The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr Jazz, Jazz, Jazz

Habibi Funk

Berlin-based imprint Habibi Funk is reissue label focused on bringing eclectic, stereotype-busting sounds from the Arab world to a wider audience. These reissues have helped spread the word of some astonishing Arab artists across the globe. Their ninth release sees them move away from compilation format to drop a straight album reissue for the first time. The chosen record is the wonderfully energetic Jazz, Jazz, Jazz album from Sudanese outfit, The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr. The band’s sole LP, it’s an expansive fusion of styles. Exploring energetic funk, laidback traditional rhythms and upbeat, guitar-driven cuts, the record has a good-time-driven tone that propels the whole thing forward. Powerful horn sections collide with surging bass, bristling drums and pristine guitar lines as modernised versions of traditional rhythms and excursions into Congolese Soukouss interplay to create such a vivid soundscape. Images of wild 1980s Sudan parties leap into mind. Saif Abu Bakr’s soaring vocals add the final, uniting piece to this mesmerising sound mesh, pulling all the disparate elements into one direction. A wonderful and joyous record from start to finish, let’s hope that Habibi Funk continue to spread the wonders of other less well-known gems such as Jazz, Jazz, Jazz around the world.