The Ultimates
You're My Lady

LITA: ...Ethiopians’ deep-seated ethiocentrism, the legacy of a thousand years of history, has contributed in no small way to their music’s strong national identity, particularly impervious to any African influences. Latin influences, so pervasive in the great musical centers of West Africa and the Congo, have been similarly rebuffed, despite the brilliant attempts of a musician like Mulatu Astatke. He was the first and for a long time the only Ethiopian to have studied music abroad (England and USA). In the late ‘60s, he brought back ’ethio-jazz’, as well as a passion for Latin rhythms that was not readily shared by the Ethiopian audience. As early as 1966, he released a single and two LPs in the US entitled Afro-Latin Soul (and a third LP, Mulatu of Ethiopia in 1972), with his Ethiopian Quintet composed of American and Latin-American musicians (Worthy Records). That was three years before Fela’s first American tour and six years prior to Manu Dibango’s key breakthrough with the release of Soul Makossa in the Western ‘pre-World music’ market. All this goes to show how much the history of the African continent’s musical modernity should be reconsidered in light of the Ethiopian adventure, even though this lone spark bore little relation, musically or ideologically to the musical revolutions initiated most notably by Ghanian highlife, South African jazz, Congolese rumba or, much later on, by Fela.

P-Vine: ...A true rare board that is not only rare, but also has perfect quality!　 A masterpiece of the soul vocal group from Kansas City (recorded in Chicago), a land where it is hard to say that soul music was booming in 1976. The only album released by Smoke on a label called J. Bridge, a quartet that includes Larry Brown, who was also on Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and Marva Whitney's younger brother Melvin Manning.The reissue LP of P-Vine in 1996 is also rising, and the LP reissue of the same work again.After all, in addition to the wonderful ballad "I'm So Lonely" that exceeds 8 minutes, the medium that seems to be from Chicago is also the best. Amacha soul fan super must!