GIBBS AND THE UNLIMITED SOUND OF STEEL ORCHESTRA, JOHN - Steel Funk

EM

GIBBS AND THE UNLIMITED SOUND OF STEEL ORCHESTRA, JOHN - Steel Funk

"Following the appetizer of the two 12" singles "Trinidad (Disco Mix)" and "JOuvert," EM Records now serves up the main dish, the fine 1977 album Steel Funk by John Gibbs And The Unlimited Sound Of Steel Orchestra, a new addition to the "EM Steel Pan Series." Trinidadian steel-pan player John A. Gibbs studied science at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica where he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees and formed The Jamaica All Stars Steel Band. This was the start of a dual career in science and music that eventually took him to the United States. He moved to Philadelphia in the mid-70s and met Philly arranger/producer Louis A. deLise, with whom he collaborated to create a new steel pan music, welding Trinidadian steel music to Philly soul. He researched and advocated a new style of steel pan music, describing the steel pan as an "omnivibraphone" in his 1978 book The Unit Steel Band, in which he combined his scientific and musical backgrounds to illuminate the physics of the steel pan. Gibbs innate musicality comes to the fore on Steel Funk, where he compiles several years of experience with deLise into an appealing Trini-Philly groove union, with the five steel pan players of the Unlimited Sound Of Steel Orchestra working in sync with a 30-piece studio orchestra of brass, strings and rhythm. The songs range from Calypso to film theme to pop standard, covers and originals, but Steel Funk is not a chintzy pastiche, its a glorious unity. EM Records offers this re-release as "the 2014 version," newly remastered, with improved sound quality, a different track order, and new cover art drawn by Yoshihiro Tsuyama/2Yang. NOTE: All tracks are NOT duplicated on the two 12" singles "Trinidad (Disco Mix)" and "JOuvert." - EM.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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