Santa's Funk & Soul Christmas Party Volume 1

Christmas compilations are often cheesy, smooth selections of bland, overplayed seasonal pabulum. Even announced with "funky" or "groovy", it often leaves listeners disappointed. So were Jan and Tobias. First, they were bugged out by the all filler-no-killer compilations. The second and more important reason was that of the considerable number of proper Rare Groove tunes recorded and released in the 1960s and '70s, many languished in obscurity. The pair started a collaboration to create a funky-soul Xmas Compilation.

The project started in 2010 when Jan illustrated the diversity of more than 50 Christmas tunes in the field of Jazz, Funk and Soul to Tobias Kirmayer of Tramp Records, Germany. Although some of the titles had already been compiled, there were exceptional songs that grabbed their attention. Major record companies owned a handful of the initially pre-selected songs. The Majors refused or ignored Jan and Tobias’s repeated requests for licensing. Where other labels would have given up in despair, Jan and Tobias were determined to move forward with the project independently.

Again, this story underlines the philosophy of Tramp Records: Tobias always tries to present an exciting track listing of so far unheard songs. This Xmas Compilation stands in line with that. All songs are from mostly little-to-unknown artists who have yet to make it to a world-wide audience. Despite the fact that these terrific songs never topped the charts the quality of this compilation easily shakes hands with famous Christmas records of major artists like James Brown or Lou Rawls. Ladies and gentlemen, sing along, shake your hips and dance because: Santa's Funk & Soul Christmas Party is goin' on.

The CD booklet and LP sleeve contain scans of all 45RPM single labels as well as liner notes to each song. The vinyl comes with a gatefold cover and is limited to 500 copies.