Jul 1, 2008

Episode Two

For Episode two my focus structure was to concentrate on jazz and international jazz but it took its own shape incorporating Down-Tempo, Soul, and Anatolian Rock music that kept the jazz element with each indiviual songs. Ozdemir Erdogan, who i could not find a lot of information on, is a well-known jazz guitarist, vocalist, and arranger. His track Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim was originally a well-known türkü by Asik Veysel, one of the most revered Turkish folk poets who was blind for the most of his lifetime.
Erkin Koray - Yagmur
came out in 1973 on Istanbul Records when he released his self titled album Erkin Koray. Up to this point, all of Koray's work had been issued only on 45 rpm records, although he had been recording for the past 10 years and was a very popular artist in Turkey. The album consists of a collection of singles from 1967 to 1973. Koray left Istanbul Records after the release of the album. Both artist appear on the ninth volume in the impressive Love, Peace, & Poerty compilation series - Turkish Psychedelic Muisc.





















Guido & Murizio De Angelis - The Other Face seg. 3 appears on one of the greatest Italian crime soundtracks of all time Roma Violenta. A totally groovy little record that's done in a style that is quite different from American crime scores of the time, but still completely wonderful! Most of the instrumentation here is relatively spare -- almost a small combo funk approach to scoring for a cop film, but done with the penchant for isolsated focus on a key instrument that makes Italian soundtracks so dope. Originally released in 1975.
Maurice Vander - Grand Roque appears on two comps Sexopolis - the 70's French Funky Pop Scene and a tiny but excellent catalog of Montparnasse 2000. A super- hip French sound library label. Most of these tracks were never issued formally to the public only recorded to serve as backings in radio, TV, and commercial use.

Down-Tempo/Jazz/Soul
Set 1
Bonobo - If you stayed over (feat. Fink)
Ozdemir Erdogan ve Orkestrasi - Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim
Silhouettes - Lunar Invasion
Guido & Murizio De Angelis - The other face seg. 3
The Quantrells - Can't let you break my heart
Marvelle Hampton - I know how it feels
JD & The Evil's Dynamite - Sunday kind of love

Set 3
Erkin Koray - Yagmur
Francis Coppieters - Funky Chimes
Maurice Vander - Grand Roque
Luis Enriques Bacalov - Nago
Malcom Catto - Raydio
Broken Keys - The Invisible
The Heliocentrics - Before I Die
Clutchy Hopkins - 3:11



Ska, the Jamaican music recorded around the early sixties which emerged from Jamaican R&B and wing jazz with a wilder more jerky sound, was fueled bu the sound systems in Jamaica. The music, was reputedly named after the characteristic ska sound made by the guitar while playing the after beat. To represent this genre I tried to find the most amazing songs and artists. Ska by Theo Beckford and Safari by Ray and Raymond Harper were two songs on an awesome compilation put out by Trojan of rare ska tracks compiled by Gaz Mayall titled Top Ska Tunes! Rare because, many of them were no issued in their 1960's heyday which was sometimes due to lack of promotion and other times due to exploitation. Enthusiastic and at times out of tune, the album is a must for any Ska collector. I also included a classic ska track by the Ska legends The Skatalites. After Ska and just before reggae, Jamaica's music scape became thick with the sweet sounds of rocksteady. Rocksteady is, among the most elegant and rhythmically pleasing of all pop music forms (I'm biased because it's the music I love) grew out of Ska.


Ska's furious high - tempo beat had driven dancers into frenzies in Jamaica for years, and at that point a new breed of more confident singers were coming up on the scene, with the likes of the Ethiopians, The Maytals, Ken Boothe, the possibilities for a singer of stamping one's own personality on a song. The bass parts took a distinctive character, leaving a space in the rhythm that came to characterize all of Jamaican music from this point on. Alton Ellis, Jamaica's most soulful singer, came to undisputed prominence with the rise of Rocksteady. Besides his songwriting abilities and voice, Ellis' Particular gift was his ability to take R&B or soul songs and give them that Jamaican sound, and so make them reggae songs rather than mere 'cover' versions. The song What Does it Take originally written by Jr. Walker and the All Stars is a prime example of that and that is why I included it in the Rocksteady set.



The Rocksteady bubble burst somewhere around 1968, when the new, faster, and manic style of reggae began to emerge. The modern DJ era made famous bu legendary reggae producer Duke Reid, which started when Reid simply dropped the chatter over his old Rocksteady hits to start a while new genre of music. In the late 1960's amd early 1970's a strain of Jamaican music called DJ toasting was developed. These "toasts" consisted of rhythmic chants, squeals, screams, and rhymed storytelling. Inspired bu the big sound systems that he had visited in his youth such as those run bu Duke Reid, which featured the DJ U-Roy, Dennis Alcapone caught the public's attention with his unique singsong style. Mosquito One which is a classic reggae hit by Nora Dean and originally titled "Barbwire" was a hit among Alcapone fans. Alcapone, a spontaneous artist, who definitely compels you to dance, makes great reggae music and is worth looking into.

Ska
Set 2
The Skatalities featuring Marguerita - Woman A Come
Theo Beckford and Ray - Ska
Raymond Harper - Safari
Prince Buster and the All Stars - One Step Beyond
The Skatalites - Ball of Fire

Rocksteady
Set 4
Laurel Aitken - Pussy Price
Tony Scott - Darling if you Love me
Llyod Charmers - In the Spirit
The Mad Lads - Ten to One
Dennis Alcapone - Mosquito One
Alton Ellis - What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)