Pharoah Sanders John Hicks Curtis Lundy Idris Muhammad
Africa

In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days. Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there.Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974.“I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.”Jérôme “Kalcha” Simonneau

Les Ya Toupas is a band formed in 1976 by Bopol Mansiamina (Bass - Success Mode, 4 Stars ...), Manuaku Waku (aka Grand Zaiko Wawa) and Ray Lema (Piano, Organ and Guitar). Between 1976 and 1978, they recorded several 7inches including the famous title “Je ne bois pas beaucoup” (1976) compiled on the series of Sofrito (Tropical Discotheque ) in 2011. In 1978, they recorded this unique and unclassifiable instrumental album, Les Ya Toupas du Zaïre, produced by Gérard Akueson (founder of Akue Records and Abeti's producer). The LP is composed of minimalist Afro Jazz rhythms and Deep Funk grooves that are close at times to a tropical trance, all played by musicians who used to offer more classic Rumba rhythms.

Hot and groovy jazzfunk that turns every dancefloor into a simmering witch cauldron on Side A, meeting silky soul pop ballads on Side B. A catchy and memorable affair that will give you goosebumps as long as you are a fan of funk and soul on the threshold from the 1970s to the golden era of pop, the 80s. For fans of Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stanley Clarke, Hot Chocolate and the likes. It's the first album of the later Blues legend Mel Waiters. DETAILS: Swirling synthesizers drag your mind into space, the slapped bass guitar throbs like a frantic pulse and there are hissing percussions that back up the slick drum sound. Here we go, straight forward into the 1980 album by the MEL PRODUCTION BAND, a private release that reaches high prices if a copy ever appears for sale somewhere and that comes as a product of it’s time. This is club music made for discos, soul pop that has all the great trademarks, as those tunes that would storm the charts only a few years later, it heads into two different directions with two steaming, yet slick power funk songs successing the intro on side A and three soul pop ballads on the flipside. While these B Side tracks invite you to dive into an ocean of lush melodies and complex arrangements that form accessible and especially memorable tunes with overwhelming vocal performances, the three jazzfunk compositions on the A side make you jump up from your seats and dance your soul out. The slapped bass guitar can be found in all three tracks, the vocals are a mix between singing and shouting in a joyful, euphoric way. Mostly simple phrases get repeated over and over again to create something like a disco mantra for everybody who is in for a wild dance. It is all glitter here and and a never ending party. You still find musical greatness in these dance songs, for the performance is just wild and the musicians are up on par with the greatest of their genre, tight and determined, still passionate in their playing and they truly love their music, their funk. So, this is a beast first and then turns into a beauty for side two. Since the original private press simply never ever turns up these days, this new reissue on EVERLAND MUSIC is more than welcome to rediscover this rare gem. Take your time to listen and take your time to dance for this album is a great occasion for both. The sound on this record is clean and slick, but vibrant. The music has the real feeling, everything is handmade and you can hear it. Even the synthesizer carpet sounds like coming from the gifted hands of a real keyboard wizard. A blast to spin on your turntable.

Sweet album of cool & bebop jazz...