There are five great 45’s on the Soul Brother and Expansion labels that have just arrived. All titles are available as both regular dinked or limited edition full centre DJ Copy versions. There are 100 hand numbered Barbara Lynn DJ Copies which will surely be very collectable in future times.
Tania Maria – Come With Me (Soul Brother Records)
Tania Maria is a singer, composer and pianist from Brazil, well known for her fearsome chops and unmatched ability to play intricate piano lines while also singing them note for note. During the early 80’s, albums of hers started filtering to British Audiences via the Jazz-Funk and Jazz-Dance scenes: albums on the Concorde Jazz Picante label such as Piquant (featuring the Latin Jazz Dance classic Yatra Ta), Explosion (Funky Tamborim) and Taurus (Eruption) cemented her popularity and garnered her a well-earned reputation in the Jazz community. Come With Me is arguably her best known and most popular track from that period, only previously existing on seven inch as a promo only single, exchanging hands now for over £125.00. The session was produced by Carl E Jefferson, who had run Concord Records since 1972, while Maria’s musical career began in earnest in 1969. Since then, she’s received Grammy nominations and performed all over the world, headlining major Jazz festivals and featuring prominently throughout the worldwide club circuit.
Come With Me is a sumptuous stepper, a masterclass in Jazz-Funk-Fusion with a unique Brazilian accent that makes it an ideal track for a summer’s day, served best with an ice cold caipirinha and a fortified dose of sunshine. The key stabs and chord changes settle gently between robust slap basslines, with Maria’s sunkissed voice joyously traversing the scales, accented with her tropical Brazilian lilt. She sings in English, somewhat of a rarity for her during this period where she often chose to sing exclusively in Portuguese. Pinpoint timed percussion draws out the song’s exotic register, while the track constantly homes in on a nimble and tight groove, backed up by funky musicianship. An outstanding track which surprisingly never saw a commercial single issue back in the day, a universally appreciated Jazz-Funk groove and another fine piece of A&R from Laurence Prangell. Kudos to you, governor.
Buy the standard dinked copy HERE
Buy the DJ Promo copy HERE
Listen to Side A HERE
Listen to Side B HERE
Barbara Lynn – This Mellow Feeling (Soul Brother)
Barbara Lynn is a singer, songwriter and musician from a golden era of soul. On Soul Brother Records the success of “Movin’ On A Groove” showed the popularity she retains, and Soul Brother’s earlier coupling of “I’m A Good Woman” with “I Don’t Want A Playboy” further illustrated this. “Mellow Feeling” was first issued in 1979. It’s a lesser known track from the time, but is now more in demand than ever before. It is a great Modern Soul/Crossover dancer made popular by Soul Sam in the 00’s. Original copies have exchanged hands for over £1,000. Very few of those are known to be in circulation, and it is very unusual for such a well-known and revered artist to have made such a rare record. That makes this an essential purchase for soul fans.
Buy the standard dinked copy HERE
Buy the DJ copy HERE
Listen to Side A HERE
Listen to Side B HERE
Known as The Three Pieces and The 3 Pieces, this group from Washington, DC originally appeared on the Fantasy label in 1975. Members are Andre Richardson, Jerry Wilder and Lincoln Ross, both songs here from their one album “Vibes Of Truth” released that same year, produced by Donald Byrd at the time he was working with The Blakbyrds at Fantasy.
“If Only I Could Prove To You” is a nice two stepper and “I Need You Girl” a dancer and amongst their biggest essential ‘rare grooves’ across the decades and are still very popular and in demand today.
Bass player Jerry Wilder played with Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers and Will Lester/Rodney Brown productions for Sharon Redd & Bobby Thurston. He is also the lead vocalist with Three Pieces. Wade Marcus arranged the strings and is co-producer.
Detroit born percussionist Bill Summers is best known for his work with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. He was a journeyman musician and session player, racking up credits with Johnny Hammond, Patrice Rushen, Eddie Henderson, Gary Bartz, Norman Connors, David Fathead Newman and Joe Henderson throughout his storied career. Primarily known for playing Conga drums, Summers was a diverse percussionist and ethno-musicologist who used his platform as a member of the Headhunters to promote West African and Latin American percussion instruments, worldly rhythms and global styles of playing to wider audiences. He famously soloed on his Shekere during live performances and made his conga purr on the Hancock classic Butterfly, licking his fingers and sliding them along the surface of his drum to create a friction noise (informally known as a moose call) which initially baffled listeners. Most famously, he’s known for his beer bottle breathwork at the start of the Headhunters album version of Watermelon Man, where he creates harmonies by blowing into the top of a half empty bottle, pursing his lips while inhaling and exhaling rapidly.
Come Into My Life—a track written by Alphonse Mouzon taken from the album Feel The Heat—is a fantastic down tempo rare-groove track, featuring vocals from Deborah Thomas and Dianne Reeves and keys from Mark Soskin and Skip Scarborough. The percussive elements in blend beautifully with airy synth and moog lines that drape over the soundscape, alongside the thunk of Paul Jackson’s electric bass guitar.
Buy the standard dinked copy HERE
Buy the DJ Promo copy HERE
Listen to side A HERE
Listen to side B HERE
