Leroi Conroy - A Tigers Tale (Colemine)

The Slow Music Movement
Jun 24
2 min read

This is the cover for Leroi Conroy's, A Tigers Tale on Colemine Records. The cover shows a kaleidoscopic, symmetrical abstract circular image with swirling patterns in red, orange, gold, grey and blue. Text reads "LEROI CONROY a tiger's tale" on top.

You might not be familiar with Leroi Conroy unless you're a modern crate digging hip hop producer, or a new millennium funkateer or soul girl, but there's a fair chance you've heard some of the artists on his Colemine Records label, artists that he's produced or if you're an older school inclined hip hop head some of the tracks that have sampled him - DJ Premier or Ghostface Killah perhaps? Colemine has certainly been floating around my radar's periphery for time, so it's about time I got familiar with the driving force, especially as he's about to drop his debut album.

An unshaven Leroi Conroy with long hair, dungarees and sunglasses sits in a recording studio. Background has analogue audio equipment and cables. Warm, relaxed atmosphere.

A Tiger's Tale has been eight years in the making, some of the rhythm tracks fermenting on the tapes they were recorded to many moons ago, some of the tracks sneaking out to see the light of day on seven inch singles. There's even a concept - a hypothetical soundtrack to an alternative telling of The Jungle Book, now try to do that using funk and soul instrumentals, I dare you.

The jungle is a tough place as well so don't expect it all to be easy going, but you know the drums will be strong and big up long time amigo Rob Houk who keeps the story rolling with his raw funkiness, aided by a full on fourteen (count 'em) crew.

The vibes vary from the easy grooving opener, "Shere's Theme" that eases you in with its laid back vibe and uplifting, jazz meandering horns. Next up it's the evocative, microdosed "Tiger's Trot" with it's evocative horns and sense of Eastern mystique, before the flirtatious and cinematic "Snowcat" whisks you off on a Vespa to 60's Rome and cigarette smoking Latin lovers. Don't get comfortable though anything can happen, perhaps nod you head to the unhurried jazz funk of "Enter" or get a lick on with the driving, scuzzy, fuzzy, back street Blaxploitation vibe of "Paths of Man."

So if you need a dose of instrumental soul and funk with a real deal 60s and 70s golden age vibe straight from analogue heaven in Cincinnati, Ohio then look no further. The album isn't out until July 11th, but there's plenty of singles to be going on with. I don't usually take a punt on music that I haven't actually heard but I have a strong suspicion that the uncompromising Conroy won't let us down on the rest of the tracks yet to be revealed.