Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay
Label: Numero Group
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay
Salvaging the musical remnants of a fleeting moment in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island ‘ when stateside funk swept the island like a subtropical storm to commingle with a Caribbean cocktail of island idioms that included bush, junkanoo, calypso, reggae and, of course, goombay ‘ this entrant in the Cult Cargo series is a snapshot of a very specific time and place. From 1969-1976, a dozen LPs and twice as many singles were churned out of Frank Penn’s GBI studio, which today is weathered, nondescript remains standing in the shadow of its former glory. In fact, much of the Bahamas’ recorded music heritage has succumbed to hurricanes. This compilation represents what has survived in crates of old vinyl. Penn and Jay Mitchell, the undisputed patriarchs of Bahamian funk, as well as artists like Cyril ‘Dry Breadâ?� Ferguson and groups like Willpower, which emerged around the advent of independence, represent the new guard. The disc opens with Ferguson’s 1975 anthem ‘Gonna Build a Nation,â?� which was banned by the state-controlled radio station for being too cynical. On ‘I Am the Man for You, Babyâ?� Mitchell’s soulful voice envelops his band’s (the Mitchellites) fusion of American R&B with subtle island flourishes. ‘Goombay Bumpâ?� captures the sounds and energy of goombay and junkanoo street festivals with clamorous horn and box-trapped bass. For a brief moment in Bahamian history the temperatures sweltered with funk fever. Cult Cargo revisits the creative energy behind Freeport’s funk revolution before it was dampened by nature’s unforgiving force.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2007.