by The Souljazz Orchestra
More fire on Solidarity, the fifth full-length from Canada’s hardest working afro-jazz supergroup, The Souljazz Orchestra. Rooted in rhythmically rich musical traditions of the past, the collective have kept their eyes on the future, pushing the boundaries of soul, jazz and tropical styles with a set of heavyweight new songs. The compositions that arose from the sessions are in a variety of Afro, Latin, Jamaican and Caribbean styles, all connected by a consistent thread of North American soul and jazz sensibilities. Featuring lyrics sung in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Senegalese Wolof (with borrowings from French and Arabic), the songs touch on subjects ranging from social and political issues to relationships and traditional folk tales.
The plugged-in direction of the new album also provided the band with an excuse to dig out some of their dusty, forgotten electric instruments from the attic: an ancient vibrato-heavy transistor organ, pawn shop hollow-body electric guitars, a warbling psychedelic tape-echo machine, a cavernous surf-guitar spring reverb unit, even an old Italian-made Elka electric piano. The album was recorded onto a temperamental Tascam 8-track tape machine and the resultant sound is gritty, low-budget and analogue, while the musicianship is, as always, vice-tight.
Strut Records/Fuse.
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