Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi, Vince Tempera

* 2023 stock *  The 70s blaxploitation soundtrack has emerged as a surprise hit among contemporary soundtrack collectors and many labels have dug deep into the vaults over the past ten years, unearthing numerous and unexpected titles. But nothing will be more unexpected than Vai Gorilla, an amazing effort from the famous Italian compositional trio of Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera. Gloriously this 1976 crime thriller was graced with an explosive and seductive score faithfully executed in a powerful, funk-fueled blaxploitation style. Many will be pleasantly blown away by just how dead-on three Italians could be in delivering a sultry and sexy R&B score; a work heavy with effective riffs and jams that greats such as Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield would have instantly recognized as the "real thing". These three musicians are best known for Seven Notes in Black (tapped by Quentin Tarantino) and the transgressive spaghetti western The Four of Apocalypse, and Frizzi is revered as having been an intimate collaborator with horror auteur Lucio Fulci. Vai Gorilla shows that the trio had a profound understanding of, and affinity for, such sublime genre highpoints as Marvin Gaye's soulful Trouble Man and Stanley Myers' proto-electric Sitting Target. In all likelihood this production will deliver a stunning eye-opener for jaded connoisseurs of the art of film music. One of the top-ten blaxploitation soundtracks comes at us, not from Hollywood, but from out of the Golden Boot of Europe! The CD gives 20 tracks including five bonus cuts and exquisite packaging. Liner notes by John Bender, moderator of The European Film Score Society.