Shaft in Africa

The first film soundtrack from composer/arranger/producer Johnny Pate is an unsurprisingly high-quality effort. The mood pieces are sophisticated, introspective soul-jazz while the up-tempo tracks are seriously funky, with their superb-sounding drum breaks proving extremely popular with hip hop producers looking for beats to sample. Shaft In Africa also features Motown stalwarts The Four Tops on their suitably cinematic-in-scale ‘Are You Man Enough.’ Like the best soundtracks, Shaft In Africa goes through a series of moods, tones and textures while expertly maintaining musical cohesion.