The Never-Ending Mixing Bowl

Savoring a compilation of '70s funk from Italy

The Italians? Great at many things, stewards of world culture treasures, superlative in the kitchen.

Good at Afro-funk? You be the judge.

This new compilation from the Italian reissue label Four Flies collects club singles and collaborations made between 1973 and 1978. It chronicles the ways Italian recording artists and DJs blended grooves from West Africa and the Afro-Caribbean with elements of American soul (suave Philly strings) and disco. Among its tracks: A version of Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” by the collective African Revival; an early refraction of Afrobeat, “Kumbayero,” from Weyman Corporation; a curious slice of light psychedelia, “Amore,” that was co-written by Vangelis (!) and is built on shaker-forward rhythm from the Ghanaian-British band Osibisa.

I seek out these compilations (Bandcamp link here) not just for the novelty factor (can’t resist that!), but because they illustrate something fundamental about music: It travels. Slides past borders, slips between ideological and religious divisions. Ideas born in one location are frequently embraced continents away, becoming new ear-catching and unexpected sounds. No such thing as isolationism where music is concerned.