Ring The Alarm playlist, November 30

Keni Burke - Rising to the top (Aliooft edit)
Donna Summer - State of independence (Ed Zone edit)
Bohannon - Bohannon's beat
Evelyn King - Love come down
Sly and the Family Stone - Loose booty
War - Me and baby brother
Rick James - Busting out
Chuck Jackson - Candy
Eddie Floyd - Big bird
The Impressions - Fool for you
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Letter full of tears
Delphonics - Down is up, up is down
Sunny and the Sunliners - Get down
Cannibal and the Headhunters - Land of a thousand dances
The 100 Noble Knights Orchestra - Soul fugue
Mophono - The edge (skip on beat remix)
Ardijah - Which way is up
Ladi6 - Royal blue (Silent Jay, Sensible J and Leigh Fisher remix)
Lewis McCallum feat Mara TK - The almanac
Isaac Aesili feat Aaradhna - With you in my bed
Gregory Isaacs - The ruler
Lightning head - Steelsation
Brassroots - Good life
Masok - Right up your alley

Ring The Alarm playlist, November 23

Col Nolan and Soul Syndicate - Ode to Bobby Joe
Bob James - Nautilus
Herbie Hancock - Wiggle waggle
Ghetto Kitty - Stand up and be counted
Tami Lynn - Mo Jo Hanna
Freddi Hench & Soul Setters - Funky to the bone
Billy TK and Powerhouse - Move on up pts1&2
Leonard Charles - Neil's rainbow
Alphabethead - Mic fiddler
Rockers Hifi  -What a life
Ruts DC meets Mad Professor - Whatever we do
RSD - Speeka box
Lee Scratch Perry - International broadcaster (Moody Boyz remix)
Prince Fari  -Weatherman tam
The Kingites - Whistling in the dark
King Everand - Kill ole pan
Sweetie Irie - Slim body girl
Conroy Smith - Original sound
Screechy Dan - Bandits
AceTones - Rolling like a Trojan
Misha Panfilov Sound Combo - Offbeat comet
Scone Cash Players - Canned champagne (inst)

Col Nolan & The Soul Syndicate - Aussie soul jazz cracker gets a reissue

Press blurb for Col Nolan reissue, on Lance Ferguson's (Bamboos, Lanu) new reissue label Pacific Theatre Encore, out Nov 29 on CD/LP. The album has some great versions of popular songs like Angel of the morning, and Sunny, to name but a few:

"Col Nolan is recognised as one of (if not the) most important keyboard players in Australian jazz, his career spanning almost sixty years and moving through easily the styles of jazz dominant in each decade, but it’s his Hammond organ playing that he’s most well known for, which easily rivalled US greats such like Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff.

He has shared the stage with such international greats as The Modern Jazz Quartet, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Roland Kirk, Carmen Macrae, Les McCann, plus many more along the way.

In the early and mid 1960s he was a fixture as both a leader and sideman at pivotal Sydney jazz clubs The Trocadero and El Rocco Jazz Cellar.

In 1966 he formed the Soul Syndicate and released his first album Crazy Crochet in 1966. But the Soul Syndicate he formed and recorded Whatever It’s Worth with in ’68 would be one of the greatest ever Australian jazz combos, with John Sangster on drums, John Allan on bass, “Diamond” Jimmy Doyle on guitar and Col Loughnan on tenor sax.

That album has since been regarded as not just one of Australia’s funkiest jazz albums, but comparable to the best soul jazz albums of the era on labels like Prestige and Blue Note.

The band honed their breakbeat heavy soul jazz sound at Sydney’s premiere nightclub at the time, Whiskey A Go Go (pictured below), in the heart of Kings Cross, the city’s bustling red light district, which is now sadly a shadow of its former self thanks to the crushing lock out laws put on licensed venues in the area in 2015.

 

John Sangster released three highly prized albums on Festival in the late ‘60s, performed in the local production of ‘Hair’, where he met and later collaborated with Prog Rock greats, Tully. His more avant leaning Lord Of The Rings inspired albums in the ‘70s have also become highly collectable.

Col Loughnan and Jimmy Doyle joined the internationally lauded jazz rock group Ayers Rock in 1973, who went on to become one of the first Australian bands to perform in large stadiums in the U.S. Subsequent Soul Syndicate releases, such as their early ‘70s tunes “Buckingham Palace”, “What’s The Use” and the album Live At Jason’s have become highly-sought after vinyl artifacts for DJs, sample hunters and collectors after appearing on compilations of Australian jazz, funk and soul such as the seminal Heading In The Right Direction, released by the Luv N’ Haight label in 1995.

In the ‘70s Nolan was a founding member of The Daly Wilson Big Band, whose tracks such as “Dirty Feet” have been heavily sampled, by the likes of Mobb Deep, Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow and Large Professor. He was something of a pioneer of electric keyboards with fusion pioneers Galapagos Duck in the later seventies and into the eighties.

His version of the “Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock” recorded in 1977 was one of the few Australian jazz recordings to ever reach the top 40.

Nolan kept playing well into the twenty first century, and passed away in 2019, but not before happy knowing that Whatever It’s Worth was going to be reissued and be widely available for the first time."

Resident Music says "The album is lead by some cracking originals written by Nolan, Loughnan and Sangster including the two Mod dancefloor burners, "Shades Of McSoul", the title track and the breakbeat monster "Rivera Mountain".

But their versions of popular soings of the time are more like re-inventions, such as the drum heavy, low slung take on Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" and a superlative rendition of Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", which builds to a frantic, swirling psychedelic crescendo to close the album.

"Pacific Theatre Encore will be reissuing music from across the globe, but it was important to me for the first release to shine a light on the important legacy of our own scene" says Ferguson, who meticulously restored the audio himself, which was then remastered.

Col Nolan

Discography

Col Nolan & The Soul Syndicate
Crazy Crochet (1966 CBS)
Whatever It's Worth (1968 CBS / 2019 Pacific Theatre Encore)
Live At Jason's (1973 Avan-Guard)
"Buckingham Palace"/"What's The Use" (1973 Avan-Guard)

Col Nolan Quartet
"Love In Spring"/"Dry Country" (1977 M7)
Arangements (1976 M7)

The Nolan-Buddle Quartet
"My Machine"/"Killing Me Softly With His Love" (1975 M7)
"Picnic At Hanging Rock" (1976 M7)
The Odd Couple (1976 M7)

Col Nolan
The Main Stream (1990 2MBS-FM)
Nolan's Groove (1997La Brava)

Lokalophon debuts with two singles from Ghana

"Lokalophon is the newly established sub-label of Philophon, aiming to release and showcase local talent from potentially all around the world.

The first 7" is by Ghanaian Frafra-gospel singer Chris De Wise Shepherd. Born in Bolgatanga, he moved as a young man from the rural north of Ghana to its coastal capital Accra.

Consequentially, his style became more urban, as you can clearly hear on his 2012 release ’Nera Wo'o Soke’, which sounds in some ways as if Grandmaster Flash himself were operating the production knobs. ’Atune Anya’alima' on the other hand is pure Frafra-Gospel as it is traditionally performed in Northern Ghana.

’Ye Fre Yen' by Ahemaa Nwomkro consists instead of two new recordings, offering a glimpse into incredible new local talents. Ahemaa Nwomkro, which means queens of Nwomkro, are Victoria Osei and Theresa Owusuaa. Nwomkro is an old Ashanti musical style, which played an influential role in the origin of the typical more roots-like Highlife style of Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana."

Released: 22 November 'Nera Wo'o Soke' / 29 November 'Ye Fre Yen'
Format: 7" Single / Digital

Ring The Alarm playlist, November 16

John Gibbs and US Steel Orchestra - Jouvert (Lord Echo re-edit)
Mohjah - Zion gates (dub)
Bill Campbell - Body beat
Durutti Column - For Belgian friends
Khruangbin - People everywhere (still alive)
Julien Dyne - Follow you round
Moodymann - I can't kick this feelin' when it hits
Tiki - Past present future (Pitch Black remix)
Cave Circles - Azmoni
@Peace - Home
DLT - Black panthers
Aaradhna - Keep my cool
Buju Banton - Champion
Ackie - Call me Rambo
Jah Stitch - Raggamuffin style (Smith and Mighty remix)
Mad Lion - Girlzz
Wreck Allstars - Hit em like this
Shogun Orchestra - River of Sanzu
Melvin Jackson - Funky skull
Bill Withers - You've got the stuff (special disco version)
Lightning Head - NPG
Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy - Ma'algo

Nicole Wray BET interview

Via Big Crown, fascinating look into the career of Lady Wray, from starting out with getting signed by Missy Elliot, to working with Rockafella...

"BET caught up with Lady Wray for their Finding series. Here's a chance for Nicole to tell her story in her own words. Many of you may not know the half of it and will surprised to find out how much she has done.

Cole is in the studio right now with Leon Michels working on her next album due out in 2020."

Ring The Alarm playlist, November 9

Patti Jo - Make me believe in you (Black Science Orchestra Re-edit)

Seductive Souls - Dazz feat  Donald McCollum (a Tom Moulton mix)

Soul Mechanik - Wanna get wet  (Greg Wilson re-edit)

Lamont Dozier - Going back to my roots

Jackie Mittoo - El bang bang

Barrington Levy - It's not easy

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Brain smashing dub

Mr Reliable - Lucky dub

Unitone Hifi - Boomshot/son of Boomshot

Eru Dangerspiel - Chilli moules

DLT feat Ryad - Liquid skies

Bob James - Angela (theme from Taxi)

Billie Holiday - Miss Brown to you

Garnett Mimms and the Enchanters - Cry to me

Gladys Knight and the Pips - Heard it thru the grapevine

Marvin Gaye - Stubborn kind of fellow

Syreeta - I love every little thing about you

Carlos Garnett  - Mystery of the ages

Lady Wray - Come on in

The Mighty Mocambos - Concrete stardust

The Traffic - California love

Instant Funk - Merchant

Ring The Alarm playlist, November 2

Spiking - Liberation train
Block 16 - Morning sun (Pepe Bradock remix)
Fat Freddys Drop - Big BW (DJ Vadim remix)
George Duke - Tzania (Suba remix 2)
Mark de Clive Lowe - Heaven (Submariner remix)
Christoph El Truento - Water bearer
Biz Markie - Doo the doo
Johnny Osbourne - Budy bye - (Kenny Dope remix)
Mad Lion - Take it easy
Lightning Head - Me and me princess
Leon Dinero - Lover like me
The Yoots - Me he manu rere
Skatalites - Coconut rock
Dub Asylum - Jumping jack skank
Donnie Elbert - Sweet baby
Freddie Scott  -You got what I need
Jackie Wilson - Somebody up there likes you
The Demures - Raining teardrops
Barbara Lynn - Don't be cruel
The Harlem Gospel Travellers  -Yes he will
Lou Courtney - Skate now
Howard Morrison - Keep on running
Bill Withers - You
Nile Rodgers - Land of the good groove
Prince Charles and the City Beat Band - Cash (cash money)
South Side Coalition - (Dont cha wanna) Get down get down
Bill Campbell - Body beat
Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy - Mam yinne wa