Tropical Funk Experience

Tropical Funk Experience is all about the connections, giving us a window onto the outernational nature of Caribbean party grooves in the 60s and 70s - how Manu Dibango reached Kingston (check out Jablonski’s cover of Soul Makossa) and James Brown hit the islands like a tornado. With a scattering of familiar names (The Skatalites and Mighty Sparrow) most of the tracks here are by artists who never made an impact beyond their local scenes on islands we seldom hear from such as St Vincent and Dominica. And that’s where the obsessive drive of DJs like compiler Hugo Mendez comes into play. He delights in seeking out rare cuts which are impossible to find for anyone but a dedicated crate-digger. And he found some gems. With fat horns, raw guitar and bouncing basslines Richard Stoute puts a Bajan blaze on Vehicle. Trinidad’s hugely influential Andre Tanker is here with Back Home, his swinging calypso tribute to the power of Caribbean identity. The sparse proto disco groove of Check It Out by street funksters Wildfire is another standout as is the hypnotic steelband version of the 1973 Fela Kuti classic Black Man’s Cry by the Gay Flamingoes. A ten minute jam on the pans? Deep. This collection is part of a new generation of compilations which open new ways in to worldwide sounds, celebrating the richness of music scenes all over through shared global crazes. Tropical Funk Experience salutes that common ground, namely the dancefloor, where across the decades and oceans, funk rules.

Tropical Funk Experience is out now on Nascente