[RATING: 5]
Another one from the vaults courtesy of Traffic Ent and this time it’s the forty four track deep The Rojac Story – covering the musical output of the Rojac and Tay-Ster labels from the golden era of funk and soul. Forty four tracks!? Man, that’s not a ‘story’ it’s Lord Of The fucking Rings! And, as it turn out – that’s not a bad analogy since this isn’t just lengthy but also an epic collection from the archives of Jack Taylor’s Chicago and Detroit labels. That’s right – the Windy City and the Motor City weren’t just about Chess and Motown back in the day.
Clarence Reid and Big Maybelle are among the bigger names to appear (in Maybelle’s case, literally) and the first set is the more funky. It’s opened by Reid with the not un-compiled Nobody But You Babe and features storming soul burners like Maybelle’s Quittin’ Time, Little Jewel’s I Want To, dirty funk grooves from Kim Tolliver, Lavell Hardy, Curtis Lee & The KCPs and The Third Guitar and a bit of disco action from the snappily-titled Damn Sam The Miracle Man & The Soul Congregation and even afrobeat from the equally snappily titled Aleke Kanonu Meets Tolbert The Miracle Man.
Set two features more slowies and torch songs but is occasionally enlivened by the presence of such gems as Big Maybelle’s version of 96 Tears and Chuck Flamingo’s Love, Love, Love among others to ensure a (more northern) soul dancefloor aesthetic is still maintained. Check the trusty Juno player below and don’t lose your groove when you check the sounds…
(Out now on Traffic Entertainment)
