The following five reissues, each released within the past year, aren’t just records; they’re monuments and mandatory listening for every serious music collection.
Tony Allen
Afro Disco Beat (Vampisoul)Before joining Damon Albarn’s the Good, the Bad & the Queen, Tony Allen was king of the jungle groove. This 2-CD collection gathers the Afrobeater’s complete 1970s output, including three LPs produced by Fela Kuti and backed by his legendary Africa 70 ensemble (Jealousy, Progress, No Accommodation for Lagos). Exotic and radical, Allen’s polyrhythmic funk sounds like the Nigerian counterpart to Miles Davis’ On the Corner.
Johnny Lunchbreak
Connecticut’s Johnny Lunchbreak recorded only nine demos over two sessions in 1974 and 1975, with no real intention of achieving fame or fortune. Discovered 30 years later through one of only four acetates in existence, this collection of lo-fi garage rock nuggets – the first in Numero Group’s Asterisk catalog – explores the overlap between Bowie and the Stones with ambitious and versatile songwriting, explosive riffs, and a penchant for heartfelt ballads.
Pieces of Peace
Chicago’s equivalent of the Funk Brothers, Pieces of Peace originated with siblings Bernard and Danny Reed and served as house band for Twinight Records, backing Syl Johnson, Josephine Taylor, and Annette Poindexter, among others. The group’s eponymous debut was shelved before its scheduled release in 1972 and discovered earlier this year by famed crate digger DJ Shadow. Socially conscious funk and horn-laden instrumentals abound.
Steve Baron Quartet
Englishman Steve Baron was first and foremost a storyteller. On his lone 1969 recording with his namesake quartet, Baron balances his folk narratives with classic rock virtuosity, jazz orchestration, and baroque balladry, like a cross between Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick and the Who’s A Quick One (Happy Jack). Pete Townshend sums it up best with his closing thoughts in the original liner notes, “Jai Baba!”
Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988
The latest entry in Light in the Attic’s stellar Jamaica to Toronto series mines the vaults of Summer Records, the Ontario-based basement label operated by reggae recording artist Jerry Brown, who also filmed the accompanying documentary. From the compelling soul of Johnny Osbourne to the dub-step instrumentals of revolving house band Earth, Roots & Water, the anthology captures the struggling scene’s nostalgic longing for its motherland.
This article appears in December 14 • 2007.