Idris Muhammad - Turn This Mutha Out [UK Import]

Idris Muhammad laid down some of the funkiest drumming of the 1970s on Turn This Mutha Out, a 1977 jazz-funk gem here as a UK import.

The New Orleans drummer had already played with everyone from Lou Donaldson to Roberta Flack by the time he cut this record for Kudu, the soul-jazz offshoot of Creed Taylor's CTI label. Producer and arranger David Matthews surrounded him with a crack New York band, including Michael and Randy Brecker, Hiram Bullock and Ronnie Cuber, and pointed them squarely at the dance floor.

"Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" is the standout, a lush, glowing groove later sampled by Jamiroquai, and it still sounds like pure sunshine. The title track is a gritty, horn-stabbed funk workout, "Tasty Cakes" struts along with playful swagger, and "Crab Apple" became a favourite of hip-hop producers digging for breaks. Through it all, Muhammad's drumming is crisp, loose and endlessly inventive.

The record sits right where jazz, disco and soul meet, with sleek horn charts and a rhythm section that never stops moving, led from the drum stool by Muhammad himself.

It is a crate-digger's treasure and a blast to put on at any party, as funky now as the day it was cut.