The Mighty Tom Cats - Soul Makossa

Global funk from a one-man guiding hand

Paul Winley wasn’t just a chancer looking to get himself noticed with a vanity label. He launched his Winley imprint in New York in 1956, focusing on doo wop recordings for the likes of The Paragons and his brother’s group, The Clovers. Before that, however, he’d served time under Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic, while also working as a Brill Building songwriter.

As the times changed, so did Winley: by the end of the 70s, it was one of the earlier hip-hop imprints, and it’s founder one of the first people to record Afrika Bambaataa with 1980’s Zulu Nation Throwdown. In between times, the label boasted a soul/funk roster destined to fuel the hip-hop records Winley would later focus upon; not least this laidback soul-jazz groover from 1974, recorded by a group of musicians Winley threw together himself.

Soul Makossa’s title track needs no introduction, but the Tom Cats add a more Afrobeat to the pounding classic. From its calypso B-side, Tom Cat Reggay, through to the likes of Mozambique and the 13-minute outro Bahamas Melody, Soul Makossa boasts a world-funk mix that, released here for the first time on CD (though with a less-than-perfect transfer), should, by rights, soundtrack next year’s Notting Hill Carnival.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Paul Winley/Traffic | TEG 99-22

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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