Undercover

1. Celebrating 85 years James Brown (born May 3, 1933). This tribute might be uncommon but I didn’t want to re-do the ever same compilations about the Godfather Of Soul. JB was inspired by Jazz pioneers like Louis Jordan & Jimmy Smith and he was an inspiration to some Jazz musicians himself. Of course some tunes are plain FUNK but I bet you don’t blame me for that. Some nice cover versions & tributes also made it in here. You'll see.

Feat. Dee Dee Bridgewater • African Music Machine • James Brown (at the organ) • Grant Green • James Taylor Quartet • James Brown & The Louie Bellson Orchestra • Mongo Santamaría • John Wagner Coalition • The James Brown Band • Quincy Jones • Lou Donaldson • Tower Of Power • Les Watson And The Panthers • Jimmy McGriff • Christian McBride • Aretha Franklin • The Mar-Keys • Stevie Wonder and finally James Brown himself again with a 1976 remake of his classic TRY ME (1959). Mr. Brown died on christmas morning 2006. Never to be forgotten!

1. A jazzy tribute to one of the finest soul singers of all time. Marvin Gaye didn‘t write all these tunes but will be affiliated with them forever. Also not all of these tunes are really Jazz but all of them have a jazzy twist. On the last song you‘ll hear a VERY JAZZY Marvin Gaye. From his 1964 Tamla LP WHEN I‘M ALONE I CRY (TM 251). Precious!

Other featured artists in this mix: Everette Harp, Carolyn & Aretha Franklin at their father‘s church, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, Booker T., Earl Klugh, Grover Washington, Marlena Shaw, Reuben Wilson, Nils Landgren Funk Unit, Maceo Parker with Pee Wee Ellis & Fred Wesley & many more ...

1. Coming up with some remarkable Jazz covers of the Lennon/McCartney songbook. ENJOY!

2. The Word by The Harvey Averne Dozen

3. Savoy Truffle by Ella Fitzgerald

4. I Want To Hold Your Hand by Grant Green

5. Can't Buy Me Love by Stanley Turrentine

6. And I Love Him by Sarah Vaughan

7. Come Together by Herbie Mann

8. From Me To You by Joshua Breakstone

9. The Fool On The Hill by Dianne Reeves & Javon Jackson

10. If I Fell by Salena Jones

11. Yesterday by Nancy Wilson

12. And I Love Him by Diana Krall

13. A Day In The Life by Grant Green

14. Golden Slumbers / You Never Give Me Your Money by George Benson

15. Eleanor Rigby by Lonnie Smith

16. I Will by Joshua Breakstone

17. These cover version are simply damn good!

01 Merry Clayton - Grandma‘s Hands, 1971 Ode Records 02 Margie Joseph - Let‘s Stay Together, 1973 Atlantic 03 King Curtis - If I Were A Carpemter, 1972 ATCO 04 Melba Moore - Heaven Help Us All, 1971 Mercury 05 Grant Green - Just The Way You Are, 1978 Versitile* 06 Idris Muhammad - Hey Pocky A-Way, 1976 KUDU ** 07 Little Junior Parker - Lady Madonna, 1971 Groove Merchant 08 Donald Byrd - Just My Imagination, 1975 Blue Note 09 Quincy Jones - What‘s Going On?, 1971 A&M 10 Rufus Thomas - Tutti Frutti, 1973 STAX 11 Bernard Purdie - Theme From Shaft, 1972 Prestige 12 Esther Phillips - Use Me, 1972 KUDU (original LP version without strings!) 13 Hampton Hawes - Killing Me Softly With His Song, 1978 Contemporary Records 14 Ike & Tina Turner - Sugar Sugar, 1977 United Artists 15 Isaac Hayes - For The Good Times, 1971 Enterprise/STAX

• from his final album ** trombone solo by Fred Wesley

1. The Queen of Soul at 74 confirmed her retirement when speaking to a Detroit TV station. From what I‘ve heard she‘s planning a final album (maybe together with Stevie Wonder) and otherwise is just happy with her career as it is today. For good reasons. Aretha Franklin has had more than 20 number one singles in the US charts and won the Grammy for Best R&B vocal performance for eight years after another (1968 – 1975).

Some friends and I had tickets to see her in NYC back in September 2016 but the tour was canceled. For the unlikely case I could have forwarded a CD to her, or her management, or some kind of security guy I had this compilation ready. It never happened. Sweet tributes to her Majesty Soul.

1. As always a hand-picked selection and part of a project outside from Mixcloud. It just fell off the table :-) E-N-J-O-Y !!!

01 Rabbits And Carrots - Sex Machine 02 The Female Preacher, Lyn Collins - I‘ll Take You There* 03 King Curtis (pictured) - Groove Me 04 Major Harris - Like A Rolling Stone 05 Barbara Randolph - Can I Get A Witness? ** 06 The Fame Gang - Walk Tall 07 Lou Rawls - Win Your Love For Me 08 Aretha Franklin - River‘s Invitation 09 Erma Franklin - Hold On, I‘m Coming 10 Les McCann - What‘s Going On 11 Etta James - Light My Fire 12 Donald Height - Don‘t Let Me Down 13 Ben E. King - Into The Mystic 14 Idris Muhammad - Don‘t Knock My Love 15 Baby Huey - California Dreamin‘ 16 The Two Things In One - Canteloupe Island

*From 2016 double LP: James Brown & his Revue Live At The Apollo. Vol. IV, Get On Down, GET54082. A very exciting and highly recommended release by Universal. Recorded Sep. 13-14, 1972.

1. Saw THE GENIUS perform live in September of 1987 and still cherish the concert ticket and poster. What a song writer, what a singer, what a musicianship!

1 Gene Russell - You Are The Sunshine Of My Life 2 Carmen McRae - Where Were You When I Needed You (live) 3 Stevie Wonder - Superwoman / Where Were You When I Needed You 4 Shirley Brown - Signed, Sealed, Delivered 5 Ike & Tina Turner - Living For The City 6 Roy Ayers - Don‘t You Worry ’Bout A Thing 7 The Bar-Kays - I Was Made To Love Her 8 George Benson - My Cherie Amour 9 Najee - Summer Soft 10 Stevie Wonder - Smile Please 11 David Newman - Sylvia 12 Freddie Hubbard - Too High 13 Jimmy Helms - All In Love Is Fair 14 Joe Cocker - You And I 15 Melvin van Peebles - Superstition 16 Ramsey Lewis - Living For The City

1. 1. Living For The City by Ray Charles

2. Superstition by Ahmad Jamal

3. Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) by Aretha Franklin

4. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Junior Walker & The All Stars with Stevie Wonder

5. Too High by Pat Martino

6. Up-Tight (Everything Is Alright) by Ramsey Lewis

7. I Was Made To Love Her by Booker T. & The MG's

8. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Live) by Ella Fitzgerald

9. You And I by Carmen McRae

10. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday by Houston Person

11. To Know You Is To Love You by B.B. King

12. Creepin’ by Cory Henry

13. Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing by Gato Barbieri

14. I Can't Help It by Michael Jackson

15. Take A Little Trip by Minnie Riperton

16. Tell Me Something Good by Rufus & Chaka Khan

17. My Love Is Your Love by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

18. It's A Shame by Paul Jackson Jr.

19. Living For The City by Ramsey Lewis

20. Fingertips by Little Stevie Wonder

21. Boogie On Reggae Woman by Larry Goldings

22. You Haven't Done Nothing / It Ain't No Use (Live) by Chris Farlowe

23. Nothing's Too Good For My Baby by Remo Four

24. Bam by Stevie Wonder

25. Signed, Sealed & Delivered by Bobby Byrd

26. Superstition by Bernard Purdie

27. 1. Blackbird by Billy Preston

28. Eleanor Rigby by Aretha Franklin

29. Get Back by Al Green

30. Oh Darling by Joe Williams

31. Can't buy me love by Ella Fitzgerald

32. A Hard Days Night by The Bar-Kays

33. Day tripper by Otis Redding

34. Something by James Brown

35. Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett

36. Help by David Porter (not to be mistaken with Dave from Sam & Dave, David Porter and Isaac Hayes wrote many classics for VOLT/Stax and Atlantic. Porter himself only had a few recordings under his own flag)

37. With A Little Help From My Friends by Joe Cocker

38. Yesterday by Lou Rawls

39. A Taste Of Honey by Tom Jones

40. All together now by Joy Fleming (the only german singer who recorded on Atlantic!)

41. And I love Him by Esther Phillips (live in L.A.)

42. She's a Woman by Jose Feliciano

43. Back in the ussr by Ramsey Lewis

44. Besame Mucho by Johnny "Hammond" Smith

45. Drive My car by Bo Street Runners

46. Please Mr Postman by The marvelettes

47. The Long And Winding Road by Ray Charles & The Count Basie Orchestra

48. We can work it out by Chris Farlowe

49. 01 Fugees - Killing Me Softly With His Song 02 First Choice - Runnin‘ Out Of Fools 03 Pretty Purdie - You‘ve Got A Friend 04 The Fame Gang - Stand 05 Isley Brothers - Brother, Brother 06 Vic Taylor - Stir It Up* 07 Don Convay - Memphis 08 Billy Preston - Hey Brother (aka Hey Joe) 09 George Freeman - All In The Game 10 Creative Source - Who Is He And What Is He To You? 11 St. Clair Pinckney - Shake It Down** 12 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Sugar Sugar 13 Carmen McRae & Hank Crawford - Mr Magic 14 Idris Muhammad - Express Yourself 15 Macy Gray - Tuesday Heartbreak

• Vic is pictured here, LP Reflections, 1973, DYNAMIC, DY 3334 ** a second offering to remember the great tenor & flute player from the former James Brown Band. Mr Pinckney was a true gentleman.

1. We lost another Giant in Soul Music. An inspiration to his fans and many other musicians. R.I.P. Bill Withers! Never to be forgotten. Your music will outlive us all! 01 Spanky Wilson - Kissing My Love 02 Bobby Taylor - Grandma's Hand 03 Esther Phillips - Use Me 04 Jack McDuff - Ain't No Sunshine 05 Bill Withers - I Want to Spend the Night 06 The Crusaders feat. Bill Withers - Soul Shadows 07 Grover Washington Jr. - Just The Two Of Us 08 Al Jarreau - Lonely Town, Lonely Street 09 Wilson Pickett - I Hope She'll Be Happier With Him 10 Jon Lucien - Hello Like Before 11 Irma Thomas - The Same Love That Made Me Laugh 12 Margie Joseph - The Same Love That Made Me Laugh 13 Bill Withers - Harlem/Cold Baloney (live)