Als Alex Christensen im Oktober 2017 sein ambitioniertes Projekt Classical 90s Dance veröffentlichte, war ihm die Neugierde von Kollegen, Fans und Medien gewiss. Als wichtigster deutscher Impulsgeber der Techno-, Dance- und Eurodance-Bewegung, erarbeitete er sich zunächst als DJ und Komponist, schnell aber auch als Producer Weltruhm. Plötzlich sollte der Mann, der seit Anfang der 90er-Jahre vorzugsweise im Hintergrund die musikalischen Strippen für über 40 Millionen verkaufter Tonträger zog, erklären, was es mit Classical 90s Dance auf sich hatte. Dass einer wie er eine persönliche Auswahl charakteristischer Hits des Genres neu arrangierte und mit dem 49-köpfigen Berlin Orchestra aufnahm, schuf Aufmerksamkeit.

Zoom was founded almost thirty years ago. There were eight members of Zoom including George Mitchell, drums; John Haynes. bass and vocals; Butch Bonner, lead and rhythm guitar; Marcus Robinson, keyboards; S. Todd Duncan, keyboards; Henry Prejean, sax; Darryl Williams, Trumpet and vocals; and Nolan Semien on lead vocals. From Los Angeles, Zoom were signed to Polydor Records in 1981 and were taken under the wing of session drummer James Gadson (who was a former member of a Kansas City group called the Carpets). Nolan Semien became the lead singer and was already a popular local vocalist in Los Angeles, singing at bars before joining the group. The band’s debut album on Polydor entitled “Saturday, Saturday Night” was rather successful.

This excellent session (recorded at Half Moon Bay in 1976) features trumpeter Blue Mitchell with four Northern California musicians: the obscure Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonist Mike Morris, pianist Mark Levine, bassist Kenny Jenkins and drummer Smiley Winters. The repertoire is fresh, consisting of a nearly 17-minute "Pleasure Bent," the warm ballad "Portrait of Jenny," a song called "Sweet Smiley Winters" that is really a "Sweet Georgia Brown" line penned decades earlier by Coleman Hawkins, Levine's "Something Old, Something Blue" and a brief "Blues Theme." Mitchell is heard in prime form throughout the enjoyable straightahead set which contains a few subtle surprises.

James Brown - Bodyheat (1976) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000 UICY-76591}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 269 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 2014 Polydor / Universal Music Japan | UICY-76591
Funk / R'n'B / Soul / Funky Jam

'BODYHEAT' was originally released in December 1976 as Polydor-1-6093 in a striking jacket illustrated by Virginia Team. The title cut's single release was his last highest charting single (#13 R&B) until "Living In America" in 1985 (#4 Pop, #10 R&B). A clavinet based funk-er, it features a steadier beat somewhere between his usual funk and straight disco. In fact the back cover of the album announced "James Brown - Brand New Sound." Surprisingly, the rest of the original album's Side One consisted of two ballads, the almost four years stale "It's A Man's, Man's World" retread "Woman," and the much better "Kiss In '77" which deserved more than it's #35 R&B showing. Brown seemed to favor the atypically restrained ballad, featuring it in his concerts for years after it's release.