• Artist: Osunlade
• Rating:
• Styles: Jazz-House, Club/Dance, House
• Track Picks: "2thousandcowries," "Beloved," "When This Feelin'"

Review

This is the first new release by Great Britain's Soul Jazz label -- widely known for its dynamite reissues of everything from killer Nuyorican soul to New Orleans funk to funky and militant jazz -- in years. This debut album by a New York-based house artist comes as a surprise. But it's a welcome one. Osunlade drenches his house in Brazilian, funk, and Latin colors, blending it all into a thoroughly modern dancefloor music that is as compelling to the ears as it is motivating to the booty. The singles from the set include "Blackman," a poetic move toward jazzy house with sampled chords from Bobby Konders' "The Poem." It's a late-night groove, laid-back but insistent, with a rap about Osunlade's upbringing and his spiritual beliefs. It's a kind of housed-out manifesto of positive Afrocentrism. Also notable is the traditional Brazilian tune "Oxissi de Focha Branca," with its drum chants and a call and response rhythm that retains its field recording primitivism long after the house beats kick in. The set closes with "The Deep," a driving house rhythm set against a rolling, one-note bassline interspersed with a two-chord, three-sequence vamp kissed by a harmonica sample in the groove. The harmonica is the lead "melodic" instrument (it's a Charlie Musselwhite sample), though it's just riffing in the cut and carrying the track through its intervals. This is an auspicious debut by a young cat who has brought something new and very different to the world from the house scene in New York. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Morning Glory	...	Osunlade	Osunlade	(6:57)
When This Feelin'	...	Osunlade	Osunlade	(7:44)
Blackman	...	Osunlade	Osunlade	(5:14)
Rader Du	...	Osunlade	Osunlade, Wunmi	(5:46)
Oxossi de Focha Branca	...	Traditional	Osunlade	(3:46)
2thousandcowries	...	Osunlade	Osunlade	(6:56)
Beloved	...	Osunlade	Morley, Osunlade	(4:50)
Ocho	...	Silvestre Méndez	Osunlade	(9:45)
The Deep	...	Osunlade	Osunlade	(5:27)

Credits

Dave Jensen (Horn), Jonathan Maron (Bass), Christopher Neal (Paintings), Morley (Performer), Jim Clissett (Harmonica), Osunlade (Main Performer), Adrian Self (Sleeve Design), Pierce Smith (Reprocessing), Wunmi (Performer)

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