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No surprise that a drummer, for that is what Malcolm is, would be at that gig but how did he get the call up for the US tour? He explains, “I was in a band called The Soul Destroyers (Stark Reality), who supported the Dap-Kings.” They must have liked him as when their regular drummer, Homer ‘Funky-Foot’ Jenkins dropped out, he got the call. How cool is that, being first reserve for a drummer with the moniker, ‘Funky-Foot’?

So just to catch up, the Dap-Kings are the house band forthe funk and soul label from Brooklyn, Daptone Records. Last year Daptones let slip an album called Who Is This America by Antibalas. This band carry, “the torch of the spirit of Fela Anikulapo Kuti” and are ones to keep an ear out for. Any band called ‘anti-bullets’ have got to be respected.

Anyway, it is the authentic soul-review sound of the Dap-Kings together with Sharon Jones that hey are best known for. Last year, they toured Europe supporting two particular well-received 7” singles. The aptly titled ‘Genuine’ was particularly well liked on Gilles Peterson’s show and the pre-election, ‘What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?’ The b-side is a version of Woodie Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’ that subsequently made it onto this year’s album called Naturally.

There are some video streams of the band live on Daptone’s web site and details of the forthcoming tour dates including the pregisious Monterey Jazz Festival (17th September).

Malcolm should feel almost at home as he’s no stranger to being the stix man in a large soul-funk-jazz ensemble fronted by a glorious female soul diva as he’s also part of Will Holland’s Quantic Soul Orchestra. Will’s connection with Keepintime is via his remix ‘Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl’. Brian told me that Will had seen the film when it first came out and expressed an interest in the project. When he was sent the tapes of the Live Recording, Will (a bit of a perfectionist) requested the film soundtrack instead for the raw material. He did the remix from that and it sounds particularly good on vinyl.

Will’s idea for the Quantic Soul Orchestra was for ‘Putting something back’ after three successful studio sample based albums on Tru-Thoughts. The Orchestra’s first album was called Stampede which led onto this year’s Pushing On. Available on either Tru-Thoughts or Ubiquity Records depending on where you are in the world, Alice Russell appears on the cover of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ and there’s a cover of Mr. Scruff’s ‘Get A Move On’ (off Keep It Unreal on Ninja Tune).

There are rumours that a ‘Pushin On’ remix is sitting in a can somewhere on the south coast. Hopefully that will see the light of day but what else is going on? B+ was telling us of his unbelievable trip to Ethiopia on yet another project. “Just the mention of Mulatu in Addis and people will start talking about him as godlike”, he says. Will Holland has already been talking to Gilles in the Worldwide studio about the project (due out early next year) and ‘Mulatu’ is arguably the standout track on the (altogether excellent) Gilles Peterson In Africa compilation.

So while we keep our eyes open for the Mulatu retrospective on Soundway (yet another Brighton resident, Miles Cleret) hopefully, Malcolm will give us the low down on the Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Tour and the forthcoming Australian Quantic Tour with Ms. Russell. Talk about Global Music Culture!

Links:
Malcolm Catto - [at Mo’Wax]
Stark Reality
Daptone Records: 115 Troutman, Brooklyn, NY 11206 www.daptonerecords.com
Antiblas - 15 band members “monstrous horns and bass layered over polyrhythmic beats couple with furious lyrics inciting insurrection in English, Yoruba and Spanish.” Check the album samples HERE ; personal favourite ‘Indictment’ for that ‘spirit of Fela’.
Knitting Factory : New York & Hollywood www.knittingfactory.com
Beyondjazz - Music Discussions - Mulatu Astatqé
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting 30/10/03:
Quantic Soul Orchestra Live For Worldwide - ‘Raw Ingredients’, ‘Pushin’ On’, ‘End of The Road’, ‘Hold It Down’
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting: 21/8/05 : Skitz in the Studio: Mulatu Astatqé. - ‘Emnete’ (Soundway)
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting 03/07/05 : Africa Special: Mulatu - ‘Kulunmanqueleshi’ (Worthy Records)
Ninja Tune www.ninjatune.net
Wax Poetics- “HIP-HOP GOT SOUL - The superior journal for beat-heads, crate diggers, appreciators of the finer things in funk/soul/hiphop music and general all-round-goodness & greatness.” www.waxpoetics.com
Soundway: www.soundwayrecords.com Experts in Afro-Jazz, Afro-Funk & Latin-Jazz artists.
Miles Cleret - African Music Safari - interview by Denise Benson
Denise Benson - www.denisebenson.com

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings : ‘What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?’ b/w ‘This Land Is Your Land’ Review by Gerry Hectic. Funk with a message. It feels like the 70s again. “We believe that our country has been hijacked by oil moguls, war profiteers, overfed corporations, and other assorted a-moral billionaires.” Right on, as Sharon takes on a Gil Scott Heron persona. My friendly record store wouldn’t part with their last copy before Christmas (and you can’t blame them) so I’ve had to wait for more stock to come in. Well up to the standard to of their last monster single, ‘Genuine’. Unlike the flip, which is lame by comparison. See the web site for more information on the National War Tax Resistance Co-ordinationg Committee. Get this 7” and get out and vote! (wherever you are).