The idea behind “Single Minded” belongs Adrian Gibson, head of London’s popular Jazz Café and founder of Freestyle records. Adrian is celebrating the labels fifth year anniversary with a bunch of 12” singles that were only available on vinyl. Adrian has compiled an eclectic collection of hip hop, disco, Afrobeat, latin and soul music spread across a two disc set. Among the many highlights include Sleeve’s “Get It On”, a funky uptempo number aided by the sampling of Funkadelic’s “Knee Deep”. Afrodizz delivers an electrifying afrobeat jam entitled “Kalakuta Show”. You can never go wrong when you include a track by the underrated soul crooner Lewis Taylor. His falsetto voice sounds wonderful on “When will I ever Learn”. There are other prime cuts on the second disc like Lanu’s “Mosquito Coast, a delightful samba tune. Los Cabrones provides some enjoyable Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz with the sensational “Hola Que Tal”. Adrian Gibson once again demonstrates his love for all flavors of music. His knack for uncovering underground hits and forgotten gems proves to be essential listening. This is one of many quality recordings to emerge from the Freestyle roster this year that shouldn’t be missed.
