****
A Fine Selection 11 Feb 2007
The strapline for this disc promises "Original Full Length 1970's Ghetto Jazz & Funk Classics", and I suppose this is as good a description of the disc as one could ask for. The epithet "Full Length" is a little puzzling: on the one hand it is a pleasure to hear tracks given their full room to breath, but there are many songs here with extend no more than the standard three minutes. What would happen if only the edited highlights were available?
Although this is all well and good, the essence here is on proper blaxploitation and funk, and the refreshing thing about this double-cd compilation is the satisfying range of styles on offer. Dizzy Gillespie's opener "Marix" would not sound out of place on Herbie Hancock's "Fat Albert Rotunda" of the late sixties, whereas "Evolution" by Magnum is proper funk all the way. There are one or two truly wierd things on offer: Gordon Staples and the Motown Strings cook up a dangerous mix of orchestral freeform and funky basslines, but the funk never lets up.
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