Dave Van Patten


The Souljazz Orchestra
Solidarity
Strut Records

I used to say that the only good thing about this century’s first decade was the emergence of chipotle into North American cuisine (the smoked pepper itself, not the burrito chain!). But what I’m realizing now is that there was a second spicy treat expanding in the 00s, and that was the changeover we saw in world music, from being so god awful that only Paul Simon and Bobby McFerrin would touch it to being one of the best and most well-established genres going on. Of course, “world music” as a term stinks of imperialism, implying an otherness about the “world” outside of our U.S. borders that makes all nations’ music different from us and similar to each other’s. But it’s hard to know how else to categorize treats such as the Souljazz Orchestra’s Solidarity: this album tackles Afrobeat, reggae, salsa, samba, “semba,” conga, soul, and jazz, and is sung in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and even “Wolof.” To a sheltered white Oklahoman like me, just reading their press release has sent me to Wikipedia about five times, but not so the music, which is identifiable in any language—there’s a sense of strength in each song, but also a driving urge to dance, dance, DANCE! Maybe Mike Watt was un-ironically right to declare “Maybe partying will help?”

-D. M. Collins