In The Raw

when poets of rhythm founding members jay and max whitefield traveled from their native munich to new york in 1998 to record their eponymous debut album, sharon jones was a name only known to the cult that bought her first 45s, the dap kings didn't exist and the el michels affair were teenagers gigging as the mighty imperials. rough, raw, real funk music was decidedly out of vogue. though the poets had dutifully released dozens of 45s and a few key lps showcasing their modern take on the funk sound, their releases remained for a chosen few. back then, african influenced funk meant sounds like fela. jay and max's genius idea was to record an album bursting with funk music influenced by the african diaspora, as indebted to the meters as to africa 70, as psychedelic as those ghanaian and nigerian masterpieces by unknown psych-funk heroes. desco label co-founder gabriel roth (later the co-founder of daptone records and leader of the dap kings) brought his bass and arranged the horns. a teenage leon michels played sax and flute. so did daptone co-founder neal sugarman and antibalas founder martin perna. the record saw a limited release on soul fire in 2001, but the label soon folded and the whitefield brothers debut album, regarded as a masterpiece by those lucky enough to have heard it.