Nación Funk All-Stars featuring Koko-Jean Davis: Soulful Christmas & Soulful Christmas Vol. II

Nación Funk All-Stars featuring Koko-Jean Davis
Soulful Christmas: Christmas (Please Come Home) / Merry Christmas, Baby
(Buenritmo, BR 102SG, Spain, 2022)

Nación Funk All-Stars featuring Koko-Jean Davis
Soulful Christmas Vol. II: What Christmas Means To Me / Gee Wiz, It's Christmas
(Buenritmo, BR 112SG, Spain, 2023)

Nación Funk All-Stars is a band from Barcelona, Spain, that has been active for many years in different line-ups, with musicians who are also active in other bands. The group is inspired by both the hip hop culture and the soul and funk music that inspired hip hop. Band leader Lalo López has now assembled a permanent line-up. The Nación Funk All-Stars not only perform and record themselves, but also back up international artists on tour. In 2022 and again in 2023, they collaborated with Mozambican-born, Barcelona-based singer Koko-Jean Davis on two Christmas singles. Davis is the former lead singer of The Excitements and now fronts Koko-Jean & The Tonics.

On the two singles 'Soulful Christmas' and 'Soulful Christmas Vol. II' the group covers four absolute Christmas classics: 'Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)' (Darlene Love) and 'Merry Christmas, Baby' (Charles Brown) on the 2022 single and 'What Christmas Means To Me' (Stevie Wonder) and 'Gee Wiz, It's Christmas' (Carla Thomas) on the 2023 single. Koko-Jean has a powerful and very soulful voice and the Nación Funk All-Stars are a tight band with a strong horn section. Add to this a wall-of-sound production and a clear northern soul influence, especially on the second single, and you know they are doing these songs justice.

You can listen to the four songs on Youtube:




You can buy the singles from the Buenritmo website, and if you buy both, you get them for a cheaper price. Buy them here.