Cosmic Shuffling – Two 7″ Singles

Fruits Records have released two 7″ vinyl singles which contain four brand new tracks recorded by Cosmic Shuffling, the Swiss ska and rocksteady sextet that made waves with their singles Eastern Ska and Short Break, both taken from the band’s 2020 debut album Magic Rocket Ship. This album, critical acclaimed and well-received by fans of the 1960s sounds of Jamaica, was sold out in a few weeks only which is quite an achievement to say the least.

The song on Side A of the first 7″ platter is a nod at the covers of soul classics from the US done by Jamaican artists in the 1960s. In this case, Cosmic Shuffling comes up with a rocksteady rendition of a 1958 Italian love song by Fred Buscaglione called Love In Portofino. After the guitar intro, it’s the riddim section and vocals that come to the fore on a Cuban bolero inspired backdrop before the rocksteady groove takes over. The bouncy drum
and bass, sweet sounding horns, and nice guitar picking add to the appeal of the piece.

On the flip side of the record there’s Cosmic Shuffling’s version of the jazz standard The Shadow Of Your Smile. The latter might be known to rocksteady fans as the great Tommy McCook and the Supersonics recorded an interpretation of this instrumental piece for Duke Reid in 1967. Because no Jamaican artist ever recorded a vocal version of The Shadow Of Your Smile, Cosmic Shuffling decided to give it a try. The result is a nice love song that benefits from the interaction between the alto saxophone and vocals of singer Leo Mohr. In all, this 7″ single contains music for big people.

A completely different story is the music featured on Cosmic Shuffling’s second double A-side 7″ single. It’s recommeded to put on your dancing shoes, because it’s time for hot instrumental ska! The funky groovin’ Jupiter’s Garden is set on fire by a great sounding six-piece horns section that brings to mind the original sounds of the legendary Skatalites. While Jupiter’s Garden is a heavy and slow instrumental piece, the B-side piece called Asteroid Field I has a fiercer tempo which makes that listeners are treated to a frenzier riddim. The beauty of this instrumental lies in room that is given to soloists display their skills and talent one after the other.