VA - Improvisto! (2001)

HiTop is a funk and jazz label from Madrid, and this collection of Spanish and Italian artists is the bomb! Herein are ten jams of the highest quality of futuristic electro soulsters and jazzy funksters from Western Europe who recorded in the 1970s, all of whom caused a stir in Spain. The set starts out with Manuel Gas' version of "Thus Spake Zarathustra," (yeah, the one that was the theme for 2001: A Space Odyssey) with a hot two-line backbeat and a killer soprano solo in the break. The legendary French eccentric Max B's bit of deep soul and funky noir, "Posesión," follows it. Here bongos and congas trip over a gutbucket bassline as Max whispers à la Serge Gainsbourg and a slinky chanteuse sings erotically in the background. You are getting the picture now, aren't you? This set is all cool and no fools, from the pre-disco bossa glimmer of Joan Bibiloni's "Laiala, Laiala" to the drop-the-bomb funk of Tito Duarte's "Wild Party," which features a smoking wah-wah guitar, Fela-like horns, and a thrumming disco hump. The album closes with Juan Carlos Calderon's version of acid jazz-rock fusion on "Para Despedirnos." Crunching guitars, shaking polyrhythmic drums, scorching drop-dead bass, and burning riffs all compete for a slice of the volume level -- forget Santana, this is the real stuff. Improvisto! will leave the listener exhausted from its diversity, but completely and utterly satisfied with its quality. This is one of the best compilations of 2001.