the eminent stars were founded by saxophonist ben mendes and drummer toon omen. they both share the love for the great music emerging from cities like new orleans in the 60's and 70's: dr. john, freddie king, the meters and many more! just mix up some soul, rhythm & blues, funk and blues and there you have it: a record that consists of authentic elements: it's danceable, intriguing, vibrant and fresh!
guest vocalists include the great american singer-songwriter bruce james, imelda, lana gordon and steffen morrison. all blending in with the eminent stars!
the vinyl lp is a thick & loud 180gr pressing. it is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies and comes with a full album download code.
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tramp records would like to invite you to celebrate ten years of releasing independent music. this compilation album is here to give you an impression of our work and showcases the idea behind the label. dive in and experience the sounds we love, you'll find anything from original 60s/70s rare grooves as well as new recordings in the field of afro beat, latin-jazz and funk. we deeply hope you enjoy the "the sound of tramp records".
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legendary drummer roy porter released his first two albums (jessica and inner feelings) in the early to mid 1970s. although he retired from performing in 1978 on health grounds, he continued to give workshops and ran his publishing company. in 1994 he released his final album titled roy porter sound machine '94 – generation at the age of 71. guest musicians include not only original members of the original sound machine but also the two rappers ded to the world and big born as well as houston blue. this album combines organic jazz-funk grooves with hiphop beats and rhymes from the 1990s in perfection. real djs who still spin vinyl will be pleased with the loud pressing and the fact that it has been properly mastered too.
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to be honest, christmas music on earthly radio seems to be the worst in the milky way. just imagine an alien picking up our radio waves on his journey through the galaxy – what would he think of our conception of christmas music? having such an impression of our cultural heritage, would he land on planet earth at all? being extraordinarily tolerant and broad-minded, paul did - and luckily, I got to meet him.
paul admits – unlike other extraterrestrials – that this year it is planet earth that has something seasonal to offer - something the galaxy has never seen before. yuletide nerd jan kohlmeyer has put together an amazing collection of hip-shaking christmas songs. asking paul about this compilation puts a big smile on his face: santa's funk & soul christmas party vol. 2 is simply intergalactic! merry christmas everybody!
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it's like this – tramp records know vintage funk and soul. they know what you want to hear before you know you want to hear it. hell, they even know what you want to hear before you even knew it existed. but in a world where the rediscovery of golden era '60s and 70s funk and soul has been ongoing for the best part of a quarter of a century, how can this still be possible? what's left that hasn't already been repackaged, re-released, compiled and covered to within an inch of its life? listen to feeling nice volume 2 and you'll get the answer.
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earl lett was born in rural alabama back in 1945. his musical career started after his demobilization in 1961 when he started with his first professional circuit band: earl lett & the blendaires. while on the road playing venues along the chitlin' circuit the band landed the possibility to record their first 45rpm single in plattsburgh, ny. en route to a residency in new york the band cut a few singles including the insistent, collectable monkey's tail. the group then secured a booking in tunisia but returned in 1967, signing to boston's wild records. success was hard to find so earl set up his own label – beantown – for which the boston puppy became a minor local hit. more importantly it was espoused by the european underground and earl crossed the atlantic, working the european circuit for 18 months.
upon his return to the USA he accidentally landed a spot in ike & tina turner's kings of rhythm band. earl toured with ike for one year, then he moved to boston to study sax at the berkeley school of music. in the following years he kept releasing his music on beantown, including his one and only full-length studio album titled love serenade.
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this record kicks from the very beginning, in a way you wouldn’t expect when looking at the cover. the man on the sleeve is herb geller, an american responsible for all compositions, lyrics and up to six reed instruments. further musicians hail from germany, belgium, sweden and denmark. and man, this record really sounds fantastic!

an american in hamburg – the view from here really is a special recording. one can hear two absolutely soulful singers that rarely appeared in such jazz fusion contexts, earl jordan of the les humphries singers and legendary mark murphy.

similar to murphy, geller worked with nearly all jazz greats one can imagine. after he moved to hamburg in 1962, geller worked for sfb (radio free berlin) and ndr (north german radio) and played with the two most distinctive european big bands of that time – the kenny clarke/francy boland big band and peter herbolzheimer’s rhythm combination & brass. in january 1975 he recorded the first album under his own name since 1959.
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tramp records continues to celebrate its 10th anniversary with another exciting release in the story of series.

born in dorena, missouri in 1937, lonnie lester started singing in church at the age of six. as a teenager he performed with doo-wop groups in and around gary. after being on the road with junior walker he ended up in san francisco in 1959. while there he opened for r&b stars like sam & dave, the drifters, aretha franklin, little willie john, and many others.

the next big step was his move to chicago, illinois, where he cut more than a handful of R&B/soul singles for the nu-tone label. during the early 70's, he formed a five-piece band called lonnie lester & touch. in the 80's he traveled the country with his band in addition to performing in the indianapolis area. he retired from the music business full-time in 1991, but continues to perform in the indianapolis, indiana area.
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wayne carter was born in carol county, tennessee in 1936. by the time he was fifteen he left home to play in the buster "b.w." morrison band. during the following years Wayne played with the nat story band and the billy ray band. in the early 1960s Wayne started up his own band: wayne carter & the organ twisters.

during the late 1960s wayne joined drummer virgil "pat" patton as a duo called wayne carter duo. they played on the road for five or six years. on a trip back from sioux falls, south dakota, wayne arranged a recording session at chet mootrey's studio in geneo, illinois. they recorded peter in or out b/w let's run away from the world in 1971, wahoo, wahoo, wahoo b/w mad mouth woman was recorded two years later in spring 1973.

wayne remained active in the music business and has played in several different band projects. today, he is playing with a group called the dan rivero band.
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ladies and gentlemen - tramp records is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013!

the purpose of tramp is to prevent privately produced soul, jazz and funk from being forgotten. by maintaining close contact to the living musicians and the families of those who have passed, he underlines that with tramp records, honor is given to whom honor is due: the artists.

movements 5 is another representative release for this close collaboration between label and musician. as with previous releases in the movements series, volume 5 features detailed liner notes that include unpublished band photos that may have never seen the light of day had it not been for tramp's mutually beneficial artist/label relationships. the happiness and pride felt in an enthusiastic "thank you man!" from a 75-year old funk musician could not be counterbalanced by all the gold in the whole world.
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