TITLE: Jambu
LABEL: Nacional
The second album from this Los Angeles-based Afro-Latin-funk instrumental aggregation picks up right where the first one left off – on the dance floor, sweating up a storm. Jungle Fire’s members are working pros from West Coast funk institutions like the Greyboy All Stars, Breakestra and Orgone – in this band they doobie their funk with heavy doses of Afrobeat and Latin music. Percussion is front and center: there’s a full four-piece Latin percussion section plus a kit drummer, and the tunes are peppered with breakbeats. The rhythm section keeps it in the pocket, and the horns are crisp and energetic. Track 6 follows the Afrobeat-dominated blueprint of the first album, with a bit more psych influence. Otherwise, the best new tunes offer some new twists: 1 is based on Cameroonian makossa a la Manu Dibango, 3 is a psych-drenched cover of the Colombian Moog synthesizer novelty classic “Cumbia De Sal,” and 4 has the War “Low Rider” sound that to me is the essence of West Coast funk. This is the first local band that LA label Nacional Records has signed – good choice, folks.
TOP TRACKS: 1 3 4 6
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2 5 7 8 9
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