Francis The Great
Ravissante Baby

Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis’ body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped-down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late 60’s Francis coined the term “soulfolk”, playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary.These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. “If you were black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music,” Cleveland professed.Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis’ entire 1970 self-released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970.“These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America.” - Cleveland Francis

After gaining a solid reputation over the past few years thanks to his numerous productions for artists such as Drake or Slakah the Beatchild to name just a few, French producer Häzel finally presents his first solo project. Available Mai 16th on 12inch & Digital, these voluntarily J-Dilla influenced 6 tracks build a superb Hip-Hop/Soul opus. ‘Playground’ will also be released on Catblock Records, new label launched together by Favorite Recordings.

Behind the name Mr Day, lies a band led by singer, guitarist, DJ & collector Eric Duperray. From the mid-90's Eric begins to make a name for himself with the group Kool Cats Club and tours a lot in the Acid Jazz scene, repeatedly making the first part of the label's leading bands like Corduroy or Mother Earth.In 2003, Eric works alongside Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart, a real starting point for a collaboration that will take them on very different playgrounds, with notable successes including, among others, the classic "Yonuwhathislifeez" under the name Metropolitan Jazz Affair, the incredible 45s "Seven Nation Army / Move On Up" by The Dynamics, the recent hit by Mr President, "The Best Is Yet To Come" or the track "Food For Soul" available on this new album, and which already received recognition before its release (international ad soundtrack for Nespresso, compilation Psyche on Acid-Jazz and finally the soundtrack for Alexander Coffre's latest movie).Meanwhile, Eric and Bruno formed the band Mr Day in 2007, with experienced Jazz and Rock musicians. Without waiting they release a series of 45's, EPs and start touring, which leads to their first album, Small Fry, released in 2010 on Favorite Recordings. Small Fry not only receives a warm welcome, it also lays a solid foundation for a real band and a unique sound.Today, the project Mr Day keeps affirming itself. During the writing of this second album, the band evolved naturally towards a more ambitious sound which clearly set them at the intersection of Rock and Soul from the 60s to now. The band also decided to use 100% analog production and recording techniques: magnetic tapes, live takes and cracklings contribute to producing a rich and organic sound. However, Mr Day is far from being a revival band. On the contrary, Dry Up In The Sun appears resolutely timeless, that is to say in his vintage, yet modern approach. The beats perfectly coexist alongside the guitars, as in the great era of Primal Scream in the 90s. The alchemy seems perfect and natural on each of the 10 tracks that make up this inspired and mastered sophomore work.

Driven by a vicious and visceral soul, The Buttshakers are known for their fierce and fiery music.Yet after nearly a decade of touring and recording, it was with a different musical vision that they approached Sweet Rewards, their first collaboration with Underdog Records. Accustomed to the raw, primitive sounds of 60s garage rock and the crude sexuality of pre-Motown soul music, A sound they could have continued to dig into again and again. Instead, they decided to take another route: a creative shift, a return to a style of soul music that no longer has to rely on pure energy alone. Exceeding the limitations imposed by their tight yet powerful six person lineup, they opened up this studio session to fully accommodate their ideas and concretize their musical ambitions: a larger horn section creates a richer, scintillating sonority; a touch of slide-guitar opens their creative universe to the open spaces of the far West; the organ vacillates between psychedelic drapery and heartfelt gospel tones; all of this supported by the wicked groove of a percussionist driving the beat on. Their sultry and soulful frontwoman, Ciara Thompson, is here for the first time supported by backing vocalist. An occasion for her to indulge in a few call and- response chorales, a reverence to a gospel background instilled in her from her native St Louis (Missouri), a still vibrant heritage from the city that cradled jazz, blues, country and folk music. Ideal for a sound that never lets down yet remains intuitive to the gradual rise of emotion each song demands. With each new listening, Sweet Rewards reveals something new to the listener: another dimension, a hidden layer.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new official reissue of ARIAN: A rare and underrated Disco album originally released in 1981 by PGP RTB label and fully recorded in New-York.Arian Kerliu was born in the small town of Macedonia, Dibra or Debar. Arian’s first recordings for a local radio stations were at the age of 14, appearing in almost every music festival in Ex-Yugoslavia. When he was 19, Arian came to New York City, working different jobs and studying music. His first music engagements were in various clubs throughout the city, playing guitar and singing. He then met with James Benjamin-Fish, well known bass-guitar player, with whom he formed the band ARIAN & FUNKY FAMILY, mainly performing in the best clubs of NYC at that time.Together, they came to an idea to record an album of their own. After travelling throughout the US, they got to know each other very well, and had connected with probably some of the best musicians you could find at that time. Thus they had Sinclair Acey arranging three songs and Hubert Eaves, as a writer of "Still Together", a beautiful ballad written in honor of his wife. By that time Hubert had gained two Grammy awards for Stephanie Mills’ albums. Kornelius Cambell also wrote and composed two songs of the album, which Sinclair Acey arranged. The album also contains a great cover of “Can’t Say Goodbye” by Bobby Caldwell, a song that Arian and James had interpreted almost every night when touring. And all of this completed with the background vocals of Tawatha Agee (Mtume), Shevill Alexander and Sybil Thomas (Raw Silk).Arian & Funky Family band was then invited in Yugoslavia for a European tour, including James, Kornelius and Stacey, but also others great musicians such as William "Spaceman" Patterson, Zane Mark, Steve Kroon, Trevor Gale, Alex Foster, or Reggie Marks, not forgetting Flame Braithwaite and Meli'sa Morgan on background vocals. Having the material of the 4 songs ready and finalized, the PGP RTB label from Belgrade offered them to release an album, with the idea to also adapt the songs with lyrics from the famous Croatian musician and writer Mario Mihaljevic.Today, Favorite Recordings is deeply honored to bring this brilliant LP back to life. In order to insure the best sound quality, the original tracklist has been dispatched on a double vinyl version, which should please all DJs and music collectors.