JOHNNY PATE — Shaft In Africa (review)

JOHNNY PATE — Shaft In Africa album cover Album · 1973 · Jazz Related Soundtracks Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
js
The first “Shaft” movie soundtrack, scored by Isaac Hayes, was one of the most popular and innovative soundtracks for its time. For the second Shaft movie, director Gordon Parks tried to make the soundtrack himself and didn’t fare nearly as well. For the third in the series, “Shaft in Africa”, the call went to Johnny Pate. Pate was a great choice, because like Hayes, Pate had the background in sophisticated orchestral arranging as well as a background performing street tough funky RnB. Its this combination of conga and wah-wah guitar driven rhythms topped with slick modern orchestrations that are the hallmark of the highly collectable 70s crime jazz soundtrack commonly referred to as “blaxploitation”.

This is a very well done soundtrack and all the classic blaxploitaion elements are here: African percussion, bold panoramic horn driven melodies, exotic tone colors and plenty of wah-wah guitars and clavinets for everyone. Pate’s approach is slightly more traditional than Hayes, his romantic numbers like “Aleme finds Shaft” sound more like classic movie soundtracks than modern RnB, but the upbeat numbers are not lacking in contemporary funk rhythms. One highlight is “El Jardin” on which a hard piano riff is topped with an exotic oboe melody backed by pizzacato strings, pure heaven for the exotica collector. Early hip-hop fans may recognize the piano riff as being the background for one of Queen Latifah’s first hits.

This album is highly recommended for collectors of crime jazz soundtracks, blaxploitation and exotica in general. If there is one major drawback to “Shaft in Africa”, it is the brevity of this release. The original LP is barely about 27 minutes long, and that’s with adding the movie’s big pop hit, “Are You Man Enough”, to both sides of the original LP. On a side note, fans of 70s soul and RnB may notice how strongly “Are You Man Enough” resembles the previously popular and politically oriented hit, “Backstabbers” by the O Jays.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

My Ship Hard Bop
WILLIE JONES III
Buy this album from MMA partners
Ice Breaking Post-Fusion Contemporary
DAG ARNESEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin : Brasil Latin Jazz
LEE RITENOUR
Buy this album from MMA partners
From The North - Gogo Penguin Live In Manchester Nu Jazz
GOGO PENGUIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet : Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022 Avant-Garde Jazz
ANTHONY BRAXTON
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

03 Willie Jones III My Ship #NightIsAlive
WILLIE JONES III
snobb· 2 hours ago
Fall
SUNNY KIM
js· 16 hours ago
Twilight
RANDY SCOTT
js· 1 day ago
Trifecta - Beck and Call - official video (taken from The New Normal)
TRIFECTA
js· 2 days ago
Phoenix
GRÉGORY PRIVAT
js· 2 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed