantic or Beatfanatic. The opening line of "Fat Mama" is instantly recognizable to any fan of The Fabulous youngest Native Tongue, who sadly has fallen on hard times. "Fat Albert Rotunda" opens up things a little more, but still features Hancock's electric piano flitting above and around the horns locked into a pretty tight groove (remember Mwandishi is recorded just a year later) set down by bassist Buster Williams and drums by either Tootie Heath or the inimitable Bernard Purdie.

Like all of Hancock's albums this has been reissued CD at least once and is pretty easy to find either digitally or on vinyl. You may think me juvenile, but as much as I love Hancock (and I love his music dearly), I do not hear his name in the same way since I saw this last year.

Making It Sweet: Coke Escovedo

Coke Escovedo: Easy Come, Easy Go and Make It Sweet
From: Coke [Mercury, 1975]

Don't you love it when a song randomly comes on to your Mp3 player/stereo and it syncs perfectly with your mood and situation? I had one of those pleasant moments yesterday when the constant British rain was interrupted by some absolutely glorious sunshine. As the first rays hit my brow Coke Escovedo's Easy Come, Easy Go started piping into my ears and everything felt right for a blissful few minutes.

Needless to say the sun didn't last long but it was a necessary reminder that I've never featured the group in all my years of blogging. Some background info: Coke Escovedo was a percussionist who honed his act first in Santana and then on Azteca's first two albums in the early seventies before enjoying some moderate solo sucess, particularly with the breakbeat classic I Wouldn't Change a Thing. Thanks god for the hour of sunshine as the blend of styles Coke and band display on his self titled debut is more than worthy of a post offering up a lip smacking mix of latin funk and soul.

The afore mentioned track, Easy Come, Easy Go, is a great piece of stop/start funk with a post Loading Zone Linda Tillery delivering a vocal performance that absolutely rips it up. Thumbs up for the bongo breakdown as well.

Make It Sweet is, as the title suggests, a sweeter effort. Starting with a whooping audience the track slowly picks up speed as Linda's vocals are joined by some smooth playing and percussion, crafting a track perfect for a dancefloor get down.

Just Another Case Of Slept On Hip Hop

Cru: Just Another Case and The Ebonic Plague
From: Da Dirty 30 [Def Jam, 1997]

Returning to one of my favourite post themes today - the why oh why isn't this more famous than it is/wrongly slept on classics righteous venting. The Cru's Da Dirty 30 seems to be getting more well known as time goes on but is still not really at the level of respect the album should be courting after 10 years of circulation.

Released in 1997 in the middle of Def Jam's messy reorganisation, the 30 track album (with only around 6 skits) suffered from what I can only take as a botched publicity drive. Even in the far off land of the UK I managed to catch the single Just Another Case on late night radio which was enough to get me to hunt down the album (a lot harder back in those primitive times involving lots of, gasp, shop enquiries and magazines). However, the expected following hype for the album release never materialised and it sunk into 1997 without leaving a trace.

On to the album itself and why it's a personal favourite. While Cru's mcing is of a more than acceptable standard, what really sets the album apart is the production work from under appreciated man behind the music Yogi. Producing the whole album single handedly, Yogi continually flips the styles, successfully offering everything from ATCQ jazzy flavours to RZA dark and threatening soundscapes. Perhaps this is what damaged the group more than anything as while the wide range of styles allows them to offer something to every kind of rap fan it's not really clear what market they should have been pushed to.

Anyway, Just Another Case is the track that sold me on the group and it still resonates today. Featuring a beautifully understated hook of guitar and swirling strings the crew/cru unravel a tale of hard knocks boosted by an in form appearance by Slick Rick (still one of my favourite vocal styles in the history of hip hop).

The Ebonic Plague is a more upbeat track once again featuring vocals from Q-Tip voiced Yogi, ODB voiced The Mighty Ha and Chadeeo. This time they get Rass Kass offering some lyrical input (speaking of where are they now rappers.....)and the track bubbles and bounces along in impressive fashion.

It was really quite a trial to only pick two tracks from the collection with so many different styles on offer and I can only recommend you pick up a copy to discover your own favourites and perhaps share a moment of sadness as "DJ Footlong" wraps up the album promising a part 2 to follow shortly. Ten years and waiting guys...........

Sunny Tracks For A Rainy Day: Orlando Julius

Orlando Julius & His Modern Aces: Ise Owo and Bojoubari
From: Super Afro Soul [Phonogram Nigeria, 1966]

Hooray for global warming! It's mid July and I'm still eagerly awaiting the beginning of British summertime. Never one to let 60 days of constant rain affect me, I've been breaking up the periods of self harm and Joy Division with some desperate attempts at creating my own sonic sunshine with the UV rays of the marvellous Orlando Julius & His Modern Aces.

A massive star in his native Nigeria, Orlando's 1966 LP, Super Afro Soul, is widely regarded these days as a benchmark album in the development of world funk (DustyGroove, in classically understated fashion, describes it as being an "inspiration to some of James Brown's funkier work of the late 60s!") despite never originally being released outside his homeland.

A mixture of African rhythms, fierce horns and straight soul have helped seal the reputation of this album over the last couple of years and worth revisiting.

Ise Owa is a great great track, with a cheeky horn riff that streams through the darkest clouds and a percussion section not dissimilar to the JB band.

Bojubari kicks off with a cracking drum break before settling into a slower groove which has a more distinctly African feel than Isw Owa but is still pure funk.

So, the soundtrack is in place, now, pretty please, bring on the sunshine........

On a side note, I'm aware that we haven't been fulfilling our side of the bargain regarding updating the site recently so I'll try and pop by again tomorrow with possibly my favourite slept on rap album of all time.

Different Strokes For Funky Folks

Don Covay: Why Did You Put Your Shoes Under My Bed and Standing In The Grits Line
From: Different Strokes For Different Folks [Janus, 1970]

An undeniable fact of digging is that, through the process of collecting old records, most diggers develop special affections for a few seemingly random performers. Normally this isn't just down to the music itself (though it obviously plays a large part) but also down to factors such as "discovering" an artist for yourself and a feeling that you need to champion their forgotten contributions to the art.

One such artist for me is Don Covay who, while widely respected and acknowledged within the industry, I still treasure like a rare gem. The track which did it for me personally was when I first heard Covay's What's In The Headlines which I featured back on Evigan Funk around two a half years ago. I also gave a summary bio of the man's life then and, since I'm a far lazier poster these days, you can check the archive for that.

All this is a roundabout way of me returning to the album What's In The Headlines is taken from, Covay's 1970 release, Different Strokes for Different Folks. Contrary to what Headlines may have suggested, the album finds Covay in furiously upbeat mood, bringing a mixture of R&B and funk to an impressively solid collection of songs.

Why Did You Put Your Shoes Under My Bed is a blistering funky number full of high octane playing and anguished raw vocals from Covay. The sparse use of horns adds extra punch when it does come in and the play between Covay's main vocals and backing track all add to the pulsating rhythm.

Standing In The Grits Line is more laidback but no less funky featuring an irresistibly catchy guitar and horn riff from the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band that Covay exploits to it's fullest.

Unfortunately the album is still out of print (maybe there's some debating going on about whether to keep Covay's original, "unique" front cover - I mean, it hardly screams funky delights does it?) but you can actually compose your own complete version from the bonus tracks on the reissues of Funky Yo Yo and Super Dude. So there you go.