Slow and Steady Records

ORCHESTRA GOLD

It’s 1976, and you just stepped inside a smokey club in Bamako, Mali. The air is thick with the gritty analog sounds of Malian folkloric music, with psychedelic guitars swirling, jazz-influenced hornlines, and hypnotic bass grooves. As the crowd moves to the music, the singer commands the stage with her soulful vocals, and dance moves that would give James Brown a run for his money. This is the vibe that Oakland’s Orchestra Gold creates at live shows, as well as its latest EP “Orchestra Gold: Vol. II.” Recorded at Guerrilla Studios in East Oakland, Vol. II brings together the powerful vocals of Mariam Diakite with the arrangements and guitar playing of Erich Huffaker, along with an all-star cast of Bay Area musicians – Luke Baće (bass), Leila Elizabeth (conga), Aaron Kierbel (drums), Chris Hoog (bari sax), Luis Andrade (tenor sax), Nicole Tierra Lobo (conga, kerenye, and percussion).