Jazzman prove once again why they are one of the top reissue labels around with this incredible triple 45 pack from the legendary Seven B label! Unless your your deep funk and soul head, chances are you probably haven't even heard of Seven B, so this reissue set works as an excellent introduction to the famed New Orleans' based label. For The Essential Seven B, Jazzman has gone ahead and picked the best and rarest from the label's catalog and put them together over 6 sides of solid northern soul, deep funk, and club rocking r&b. From Jazzman: "Of the 3x7”s contained in this pack we first come up with the full length of "Pass The Hatchet", with Eddie Bo playing the musical chameleon linking funk, soul and the Mariachi. Eddie continues on side 2 with the bewitching "From This Day On" on which drummer James Black ended up kicking out the trumpet player and doing it himself; then 17-year-old Lenny McDaniel blasts a fiery trail of pure energy through ‘Something Out of Nothing’; Inez Cheatham teams up with Eddie Bo to give us "Lover And A Friend" over James Black’s monstrous backbeat; and finally Pat Brown renders her sole 45 "Good Got To Suffer For The Bad" before seeing the light and joining a church." Comes packaged with extensive liner notes from Seven B expert and archivist Angus Batey, plus quotes from an exclusive Eddie Bo interview. Recommended listening for the funk & soul enthusiast.

• music label: Jazzman 2012

reviewed by Extravagant Traveler 10/2012