This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Now here’s something you don’t hear everyday — dance music made with actual instruments.
That’s right, acid-jazz Groove Collective aren’t just two guys with a sampler and some old records. This 14-member combo are an honest-to-goodness band, with a flesh-and-blood drummer (and percussionist) and real live horn players. And their new disc Declassified proves that these old ways still work just fine, thank you. Like Liquid Soul or Herbaliser, GC know how to get down and get back up again in any style — along with the usual fatback funk and hip-hop jazz, they dip their toe in the tropical waters of Afro-Cuban salsa and rhumba. If it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it, chances are it’s on this CD.
