Jungle Rhythms

Chakachas - Jungle Fever (1971) {Polydor-Dusty Groove DGA3006 rel 2007}
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© 1971, 2007 Polydor / Dusty Groove America / Universal | DGA 3006
Jazz / Latin / Jazz Funk / Groove / Funk

A mad mix of Latin and funky rhythms – a 70s classic from the Belgian group Chakachas! The album's best known for its title hit "Jungle Fever" – an insane cut that features heavy drums, choppy guitar, and a stop/start action that's peppered with sounds of female pleasure! The track was a worldwide hit, and continues to be a funky classic today – thanks to a heavy sample history, and a life in playlists worldwide – but the rest of the album's pretty darn great too, and even weirder. Some tracks mix easy Euro grooving with heavy conga, others have kind of an LA Chicano funk approach, and still others throw in some mad horns to complicate matters with nice jazzy riffing. Really great throughout – and maybe one of the best funky albums to ever come out on a major label!

Legendary music by "lost" bands hardly ever measures up to its own hype. This just might be an exception. Oneness of Juju albums are the sort of holy grail that keeps soul collectors thrashing about at night. To the label's everlasting credit, Strut has relieved listeners of that problem. The music itself is the direct forebear of bands like the Brand New Heavies, a mix of club funk and disco that at times tends to get a little precious…

This recording is the World Premiere of Charles Koechlin's Jungle Book and received the Orchestral Gramophone Award and was, memorably, accepted by the son of the composer. Charles Koechlin loved Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and set different parts of the book to music at various points in his career. The first of these - The Three Poems - bear the titles: Seal Lullaby, Night Song in the Jungle and Song of Kala Nag, with texts from The Jungle Book. The music, scored during 1904 - 04, is exotic and evocative. The lullaby mimics the gently lapping of waves as the soprano and chorus spin a soothing tapestry of sound. The Night-Song in the Jungle had a cadence that suggests movement (sung by the soprano, tenor, baritone and chorus) and is a song of well-wishing to the animals of the night. The Song of Kala Nag is a lament of an elephant that has been tamed for his old life in the jungle, sung by the tenor. The poem describes a night in the year when all of the elephants gather to dance together and, rather than being somber, the music is triumphant as the elephant recounts his past freedom and vows to have it again.

Johnny Copeland's eclectic nature is on display on Jungle Swing, an ambitious collaboration with jazz pianist Randy Weston. Weston brings a selection of African rhythms and melodic textures to the table, which are incorporated subtly into the rhythmic underpinnings of each song. In no sense is Jungle Swing a worldbeat experiment – it's just a small, affectionate tribute. Even so, the African flourishes don't dominate the sound of the record. Like always, Copeland takes center stage with his clean, precise licks. At this point in his career, he knows exactly what to play and the guitarist never overplays throughout the course of the disc. There are a few weak moments on the disc, but the sheer strength of Copeland's musicianship – and his willingness to stretch out ever so slightly – make it worth the time for any of his fans.