Juna Serita The Princess of Funk

The Sound Of Funk Volume One is a 1992 compilation released by Goldmine in conjunction with Soul Supply. All of the songs are sourced from vinyl records and its legality remains unknown but it was one way to find rare sides of soul that would be normally impossible to locate without compilations like this.

A lost treasure from R&B pioneer Larry Williams - the only album he ever issued in the 70s, recorded a few years before his untimely and mysterious death! The 1978 Fantasy set's got a heavy funk feel on most numbers - a great reworking of Williams' earlier groove, set to backings that feature Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker on horny horns, plus Rudy Copeland on keyboards! The approach is similar to the 70s grooves used by Larry's west coast contemporary Johnny Guitar Watson - although sadly, this album never brought Williams the same sort of comeback fame. Gene Sculatti contributes liner notes that delve into Williams’ curious career.

The Sound Of Funk Volume Ten is a 1996 compilation released by Goldmine in conjunction with Soul Supply. All of the songs are sourced from vinyl records and its legality remains unknown but it was one way to find rare sides of soul that would be normally impossible to locate without compilations like this.

Some multiple-artists compilations satisfy more than others. On some you enjoy a few cuts, while others are use to accentuate romantic encounters – the kind you lay on the CD player, push "repeat all," and go for it, knowing the music is set. This collection is like that. It begins soft and slow with "Baby Blues" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra featuring Barry White; it kicks into second with Con Funk Shun's "Love's Train" and hits high gear on Stephanie Mills' electrifying closer "Feel the Fire."The different styles offer a cornucopia of love jams. Everything from Randy Brown's deep soul romp "I Wanna Make Love to You" to Kool & the Gang's jazzy, synthesized "Summer Madness." You won't find any disappointing edited versions, either; seven minutes and twenty seconds of "Heaven Must Be Like This" by the Ohio Players attest to that.

An entire album of JB covers sounds initially like a project which has got up on the bad foot, but this long-player from Harmless, subtitled "in the footsteps of the godfather of funk" by its compiler (respected journalist James Maycock) works on so many levels that it adds up to an essential purchase for funk aficionados. While some tracks pay homage others, like the Daktaris' "Give It Up or Turn It Loose," stray far from the original, as the bongo-rocked spoken word of the Last Poets vision encapsulates not the material of James Brown, but the man himself. Of course, despite the effort of some superb performers (Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Lou Pride amongst them), there is nothing quite like the man himself with the highlight taking the form of a spectacular 12-minute live performance of "Cold Sweat." Clyde Stubblefield and Nate Jones provide the super tight rhythm section, whipping the number-one soul brother into a twisting dervish – breathtaking.

Maddalena plays here together with Ewald Donhoffer (harpsichord) Christoph Prendl (Viola da Gamba) and Michele Carreca (theorbo). Henriette was a daughter of the King of France, Louis XV, and was a great viola da gamba virtuoso. It´s a recording of french music of the first half of the 18th century by composers as Marin Marais, Caix d`Hervelois and Jean Baptiste Forqueray. Join Maddalena and discover this musical homage to the princess of the viol, Henriette of France.