Favorite Recordings

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.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Natureza, first album of Joao Selva. The story of Natureza is made of the meeting between two passionate artists who are Jonathan "Matuto" Da Silva and Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.Born and raised in Ipanema and son of a pastor, Jonathan Da Silva grew up in a community of ex-prisoners and converted artists. He made his first guitar notes before his 10th birthday, under the watchful eye of Wanda Sa (muse of the bossa nova), and influenced by a father who in addition to his work, was also a true music lover with a collection, where black music, rock and classical meet. From the age of 18, Jonathan began a life of entertainer, traveling the world to offer shows for disadvantaged children and intensively practicing the Brazilian traditional music arts (Capoeira Angola, Maracatu, Samba de Roda, Coco de Roda...). It was later in France and in Lyon that he put down his instruments. There he formed the trio Forro de Rebeca in 2008, touring the all country and winning many praise in media. The trio recently joined forces with American producer Maga Bo on the project Sociedade Recreativa, whose album was released in 2016 on The Jarring Effects label.Bruno Hovart is a recognized producer, multi-instrumentalist, and remixer. After passing through Angers, Birmingham and London, he’s based in Lyon since 2001. Bassist and guitarist for various bands, he switched to production in the mid-90s. Passionate about music and tireless creator, Bruno has practiced in almost every imaginable style, when it comes to groove music, collecting many aliases and projects for more than 10 years: Patchworks, Voilaaa, Uptown Funk Empire, Mr President, Taggy Matcher, Mr. Day, Hawa, John Milk, Lightnin 3, The Dynamics or Metropolitan Jazz Affair ... Nothing resists and escapes his talent and production skills. Thus, when he discovered and met Jonathan and his music, Bruno saw an immediate opportunity to broaden the spectrum of his discography a little more, by looking at Brazil.Beyond its traditional heritage, Brazil has always been a land of extremely varied music, influenced by the international scene. Soul, Jazz and American Pop did inspire many local stars such as Chico Buarque, Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, or Erasmo Carlos. Both fervent lovers of this movement and these names, it’s with the idea to pay them a faithful tribute, that Jonathan and Bruno began the Joao Selva adventure. Together they gave birth to Natureza and embark us for a trip into the heart of the Tropicalist Pop influences of Jorge Ben and Caetano Veloso, the intoxicating Funk of Tim Maia, and the social poetry of Vinicius de Moraes.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Time to Decide, The first album by Al Sunny.Al Sunny is a young composer emerging from the French soul music scene. Soon after learning the guitar, he started composing and became involved in numerous projects and collaborations. Al has been influenced by pop, rock, and electronic music, always with a foundation in the “Black” and “Soul” sound.During his conservatory studies, he refined his knowledge and confirmed his desire to write and compose. The will to establish himself on a solo project became stronger and stronger. He quickly discovered deep inside himself the music that he truly loves, inspired by artists such as Tim Maia, America, Al Green, and Al Jarreau. Thru his guitar, he gives birth to the majority of his compositions and always seeks to bring the melody of his songs to the forefront. During his studies he met musicians including Florian Pellissier, then professor at the conservatory and a confirmed pianist who worked on various projects such as Guts, Anthony Joseph, Florian Pellissier Quintet, and Shola Adissa.It's then thanks to Florian that Al Sunny meets Pascal Rioux, founder and A&R of Favorite Recordings. Immediately seduced and impressed by his talent and the various demos that he listened to, Pascal invites the young musician to collaborate and produce an album within Favorite Recordings. Together they agree on a musical direction looking towards the West coast movement of the 70s and 80s. This direction includes influences like Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, and Ned Doheny, of whom Al Sunny covers the classic “Get It Up For Love” on the new album.With Time To Decide, Al Sunny shows us the premise of his music style, infused with Blue-Eyed-Soul, Pop and Folk. Written and composed by himself, it’s in close collaboration with Florian Pellissier that his songs came to life. Under the guidance of Pascal Rioux and Favorite Recordings, the production of this album ensures a sound and a final result worthy of the best classics of the genre.

Voilaaa is one of the many projects led and produced by Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, who’s proven over the past 15 years, his place amongst the finest producers of groove music in all genres.This time exploring the wide spectrum of the African and Tropical Disco scene, he received a massive international support for Voilaaa’s first album, On te l’avait dit, released late 2015 on Favorite Recordings.Following to that success and pursuing the same direction combining of the festive, yet sometime futile nature of Disco, and the instinctive, deep, sometimes rough nature of African music, Voilaaa’s now presenting its 2nd efforts, Des Promesses.The 13 tracks of the album are again up to expectations, and Voilaaa has not finished feeding international dancefloors with heavy Afro-Disco music. Alongside Bruno at the production, singers Pat Kalla and Sir Jean are back providing their carefree lyrics and Afro vibes, and Senegalese artist Doctor Lass comes to extend the team, with 3 brilliant titles, including a great Funky cover of the classic “Mandjou” by Salif Keita and Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux..

Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart is one of the top producers of today’s groove music scene. After playing as a bassist and guitarist for various bands, he started producing in the mid-nineties and has kept on mixing today’s technologies with the raw spirits of House, Electronic, Disco, Funk, Soul, Reggae & Jazz music’s golden years since then.Following the trail of success left by his various projects as Patchworks, and under many aliases, he’s proved his musical ubiquity and unexpectedly stroke in various genres. Many House music diggers would indeed remember that before Favorite Recordings was launched in 2006, Patchworks produced many deep-house tracks on various labels.On this new EP, he’s back as Mr President with 2 new banging titles brilliantly mixing House music atmosphere, with Soul and Disco vibes. He’s also teaming up again with Sabba MG on vocals, following to their great “Give My Love” efforts, released on EDR Records 3 years ago. As “Going to a Go Go” is a fully exclusive work reminiscent of the early House music scene from New-Jersey or Chicago, the nice Disco flavors of “Night Time” also come to announce Mr President’s upcoming new album in 2017.