The multitude of projects and roles that the man himself has had over the past 30 years or so are too numerous to list here, but since the unit was started back in 1992, they have managed to record nine albums, all strongly rooted in the funk, but with a wide variety of influences from many other genres. Although the members in the unit have varied greatly over time (R.I.P. Esbjörn Svensson), they’ve still managed to create a distinct sound and style that suits them well.

Jazz and funk improvisation has a stronger presence on “Funk For Life” than the previous albums released since 2000, and six of the twelve tracks are instrumental, some of them close to the 8 minute mark — letting the groove lock and then flow freely, allowing ample space for solos is something these highly skilled performers should do more often! I think that was the main reason it took some time for this record to grow on me, but it really has over the past few weeks since its release.

Nils and long time unit collaborator Magnum Coltrane Price are lead singers on the remaining tracks, with the exception of the uptempo Moog bass driven Tower Of Power inspired song “Finish What You Started”, one of the many standouts on the album. The rather laid-back atmosphere that permeates it all, is nicely balanced out by the lively and organic production that really captures the feeling of extensive studio jam sessions recorded and released for our listening pleasure.

Homepage: Funk For Life | Nils Landgren

Purchase & audio samples: Amazon.com (digital download)

“ALERT: Yet another upper working-class white boy from Britain writes about a group and phenomena that occurred in another country when he was only 12″.

When Chic’s short-lived reign as kings of the disco beat ended in the early 80s, the founding members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards went on to produce some of the most iconic hit songs and artists to appear in the last 30 years including Madonna (“Live a Virgin”), David Bowie (“Let’s Dance”), Diana Ross (“Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out”), Duran Duran (“Notorious”) and many more. They achieved all this through their combined talent, finely honed business skills, hard earned social and political savvy in the recording industry, and their ever-present unwillingness to be controlled by anyone but themselves.

The chronicle of their journey from childhood to becoming a bonafide hit machine in the late 70s and their lasting legacy is the main focus of the narrative, often told by first hand sources in the form of quotes from interviews with the core members (Nile, Bernard and Tony Thompson), as well as some of the most important ‘hired hands’ in the bands history and a number of the other artists they worked with, all strung together by the author to form a continuous story. This rather personal retelling of their history is what makes this a very good read, because you get inside the heads of the people directly involved in it all.

There are a few flaws here and there, one of them being that the author can sometimes be overly positive in his reviews of the albums covered by this book, but that is easily remedied by putting on the records and deciding for yourself, and it could also have benefited from a more rigorous editing process, but none of that detracts much from the overall quality of the writing.

Homepage: Not available.

Purchase: Amazon.com

For those of you who do not know The Poets of Rhythm; They appeared in the early 90′s under many different names, playing and releasing hard-hitting, original but completely authentic sounding late 60′s/early 70′s funk of such high quality that they fooled well known hip-hop producers and crate-diggers into thinking that they were the real deal no one had discovered before. Check out their now classic debut “Practice What You Preach” if you have not heard it already.

Getting back to Syrup, “Different Flavours” is a pure instrumentally driven disco funk album composed and performed by musicians with consummate skill, and although the production is quite modern and clean, it still possesses all the qualities you would expect to find on any number of staple songs from the period when disco was still played with real instruments.

One standout track has to be mentioned, it’s aptly named “Sweatshop”, and this eight minute high-energy horn and synth driven romp might not inspire you to start working in a poorly paid assembly line making cheap designer knockoffs (pardon the pun), but it should get all the juices in your body flowing nicely! It’s definitely one of  my all time favourite floor-fillers.

Homepage: Syrup / Compost Records

Purchase & audio samples: eMusic.com (digital download)

I bought this record second hand some time ago because it contained the now ubiquitous “Soul Bossa Nova” track so prominently featured in the Austin Powers movie series, but over time, it has grown a lot in parallel with my ever increasing interest in jazz, and the songs presented here cover a wide variety of styles from latin to swing, easy listening, big-band, and a few standards mixed with some pretty wild improvisational stuff.

All the material is arranged and orchestrated by Quincy, about half is written and composed by him, the rest comes from such prominent musical minds as Henri Mancini, Nate Adderley, Benny Goodman, Lalo Schifrin and believe it or not, The Rolling Stones in the form of  “I Can Get No Satisfaction”!

The production and performances are immaculate from beginning to end, and there is about a 50 / 50 spread between up-tempo and down-tempo numbers (most of the tracks in the former category are well suited to the dance floor). All in all, it is an album well worth seeking out for whatever reason one might have, and it provides an interesting insight into the early career of a creative genius.

Homepage: Quincy Jones

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

Make no mistake, these twelve uptempo funk and soul tracks with a blues ballad thrown in for good measure, are all produced with a very smooth and contemporary sound typical of the time, but the core band is tight, the melodies are catchy, and with plenty of lush horn, string and vocal arrangements throughout, the end product bears no marks of being a one-off project.

Who knew that a bunch of unknown (to me) young Swedish musicians could produce something of this caliber, but given the skill and history of some of their peers like Nils Landgren, Jan Lundgren, Esbjörn Svensson and many others, it kind of makes sense in some way. To this day, I have never met a single person, from Sweden or anywhere else, who have ever heard about this band, and I think that they deserve a better fate…

This album has become so obscure that you are lucky if you can acquire a used copy on eBay, and because of that, you can download it directly from here. If anyone finds a way to legally purchase the album, or for some other reason it should be removed, please let us know asap.

Download link: Newtone – “Newtone” (104MB zip).

Homepage: Not available.

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

I’m not really sure how all this came about, the mix of musicians from the band D’Sound (Jonny Sjo – bass, Kim Ofstad – drums, Simone – vocals), combined with Bugge Wesseltoft (keys), Mark Ledford (trumpet, vocals) and DJ Olle Abstract is a strange one, but somehow it works as a cohesive whole guided by the rhythm tracks laid down by the DJ and Bugges melodies.

The four tracks (or turns as they are called here) are all around the 15 minute mark except the last one which clocks in at a “mere” eight minutes – clear indicators of the improvisational nature of the music – captured with a pristine and distinctly modern sound that really conveys the vibe present and the communication between the musicians and the audience.

What I find most surprising about this recording is that the main performers (Bugge and D’Sound) are all solid artists in their own right, but I often find their other studio releases rather anemic and sometimes lacking in enthusiasm and raw energy, but here, all that is a non-issue, it all just comes together like this was how they were always meant to use their combined musical skills.

This album has become so obscure that you are lucky if you can acquire a used copy on eBay, and because of that, you can download it directly from here. If anyone finds a way to legally purchase the album, or for some other reason it should be removed, please let us know asap.

Download link: Jazzland Sessions – “Saturday Session” (106MB zip).

Homepage: Jazzland Recordings

Purchase & audio samples: Not available – this album is out of print.

They also add a bit of new flavour to the mix this time in the form of some heavier soul-rock inspired tunes and some mellow instrumental jazz, spacing out the hard hitting funk and soul nuggets just right, while always keeping the musical, vocal and rap performances tight.

Many bands and artists these days try to emulate the studio recording sound of the late 60′s and 70′s, and while some of them are successful, oftentimes it sounds a bit out of place or somewhat artificial compared to the real deal, but Breakestra manages to make it their own sound, and it fits them like a fine pair of racing gloves.

Just as “Hit The Floor” has more or less been a permanent fixture in my record bag for the past four years, it might just get a new friend, cause this one is a solid floor filler guaranteed to please the avid funk aficionado as well as the sweaty dance crowd down at the club.

Homepage: Breakestra

Purchase & audio samples: Amazon.com (CD) | Juno.co.uk (LP)