Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio 2 (2013)

Breakthrough success can often be a tough act to follow. But with a little help from some notable friends, Robert Glasper Experiment is set to up the ante with the follow-up to his successful GRAMMY-winning album Black Radio. Flaunting a diverse array of featured guests including Common, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli Sandé, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Black Radio 2 is certain to surprise and delight critics and fans alike. With a unique fusion of R&B, jazz, and hip-hop that brazenly traverses the boundaries of all three genres, Black Radio 2 finds Glasper and his musical cohorts creating in a vibrant new chasm, brilliantly contrasting its predecessor in the process.

The Liberators - Power Struggle (2013)

"The new Liberators album is peppered with dark, sinister grooves worth of the fiercest dancefloor battles" Martín Perna (Antibalas)

The Liberators are back with the brand new album "Power struggle". Born in an unused factory space in urban Sydney, The Liberators - a compelling 10-piece Afrofunkjazz steamroller - have relentlessly pushed their sound to become leaders in the Australian Afrobeat resurgence. With their second album "Power Struggle", The Liberators have gone deeper and darker into the polyrhythmic, horn-driven realms of Afrobeat, producing eight weighty songs worthy of fueling any revolution. With a maturing mix of jazz, latin, soul and funk, it's obvious the sounds of fracturing world events echo throughout the album. The Liberators produced Power Struggle in Sydney, recording straight to tape in a no-nonsense, no-overdub fashion, capturing the phenomenal vibe of their live shows.

The Gene Dudley Group - The Hilo Bay Halfway ep (2013)

The Gene Dudley Group represents an outpouring of deep soul and funk music from obscenely talented 27 year-old multi-instrumentalist residing in North London; Gene Dudley.
The debut album, Saturday Shifting, released earlier this year, caused quite a stir and quickly gained this deeply soulful producer a new army of fans, with Kenny Dope, Huey Morgan and Daz-I-Kue all singing its praises!
One of the most popular tracks from the album is the up-tempo, tropical flavoured cut The Hilo Bay Halfway - available here on vinyl for the first time. It comes complete with an exclusive 'Disco Dub Remix' from Gene himself, who uses hand claps, synths and some seriously squelchy bass to take this club monster in another, equally foot friendly direction; and one from label mate Scrimshire, whose afro flavoured guitar licks and quirky keyboard sounds guarantee similar dance floor destruction.

Jah Wobble - Odds & Sods & Epilogues (Book & Cd, 2013)

From the author of Memoirs of a Geezer an illustrated book and CD of his poetry, covering a diverse range of subjects, ranging from the Nature of Mind, Ancient Greece, through to Post Modernism, by way of Matter transference and the indignity of being a member of the Cockney Diaspora. The poems are thought provoking, poignant, mesmeric, uproarious and at times a bit disturbing when dystopian realms are ventured into. There are great illustrations by Richard Shields, that aptly mirror the surreal nature of Jah Wobble s idiosyncratic take on life. The musical versions of the poetry on the accompanying CD are by no means a mere add on; they take the poems into another dimension. Looks like Jah Wobble is a true Polymath, we knew he could play bass, lead bands and compose. We then found out, via Geezer that he could write prose. Looks like we can now add poetry to that list. Outstanding. Make him Poet Laureate!

Guida DePalma & Jazzinho - Veludo (2013)

(JazzFm)

Veludo (Velvet) is the 3rd studio album from Portuguese soul-jazz outfit Jazzinho, the creative brainchild of experienced singer/songwriter and free spirit Guida De Palma. From her attic studio in Lisbon she creates an Anglo-Portuguese blend of bossa and samba infused sounds that are both introspective and joyfully outgoing. The first offering from the CD was an instant hit with Jazz FM, 'A Seed In You' featuring the soul legend Leon Ware. It turned out he was a big fan of Jazzinho and sparked their collaboration released in advance of the rest of the completed project.  

Alex Barck - Reunion (2013)

Now, it’s official: Alex Barck is back in his home town Berlin. For a whole year he lived together with his family on the small, remote island La Reunion in the Indian Ocean. To recover from his turbulent life as a DJ, as member of Jazzanova, as A&R manager of Sonar Kolletiv, as one half of Prommer & Barck and as a busy record digger? Far from it! Now with his debut solo album in the luggage he returns back to the party capital of the world.
The island, the ocean, the African influences, the detachment from the hectic club scene must have done Barck especially good. “Reunion“ is a mature club album with harsh pop appeal, lots of soul, a deepness as abyssal as the Sunda Trench and a very unique, characteristic thumbprint.

Calibro 35 - Traditori Di Tutti (2013)

There's one thing that Italians do better than others; funky soundtracks. Quentin Tarantino knows best, "soundtracks from Italian movies of the '60s and the '70s are the THING!" Calibro 35 does with music what Tarantino does with films. They borrow what they love and they make it their own. With Rolling Stone magazine's words "Calibro 35 are the most fascinating, "retro-maniac" and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years", think; The Budos Band meets Morricone.

Calibro 35 land on Record Kicks with their new album Traditori di Tutti, the forth LP by Milan's combo, inspired by noir masterpiece novel Betrayers published by the father of Italian noir, award-winning and Tarantino's crime fiction favorite author; Giorgio Scerbanenco.

Gazzara - The Bossa Lounge Experience (2013)

“The Bossa Lounge Experience” is the new album by GAZZARA. A familiar title for long time followers of the act led by keyboardist and producer Francesco Gazzara, as it recalls the group’s past collaborations with some brazilian music stars (jazz singer Ithamara Koorax, poet, lyric writer Paulo Sergio Valle) and also the band’s old infatuation for the repertoire of Eumir Deodato.

Their sixth album to date - released by Irma Records after GAZZARA returned to this label following 2 CD’s “Brother And Sister“ (2006) and “My Cup Of Tea“ (2009) produced by Silence/Ritmica - fully reveals the band’s musical preferences through a number of cover versions - some totally unexpected - produced and arranged with the recognizable GAZZARA style. The album sound is rooted in the traditional bossa trio formula ( Azymuth), with Rhodes electric piano and Hammond organ perfectly suited to an extremely tight rhythmic session (Massimo Sanna on bass, Mauro “Mirtao” Mirti on drum and percussion, both founder members of GAZZARA) which balances vintage soundtrack moods with samba/funk dance grooves.

DaLata - Fabiola (2013)

‘Fabiola’ started taking shape in 2010 after Patrick Forge returned to London from living in Japan. He met up with Chris Franck and they took the first tentative steps towards making a new record. Drawing together a worldwide family of collaborators both old and new, they embarked upon a new era of DaLata. ‘Fabiola’ their first album in ten years, features a host of talent including Luiz Gabriel Lopes (Graveola) (Brazil), Mayra Andrade (Cape Verde), Miguel Atwood Ferguson (USA) Rich Medina (USA) Marcelo Janeci (Brazil) Luisa Maita (Brazil), Fabricio FBC (Brazil), Sacha Gabriel (Canada), Jason Yarde (UK), Finn Peters (UK) and Diabel Cissokho (Senegal) who have all helped craft a record with a raw and live approach fusing Afro-Brazilian influences with a dance-floor sensibility.

Harleighblu - Forget Me Not (2013)

Forget Me Not’, out 14th October, is the debut album from Harleighblu, a truly distinctive 21-year-old singer who signed to Tru Thoughts earlier this year and is attracting a mass of tastemaker love, and a spiralling fanbase, for her deep and edgy hip hop-infused soul music. Major crossover support, alongside her confirmation as Echoes Magazine’s October cover star (following the likes of Laura Mvula and Omar) clarifies her status as the hottest new voice on the scene. 

Electro Deluxe - Home (2013)

Electro Deluxe is a French band which consists of Thomas Faure (saxophone, programming) Jérémie Coke (bass), Arnaud Renaville (drums), Gaël Cadoux (keyboards), James Copley (voice),Vincent Payen (trumpet) and Bertrand Luzignant (trombone) . They started off in 2001 and melting elements of funk, soul and hip hop they started to evolve into their own category of electro-jazz. Home is their fifth album and it's arguably their best and most ambitious yet. Filled with dancefloor grooves, ecstatic brass and Stevie Wonder-ish fever keys, Home is set to become one of the essential funk n' soul outings not only in France but also worldwide.

Kairos 4tet - Everything We Hold (2013)

 

Adam Waldmann is a young man with big hair, a big smile and big ideas.  Just three years ago, the young saxophonist burst onto the scene with his band Kairos 4tet, delivering a stunning debut that swiftly positioned him as a cornerstone of the British jazz scene. With melodies that worm their way into your brain and stay there long after the final notes ring out, Waldmann is celebrated for his gift of bridging the elusive gap between crossover appeal and serious jazz cred. 

EverythingWe Hold is Kairos 4tet's third album and first recording for Naim Jazz.  This time, in a bid to push the boundaries of his own creativity, Waldmann explores in great depth the art of song. In doing so, Waldmann forged relationships that not only presented him with new musical vistas, but inspired him immensely on what became an exploration of the human condition. To that end, this album sees Waldmann collaborating with lyricist, film maker, and actor Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice, Young Victoria, Homeland), a writing partnership first hinted at on Kairos 4tet's second album, Statement of Intent.  With one half of the album featuring vocals, Everything We Hold is Waldmann's most unapologetically diverse album to date.

Ross McHenry - Distant Oceans (2013)

Ross is an ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association award) nominated composer, producer and bass player whose diverse body of work carefully walks the line somewhere between instrumental jazz and the current wave of post-Dilla producers. His previous projects (including The Shaolin Afronauts) have seen him tour worldwide and led to him taking part in 2010's Red Bull Music Academy (where he met label-mate kidkanevil amongst others).

The Jazzinvaders ft Dr. Lonnie Smith - That's What You Always Say (2013)

‘That’s What You Say!’ was definitely one of the most heartfelt sayings when Hammond Legend Dr. Lonnie Smith shared the studio with The Jazzinvaders in the summer of 2012.

After meeting and gigging earlier in 2012, Dr Lonnie and The Jazzinvaders decided it would be fun to spend some days in the studio to see what would happen. When the opportunity occurred, new material was written in practically no time at all and after three days of recording there appeared to be a completely spontaneous 4^th album recorded live in the studio! Finding a suitable title for the upcoming album wasn’t that hard. The Doctor appeared to be a great storyteller and this one quote was stuck in our memory: “That’s What You Say!” needed to be the title of the new album, an album that reflects a fruitful co-operation and lots of respect.

Jimi Tenor & Impostor Orchestra - Exocosmos (2013)

Jimi Tenor featuring Impostor Orchestra LP, Exocosmos, is more than a decade´s worth of sessions emerging from a parallel cosmos. Sometimes the meetings take place in a living room, sometimes inside an electronic sequencer. Fields of rhythms have emerged through the hands of children playing sticks. The composer’s pen has been a conduit of the horizon where past and present choose their sides. The LP which is immediately intimate yet metamorphose into massive, the search for a magic moment has been profound. Tribulation and delight are equally true in Exocosmos.