Colossus: "The Tribute" Video

Video description: It all started after Charlie Tate graduated from the London School of Furniture. He was approached by the infamous Paris-based Big Cheese Records to form a funk bank, and Big Cheese All Stars were born! 2 singles, an album, and several extensive stints of touring, supporting the likes of Don Blackman, Roy Ayers, Gil Scott-Heron, Fred Wesley and James Brown put an end to a career in bespoke cabinet making. A future immersed in the funk, the soul and the jazz seemed assured. While still with the All Stars, an opportunity to play base in Neneh Cherry's band arose and the best part of the year was spent on the road touring her "Woman" album. A lot of fun was had. A lot of drinking was done. But the love of the funk, the soul, and the jazz prevailed. Unfortunately the sheer size of what the All Stars had become essentially caused its demise. Just about then, the idea of forming a record company began to take shape. King Kooba had been in existence for some time now, the first release having been on a subsidiary of the aforementioned Big Cheese Records. But the thought of an autonomous vessel for representing the Kooba and several other projects seemed too good to resist. Enter Second Skin Records, and what a productve lot they turned out to be! Roughly 30 singles and 12 albums, not a bad output from a hybrid label offering all manner of styles from drum and bass, beats, ambient, bizniss, electronica and breaks. Pretty much most of what was going on at the time, perhaps the varied style of the label, but particualrly what the Kooba were up to, appealed to San Francisco's Om Records. Several licenses, then an album, and a relationship with Om had been cemented. With the release of "Indian Summer" in the fall of 2002, a man like Charlie decided his fate lay in the Bay area...The rest as they say is history!

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