Kirk held it down through the boogie and soul section with some serious heat, and from there we moved into a deep run of soul, jazz-funk, smooth boogie, and contemporary beats - from Azymuth's cosmic Brazilian groove and Bob James to George Benson, Shakatak, Shalamar, and and exclusive spin of some forthcoming heat from one of NZ music's MVPs: Nathan Haines.

The back end got more current with Los Retros, Ego Ella May, Corto Alto, and Shy One's "Nort Wess" choppy electro and grime-inflected mid-range synths released on South London's Touching Bass late last year. We rounded things out with Orgone's deep funk stomp "Hambone" and Alex Nut and Steve Spacek's "Bright." A big spread for a big birthday - happy 93rd, JB!

Further afield Gilberto Gil's "Maracatu Atômico" and the Aposento Alto gospel cut sit in the same programme as Tapper Zukie's Kingston pressure, Area Code 615's Nashville session-player funk, and a clutch of contemporary releases demonstrate that the search ain't over; sampling Chuck Bynum, The Mighty Tiny & The Many Few, and Glenn Meinecke. The modern soul pocket is well covered: Odyssey, Two Tons of Fun, Steve Parks, the Dianne Reeves track from her pre-Blue Note years. 

That's the blurb - now it's time to listen.

Three hours is barely enough time to scratch the surface of what James Gadson contributed to recorded music. A session drummer at the heart of the Los Angeles soul scene, he played on an extraordinary breadth of records, often uncredited, always indispensable. We went deep to tip our hat to a true giant. Rest easy sir.

Three hours is barely enough time to scratch the surface of what James Gadson contributed to recorded music. A session drummer at the heart of the Los Angeles soul scene, he played on an extraordinary breadth of records, often uncredited, always indispensable. We went deep to tip our hat to a true giant. Rest easy sir.

This edition of Swap Meet on 95bFM sees Oogun of Drunk Elephant Sound take the controls again.

We have to kick off with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (as he's just announched a show 30 May at the Auckland Town Hall), celebrate 40 years of Anita Baker's Rapture LP. From there the show journeys through Hammond organ jazz courtesy of Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery, the irresistible samba groove of birthday boy Jorge Ben, Zanzibari taarab rhythms from Rashid Makame, and the hypnotic desert blues of DJ Bamanan. Rail Band and Orchestra OK Jazz bring the golden age of Malian and Congolese rumba into the mix, while Ebo Taylor and the Souljazz Orchestra represent the broader Pan-African sweep that runs through the whole set.

Oogun also brings original productions - "Version for Version" and "Deep Architecture" teaming with OSC alias  sitting alongside dub selections from Mungo's Hifi, Matty G and Jaffa Sound that give the show its NuZillund reggae tip. We spin Gang Starr to salute Preem's birthday, Ethiopian jazz textures arrive via Zena's "Kazanchis" (Brownswood) and AHC's "Push Me Pull You," and the cosmic soul of Nona Hendryx and Azimuth round things out. Press the button.