New Orleans' musical gumbo may come with many strong flavours and colours depending on what's running in the streets at the time, but the funk is always close at hand. It's the thematic thread keeping everything in line on Soul Jazz's latest deep dive into the Crescent City's archives. As this compilation shows, the funk can turn up in the strangest of places. You'll find it in the zydeco shapings thrown by the king of the Bayou, Clifton Chenier, and friends, on Party Down and also on James Waynes's jailbird boogie on Junco Partner. It's naturally all over Eddie Bo's own bodacious Can You Handle It, as well the tracks he's produced for James K-Nine and David Robinson. For those seeking grooves to put a smile on faces at the end of this most wicked of years, here's a set of tracks which do that job and more besides. souljazzrecords.co.uk