Setenta
Materia Negra

Rare and in High demand Afro digital Soul EP, recorded in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in 1981.Originally from Martinique, Clem Marise Voltine aka Mac Gregor moved to Abidjan in 1979 searching for, what she called, her “negritude quest”. She sang about her love for her adoptive city until her death in April 2004 at CHU of Abidjan, Trechville Hospital.A visionary composer, poet and singer, mixing Creole, French and Nouchi, she made a brilliant musical bridge between the West-Indies and Ivory Coast, backed by a soulful group of top Ivorian musicians such as the great Houon Pierre.This unique and must have record is a pure dancefloor killer and will definitely be the next Afro Tropical Hit of the next decade!Fully Licensed in Abidjan, remastered at Carvery Studio on a 12inch vinyl (45 RPM).

The meeting of Alieu and Randomized Coffee gives light to this new project, in which the Roman duo tackles a production that skillfully links Mediterranean influence to ancestral Africa in a patchwork woven of typical African ethnic elements to those of house and electronica in a "groovy" body that enhances the classical side of the African country in a modern musical mood and rhythm.The story tells about the day before an arranged marriage ceremony.Masanneh is a handsome and well-known man in his village of the Mandinka Tribe, born and raised in the village of Kudang, near the river that flows through the entire country; the Gambia. Many in the village believe him to be charismatic and generous, others believe him to be a venal materialist devoted to money. Masanneh decides to consult Cherno Jallow, a wise Marabout, to figure out how to deal with his future. He therefore moves westward to the village of Bondali, in Foni, where before practicing his work as a skilled trader he talks to Landing Sawo, the district chief, from there he hears the sound of a Kora played by Jali, while across the road he sees a beautiful woman Mariama Gomez passing by.

8 years after the official reissue of the LP “An Eye For An Eye” by Byrne & Barnes, Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new single release.The 7inch first includes the classic “Love You Out Of Your Mind”, extracted from the WestCoast classic LP, which was a one-stop collaboration between Robert Byrne and Brendan Barnes, however both display incredible music career and went on to produce for famous artists such as Pointer Sisters, Patti Austin, Earth Wind & Fire, or Phil Collins to name just a few. The song parades all the elements of the AOR style: a jazzy sometimes fusion approach, with modern soul and groove flavors.The other side features an exclusive and unreleased track by Robert Byrne, dug by the original executive producer up in his archives for our great pleasure. “Do You Wanna Make Some Love” is also nurtured with Westcoast and AOR vibes, while leering to Boogie and Disco influences. We have no doubt it will delight all the Byrne & Barnes music lovers and many more.

Paris based Roforofo Jazz is a 7-piece liveband fronted by Chicago born MC Days (aka RacecaR), with a certain taste for adventurous blends, mixing hip hop, afrobeat and jazz into their very own style.After more than 15 years slashing the afrobeat of Les Freres Smith with his guitar cuts, Martin Smith digged into the musical sediments and silts in a swamp of hip hop, funk groove, afro power, jazz freedom radicality, with a certain taste for adventurous blends. This wax solid 5 tracks Vinyl was recorded live in Montreuil (France) at Studios La Peche, in November 2019, just a few weeks after the band toured in Nigeria and played at the mythical New Afrika Shrine on the occasion of Felabration 2019, where they got invited to perform by the Fela Kuti family for a series of concerts in Lagos.The 5 titles include the single “Fire Eater”, a raw afro hip hop tune mixing rhythms in the tradition of polyrhythm afrofunk tunes, while also alternating in between jazzy mood and burning hip hop anthem. “Dump It” is a dark, mid tempo beat, borrowing the groove signature of ethiopian soul, and coated with hip hop sharp drops, while horns bring the jazzyness through their themes. “Helelyos” is a cover/extrapolation of Iranian singer Zia’s hit, to which Days vocals bring an heavy old school hip hop vibe. “2Kick1” is a relentless afrobeat oriented tune, though with a languorous spacy chorus that breaks with the traditional afrobeat routine. And “What We Think We Saw” ends the EP with an opening to more psychedelic visions, in which a Gil Scott-Heron spoken word style meets jazzy space echoes, flutes under massive reverbs in a global vibe that could remind old analog recordings of Mandrill, Cymande or LKJ.

Word of advice to funk lovers; there is not a minute to lose. Get on board of the Big Hustle’s spaceship. Before we take off, let's do a little history. The band was founded in 2014 by bass player and composer Sébastien Levanneur and its aim is to bring together 70's old school funk with the hippest actual sound laced with influences spanning from Steely Dan and Headhunters, to Snarky Puppy and Soulive. With mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, the Big Hustle's music has a very large variety of soundscapes.The first destination takes us to the Washington, D.C. area with “Turn Up”. The groove is clearly go-go music flavored with the trademark sound of cowbells and of course it reminds us of Zapp by the use of the talk box on lead vocals, performed here by Saad El Garrab. And don't miss out Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin amongst others) as a very special guest performing the talk box solo! Second stop is “A Curse, A Blessing”. It’s an instrumental very much in the Freddie Hubbard vein during his CTI years. The last leg of the A side ends with an instrumental interlude titled “Flying Donut”. Double tribute to Jay Dee and Flying Lotus, the music is a simple hip hop loop based on samples. The B side takes us back into the past with two brilliant covers, involving Rod Temperton the late great British songwriter who scored some of Michael Jackson's biggest hits. Now the idea for this B side is to do the opposite approach from the A side. Taking 70's and 80's original music and make them travel into time to 2018. We first land with a Heatwave song named “The Star Of A Story” from their 1976 Central Heating album. Track 2 is a Herbie Hancock song named “Gettin' To The Good Part” from his 1982 Lite Me Up LP. This Time Traveler EP journey ends with an interlude. Called “Gimme Dat”, the song deals with the need of new music, new sound.Again, this blend of deep rooted funk laced with a contemporary edge is to be consumed without moderation. And do not forget that E.P. also stands for extended pleasure.