Hooray for the Afro-Funk! This gem of Afro-funk
sweetness comes to us from Munich, Germany of all places. Karl Hector and the
Malcouns has elements of Fela Kuti, James Brown, Sun Ra, Martin, Medeski and
Wood and 70’s Miles Davis, to name a few, all rolled up in one. As it is
becoming more common for non-Africans to create African music, Karl Hector has
shown us that as long as we tap into the rhythm of ‘the one’, it really doesn’t
matter. Released on Now and Again Records, ‘Sahara Swing’ (released 2008) continues
somewhat in the afro-beat tradition but shows its ability to keep evolving.
Karl Hector was the leader of the band the Funk Pilots and had only recorded on
one 7 inch in 1996. He and has teamed up with The Malcouns (Thomas Myland and
Zdenko Curulija). Myland and Curulija have worked on Berlin Serengeti,
Watou Records and with the Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers.
While it is intertwined with the cosmic realm of
pyschedelia, ‘Sahara Swing’ is a must for any fan of Fela Kuti and the
Afro-beat style. There are plenty of funky polyrhythmic things going on here
with slightly eerie bubbly sounds and organic tones mimicking nature. ‘Followed Path’ has a great organ with an
off-kilter spacey brass section. During the song there is a saxophone that
plays in the styles of Pharaoh Sanders and James Plunky Branch. On ‘Debere’,
there are very hip other-worldly keyboards going on, somewhat reminiscent of
Sun-Ra. On the track, ‘Jabore Pt. 3’ we hear a slower groove dabbled in
exotica. The title track ‘Sahara Swing’
has a weird funk jam that is somewhat reminiscent of some Martin, Medeski and
Wood. On ‘Psycles’ there is a driving funk bass while all kinds of sounds are
added and then taken away to create a cool flow. There can be traces of Miles
Davis’s Dark Magus heard here as well as on the track ‘Mystical
Brotherhood’. ‘Koloko Pt. 1’ is full of
wah-wah guitar and tight funky brass. The pieces Transition >I<,
>Z<, >B< & >W< are relatively short but very cool
nevertheless. Probably my favorite track is “Nyx’, this is just one funky
piece!
The audio engineering and the album art on this
album is also to be noted. There is some great panning on some of the tracks
and the album art is just awesome. All in all, this is a solid album made by
superior musicians with not a bad track on it. It consists of twenty tracks at
around 45 minutes. (That’s really the main drawback-too short and could have a
few longer jams) While this album sounds as it would not be out of place in the
early 70’s, it is more of homage to the early Afro-funk. I would rate this 4
out of 5 stars. Although this might not be for the average listener, the
average listener would probably still enjoy this. To fully enjoy this great
piece of music, it should be listened to in its entirety. I definitely look
forward to any next projects done with these musicians. Well Done! Rhett Taylor
