Grand Bahama Goombay, the latest collection from the indefatigable crate diggers at the Chicago reissue label Numero Group, is a fascinating, jumpy addition to their catalogue with more than an hour of should-have-been superstars and preposterous amalgams of funk, soul, acid rock, and even a little gospel. The music itself all comes from the years surrounding the 1973 Bahamas Independence Order, a brief period in which the Bahamas’ “Goombay” music — named after the goombay drum — found its true voice in asking questions with no easy answers, from Cyril Ferguson’s trancy funk shuffle “Gonna Build a Nation” (banned from radio for its “cynicism”) to Sylvia Hall’s hilarious pro-abstinence jam “Don’t Touch That Thing” (complete with a naughty and incendiary funk beat). The album’s real star is Goombay founding father Jay Mitchell, who plays hypeman, sex machine, and wide-eyed loverboy with ease.
See all articles by: RICHARD BECK
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