Soul Jazz Records returns with their most successful series to date, ‘New Orleans Funk’. This new instalment, subtitled ‘Two-Way-Pocky- Way, Gumbo Ya Ya & The Mardi Gras Mambo’ features more classic New Orleans funk in all its forms.

The syncopated percussion beat of the second line jazz parade bands, the secret language and dances of the Mardi Gras Indians, the mambo and Latin rhythms of Professor Longhair and the city’s many piano players help make New Orleans a unique musical melting pot.

New Orleans long musical heritage begins at Congo Square with the creation of jazz, the original Creole culture clash of African heritage and European instrumentation.

In the 1960s and into the early 1970s add to this the creative powerhouses of Allen Toussaint, The Meters, Eddie Bo and others alongside the famous musical families of the city – the Nevilles, the Marsalis, the Lasties – and we find ourselves at the birthplace of the original sound of funk.

A seemingly endless line of amazing singers – Lee Dorsey, Betty Harris, Willie West and Eldridge Holmes, amongst many others – released a constant stream of stunning 45s, backed by the super funk Meters and produced by Allen Toussaint. The multi-talented Eddie Bo, similarly wrote and produced for an elite set of artists including The Explosions, Chuck Carbo and others.

Limited local record distribution meant that most of these artists remained unknown outside of the city borders and as a consequence many of these records are serious collector’s items today.

Add to this the syncopated polyrhythm funk of Mardi Gras Indians with a rare version of the carnival classic ‘Two-Way-Pock-A-Way’, and the parade band jazz of the Rebirth Jazz Band (with their twisted take on the Blackbyrd’s rare groove classic ‘Do It Fluid’) and you have the latest instalment in Soul Jazz Records’ ‘New Orleans Funk’ series.