Reality's rare jazz funk gem Disco Party gets recirculated by Jazzman

Reality's tough-to-find jazz funk gem 'Disco Party' has been legitimately reissued in a limited edition of 1500 copies. 

Here's the scoop...

Dr. Otto Gomez of Smokin' Shades of Black

It has always been part of Jazzman's mission to shine new light on music that went under-appreciated at the time of its original release. There are many varied circumstances which can cause an otherwise great record to not do so well - for instance, poor budget, marketing, promo and sometimes just plain old bad luck. Perhaps the most unjust circumstance involves the tax loss releases of the mid-70s - records made purely to cheat a few dollars out of the tax man.

Jazzman have already given legitimate release to albums that fell foul of the notorious '70s 'tax scam' practice – namely those by Sounds of the City Experience and Ricardo Marrero – and they continue with the first sanctioned reissue of  Reality's 'Disco Party' album thanks to an agreement with the surviving members of the band. Possibly the most obscure of all the obscurities in the TSG Records catalogue – a subsidiary of Lloyd Price's LPG Records – Reality's 'Disco Party' recording isn't actually 'disco' at all. In fact, it's a fully rounded excursion into mid-70s dancefloor funk and proto-disco-jazz, performed by a group of expert musicians at the height of their powers. Recorded in one long session in NYC, until now, bandleader Dr. Otto Gomez and the rest of his crew had never even heard the recordings they'd made almost 50 years ago. Indeed, none of the band even knew that their album had been released! 

Along with restoring the music, the folks at Jazzman have dug deep into the Reality backstory, interviewing Gomez and others to find out exactly who this unheralded NYC funk orchestra were and what happened to them before and after the monumental session laid out on this record. The liner notes to the Disco Party reissue tell the story of the TSG label and the 'tax loss' phenomenon, and delve into the history of the band from their humble beginnings as the Smokin' Shades of Black (!) to the present day. You'll find out what it means to record some brilliant music - only to have it taken away - and discarded. 

Get a copy of Jazzman's limited-edition reissue of Reality's Disco Party album via Bandcamp right here. Check out the album followed by a clip of Dr. Otto Gomez's follow-up "Love Junky" single recorded with Jeff Odom in 1987 and released by People's Potential Unlimited Records in 2009.