Nick Ingman - Down Home

ORIGINATION Sound Book Part Two - De Wolfe Music Library & Background Sound
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite good
RATING

After yesterday's reminder of the joy of library grooves, it took over a large part of the day's playlist And so having another today comes as little surprise. This British one is just as funky as yesterday's and, as the title suggests, lurks in nearly the same area. I'm getting hints of pimps strutting and a very strong flavour of cop shows.

It begins with a lovely big of synth and brass action, before the drums kick in with a perfect dum-bum-dadum roll. Much like yesterday's wah guitar, the synth runs through the whole song providing some lovely texture, whilst over there is a mountain of brass, organ and, yes, more wah wah. The drummer's also having a great day and his funky beats are high in the mix. And to top things off, someone has got their hands on one of those percussion instruments beloved of all cop show themes, the name of which i have never discovered. It's the one that goes cr-r-r-r-r-r-r. You know it.

This really is just brilliant. Everything works exactly how you'd want it too. The synth is gritty and burbling. The drummer is hitting hard and groovy. The big brass comes in on long, slow building notes, but also has some great, hard hits. There's even more low-down brass playing along with the synth deep in the mix. The organ is blue and funky and the guitar that backs it up is wah wah'd to perfection. And the bass player, he's so far in the pocket, he's practically out the other side.

The whole tune just keep building layer on layer, each successive one adding more instruments to the mix and moving up a key. After three all-too-short minutes it stops dead on a snare. You can't ask for better funk than this.

P. Cannizzo - Black California

ORIGINATION Vroommm: Funk Cinematique - High Performace 70s Turbo Sounds For Sprint-Exotic Movie Scenes
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING

Ah, back to funky library music. That's much better.

This one, about which i know so little, i don't even know the composer's first name, is another favourite. Little surprise that it's partly due, once again, to some hefty wah wah guitar. Here it runs the entire length of the tune and in so doing becomes part of the rhythm section, that comprises bass, drums and piano. The piano is notable, being proper left-hand style and real low-down. It is therefore perfectly suited to the down and groovy, make a funky ah-yes face mood of the track. It's got a kinda pimp strutting vibe.

The song opens with a fabulous combination of the wah guitar and funky bass, before being quickly joined by the drums. The piano comes in soon after, at the same time as a tenor sax, together playing some nice counter melodies.

Having established the opening melody, the sax takes off on a solo, taking up some way over half of the tune. The solo has a blues-based structure, which again is in keeping with the overall flavour and it's played with a very straight forward tone, that is both clean and punchy. It's a real archetypal bluesy tenor sax solo.

An electric piano takes over from the sax and keeps to the same formula. However, due to the nature of the instrument's sound, it has a lighter feel and is consequently less effective in this setting.

In the final moments the sax returns, bringing its main melody and the song sadly fades.

Italy's library music scene was not only one of the most vibrant in the world, but it also produced one of the most well known composers ever to have worked in the genre, in Ennio Morricone. So, whom ever Sig. Cannizzo is, he was in good company and he was also damned funky. It would do you no harm to spend a little time investigating the myriad sounds of him and his brethren from in the Italian library scene.
There's plenty more library music in the song for the day vaults, but you'll need to use search engine to get to it. I've got better things to do today than do it for you.

Mark Duval Big Band - The Race Machine

ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as vague as ever
RATING

A shot from the library vaults again this morning, which seems oddly appropriate given that i am reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, which features a library prominently. The book kind, in this case. Anyway, Duval & Co start out on The Race Machine with a great bass slide intro, before launching into a fine sound library funky groove. It is mostly sax-led, with a robust horn section underscoring. However, the solos are taken by first a trumpet and then by a hammond. Judging by the length of the organ's solo, it's a good bet that this is Mr. Duval himself. It's a fine solo, moving mostly around mid-tones. It's all over in just over a minute and a half, just like all good library music: short and sweet.

Pierre Dutour et son orchestre - Following You

ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT better than yesterdays but not by much
RATING

Library music again! And this time one that really shows why i and so many others love library music: it's just so damned groovy. But then it's a funky hammond work-out with some killer brass lines and i am such a sucker for those. They don't get much better than this. I think today is going to be a hammond day. Again. Fantastic!

G Sorgini - Honda

ORIGINATION Vroommm: Funk Cinematique - High Performace 70s Turbo Sounds For Sprint-Exotic Movie Scenes (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO april
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teensyish weensyish
RATING

It's only three stars. It's pretty obscure Italian library music from the '70s. There is no way you're ever going to hear it unless you have the LP or come round and steal mine. And now i'm watching out for it, so you'll never get your crafty hands on it. I'm onto you. Just you watch.

So, what does it matter what it's like?

For appearance's sake: it is built around a funky soul bass, with boxy, mid-range drums with psyche-like guitar splashed all over the top. It's pretty catchy, i suppose. But, you know, you'll probably never hear it, so what do you care. Go now.

Erobique Meets Jonny Teupen - Hold On, I've Got To Leave You

ORIGINATION Mojo Club: The Remix Album
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING

There are many remix albums about these days but this was the first one i saw, back in 1999. For those not in the know, a remix album is one where current artists take various tracks from the past and, well, remix them. Mojo Club brought out theirs to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Hamburg club, a club in which they played soul, funk, dancefloor jazz and the like.

About the participants in this particular track, i can write next to nothing. All i am (fairly) certain of is that they are both German. However, Jonny Teupen's original track appears to have been recorded around the start of the '70s and has a funky, cop-show style vibe. How much Erobique has (or have) altered it i also don't know. The only thing i can be sure of is that the pounding, four-to-the-floor beat was almost certainly was not part of the track. It works surprisingly well, with the even these obviously newly-added touches not clashing too much with what i imagine to be the original feel of the tune.

Lee Mason & His Orchestra - Shady Blues

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO this week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

And yet another funky 45. My head is certainly full of them at the moment and a good thing that is too. Especially in the fight against winter gloom.

This one is a recent re-issue by the always excellent Jazzman Records. It was recorded some time probably in the early 70s for the British library music label Chappell. Due to the nature of library music, this tune was never given an actual release and only become known to collectors during the explosion of interest in library music in the 90s. Needless to say, this was one of the rarer and much sought-after recordings.

The track starts with a drum and bass figure that is quickly joined by a flute. Things soon set up a gear with a lovely drum roll, top wah-wah guitar and brass. The flute soon re-joins before another break and a futher change up, this time introduciing strings and an organ. By now what had started out as a fairly spare piece, has become quite crowded. Here it reaches a crescendo, before quickly dipping back into the original drum, bass and flute figure.

It's a very simple track and therein lies it's appeal. Nothing especially fancy happens here, but what does happen is well played and well contructed and happens at a nice, laid-back pace.

Apparently it has become a very popular sampling-ground and there's no suprise in that.