12-inch Soul-Cal SCR112

Description: The Freedom Express’s solitary release – “Get Down” - on the obscure, Austin, Texas based label W.T.P. made its way into Egon’s DJ sets after a swap with DJ Shadow nearly ten years ago. Since then, he played this crossover soul/funk masterpiece to delighted crowds the world over. After hearing that the band sprung from Deep Funk legends The Fabulous Mark III (whose psychedelic opus “Psycho” saw official reissue on the  Texas Funk compilation on Now-Again/Jazzman), he began tracking down the band in earnest. A surprise tip from a fellow collector lead him from Los Angeles up the road to Pasadena, where the band’s leader, songwriter, arranger and saxophonist Ron Brown had set up shop in the 1980s.

Two years later, Soul-Cal is proud to present both “Get Down” and The Freedom Express’s self-titled flip side on a 12” single, both remastered from the original analog tapes. “Get Down,” which builds around a whirling Moog from a mid tempo funk groove to an up-tempo workout with out missing a beat, stands as one of the “missing links” between the hey-day of syncopated funk and the advent of disco. Lost no more, no longer an artifact that lines the shelves of only the passionate record collector, The Freedom Express’s joyful noise is ready to be heard by the masses once again.