Post Tagged with: "latin"

Last week, we aired a conversation I had with Roger Bong, a DJ who took his passion for Hawaiian records and turned it into a great blog, Aloha Got Soul, which lead to him starting his own re-issue label under the same name. Gearing up for their second release on June 22nd, Roger talked about his blog, establishing relationships with local musicians, and why he felt a re-press of his first release was good for everyone.

Full tracklist available at Soundwavesradio.com

I heard my boy DJ A-1 play this at Scenario tonight (a local friendly getdown), and this transported me to about 2006, when my man Choice 37 was putting out some seriously solid material (he has since moved to Korea to pursue music).  The amazing vocal talents of Lauren Santiago can be heard around the break.  Latin, b-boy, funky goodness right here.  It has a danceable vibe with heavy drums, but then hits you with this really soulful keyboard/vocal breakdown that just stops you in your tracks.  So glad I heard this tonight!

Free Download here.

In only a couple of years, Los Angeles production trio (Todd M. Simon, Itai Shapira and Adam Berg) have cemented their reputation in the studio and on stage as the premiere production team and live band for artists like Rhye, Kelis, and Hollie Cook.

They have also garnered the attention of great worldwide tastemakers such as KCRW music director Jason Bentley, the legendary Gilles Peterson of the BBC, Jaime Cullum, Okayplayer, Wax Poetics, Bandcamp and many more.
Rarely emerging from behind closed studio doors, The Decoders love combining their specialized brand of “decoded” classics from the 60’s and 70’s soul movement with an excitingly new blend of genres ranging from Lovers Rock to Dub, Brazilian Music to Psychadelic Soul.

Coco O. (of Quadron), Noelle Scaggs (of Fitz & the Tantrums), Leon Ware, Raul Midon and many others have lended their vocal talents to this special project with more to surely come for each new volume.

In alive setting, The Decoders are 10 piece ensemble featuring LA’s top musicians and session players. Thus far, they have released 2 volumes and a dub remix EP, including a few tunes from their upcoming LP, Adventures From Paradise: A Tribute To Minnie Riperton (vol 3), which will be completed in the fall of 2013 and features special guest vocalists and musicians.

“This is not music, its chemistry. Get into the science.” -Okayplayer.com
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**LIMITED PRE-SALE TICKETS!**
Purchase your pre-sale ticket available on Friday, August 2nd at www.steadygroovin.eventbrite.com

**DRINK SPECIALS from 10PM TO 11PM – $4 Draft Beers & $4 Witches Brew**

Steady Groovin’ brings you the best of Soul Jazz|Funk|Latin|Hip Hop|Afro Funk|Neo Soul|Rare Grooves

::CELEBRATE YOUR AUGUST BIRTHDAY WITH US!::
If your birthday is in the month of August, rsvp to celebrate it with us on the 20th! Birthday Special is a FREE BATCH of one of the following HAND CRAFTED DRINKS (your choice!):

Sangria / Witches Brew / Whiskey Mule / Rye Buck / Rum Dark & Stormy / Vodka Moscow Mule
*must have a eight person per party minimum for bday special*

NOLA’S 734 E. 3rd Street, LA 90013
$15 Cover / 21+ / Full Bar / 10pm – 2am / Open Air Smoking Patio

We finally found a home that will support live music, which was a huge aspect of our mission: to bring amazing bands to the stage.  We start at our new home, Nola’s in the Arts District, on Saturday, July 20, and every 3rd Saturday of the month.  For our grand re-opening, we will feature Los Angeles super group, Jungle Fire, who have an amazing afro-latin sound that your feet cannot deny!

You can download my promo mix for Steady Groovin here: http://www.mixcrate.com/frankforeal/steady-groovin-promo-253877

Thursday nights are for Afro Funke!  For over 8 years, the team of Cary Sullivan, Rocky Dawuni, Jeremy Sole, and Glenn Red have provided Los Angeles with a quality event, dedicated to african rhythms, from reggae to afrobeat.  Definitely one of LA's shining stars in the music scene, this is a place to come hear music you've never heard before, and to dance to music you've never heard before.  And EVERYONE is dancing.  That's what makes this so special to me.  There's a lot of wallflowers in LA, but not at Afro Funke.  Everyone is vibing out.  Even if someone is not on the dancefloor, they are moving their feet. When I got the email about Frank Gossner guest DJ'ing at Afro Funke this week, all my other plans got cancelled.  This cat spent quite a bit of time travelling through Africa, sometimes not in the safest of places, in search of the rarest and funkiest of African records.  He documented this journey on his blog, Voodoo Funk.  Lots of photos and music for you to check out.  Frank played some SERIOUS heat, from afro-disco cuts to slow funk burners.   And if you're wondering what kind of records he was playing, they were all original pressings.  No compilations.  I couldn't help but remember what Jeremy Sole said when introducing Frank: "Think of it like this, one of these records can pay for your rent this month!"

Holy crap this place has a lot of records…and comics, and musical instruments, and dvd’s, and all sorts of fun things to geek out on!  I spent about three hours at Jelly’s literally going through every single record that they had, with the exception of their 45 section because there were just way too many and I didn’t see anything really solid in the first couple boxes that I went through.  Plus, I had such good luck at Hungy Ear Records that I just didn’t feel like searching for 45’s anymore.  I started with their regular bins, which I suppose might’ve been a mistake as those were the more expensive records. They had a really great Latin section, with lots of records from the Fania, Combo, and Discos Fuentes labels. While I’m not extremely familiar with all of these labels, I was able to pick and choose the ones that look pretty good, based on what I did know.  Jelly’s has a listening station, too!  That made a huge difference.  I was able to take stacks records and kind of sift through what really was worth buying and what was something I can live without, based on sound and price.  After spending about an hour and a half going through the main bins I finally discovered the 45’s section, which looked like this.

It was just too much for me to really go through after already spending that much time in the other sections.  I ended up going through the lower bins for the next hour and a half, which were all $2, and I found a few gems including albums from Raydio, Players Association, Quincy Jones, and much more. Somehow, someway I only ended up spending about $75 at the spot, closing out a great day of diggin!  I was hoping to pick up a last minute gig where I could play my new finds, but unfortunately that did not happen.  I had to wait a couple of days to get home and throw them on the tables in the lab.  I can’t wait to share them with you at one of my events!

Go support this record!  Afrobeat goodness from the genius of Adrian Quesada.  “High Noon” was released on the 3rd of April, so don’t wait any longer to get it.  You can’t front on ANYTHING that ESL puts out.  From Thievery Corporation to Chris Joss to the Ancient Astronauts.  They can’t do wrong.  This is The Funk Ark‘s second record, and they definitely do not disappoint.  Very strong release from this DC band.

Buy “High Noon” direct from the label, Eighteenth Street Lounge.

My man Endo came through The Straight Ahead last week and mentioned that he had some 45’s in the car for sale, so I politely exited the spot and proceeded to follow the man to a parking structure down the street.  After sifting through some goodness, he handed me this 7-inch.  A fine cover of The Jackson Sisters rare groove classic.  UK soul & latin bands always come with the heat.  Hearing this record reminded me how excited I was when I heard about Grupo X quite a few years back.

Got a new night dedicated to all things jazz, at a very low key, dimly lit lounge off 6th and main. The perfect environment to vibe out to some jazz cuts every other Sunday night.

Opening night is October 2nd, and we have a treat for you!  Guest DJ Miles Perlich, who hosts, quite possibly, the best radio show on Los Angeles airwaves, United Groove.  Miles will be in the house playing some exquisite jazz vinyl from his collection, as well as other soul and funk treats you might hear on his weekly radio program.

Again, this is a low key night dedicated to the appreciation of good music, so dancing is optional.  Come through, have a drink, grab a french dip from Cole’s next door, and ease in to your work week.

Straight Ahead Sundays
Every Other Sunday, starting October 2nd
@ The Association
110 E. 6th Street in DTLA (cross street is MAIN)