Favorite Recordings

New single by legendary Brazilian singer DI MELO, 40 years after his classic self-titled Samba-Soul LP. Performed and produced by French brilliant combo COTONETE, this single and collaboration will be followed by a full album early 2019.Florian Pelissier speaks about the project: “On tour in Brazil with Cotonete, we had a few days off in Sao Paulo and I really hoped to make a collaboration with an important artist or band from the Brazilian funk scene. We had thought of Marcos Valle, Meta Meta or Ed Motta... but Rafaela Prestes our Brazilian "sound ingineer/genious" told me: "I worked for the return of Di Melo in Rio 2 years ago. He rocks, he’s adorable and he lives in Sao Paulo, here’s his number, he would be perfect for Cotonete."No sooner said than done. I'm a huge fan of Di Melo and had already tried to contact him for Cotonete 6 years ago. The next day, on a Sunday, he arrives at our house with Jo, his wife, and Gabi, his daughter. He takes the guitar in front of us in the kitchen, and gives us a private show of 3 hours… we cried the tears of joy.He had 400 original songs never recorded, a gold mine. On the same night, we started working the arrangements for 2 days, followed by a rehearsal and two small gigs in Sao Paulo. Immediately after, we recorded in the magical Epsilon B studio. All with the participation of Gabi, his 10-year-old daughter, and future star.This album is the summary of this moment, of these 5 days of madness spent together between “the best band in the world” and the legend Roberto Di Melo… Simple, beautiful, Brazilian-French, human music…”

Discover Le Deltaplane, fifth album by Andre Solomko, and third produced on Favorite Recordings, pursuing a collaboration that started more than 5 years ago. Born in Ukraine in 1965 and now based in Finland, Andre Solomko is primarily a rich and engaging personality, but above all, a brilliant saxophonist, composer and engineer, whose contagious passion cannot leave anyone indifferent. Between 2012 and 2014, he and Favorite Recordings released 2 albums, Où es-tu maintenant ? and Le Polaroid, hailed by many tastemakers and meeting notable success in Japan. Following Le Premier Disco Sans Toi, an acclaimed single unveiling two new compositions with Disco flavors, Andre Solomko and Favorite Recordings also proudly present Le Deltaplane. Fully composed and arranged by Andre Solomko, the 6 tracks of the album are deeply infused with his longtime passion for Jazz-Funk and Movie-Soundtracks, this time also injecting more influences from WestCoast and Modern-Soul music. Andre Solomko, an artist who spreads love like in the good old days!

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Combattant, first EP by Pat Kalla produced by Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart.PAT KALLA is a musician, singer and storyteller. Patrice of his birth name, in tribute to the great Lumumba! Lover of words, French language, and music of course. Born in Lyon, from a Cameroonian father, musician and political activist, and a French and literary mother, he explores from his childhood the Soul, the Slam, the Funk … and the art of telling stories, life being a great one…After years of touring alongside many bands (Conte & Soul, Legend of Eboa King, Mento Cloub, Voilaaa Sound System), and several acclaimed titles on the two albums by Voilaaa (« On te l’avait dit », « Le Disco des Capitales », « Pour la vie »,…), he comes back with this project to put a bit of primordial lightness in a rainy world: A tribute to the African culture in honor of a father with « Sawa » origins, the tribe from the people of Makossa.Jojo Ngallé, Moni Bilé, Pain, Manu Dibango, Franco, Rochereau, Kabaselé, Fela, François Nkotti & The Black Style, all these legends’ vinyls have turned on the family turntable and the collection has whetted the child’s appetite. Through this new trip, he revisits styles that are sometimes little known to Western audiences, such as High-Life, Makossa, Angolan Music, Afrobeat, Afro-Disco and others. We could talk about “Franc CFA”, we could talk about Jacques Foccart, but we will rather dance, because « the dancer seems naive, but his feet must be connected with earth to understand history… »Backed by the « Super Mojo Disco« , a hyperactive band from Lyon with deep groove and positive energy, Pat Kalla offers us an anti-crisis project, where swaying and feel-good humor is mandatory! An album soon in the crates, beware « c’est médicament » (it’s medicine)!!

They say that good things come in threes… it must be true and Favorite Recordings also proudly presents the third edition of its acclaimed French Disco Boogie Sounds compilation series.Like on prior volumes, the complete tracklist is selected by label head honcho, Charles Maurice (aka Pascal Rioux), who’s unearthed 13 more forgotten and hidden tracks, all produced whether in France, in French, or by French artists between 1977 and 1987.With most of these titles now very hard to find in their original edition and unknown by many, this compilation should be a must have for any Disco-Boogie-Funk music lover and collector.Fully remastered from originals at The Carvery Cut (UK), French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol.3 (1977-1987, selected by Charles Maurice) is presented by Favorite Recordings in a gatefold vinyl double LP and as CD.

New official album reissue of Sunshine by Junior Byron: A real Modern-Soul/Disco masterpiece, originally released in 1981 by Canadian label Formula Records, and very hard to find today. Based in Canada, Junior Byron had quite a short career as a singer and recorded only a few singles and this stunning album between 1981 and 1985. Produced by André Perry and Joe La Greca, Sunshine is not just a one track album, but a complete whole piece, including some highlights such as “Inch by Inch”, “Galaxy” or “Sunshine”, must-haves today in many DJ’s lists. It’s a real honor and proud for Favorite Recordings, to finally officially reissue it for the first time on vinyl. 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.

Since the release of his 2 first albums on Favorite Recordings, Lucas Arruda has quickly established himself as one of the most talented young artist and composer from Brazil. His music is filled with fusion style, mixing influences and elements from his Latin musical background, with his genuine admiration for Jazz, Soul and Funk music. In spring 2015, it was also not surprising to find Lucas Arruda back with a new LP called SOLAR, receiving great supports and feedbacks from international media and tastemakers. One of the highlight of the album was the song “Melt the Night”, on which Lucas asked legendary producer Leon Ware for his help, reminding his collaborations in the 80s with Marcos Valle, when they perfectly merged together the sophisticated Boogie and AOR touch from California, with the blazing sense of rhythm from Brazil. Today, Lucas Arruda and Favorite Recordings proudly present a brand new single, announcing the release of Lucas’ third efforts later this year. This new opus is pursuing the music direction set with SOLAR, mixing touch of Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop, Soul and Brazilian styles together, and influenced by the path of legendary Brazilian producer Lincoln Olivetti, who recorded some of the biggest stars of Brazilian music (Marcos Valle, Jorge Ben, Tim Maia…). In Lucas words: “These two tracks represent the whole spirit of the new album. In this record I really wanted to honor Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti. They are the main influence on this record. We recorded the basic tracks for the album in the same studio that Lincoln Olivetti did his last works. So, this was very important to capture the true essence of Brazilian Funk/AOR tradition. Hope you guys enjoy it!”

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.