macedonia (FMA Admin)

It is an extremely cool thing to have the ESP-Disk label as part of the Free Music Archive.  I remain in awe of the free and adventurous jazz they have championed for so long, as evidenced by their discography.  Figures such as Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and Albert Ayler immediately come to mind.  However, a recent remastering of a classic album by The Har-You Percussion Group is a reminder that, as much as the label enjoyed getting deep, it could also get down on occasion.

Birthed from a Harlem Youth program and lovingly led by Roger "Montego Joe" Sanders, Sounds Of The Ghetto Youth is a Latin jazz gem highly revered by crate diggers, an album that I've just come into the knowledge of myself.  One of the tunes uploaded to the FMA is one that I remember hearing in DJ sets before:  "Welcome To The Party."  (Big shout to WFMU's own DJ $mall ¢hange for dropping this one on his Nickel and Dime Radio show a few weeks back.)  Drum-heavy with a steady bassline, handclaps, and a deliriously happy piano solo, you can feel the energy of the Youth as they audibly encourage each other on throughout the song.  Seriously people, to resist dancing to this is to have a hole in your soul and your sanity questioned.

The song is attached for your enjoyment, the perfect summertime in the city groove.  File it away in the "and that is why music programs should never, EVER be cut from an inner-city school's curriculum" section of your mind...