Tony Allen
Black Voices Remixes

John Milk is finally back, with an EP including exclusive new tracks, remixes of Patchworks (Joao Selva, Voilaaa, Mr President ...), Blanka (La Fine Equipe) and instrumental versions. Don't Blame The Hammer is a unique journey into the soul-funk universe of John Milk in an edition of 300 limited numbered vinyls. Already a classic!

The Diva Faïrouz.Her real name Nouhad Haddad, she was born in the Zokak el Blat district of Beirut. The eldest of a modest Maronite family, she developed a passion for singing very early on. Her parents are too poor to afford the luxury of a radio, so she spends most of her time listening, her ear glued to the wall, to the neighbors. Nouhad quickly memorizes the songs she hears and gives a few samples at parties organized by her school. It was there that she seduced her comrades with her vocal abilities and that she was noticed in 1947 by the composer Mohammed Fleyfel.The echo of his velvety voice reaches Halim el Roumi, talent scout, renowned singer-songwriter and director of Lebanese Radio, who asks to audition him immediately. Literally fascinated, el Roumi introduced him to the choir of Radio Beirut, baptized it with the name of Faïrouz and became its appointed composer. Then, he introduces her to Assi el Rahbani, a young avant-garde composer who, in the company of his brother Mansour, wishes to renew a Lebanese song under profound Egyptian influence.The teenager Faïrouz succumbed to the personal charm of Assi, whom she married in 1954, and to that of his compositions (the model couple of Arab song would be separated by the death of their husband in 1986). The heavenly trio causes, from the publication of its first titles, a real musical revolution. Traditionalists howl at sacrilege and distortion while sympathizers of the rejuvenation and modernization of Lebanese folklore, weary of insipid refrains and pale copies, show their enthusiasm.In 1957, Faïrouz opened the International Festival of Baalbek (a locality mentioned in one of his flagship titles) and sang in the middle of the six columns of the Roman temple. This initial encounter with his audience, who warmly welcomed him, earned him the nickname "seventh column". Faced with this fabulous galloping success, the Rahbanis are stepping up their offensive and courageously playing the card of constant innovation. They wrote for Faïrouz musical sketches, operettas and, from 1962 to 1976, about fifteen sung plays in which she plays the role of a woman in love with Love, the true, the pure, the innocent. , and that of hope. She also appears in a few films but she quickly interrupts her cinematic odyssey.It is still and always one of the major references of Arabic song and many of its titles, such as "Bint el Chalabia", are hummed as much by the new generation as by the old.

After three decades as one of Trinidad & Tobago’s leading musicians, Andre Tanker is still among the country’s best-kept secrets. But he’s always made his music for the world. Since the 1970s, Tanker has been composing and performing what he would sum up as “Caribbean world music”. It draws on the traditions not only of the modern Caribbean Calypso and Reggae, but on the Jazz, Blues and Soul of North-America, the drums and chants of Africa, the tabla and sitar of India. Nowadays that rich mixture is part of what’s called “world music”, and the rest of the world is finally catching up with Tanker.The drums that were most important in Tanker’s musical education were African drums, the drums of Shango or Orisha, the New World fusion of Yoruba religion with Catholicism in which particular saints are identified with Orisha deities or powers. It was at the Little Carib theatre that the young Tanker first heard the late Orisha priest and master drummer Andrew Beddoe. He didn’t know it then, but the beat of Beddoe’s drums was to reverberate through his own career.It was while Tanker was discovering the African roots of Trinidad’s culture that he discovered himself. Long before it became politically correct to accept Africa as the place where life began, Andre Tanker realized that his life and his music came from there. But Andre could look into a mirror and see the world, and knew that his life, and his music, had also come to, and out of, Trinidad and Tobago, New York City, London, and Rio de Janeiro. Andre Tanker insists that he doesn’t only cater for Trinidadian tastes: “If you’re a universal person, your music must have universal appeal.” it’s precisely because of its deep roots in local culture that Tanker’s work is world music: “I like to say the deeper I go into Trinidad, the closer I get to the center of the earth. I don’t care where you are, if you look up you’re going to see the same moon.”Andre Tanker wrote and composed “Back Home” and “Get Ahead” in the 70’s, sings lead vocals and plays lead and rhythm guitar, while percussions are played by The Mansa Musa Drummers. “Back Home” is the anthem of the returning migrant (I went away, I leave and I come back home...), while “Get Ahead” is a rhythmic and unique mix of world, rock and blues, a vintage classic blending. This is proud music made by the most humble man. Andre Tanker has an amazing legacy that his great family will cherish and continue to carry on.

The Uptown Funk Empire’s album The Empire Strikes Back was released in the year 2009 and it has quickly become a sure value of the modern Soul-Funk scene. This album composed and produced by Bruno Hovart aka Patchworks still sounds really funky 10 years after its initial release. The success of its 2019’s reissue confirmed that it got a timeless flavor. The full-length version of this album contained 16 tracks in the CD & Digital format but for technical reasons only 10 tracks were included in the vinyl edition. And due to public demand, we are now happy to release the missing tracks in vinyl with an exclusive track, the rightly titled « Party ». The Empire Strikes Back Again, so let’s have an other funky good time with Uptown Funk Empire…Tracks as « Boogie », « You’ve got to have Freedom » or « N.O.W. » have now become anthems. They have brought back the Funk to the dancefloors from around the world and this with the help of Dj’s such as Kerri Chandler, Moodyman, Joey Negro, Ashley Beedle, Tony Humphries, Mr V, Dj Simbad, Femi Fem, Dj Cam, Dj Bobbito, Jazztronik, Recloose, Rich Medina, Rainer Truby, Kid Loco, Yam Who, Mad Mats, Dj Kawasaki, Dj Junior…just to name a few. But this album is not only dance-floor oriented, one important part of its charms is due to a bunch of good ballads and tasty down tempo tracks as: « I’m A Manchild », « I Guess That You Don't Mind », « Celestial Blues », « Please Mister Postman » playlisted by radios as Jazz Fm, BBC6, Radio Nova, KCRW, Deutschland Radio Kultur, Couleur 3, WBAI, FM4, KX Radio, Superbly FM…and enjoyed by a lot of Soul Boys & Girls in their bedrooms. And last but no least, the Uptown Funk Empire’s track « I’m A Manchild » was included in the soundtrack of the film « Focus » with Will Smith…and it was greatly cool for a funky cat to have shared a movie with the Prince of Bel Air ! This album is a pleasant proof that funk & soul Music can always sounds good & alive in our time, once again thanks to Patchworks and its Uptown Funk Empire alias.

Trad Vibe Records proudly presents a first-time reissue of Caribou, a side-project of Cortex, originally released in 1977. A great and rare double-sider jazz-funk 7inch, now available as a reissue.French avantgarde Jazz-Funk pioneers Cortex released three milestone albums during the seventies including the iconic Troupeau Bleu. Their music has been sampled by Hip Hop artists such as MF Doom, Wiz Khalifa, Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross and as a consequence is still very much alive today.