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Habibi Funk is Jakarta Records's first sub-tag, dedicated to rereleasing music from the Arab world. Dalton was a band from Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. They came together as a band around 1968 when most of the members studied together at the University of Tunis. The band had five members. Faouzi Chekili on guitar, piano and vocals, Ridha Kouhen on bass guitar, Mustapha Rehouma and sax and percussion, Sadok Gharbi on trumpet and vocals and Skaner Alim on drums and vocals. They were active in the local scene, playing music that was heavily influenced by American soul and funk and at the same time regional musical traditions. In the early 70s the band got a regular gig at a beach hotel called Sahara Beach Resort on the coastline of Tunisia. They had six month contracts for a couple of years in the early 70s and during that time they would play every single night of the tourist season. While the hotel gig required the band to play sets leaning towards tourist entertainment, the regular work helped put some money into the band's accounts. Using those funds the band was able to travel to Rome to record their one and only 7Inch single InchAlechInch around 1971/1972. The band eventually dismantled in the mid 70s and returned briefly as a new group with new members in the late 1970s under the name Carthago but that is a different story. InchThat InchSoul BrotherInch is my jam... !!!!Inch Lefto The single itself impressed us heavily when we first stumbled upon it through French collector Victor Kiswell. While the b-side InchSoul BrotherInch sounds like a Tunisian version of modern soul / AOR with it's English lyrics and rich arrangements, the title track InchAlechInch is the one that will get every party started. An infectious 3/4 rhythm, a great horn arrangement and brillantly layered vocals that made us think of Brazillian music or the Georgian groove band Gaya. Luckily F
