Twisted Jazz

Ivana Parnasso - Spirograph (2012)

2012-02-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Ivana Parnasso is a young artist born in Marsala (Sicily-Italy), devoted to art sculptor and painter grew up in a family where there is much of music and art, in his childhood thanks to the father (drummer) grows in a world of notes and harmonies, sounds that will influence in his artistic career. Percussionist and composer is also equipped with a fine voice, begins its first steps in music at the age of 18, playing the drums and percussion in various groups and musical genres, subsequently she contaminates with genres such as BossaNova and Funky.
As composer his music have an elegant approach to a mix of genres correlated with each other, the musical influences found in his compositions have a taste of BossaNova, Funk, Soul Jazz, Drum ‘n’ Bass and Trip Hop, a research for a sonority Lounge/Chillout with a style of great taste with seventies reminiscences. Her debut in the world of music is the album “Pick!” (2010, Sobra)
His first album have had great positive feedback throughout Europe bringing to public attention the music of the young and talented Italian artist. Her first song “Never Worry” (original version) be included on the compilation “Tropicalismo Vol.1″ (Sobra) and the alternative acoustic version on the compilation “Tropicalismo Vol.2″

Her great 2nd new album “Spirograph” (2012, IRMA) is a special mixture of Bossa Nova, Funk and Jazz all electronically mixed by an artist/composer that has much talented to create the right elegant atmosphere of the Lounge Music.

Worldwide Awards 2012

2012-02-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

LeFtO Films: Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2012 from Lefto on Vimeo.

Session of The Year

1. Michael Kiwanuka
2. Raphael Saadiq
3. Nicolas Jaar
4. Austin Peralta
5. Mo Kolours

Track of The Year

1. Adele – Rollin In The Deep (Jamie XX Remix)
2. Africa Hitek – Out In The Streets
3. Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You
4. Stee Downes
5. Bjork – Crystalline (Omar Souleyman Remix)
6. Jamie xx – Far Nearer
7. Flako – Attempting Cry
8. Lana Del Ray – Video Games (Joy Orbison Remix)
9. Stubborn Heart
10. Virgo 4 – (Caribou Remix)

Album Of The Year

1. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
2. Dimlite – Grimm Reality
3. Thundercat – The Golden Age Of Apocalypse
4. James Blake – James Blake
5. Stepkids – The Stepkids
6. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
7. Machinedrum – Room(s)
8. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
9. DJ Shadow – The Less You Know The Better
10. DRC Music – Kinshasa One Two

Jazz Album Of The Year

1. Matthew Halsall
2. Austin Peralta
3. Tigran Hamasyan
4. Massa Sextet
5. Greg Foat

Label

1. Brainfeeder
2. Numbers
3. Hotep
4. R&S
5. Young Turks

John Peel Play More Jazz Award

Machinedrum

Lifetime Achievement Award

Idris Ackamoor

The Unity Sextet - The Unity Sext lp (2012)

2012-01-31T03:51:00.000-08:00

The Unity Sextet is a special kind of band. Buddy Franco, Fats Young Jr., Cassius Farqhuar, Junior Oliver, Chuck Waldron and ‘Fat Thumbs’ Ronnie met in spring of 2011 whilst playing at different jazz festivals in different bands with different genres ranging from traditional to experimental jazz. Co-incidentally they noticed that they shared the same vision of an open-minded, eclectic jazz style, being upfront and modern whilst still keeping the respect for the past masters. They only later found out that they all hailed from the same region in south-west England. It was like it was meant to be...

Ana Tijoux - Shock (single, 2012)

2012-01-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

La Bala is Ana Tijoux’s highly anticipated follow-up to her 2010 GRAMMY nominated breakthrough debut 1977, which you may have heard Ana Tijoux’s “1977” recently on the hit TV show Breaking Bad, or seen her as the featured guest on NPR’s influential “Tiny Desk Concert” series. Tijoux made her U.S. debut performing at SXSW in 2010 and has since toured the U.S. and Europe, with stops at New York’s Central Park Summerstage, San Francisco’s Outside Lands and Chicago’s Lollapalooza, plus a very special live performance during GRAMMY weekend with The Roots as her backing band.

The lead single “Shock” is now available for free download in the US + Mexico as the iTunes “Single of the Week”.

The Quiet Nights Orhestra - Movin' (2011)

2012-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

Great jazzy grooves from the Quiet Nights Orchestra – the second set from the group, and every bit as wonderful as the first! There's wicked blend of modes going on here – a bit of modal jazz, some clubjazz rhythms, a touch of Schema groove, and also just a hint of older jazz modes too – all wrapped together with a youthful, vibrant energy that really makes the whole thing sparkle! If you've ever dug work on labels like Ricky Tick, Schema, or some of the best older Compost material, you'll find plenty here to love – and it's great to know that there's folks like Quiet Nights out there, still putting out grooves like this. Sofie Norling sings these beautiful vocals on a few tracks, but overall most of the set is instrumental – with a nice mix of trumpet, trombone, saxes, and even some vibes. Titles include "Waves", "When We Fly", "Movin", "The Path", "Dreaming", "One More Try", "He Is My Music", and "Falling For You".

- Dusty Grooves

Jazzanova - Upside Down (2012)

2012-01-24T01:56:00.000-08:00

After the first collection of remixes from 2003 (Remixed, JCR040-2) now's the turn for Upside Down, some of dance music finest key figures' interpretations of selected Jazzanova tunes from the last eight years. And be assured, the line-up is as massive as the Berlin's quintet worldwide reputation. From fellow Berliner Henrik Schwarz, Ye:Solar and Âme to Atjazz and Mr. Scruff from the UK, Motor City Drum Ensemble from Cologne, Glasgow's Midnight Mauraders and Soldiers Of House from Pretoria (South Africa) this is a top notch international heavy weight affair.

Inspired by these outstanding reworks of their original material Jazzanova member and DJ Alex Barck and Jazzanova Live! band member Stefan Ulrich (under his Neve Naive moniker together with Alexa Voss on vocals) also got upside down and delivered each a remix to this prosperous project. Besides these two brand new and unreleased remixes the ones by Soldiers Of House and Midnight Mauraders are as well first time available to the public.

A Fond Farewell to ... Etta!

2012-01-21T23:21:00.000-08:00

At last
(Mark Gordon/Harry Warren)

My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

Oh yeah yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

And I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known

Oh yeah yeah, and you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
For you are mine at last

Loka - Passing Place (2011)

2012-01-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

Since their debut album Fire Shepherds in 2006, co-founder Karl Webb left the band, leaving Mark Kyriacou to carry the Loka banner. Mark re-grouped with members of the live Loka band (Tom Sumnall – bass, Ged Hawksworth – drums, Catherine Norman – keyboards and Ray Dickaty - sax) and went about sketching out ideas later to become Passing Place.

The result is their most confident and cinematic album yet. Less claustrophobic and inward than before, the new album has a wide-screen, rolling hills vista feel to it, perhaps most beautifully realised with Anglesey’s brass ensemble Seindorf Beaumaris Band on instrumental tracks such as "The Art Of Burning Bridges", "Exit" and "Sound Stars Make". There is a lot of top-level musicianship on show on "Passing Place", take the section "As The Tower Falls" and "The Tower", which share a certain jazz/rock high-energy propulsion with that of label-mates Jaga Jazzist, and shows Loka can do varying tempos effectively during the course a full-length. It is an album seeped in reflection, but containing a wide-eyed thinking of the days to come.

Nicholas Payton - Bitches (2011)

2012-01-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is a trumpet player from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is often considered a jazz musician, although Payton considers the label "jazz" inappropriate and refers to his music as "BAM", an acronym for Black American Music.

Bitches is a love story that musically chronicles the joys and heartbreak of relationship. A provocative and breakthrough recording on many levels, Nicholas played every instrument, composed all the songs, wrote all the lyrics, produced each track, and sings and plays trumpet throughout. He is accompanied by special guest vocalists Cassandra Wilson, Esperanza Spalding, N'Dambi, Chinah Blac and Saunders Sermons.

Me'shell Ndegeocello - Weather (2011)

2012-01-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

On Weather, Meshell sings of the ups and downs of love, one of her favourite subjects. Her heroines are marked by the void left by the loved one (“Object”) or else, like a game of mirrors, pour out their heart about the hurt they have caused others. She does a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel”, dedicated to Janis Joplin, an extremely sad and somewhat sexist song, as well as “Don’t Take My Kindness for Weakness” by Soul Children, a sixties soul band, whose message she has made her own. Her own lyrics are always concise, precise or allusive, full of images and poetry (“I want to be your answer”). “They’re like mantras, some phrases cast to the wind, images that pop into my mind. Then I add the music.” She also talks about the wider world on a few tracks. ‘Oysters’ is about “the change that everyone talks about but never comes”. Meshell explains that “Consumerism is gaining ground all the time. We all live to get a new car or a new computer, but what’s the point?” So, join the great world party? “Not for me,” she replies in Dirty World. “I live two hours from New York. I ran away from all the dirt. There’s a farm where I live, and healthy food. I love cooking – it’s not all that different from making music. You need ingredients, and the greatest pleasure is when you share it share it with others.”

Dj Jazzy Jeff & Ayah - Back for More (2011)

2012-01-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Legendary party starter DJ Jazzy Jeff still packs dance floors across the world, but it's been awhile since he's issued anything new from the studio. Sporting a sound that picks up from the soulful, head-nodding vibes of his BBE projects, Jazzy Jeff has linked up with rising Toronto R&B singer Ayah to release this free, downloadable album, and the results are overwhelmingly impressive. Ayah (whose 4:15 EP was one of the strongest releases to emerge from a Canadian R&B singer in years) obviously found undeniable chemistry with Jazzy Jeff in his Philadelphia studio, penning inspirational and uplifting lyrics that complement Jeff's production style, who is assisted here by frequent Questlove studio cohort James Poyser, among other accomplished session musicians, such as Pete Kuzma, known for his work with Jill Scott. For Ayah, Back for More represents her highest profile offering and she struts into the spotlight rather than shirking from it, given the superior profile of her collaborator. The brassy "Notorious" oozes confidence and "One Life," featuring T-dot MC Tona, underlines her assertive persona. "Hold On" is a sly shout out to Slakah the Beatchild's "Enjoy Yourself" (a song she co-wrote), while the grittiness of "The Game" showcases her narrative skills. On much of Back for More, Jazzy Jeff's tasty formula involves subtly flipping familiar samples, fleshing them out with sumptuous instrumentation and then adding Ayah's impassioned vocals and sophisticated songwriting chops. Apparently, this is just the starter, in terms of the collaborations this duo have cooking. Be sure to hang around for the main course.

- By Del F. Cowie (exclaim.ca)

* * * FREE AND LEGAL DOWLOAD HERE * * *

Betty Wright & The Roots - Betty Wright: The Movie (2011)

2012-01-06T01:03:00.000-08:00

"BettyWright: The Movie" serves up 14 earthy, funk-drenched soul anthems, all ofwhich were co-written by Wright and co-produced by Wright, Ahimir"Questlove" Thompson of The Roots, and Angelo Morris. The albumfeatures guest performances by Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Joss Stone, and more.

Ms. Wrightbegan singing at about the time she began walking: she started performing withMiami-based gospel The Echoes at age three and remained with them for the nextseven years. She released her first single at age 13 and had her firstbona-fide smash at 19: "Clean Up Woman," which has become Wright'ssignature song, vaulted to the top of the charts, earning her a gold record andthe first of her fifteen eventual Grammy nominations.

From"Clean Up Woman" though the Grammy-winning "Where Is the Love", Wright scored eleven Top-30 R&B hits and made music businesshistory by becoming the first female artist to earn a gold record on her ownlabel, Ms. B Records, with 1988's Mother Wit.

Betty hasbeen sampled by many including: Afrika Bambaataa, Color Me Badd, Lauren Hill,Tupac Shakur, and Snoop Dogg. She's toured with everyone from James Brown toBob Marley, sung background vocals for the likes of Stevie Wonder and MichaelJackson, has been mentor and vocal producer to Gloria Estefan, Joss Stone, evenBeyonce, and has also served as vocal coach on P Diddy's MTV series"Making The Band".

Betty Wright and The Roots - Old Songs by rocketshoes

Seal - Soul 2 (2011)

2012-01-04T04:12:00.000-08:00

[...] So Soul 2 is a rather inevitable follow-up, but it’s a welcome addition to the man’s catalogue: while it offers little in the way of surprises, these are 11 fine covers of fine songs by a fine singer. That Seal has a voice that can melt icecaps has never been doubted by his detractors – the problems with his material post-Seal (II) went deeper, to a basic songwriting level. Here, freed of the weight of his own emotions, he soars on a sublime Wishing on a Star (which manages to borrow its smoky backing from Sade’s Smooth Operator), and broods wonderfully on Let’s Stay Together. Later, he manages to take What’s Going On into new territories with a version that is remarkably close to rivalling Marvin Gaye’s original for jaws-on-the-floor first impressions – it’s a brilliant revision that pays tribute to Gaye while adding plenty of new appeal. An effortless cover of the Major Harris hit Love Won’t Let Me Wait shows off his evergreen vocals superbly – his 48 years haven’t dulled a single note [...]

- By Mike Diver (BBC Music)

Sandy Barber - The Best Yet To Come (2011)

2012-01-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

Born in New York City on June 8th 1955, Barber grew up and attended school just across the river in Englewood New Jersey. With the encouragement of her big family she was singing from an early age at any events that would have her. As a teenager she came second at the legendary ‘Talent Night’ at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The Apollo was known throughout America as the premier venue of the African American circuit, and was infamous for its tough audience. Even stepping onto that stage was a challenge, but to finish in the top three was a serious achievement.

The appearance at the Apollo was heard by Chris Curry who arranged for Sandy to audition for David Jordan a producer who was working on a group called Rare Pleasure. He had a song called ‘Let Me Down Easy’ and felt that Sandy’s voice was perfect for it. The record released on Cheri Records became a club anthem – today probably better known for being sampled by David Morales on his hit ‘Needing U’ – with Sandy’s vocals perfectly capturing the songs pleading nature. Sandy didn’t enjoy working with a group and went out on her own soon after, a decision that was vindicated when a mutual friend introduced her to the producer, writer and record label owner Clyde Otis, who Sandy describes as ‘her mentor’. Otis liked what he heard and signed her immediately to the deal that would produce her album ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’.

BBE Records

The Fantastics - All The People (2011)

2011-12-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

Freestyle Records big hitters The Fantastics! are back with a brand new exciting album: ‘All The People’. Never comfortable within tightly defined and rigid musical genres, The Fantastics! have always been pushing the boundaries and honing their eclectic style. ‘All The People’ sees this talented bunch dip their toes into a pool of soul-jazz, blues, latin, rock, ska, funk & fusion, laced with a distinctly progressive edge, performed with superb musicianship.

Now in 2011 - featuring the stunning vocal talents of Sulene Fleming, who was bought up on a musical diet of Marvin Gaye and Ella Fitzgerald to The Kinks and Fleetwood Mac. Sulene worked with Ministry Of Sound, Soulheat Records, Cooker Records, and Ecko Records, as well as featuring on numerous compilations as well as writing and performing for numerous TV and film projects.

The recent single ‘Somewhere…Finally’ was a Jazz FM ‘Single Of The Week’, and also featured on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music and was ‘described by BBC London 94.9 presenter Robert Elms as ‘the song of the moment for me’ and had the band in to perform live on his show.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Soul Time (2011)

2011-12-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

Few acts have created their own universe as successfully as Brooklyn-based Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Forming in 1996, the band’s quest to create bona-fide funk-soul has long outlived their original critics’ view that the 10-piece band was merely some form of extended pastiche. Using only original instruments from the 60s and 70s and recording in glorious analogue, they eschew any post-modern references and create full-on, joyous grooves which achieve their aim of sounding like they were dug up in some dusty old vinyl shop.

Having cemented their reputation in the UK as being Mark Ronson’s house band and featuring strongly on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album, their albums have never quite captured their full force as a live act. Soul Time!, a compilation of singles, B sides and live favourites of the past decade comes pretty close though, and serves as a perfect introduction to the band. Showcasing bandleader Bosco Mann’s soulful writing, Soul Time! scores with its note-perfect emotion and keening brass arrangements. [...]

[...] There is nothing modern about Soul Time!, yet it sounds both refreshing and contemporary. The exceptional musicianship and impeccable vocals may not be to everyone’s taste, but for 40 very happy minutes, you can revel in SJDK’s very discrete world.

By Daryl Easley (BBC Music)

Laika Fatien - Nebula (2011)

2011-12-27T02:13:00.000-08:00

“Born in Paris of an Ivory Coast father and a Moroccan-Spanish mother, Laïka was raised mainly by women (her grandmother, mother, and aunt) in a Moroccan Jewish family. She leans towards her maternal Sephardic culture, open to different styles of music in the Mediterranean.” (MySpace) And as Malcom McLaren has sung: “Jazz is Paris, and Paris is jazz”, not quite surprisingly, Laïka got her inspiration from artists as Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. She collaborated with Sixun, Julien Lourau, Steve Williams, Antoine Roney, Michael Bowie, David El Malek, Richard Galliano, Toot Thielemans, Robert Glasper, Gregory Hutchinson, Peter Martin, Daryl Hall, Vince Benedetti and Claude Bolling’s big band. Laïka has also taken to the stage of theaters in a different guise, quite seriously and played in Claude Lelouch’s film “Hasards ou Coïncidences”. Leader of her quintet, Laïka bring back to us some of the shining and the perfume of the classic jazz, this “Nebula” taste like a good old record from the 40s.

11 tracks, nice pieces from a time that seems has dawn long-long time ago. It’s like a 20 years old whiskey in a quiet bar wrapped in discrete smoke on a Wednesday evening.

BrushVox

The Soul Rebels Brass Band - Unlock Your Mind (2011)

2011-12-27T00:13:00.000-08:00

Described by Village Voice as the "missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong," The Soul Rebels Brass Band, as you would imagine, encapsulate a hip hop sensibility while paying full respect to the brass band tradition from which they come. Led by Lumar LeBlanc and Derrick Moss, the New Orleans-based eight-piece produce funky, horn-driven music that immediately invites the listener to party.

Formed in the mid-2000s, the patronage of southern funk legends The Meters did them no harm at all, and as a result, their support slots became more prestigious; now, Unlock Your Mind is their first, full-length studio album. Many will know them from the season finale of TV series Treme. The question after all of this is simple: how can such a joyous live act transfer onto disc?

The answer: fairly effortlessly. They clearly evoke their most obvious reference point, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but there are also elements of David Shire’s claustrophobic brass-heavy score from the cult 1974 film The Taking of Pelham 123.

[...] At times, it veers into school orchestra territory at the moment when they first learned how to play the theme from Rocky; but this is a minor quibble. Overall, this is a full-on, joyous, positive album that makes you feel like celebrating – indeed, you may be hard pressed to hear a more vibrant, life-affirming record this year.

By Darryl Easley (BBC Music)

Indigo Jam Unit - Independent (2011)

2011-12-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

One of the most prolific bands on the Japanese scene, indigo jam unit's seventh original album and tenth overall release since 2006 is about to hit the shops just three months after the well-received covers project recorded with vocalist Alicia Saldenha. As with all their releases, the artwork for Independent is a distinctively simple match of sans serif typography and bold colour. And once again fans can look forward to a nine track set of tunes that feature funky basslines, memorable piano melodies and explosive percussion.

The album opens with Escape, featuring a heavy bass loop that continues for the duration of the tune. Takehiro Shimizu then comes in with some jazzy cymbals and drumwork before some crashing piano chords signal the beginning of the drama. The combination of these sounds suggest a frantic and furious flight from something rather ominous. No matter how fast they run away the danger seems to be drawer closer and closer and the abrupt end to the track leaves you wondering whether they fled successfully or were captured by their pursuers.

Whatever the outcome, the band were fortunately able to complete the rest of the album and move on next to Rising. Led by a memorable and haunting piano riff, the track is also notable for its use of the band's signature twin drum sound.

Another heavy bass loop marks the start of Baobab, a fine tune with some great drums and percussions over which Yoshichika Tarue can weave his magic. The tempo changes slightly half-way through, with the percussion and drums taking on a more African and then gradually builds to a powerful finale. Resolution, on the other hand, is a down-tempo number led by an exquisitley melancholy introspective piano loop. As the title, Bounce is a funky uptempo feelgood number that is bound to get you tapping your feet after the more reflective mood of the previous tune, and this track is bound to go down well live.

Devotion is a standout tune with a shuffling drumbeat over which is layered a Latin-flavoured piano hook. It's an exotic and uplifting mid-tempo number that provides the perfect escape from cold winter evenings.

The final third of the album kicks off with Phoenix, an atmospheric track led by some really impressive piano. The subdued and sobre mood of the first half of the tune gives way to a radiant burst of energy later on signalling the rebirth and resurrection, with the track finishing with a great feeling of hope and optimism. From high drama we then move to more conventional jazz stylings with Sepia, a great swinging tune with an awesome drum solo for its climax, which is followed by the ballad Genuine.

Once again indigo jam unit deliver the goods with Independent. It's an album that sees them sticking to a formula that has served them well for the last few years, but all the time they can continue to produce impressive new tunes like these, there is little need to fix what ain't broke.

- Tokyo Jazz Notes blog

Renegades of Jazz - Hip To The Jive (2011)

2011-12-20T23:58:00.000-08:00

Wass Records are very proud to present Renegades Of Jazz with their debut-album “Hip To the Jive”. This album is brimming with dance floor shakers, raw break beat and a touch of Big Band Jazz.
David Hanke is the German brainchild of Renegades Of Jazz and has been making big waves since his first 12”single Karabine was released on Wass Records in 2010 creating a big impact amongst avid vinyl collectors and music fans alike.
Hip To The Jive album is a journey through heavy Big Band Jazz swing, an onslaught of massive break beats, exotic samples, wild and wonderful bass tones, B-Boy breaks and beautiful downbeat rhythms. Twelve raw tracks packed tight with energy and heavy production skills.
Played by the likes of Craig Charles (BB6 Music) and Pete Isaac (Jelly Jazz) the Renegades Of Jazz sound has found a lot love and support worldwide. Through the huge success, Renegades Of Jazz is already taking shape to become a nine-piece live band set to take to the stage in 2012.

Hip To the Jive is released on limited vinyl (500 copies only) and digital download on Wass Records.

Hip To The Jive by Renegades Of Jazz

Gretchen Parlato - The Lost and Found (2011)

2011-12-20T23:35:00.000-08:00

The first vocalist to study at the Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute and winner of the Thelonious Monk Vocal Jazz Competition in 2004, Gretchen Parlato has cut a different path than singers who stick to time-tested standards and familiar jazz works. Her third CD is a wide-ranging affair, featuring singer/songwriter pop ballads, post-bop, her own originals, and works by her supporting musicians adding her lyrics. Her core band consists of keyboardist Taylor Eigsti, bassist Derrick Hodge, and drummer Kendrick Scott, with tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens added on several tracks. Parlato's approach to Wayne Shorter's "Juju" has a mysterious air, with her hypnotic vocals buoyed by Stephens' effusive tenor. Parlato's interpretations of pieces by several rising stars from her generation are impressive, including the whispering treatment of Ambrose Akinmusire's "Henya," along with pieces by Eigsti and Stephens. She demonstrates her versatility in her breezy interpretation of the samba "Alô, Alô," mastering its Portuguese lyric and providing the sole accompaniment as percussionist. Parlato penned both the music and lyric to the driving post-bop vehicle "Winter Wind," while her "Better Than" is a dreamy pop ballad. It's clear that Gretchen Parlato doesn't want to be restricted by stylistic boundaries, so jazz fans with open ears will find a lot of treasures to discover within The Lost and Found.

- By Ken Dryden (AMG)

Nujabes - Spiritual State (2011)

2011-12-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Jun Seba (瀬場潤 Seba Jun^?, February 7, 1974 – February 26, 2010) was a Japanese hip hop producer and DJ who recorded under the name Nujabes (ヌジャベス Nujabesu^?), the reverse spelling of his name in Japanese order. Nujabes was also owner of the Shibuya record stores, T Records and Guinness Records and founder of the independent label Hydeout Productions.

In addition to Japanese artists like Uyama Hiroto, Shing02 and Minmi, Nujabes collaborated with Nitish underground American hip hop acts CYNE, Cise Starr (as a solo apart from the hiphop collective CYNE), Apani B, Five Deez, Substantial, CL Smooth, Terry Callier, as well as British rapper Funky DL. He was also a member of the production duo Urbanforest, an experimental collaboration with Nao T. His track "Feather" drew attention from underground hip hop listeners.

Nujabes was one of the most prolific contributors to the background music and soundtracks of Samurai Champloo, an anime which blends a feudal Japan setting with modern anachronisms, especially in regard to hip hop culture.

A distinguishing feature of Nujabes' sound is his incorporation of Jazz samples in his tunes. For an example, the track "The Final View" on his album Metaphorical Music features the Jazz Standard "Love Theme From Spartacus" by Pianist Barry Harris, as played by Saxophonist Yusef Lateef, sampled over the track. Nujabes incorporates Lateef's head melody on oboe, cuts of his solos, and background piano comping in his piece.

On February 26, 2010, Jun Seba was involved in a traffic accident upon exiting the Shuto Expressway late at night. He died at a hospital in Shibuya Ward after failed efforts to revive him. He was 36 years old.
Spiritual Stale which was released in early December 2011, is a posthumous album of unreleased and unfinished tracks left to the caring hands of Nujabes friends and collaborators. And a beautiful closure to a truly original and understated artist it is!!!

Nujabes - Spiritual State (Album Teaser) by Daze the Interludist

The Baker Brothers - Time to Testify (2011)

2011-12-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Baker Brothers are back with Time To Testify, their first studio album since their covers project, Avid Sounds. So how does this latest project shape up? Well, from the opening instrumental, Statement of Intent, you get the feeling that this album is going to be slightly edgier than both Avid Sounds and its predecessor, Transition Transmission. Their sound has developed considerably since their debut album filled with edgy, hard hitting funk instrumentals. Subsequent releases have seen the band introduce vocals, initially from guests, and more recently performing vocal duties themselves, and the sound had gradually evolved, with soul and AOR influences creeping in to their song-writing. The line up has also changed, with one of the brothers leaving the original trio and the overall line-up being expanded to five members. With its fifteen tracks including a mix of songs, instrumentals, rock, funk and soul stylings, Time To Testify is an altogether solid album, and possibly their strongest release since Baker's Dozen.

Enrico Rava Quintet - Tribe (2011)

2011-12-19T05:42:00.000-08:00

Since his return to ECM with Easy Living in 2003, the grand master of Italian jazz has gone from strength to strength, in a series of truly exceptional recordings including Tati, The Words and The Days, The Third Man, and New York Days. Enrico Rava is currently playing at a peak of lyrical invention, and his newest Italian quintet is amongst his strongest ensembles. Gianluca Petrella, Rising Star Trombonist in the Down Beat Critics Poll of 2005, is retained from The Words and the Days line-up and he has a front-chemistry with Rava which burns in this project. Fast-moving, quick-witted exchanges abound. Enrico has always encouraged younger musicians, and pianist Giovanni Guidi (born 1985) is a real find, a player of creativity and imagination: "When I notice the gifts of a young musician, I immediately involve him in my groups. This is not motivated by altruism," Rava insists. "Giovanni Guidi is like Bollani and Petrella: he astounds me every time." Bassist Gabriele Evangelista (b. 1988), another young player of promise, works splendidly alongside widely-experienced drummer Fabrizio Sferra, whose resume includes work with Chet Baker, Paul Bley and Kenny Wheeler. Material on Tribe includes new and old tunes by Rava and a brace of collective improvisations. The album was recorded at Arte Suono Studio in Udine in October 2010, with Manfred Eicher producing.

John Zorn - A Dreamer's Christmas (2011)

2011-12-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

The biggest surprise of the year is John Zorn’s beautiful Christmas CD. Zorn has hand picked seven of his favorite Christmas songs, penned two lovely originals and they are performed here in classic Dreamers style with plenty of exciting solos, exotic colors and catchy lyricism. Filled with a joyful holiday spirit, innocence, a touch of nostalgia and a charming lyricism, this is music for all ages that will make you smile with delight from the very first notes. As a special treat, vocalist Mike Patton delivers an intimate and heartfelt rendition of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, making A Dreamers Christmas an instant classic, and an essential CD for any contemporary Christmas celebration.

Tzadik Records

John Zorn - At The Gates of Paradise (2011)

2011-12-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

Channelling the work of Romantic visionary William Blake and ancient Gnostic writings from the Nag Hammadi archives, At the Gates of Paradise is the newest installment in Zorn’s ever growing catalog of mystical works. The music is filled with bright light and a childlike innocence, and ranges from long form compositions with constantly shifting time signatures that unfold with a compelling inner logic to mysterious ballads and hypnotic moods. Featuring an all-star quartet of Zorn true believers, 20-year veterans who perform this music with a special passion and searing intensity, the performances are filled with exciting solos and brilliant group interaction.

ARTISTS
John Medeski (piano, organ); Kenny Wollesen (vibes); Trevor Dunn (bass); Joey Baron (drums)

Portico Quartet - S/T (2012)

2011-12-13T03:31:00.000-08:00

Portico Quartet still sound like nothing you ever heard before. The Mercury nominated East London based outfit's unique brand of hypnotic minimalism has expanded to embrace new sonic territories. Drawing on the inspiration of electronica, ambient, classical and dance music as they take their strange, beautiful, cinematic, future music to exciting new vistas where the inspiration of Burial, Mount Kimbie and Flying Lotus rubs shoulders with the textures of Arve Henriksen and Bon Iver and echoes of Steve Reich and Max Richter. But all underpinned by a shared joy in collective music making as the band push their inimitable music into the future.

[...] With their new, richly layered sound Portico Quartet have, like so many other artists today, brought elements of the recording studio into the live environment, blurring the lines between band and producer. Emboldened by this process the new album is produced by the band themselves and brilliantly engineered by Greg Freeman at the Fish Market studios and Real World. Jack explains how they've mastered the art of creating such a detailed live sound; "Because of the way we were making it by putting on the effects live, we did half of the production while we were composing it. So we knew where all the reverbs were going because we are doing that all live as well, so we knew exactly where we wanted that to go - like distortion or whatever, all the effects - almost doing our own live 'dubs' of the acoustic tracks. So when it was in the studio we knew exactly what was going on. Then it was a case of mixing everything and making sure it fitted in, and putting it down in the best way we possibly could."

The result is an album of compelling musical journeys exploring both inner and outer spaces. Abstract, virtual, visceral, horizon-less landscapes of sound, melody and rhythm; unlike anything you've ever heard.

Mike Flynn, London, November 2011

The Echocentrics - Echoland (2011)

2011-12-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

ubiquityrecords:

Download MP3: The Echocentrics “We Need A Resolution” (Timbaland Tribute)

The Echocentrics return with a new EP called Echoland. The EP is a tribute to hip-hop producer, Timbaland, featuring live instrumental reinterpretations (with one vocal tune from Tita Lima) of classic Timbo tracks.
Working on the follow up to Sunshadows, Echocentrics leader Adrian Quesada, found himself occasionally hitting walls and struggling to make creative progress. What began as a couple of “exercises” to get the creative juices flowing, dissecting the minimalistic genius of Timbaland turned into this EP.

Download the full EP at Ubiquity Records

Pink Martini & Saori Yuki - 1969 (2011)

2011-12-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

Widely considered to be the “Barbara Streisand of Japan”, Saori Yuki released her debut album in Japan in 1969 and has gone on to make over 30 albums in her 42 year-career. Yuki discovered Pink Martini after the band covered her song “Taya Tan” for their 2007 album Hey Eugene! Most recently, Yuki sang a verse of “White Christmas” in Japanese for the band’s hit 2010 holiday album Joy To The World.

In honor of the year of her debut release, Saori Yuki partnered with Pink Martini and producer Thomas M. Lauderdale to create a loving tribute to the music released in 1969. Featuring Japanese pop hits alongside internationally recognized tunes like Jorge Ben's "Mas que nada" and "Puff the Magic Dragon", "1969" is a brilliant collaboration, with Thomas M. Lauderdale's magical arrangements, Pink Martini's stellar musicianship, and Saori Yuki's soaring vocals.

DRC Music - Kinshasa One Two (2011)

2011-12-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Kinshasa is a vast, sprawling and chaotic city with a glorious musical tradition. The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo may have suffered from war and dictatorship, with the result that many live in poverty, eking out a living on the streets; but there’s also an energy and a wild optimism that is reflected in the sounds that can be heard across the city. Kinshasa was home to Franco, Africa’s greatest guitar hero, and is now famed for that rousing and remarkable disabled band, Staff Benda Bilili.
It’s only natural that the city would attract adventurous African music fan Damon Albarn, who arrived four years ago to work alongside local musicians with the Africa Express movement.
more here...

Modeselektor - Monkeytown (2011)

2011-12-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

Twisting tempos and convention, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are a pair of Berliners who’ve smashed holes in the maternal linear structure of techno, added much-needed comedy into rap and electrified dancehall with the essence of a European Friday night. They’ve repeatedly rebuilt dance music in their own image, and whilst Monkeytown is their third album it’s the first recorded side by side in the same studio.
As further proof of their distillation of thriving energy, we see Radiohead’s Thom Yorke join the duo in the studio for two collaborative tracks.
Other collaborations appear: long-time ally Sascha Ring, Warp’s PVT, rap guru Busdriver, noise artist Otto Von Schirach and vocals from Antipop Consortium. It’s a dense and near-complete journey. Few dance albums can keep their soul for the duration, but with tracks featuring this many facets, ideas, genres and tempos, Modeselektor romp home. Monkeytown is the sound of two men working in harmony, perfectly in control of their machines.
more here...

Mario Biondi & The Unexpected Glimpses - Due (2011)

2011-12-09T01:25:00.000-08:00

Mario Biondi on a hunt for new talent introduces the "talent album: a unique project from the beloved artist who gives space in his new album for other artists, most of them just emerging. "Due" is a double cd of 20 songs (13 of them unreleased until now) featuring collaborations between the catanese crooner and twenty artists of the finest new jazz and talent from Italy and the world.
Artists include Vahimiti, Denise Williams, Luca Florian, Samantha Iorio, Jeff Cascaro, Walter Ricci, Andrea Bertorelli, Sagi Rei, Fabrizio Casalino, Chiara Civello, Hana Boel etc.

One of Biondi's best ever efforts and another candidate for Album of the Year for Twisted Jazz.

BaBa ZuLa - Gecekondu (2011)

2011-12-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

Good news: the return of psychedelic rockers BaBa ZuLa! For their latest masterpiece they have brought on board some truly inspirational artists such as Asian Dub Foundation co-founder Dr. Das, Nu Jazz mastermind Bugge Wesseltoft and other magnificent guest musicians including Titi Robin, Alcalica, Serra Yilma and Cem Yildiz. On Gecekondu, BaBa ZuLa founder Murat Ertel (saz and other stringed instruments, vocals, oscillator, theremin) and Levent Akmann (wooden spoons, percussion, machines and toys) are accompanied by members of their touring band Cosar Kamci (percussion, darbuka) and Elene Hristova (vocals).
BaBa ZuLa are a unique and eye-opening experience - and afar remove from stereotypical notions of Turkish music.
more here...

A BaBa ZuLa Interview on their new Album "Gecekondu", Istanbul and the influence of the metropolis to their music.

Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship (2011)

2011-12-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

It’s now a decade since brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman founded Dengue Fever, after meeting Cambodian karaoke singer Chhom Nimol at a nightclub in LA’s ‘Little Phnom Penh’ neighbourhood. Over the course of five albums and two EPs, their fusion of Cambodian pop, Californian surf/garage rock and more has blurred the artificial boundaries between world music and pop/trash culture with plenty of style and humour. Opting to produce themselves on this latest studio album happily hasn’t dimmed their offbeat charm; it’s a tuneful, diverse and often witty addition to their discography.
more here...

The Roots - Undun (2011)

2011-11-30T12:56:00.001-08:00

The new album from The Roots entitled undun is set to hit the market on December 6th, undun is the story of Redford Stephens and it’s a brief story of his life that has also been accompanied by video clips that have been created to help the story along.
more here...
listen to the Roots Undun album here via NPR

We’re all on a journey
Down the hall of memories
Don’t worry bout what you ain’t got
Leave with a little bit of dignity
Never loved what I had
Always felt like I deserved more
But when I Make it to the other side
That’s when we’ll settle up the score

Kojato & The Afro Latin Cougaritas - All About Jazz (2011)

2011-11-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Another winner from the Bahama Soul Club family. Another serious candidate for top flight entry to our BEST OF THE YEAR LIST!

KOJATO, one of the most promising projects of modern Afro-Jazz, started in 2010 with an amazing feature on the BAHAMA SOUL CLUB‘s bestseller-album „Bossa Nova Just Smells Funky“.
His first track was called „Afro Shigida“ and was one of the highlights on this release.
Producer OLIVER BELZ, the man behind The Bahama Soul Club and The Juju Orchestra was deeply impressed by the combined talents of the fabulous keyboard player and arranger ANDRÉ NEUNDORF and the inimitable multi-instrumentalist and singer KOJO EBENEZER SAMUELS.
Kojo „the priest of music“ was born 1943 in Monrovia and became one of the most well known musicians from Liberia when he worked with Fela Kuti and Cecil Taylor

The first album „All About Jazz“ comes with 10 tracks of finest Afro Jazz that captures the musical spirit of a lifetime. KOJATO, a world traveller in Jazz finally brings it all together: Afro-, Latin-, Soul-, Gypsy- & World-Jazz.
He obviously knows all the routes Jazz can take and defines a new place the audience can land.

OUT NOW ON BUJU RECORDS

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://kojato.bandcamp.com/album/all-about-jazz"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;ALL ABOUT JAZZ by KOJATO&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Welcome to the Ritmo Machine (2011)

2011-11-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

Only days out there and already an instant classic and serious candidate for top flight entry on our TWISTED JAZZ BEST OF THE YEAR LIST.

'Ritmo Machine' is CYPRESS HILL's Eric Bobo and mix master Latin Bitman. With a funky blend of hip-hop beats, live instrumentation, and guest appearances, Ritmo Machine' is a border-crossing culture clash of electronic, hip-hop and Latin music.

Eric Bobo, the son of Latin jazz legend Willie Bobo, brings exciting live percussion to Latin Bitman's signature fusion of dub, electronica and hip hop. Eric Bobo, who recorded and toured with the BEASTIE BOYS during groundbreaking releases 'Check Your Head', III Communication' and 'Hello Nasty', has been a full time member of Cypress Hill since 1994.

The album features guest appearances from Ana Tijoux (Nacional Records), Money Mark & Mix
Master Mike (Beastie Boys), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill), Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), P-Nut (311), and Sick Jacken (Psycho Realm).
Welcome to the Ritmo Machine made an impressive early arrival at radio, debuting at #17 at KCRW in Los Angeles and #1 on the World music chart at KEXP in Seattle.

OUT NOW ON NACIONAL RECORDS

Barry Adamson - Destination (2012)

2011-11-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.barryadamson.com/

Havana Cultura: The Search Continues (2011)

2011-11-22T02:34:00.000-08:00

Continuing his longstanding love affair with Cuba and its musical melting pot, globetrotting DJ/broadcaster Gilles Peterson is back with a new chapter in his Havana Cultura album series – producing an original studio album and lovingly curating a compilation of new Cuban talent.
Welcoming a string of guest musicians, vocalists and rappers to Abdala Studios, Havana, Gilles orchestrated the glorious sound clashes that populate the latest chapter in this landmark series, highlighting a clutch of artists innovating in the spaces between jazz, soul, traditional Cuban rhythms, reggaeton and hip-hop. The so-called “Havana Cultura Band” will bring the essence of those exciting, anything-goes recording sessions to London’s newly refurbished Electric Brixton… the full rainbow spectrum from freeform rumba styles to frenetic, danceable piano workouts via hip-hop’s golden age and classic soul. The internationally acclaimed pianist Roberto Carcassés heads up an all-star cast featuring soul diva Danay Suarez and Edrey from hype rap outfit Ogguere, plus Alexey (El Tipo Este)from Obsesion and Cuban diva Osdalgia… Gilles P, as creative head of the project, will of course be jumping up on the turntables for a DJ set too, ably supported by co-producer and close confidante – the very talented Simbad.

Susana Baca - Afrodiaspora (2011)

2011-11-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

Susana Baca - Detras de la Puerta by ferarca

Susana Baca's seventh album for David Byrne's Luaka Bop imprint is an ambitious affair with Baca bringing her instantly recognizable and elegant vocal style to the table in an attempt to show the pervasive influence of African rhythms and song forms on South American and Caribbean music. It’s not that she hasn’t been doing this all along on her releases, but the title of this one, Afrodiaspora, clearly states the case, and there is an astounding variety of styles blended together here, from tango, salsa, and flamenco to New Orleans-styled brass band blues and dance numbers, and everything comes out sounding distinctly Afro-Peruvian no matter how many regional variations are tossed into the mix. But Baca isn’t about fusion so much as she is about shining a light on how much folk traditions continually soak up new wrinkles and rhythms as part of the natural human approach to making and playing music, and if the Afro-Andean elements on display here are relatively new, they’re fully in line with what folk music always does: take what works and run with it.

Deep Street Soul - Look Out Watch Out (2011)

2011-11-04T02:26:00.001-07:00

Deep Street Soul's new album builds upon the diamond hard and gritty funk & soul template they established with their self titled 2009 debut long player.

Not content to return with simply more of the same, Look Out, Watch Out expands the groups sound and repertoire, featuring as it does, incredible new vocalist May Johnston, guest contributions from renowned Randa Khamis and Roxie Ray, a choice cover version plus original tracks augmented with some raucous and heavy brass!

OUT NOW NOW ON FREESTYLE RECORDS

Buon Compleanno Irma!

2011-11-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

An incredible success story, Irma records was born 23 years ago in Bologna, Italy, right at the "zenith" point of the indie labels revolution in the 80s and just a few years before the multinationals enter the "alternative" zone and swallow everything. Well, not quite everything! Irma records continue to this very day long after the Jestofunk years (the most succesful band on their roster). An eclectic mix of house, acid jazz, funk, bossa nova, lounge and millenium exotica (plus many more hybrids) have sweetened our ears through these years and hope to continue doing so for the years to come.
IRMA BDay is a free download compilation available from the XL supplement of La Repubblica newspaper.

You can download it right here....

Stuart McCallum - Distilled (2011)

2011-11-03T02:45:00.000-07:00

Distilled is a beautifully atmospheric recording, the third album from Stuart McCallum, best known for his work with the Cinematic Orchestra. The Manchester-based guitarist/composer knows how to combine established and contemporary sounds, making them into music that is never less than fascinating and, at its best, a thing of breathtaking beauty.

Much of the beauty of this album comes from McCallum's ability to blend instruments together to form a sound that is both cooperative and undifferentiated—a process based on cycles of composition, recording and sampling. This is not music that thrives on competition or contrast, but on graceful interaction, on sharing of ideas and musical spaces. McCallum intermingles the different instruments, samples and technologies with genuine creativity. Each instrument is crucial to the overall sound—not by retaining its own sonic identity, but by adding another layer to the carefully crafted whole.

Bruce Lindsay (AllAboutJazz)

[Jazz on Film] Sounds and Silence - Peter Guyer and Norbert Wiedmer, 2009

2011-10-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

«sounds and silence» is a musical road movie about the passionate career of a man obsessed with music.

On the way through a world of sounds and noise – with Manfred Eicher, the oustanding discoverer and mediator of contemporary music and founder of the music label ECM. On this journey we are meeting musicians and composers, but also people and places which are connected with him and with each other. We are encountering stories, landscapes, cities, disputes and hugs, tranquillity, hectic pace, work, self-doubt, joy, passion.

A search for clues at concerts, in recording studios, in back rooms, at waysides with the musicians Arvo Pärt, Eleni Karaindrou, Dino Saluzzi, Anouar Brahem, Gianluigi Trovesi, Marilyn Mazur, Nik Bärtsch, Kim Kashkashian, Jan Garbarek and many others. A sensual, impressive, meditative road movie which accomplishes the extraordinary : to catch the magic of music.

[Jazz on Film] - Begone Dull Care (1949)

2011-10-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

Begone Dull Care (1949) is a visual music animated film directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart. Using drawn on film animation, McLaren and Lambart paint and scratch directly onto film stock to create a visual representation of Oscar Peterson's jazz music. The film is produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

" Begone Dull Care is one of the great classics not only of animation but also of jazz on film. This 1949 short captures with joy and remarkable precision the spirit of the jazz music performed by the Oscar Peterson Trio. Director-animators Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart applied colours directly to the clear film with paint brushes of various sizes, stencil brushes, sprayers, crumpled paper and different textured fabrics.

As an example of film-jazz fusion, Begone Dull Care has captivated writers expert in both genres. In an interview about his 2000 book Jazz et Cinema, author Gilles Moullic says, "the most beautiful short on jazz is truly McLaren's Begone Dull Care"…. In it, McLaren understands very well that jazz-cinema is whatever 'happens' on screen. He worked a lot on a form of movement which is drawn out over the entire duration of the piece. There are flashes, breaks and splits in the drawing as well as, simultaneously, a continuous rhythm, a necessary pulse.” This National Film Board of Canada production won seven international awards, including prizes from the Venice and Berlin film festivals, and, more than 50 years after its creation, still appears on some critics Top 10 lists.

Begone Dull Care is one of 60 films directed and animated by Norman McLaren during his carreer at the National Film Board of Canada [AVTrust] "

Deep Blue Organ Trio - Wonderful (2011)

2011-10-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Chicago's Deep Blue Organ Trio mines one of popular soul artist Stevie Wonder's most fertile creative periods—the late sixties through the early seventies—on Wonderful!. The organ trio format is known for its unvarnished soulfulness, and the group's reverent treatment of these familiar hits gives a breezy lift to Wonder's always engaging and ebullient melodies.

A Hammond B3 organ, guitar and drums is a pared-down way to express music, especially Wonder's often highly produced sounds. But it is a refreshing way to listen to Wonder's songs, a way that emphasizes the purity of his catchy melodies. On "Jesus Children of America," from one of Wonder's handful of masterpieces, Innervisons (Motown, 1973), organist Chris Foreman drives the tune forward on a cold gusty wind, with drummer Greg Rockingham supplying an undercurrent of cymbal splashes, punctuated by snare drum pops. Guitarist Bobby Broom's lines are sharp and piquant, slicing through the wash of the B3.

"My Cheri Amour," the title track of Wonder's 1969 album, and one of his most popular and recognizable tunes, get a ruminative treatment, laidback and relaxed, with Broom comping beautifully behind Foreman. "Golden Lady," another huge Wonder hit from Innervisions, has a feeling of yearning, with Broom and Foreman trading the lead in front of turbulent drums.

Wonder's music has always been well-crafted and tightly-arranged. The Deep Blue Organ Trio works with the same tight, flawless, soulful approach to music making, and they have crafted a fittingly Wonderful! tribute to living legend.

By DAN MCCLENAGHAN (allaboutjazz.com)

VA - Brownswood Bubblers 7 (2011)

2011-10-13T01:40:00.000-07:00

It’s a typically diverse selection of rough diamonds plucked from the stream of amazing music that winds its way through Brownswood HQ: UK beatnut Jon Phonics opens proceedings with a glittering 80s funk bomb; Tanya Auclair lays raw vocal harmonies upon sparse, rickety drum structures, nestling comfortably in the nook between the electronic and the organic; our own jazz prodigy Zara McFarlane draws inspiration from the late, great Harry Whitaker on ‘Waking Sleep (Thoughts)’; and there’s a nod to vintage Badu-esque soul via the effortlessly graceful Ntjam Rosie. Veering into hip-hop territory, Tall Black Guy, Chris Turner and Jesse Boykins (featuring MachineDrum on production duties) provide the requisite bump, whilst Cubic Zirconia’s ‘Night Or Day’ finds Tiombe Lockhart and Bilal duetting on a deliciously loose-fitting techno jam. Bringing up the rear, Ratcliffe (half of UK institution Basement Jaxx) unleashes the sonic equivalent of a Hudson Mohawke / Aphex Twin collabo – deranged hypercolour pop of the highest order.

Brownswood Bubblers Seven // Album Teaser by Brownswood

Zara McFarlane - Until Tomorrow (2011)

2011-10-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

Zara McFarlane - 'Until Tomorrow' Album Preview by Brownswood

Anybody keeping an eye on the ongoing development of the British jazz scene will have noticed Zara McFarlane in the last few years. The 28 year-old London vocalist has made a string of impressive appearances with musicians who do no choose their collaborators without careful consideration – Denys Baptiste, Orphy Robinson, Soweto Kinch and Jazz Jamaica All Stars to name but some. McFarlane’s appearance on the latter’s 2006 Motown-themed album Motor City Roots revealed a singer whose power was offset by delicacy, as was clear from her sensitive handling of Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amour.

The arrangements for Until Tomorrow have a liberal dose of subtle, stealthy swing, yet as steeped as Zara McFarlane is in the jazz tradition, she has brought an eminently soul undercurrent to what she does, and it is entirely possible that she could appeal to audiences weaned as much on Jill Scott and Erykah Badu as Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves. Blessed with a fine voice and a strength of character that has led her towards thought-provoking, if not challenging lyrics, Zara McFarlane has with Until Tomorrow taken a giant step down the road to what is surely a long, illustrious career.

more here...

Randa & The Soul Kingdom - What You Need (2011)

2011-10-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hailing from Perth and firmly at the forefront of the Australian funk and soul scene are Randa & The Soul Kingdom led by Jordanian born and Australian raised soul sister Randa Khamis.

With producer Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Cookin On 3 Burners, Lanu, Black Feeling) at the controls of the debut self titled album, the result was bristling with edgy, gritty funk and soul. The buzz on Randa And The Soul Kingdom led to a full European tour with label mates Deep Street Soul, a live session for Mark Lamarr on BBC Radio 2. Randa was being lauded as a modern day equivalent to Marva Whitney, Ann Sexton and Vicki Anderson in their prime by Mojo Magazine, Blues & Soul and Randa's music even featuring in the US version of teen TV show Skins.

Instead of flying straight back to Australia after the tour, Randa spent 6 months residing in London collaborating with funk/soul artists to write her second album. Inspired and influenced by the music and musicians in London, the second album What You Need was born. Finally back in Melbourne, Australia she went straight into The Shed Studios where the songs were recorded and produced by Lance Ferguson and John Castle (Megan Washington) once again at the controls.

Whilst retaining the funk undercurrent, this new album What You Need also often incorporates elements of 60's and Northern soul, 70's disco and some more down tempo, reflective moments within what is a varied and mature collection of songs.

With this follow up album, Randa & The Soul Kingdom cement their reputation as one of the most hard working and authentic purveyors of genuine 21st century soul.

OUT NOW ON FREESTYLE RECORDS

The Dining Rooms - Lonesome Traveller (2011)

2011-09-28T01:33:00.000-07:00

Three years after “Ink”, The Dining Rooms release their sixth studio album "Lonesome Traveller".

“Cinematic music” and “songwriting” (also developed in the Sem’bro Project released by Summer Dawn in 2010) are the main features of the Milanese duo work.

The meeting with the London based singer Jake Reid, and his undeniable vocal characteristics, played an important role in the writing and production of this album. Almost marked by fate, the meeting with Jake was fortuitous and immediately deep. Stefano and Cesare were looking for singers for their new album, when Stefano received an e-mail from Jake congratulating him for their previous productions and asking for any features in the near future.
Stefano listened to the tracks performed by Jake and decided to play them to Cesare; an immediate feeling has dawned shortly between Jake’s soulful and vibrant voice and The Dining Rooms musical atmospheres.
Jake ‘s approach to the album has been very enthusiastic and dynamic, he performed songs already written and wrote new ones inspired by the new collaboration. The result is an unusual album for the Dining Rooms style: for the first time there is a prevailing voice that defines the project stylistically.
"Lonesome Traveller" is an elaborate record, it is especiallythe crossing of the traditional song format by means of complex melodic textures and a minimalist approach to the vocals, which is interwined with the instrumental parts in a kind of a psycho-jazz, soul mantra.
The whole is rhythmic and expansive, harmony and nocturnal melancholy, abstraction and melody, an hypothetical meeting point among the vocal albums of Brian Eno, “Another Green World”, and his more ambient productions, “Music for airports” and “Music for films”.
"Lonesome Traveller" is also a concept album about the journey, inspired by a series of writings by Jack Kerouac ("Lonesome Traveller", released in 1960).
The song titles and the development of the tracklist are designed like chapters of a book or scenes from a movie, a sort of emotional narrative that becomes the underlying theme of the album and blends, seamlessly, literary, musical and cinematic references, from Don DeLillo (“Running Dog”) to Woody Allen (“Interiors”); from Can (“Fading Gradually) to half-breed jazz (Io cammino ma….) passing through Erik Satie meeting Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada ("We are the music makers," "We are the Dreamers," "Hotel rooms").
The traveller is lead by "existential" questionings and embarks on a journey that is primarily research based, with self-discovery as the central focus.
The journey, an unexplored horizon, becomes a metaphor for life: the conquest of man’s own internal world evoked in this album by the dialectic between voice and instruments. This highlights the gap between stability and instability, speed and slowness and between established values and absolute freedom.
It is the driving force of human will, to look ahead to the future and the unknown as a new challenge. The journey therefore contains a substantial polarity between loyalty to man’s own roots and the challenge of research, between the promise of the conquest and the risk of loss, between the hope of return and surrender to the unknown.
The significance of the journey is key to this album’s structure and merit……

OUT ON OCTOBER 10 / SCHEMA RECORDS

Lack of Afro - This Time (2011)

2011-09-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Lack Of Afro (Adam Gibbons) has achieved a startling amount in the few years since his first Freestyle releases. Playing live and DJ-ing across the world, producing and remixing everyone from Tom Jones, The Pharcyde, The New Mastersounds through to Kraak & Smaak!

In 2011, as well as collaborating on an album project with Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds, having also produced and played on the album, Colours by Freestyle label mate Frootful, Adam somehow found time to create what is, without doubt his strongest album yet: This Time.

A wide ranging and eclectic, progressive musical outlook has always been the Lack Of Afro approach, and on this collection the music pulls together several strands into a fantastic, homogenous journey with almost too many highlights to mention! Several top notch vocalists feature, Jake Morleys Holding My Breath with its moody minor key feel riding over an aggressive rhythm track is one tune that is bound to find favour on dance floors worldwide.

A Time For with Wayne Giddens' smoky, falsetto voice is already gaining a reputation as Lack Of Afro's most genuinely soulful composition ever, evoking as it does a mid 70's sound that Al Green, Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye would have been rightly proud of. Already available as a 7 inch single/download (FSR7069) the amazing feedback to this beautiful song ensures it will certainly become renowned as timeless classic.

Fool is a track that echoes 1960s pop-soul of artists like Dusty Springfield, as Angeline Morrisons sweet voice rides over orchestral strings, whilst on The Importance Of Elsewhere Angeline displays fully deserved soul credentials and her contributions mark her out as a rising star in 2011.

With flavours of afrobeat on Contusions, the laid back far eastern tonality of Little Fugue, Def Jam Records star Wax rocking all over P.A.R.T.Y. alongside Herbal T, and a smattering of well rounded and grooving instrumentals like Lazy Lazurus, This Time is the Lack Of Afro album we have all been waiting for. Considered, soulful, contemporary yet retro, accomplished certainly and setting standards in modern music others will struggle to follow.

Quantic - The Best of Quantic (2011)

2011-09-19T01:28:00.001-07:00

posted on Tru-Thoughts.co.uk

‘The Best Of Quantic’ is out now on double CD and vinyl, to celebrate an incredible ten years of swinging and soulful, funk-filled and tropical, authentic and innovative, DJ-delighting, booty-shaking, culture-clashing, horizon-broadening and consistently sweet music from Quantic on Tru Thoughts records. All the biggest tunes are here, plus three exclusive new tracks.

It is a decade since a 20-year-old Will Holland (aka Quantic) came to meet Tru Thoughts A&R Robert Luis, holding in his hand the demo that was soon to become his first album, ‘The 5th Exotic’. Picked up on by the biggest names in underground music at the time, including Gilles Peterson, LTJ Bukem and Richard Dorfmeister, it was clear that this impressive debut heralded a very special new arrival onto the scene. A record-obsessed DJ and crate-digger, his musical talents have always been matched by a rare curiosity and drive that sets him apart. His passion to find the roots of the sounds that he loves has taken him on a journey from the UK to Cali, Colombia, where he now lives and works with a diverse and vibrant mix of musicians.

Quantic Tru Thoughts Podcast No 38

The Cinematic Orchestra - Entr'acte & Manhatta (singles, 2011)

2011-09-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Cinematic Orchestra release 'Entr'acte' & 'Manhatta'

Posted on cinematicorchestra.com (13.09.11)

Debuting in 2010 with a live score at London's Roundhouse, Entr'acte and Manhatta are two films made in the same era as Man With A Movie Camera, showing the world in the 1920's from three distinct cultures. The Man With A Movie Camera score in 2003 was a landmark release for The Cinematic Orchestra, the most critically acclaimed of all the attempts at scoring the film. It is with some fanfare that two new soundtracks along with the film footage are to be released on the Ninjashop and iTunes...

Entr'acte (1924) is Rene Clair's Dada-influenced 20-minute short, commissioned for the interval of Francis Picabia's new ballet, Relache, in Paris in 1924. The original music for the film was composed by the famous composer Erik Sati e, who makes a cameo appearance along side surrealist photographer Man Ray.

Manhatta (1921) is a short 11-minute documentary film made by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand. The film consists of 65 shots sequenced in a non-narrative structure, providing a view of the city in its formative years.

Buy Entr'acte at the Ninjashop

Download on iTunes

Buy Manhatta at the Ninjashop

Download on iTunes

The Cinematic Orchestra have also now sold out 'InMotion' at London's Barbican on 1st October. Continuing the on-going live event curated by the band, a selection of films will be given original live scores. As well as their own performance, The Cinematic Orchestra have invited Dorian Concept and Tom Chant, Grey Reverend and Austin Peralta to perform exclusive scores to hand picked short films.

Blue Note Milano LIVE

2011-09-13T23:28:00.001-07:00

One of the hottest jazz spots in Europe has opened up its doors for yet another exciting season. Blue Note Milano (the only B N club in Europe) has anounced its autumn dates with the likes of Charlie Watts Band, Nicola Conte, Al Di Meola, Freddy Cole, Nick The Nightfly & The Monte Carlo Nights Orchestra, Stacey Kent, Madeleine Peyroux, US3, Cedar Walton, Fourplay, Patty Pravo and many more strolling on its stage.

View the full giglist right here...

Electric Band Marzipan - Clocks On Fire ep

2011-09-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://electricbandmarzipan.bandcamp.com/album/clocks-on-fire-ep">Clocks On Fire EP by Electric Band Marzipan</a>

Super chill instrumental hip hop, featuring jazz, funk, soul, and even disco influences! ELECTRIC BAND MARZIPAN unleash their eclectic mix of funky tunes to the world 4 FREE! Check out their website http://electricbandmarzipan.bandcamp.com/ to download all three albums they've released this year (Clocks On Fire ep, Hot Surfaces, Simple Apples May Provide Lean Edible Sauce).

Coming out of nowhere and immediately dropping two LPs, Simple Apples May Provide Lean Edible Sauce in March and then Hot Surfaces in June of 2011, Electric Band Marzipan is finally ready for their first appearances in front of a wider audience. No longer just a creation for self-satisfaction and to break away from the mainstream, Electric Band Marzipan is now about spreading their own brand of Funky Jazz for the Soul to everyone in need of some soul.

Everyone needs some goddamn soul.

The third album, Clocks on Fire, is a tour de force in creating a new sound: futurehop. Filled with wild rhythms, many different instruments, and more atmosphere than ever, this is instrumental hip hop from a futuristic world filled with both darkness and beauty.

VA - Downbeat Selection vol. 2 (Compost Records, 2011)

2011-09-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

After one and a half decade and more than 370 releases, Compost Records bundles some of their finest tunes as Various Artists digital download compilation albums.
The variety and full spectrum of Compost’s repertoire has never or rarely been presented in form of a musical genre compilation. These releases will be compiled or DJ-mixed by Compost’s artists and are available as digital downloads, except in some rare cases very very limited as 500 CDs. With the second Downbeat Selection, Compost head honcho and compiler Michael Reinboth shows the folky swinging side of the Compost repertoire. Vocal pop and uplifting tunes from our most talented songwriters highlighting a small but delightful spectrum of the Compost vault. Btw, Michael’s life-course shows that he compiled more than 25 compilations in his long term career, his first one was Germany’s first ever Hip Hop sampler called “Krauts With Attitude” in 1988, as well as he compiled two comps for Sleeping Bag Records (released on German label Intercord) with classics from Arthur Russell, Weekend, Konk, Class Action, Todd Terry a.m.o., including linernotes by Michael Reinboth, not to forget the „Future Sound Of Jazz“ (vol.1-11) serie, which will be continued with Vol.12 this autumn 2011.

Madeleine Peyroux - Standing on the Rooftop (2011)

2011-09-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

This is a fine, largely original album, give or take a handful of covers of songs by Bob Dylan, Lennon and McCartney, and Robert Johnson, and a couple from a recently kindled composing partnership with the Stones' Bill Wyman. The feel is darker, spookier and earthier than on 2009's Bare Bones (Cassandra Wilson producer Craig Street is clearly an influential presence), with contributions from Tom Waits guitarist Marc Ribot and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint helping establish a simmering, semi-abstract backdrop for Peyroux's measured delivery and bluesy elisions. A major highlight is the echoing, gothic account of Johnson's Love in Vain. It's part of a sequence of more weighty, atmospheric pieces that build from the quirky, ecstatic title track through the chunky guitar and bass riffs of Dylan's I Threw It All Away and on to the wistful original The Way of All Things – which Peyroux negotiates with her delicate control of small sounds, and complements with a rougher and more worldly quality that goes back to the early jazz and blues methods she understands so well.

- By John Fordham (The Guardian)

Nick Waterhouse - Is That Clear ep (2011)

2011-08-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

I Can Only Give You Everything by Nick Waterhouse

Nick Waterhouse is a vintage R&B and rock enthusiast who, under the guise of his own Pres Records imprint in San Francisco, has recorded and released two killer 45s: the Allah-Las' "Catamaran" and his own "Some Place." It's not just the sound that's vintage, it's also the analog equipment Waterhouse uses, from the 60 year-old microphones to open-reel tape machines. His newest release is a digital four-song EP comprised of the "Some Place" 7" and the forthcoming "Is That Clear" 7"— due out September 15th. The EP, released yesterday, works like a time machine: the combination of Waterhouse's husky vocal delivery and fiery guitar play paired with bursts of brass from his backing band the Turn-Keys transport the listener to a smokey and crowded club in the 1950s where the house band is one fire and everyone's on the dance floor shaking hips and burning rubber. Vinyl fans: the sold out "Some Place" 7" is already fetching top dollar on Ebay, so don't sleep on this next release.

- Everybody Taste

Nicola Conte - Love & Revolution (2011)

2011-08-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

Nicola Conte - Love from the Sun by iRieFicus

With Love & Revolution, it's fair to say that Conte, a guitarist who almost never dominates and a musician that often doesn't even participate, comes into his own as a composer and conceptualist. It's a mature work that is more cohesive, satisfying and unique than just about anything Conte has attempted before. A hippy dippy vibe prevails here, as suggested by the retro cover graphics, recalling some of the Impulse work of Dave Mackay and Vicky Hamilton, whose “Here" is heard here. But that's more a superficial catch-all than what this music is all about.

As before, the tendency toward songs with singers prevails here and, as usual, Conte surrounds himself with a variety of young singers who give his music just the right touch of silky soul including José James ("Love From The Sun," “Here," Mal Waldron's “Temple of Far East" set to Conte's words), Gregory Porter ("Do You Feel Like I Do," Jackie McLean's “Ghana" set to Conte's words), Melanie Charles ("Mystery of Love," “Love and Revolution," Cal Massey's “Quiet Dawn,") and Hungarian vocalist Veronika Harcsa ("I'm the Air").

- Doug Payne (All About Jazz)

Beverley Knight - Soul UK (2011)

2011-08-15T23:44:00.001-07:00

Beverly Knight is a brilliant soul singer, who grew up at a time when black British music wasn’t as united as it is in these days of grime riding high in the pop charts. High quality dance and soulful pop acts struggled to have more than one hit single, and very few – Rod Temperton’s Heatwave and Jazzie B’s Soul II Soul are notable exceptions – were able to maintain albums success and international fame.

Both those acts are referred to here on Soul UK. ‘Soul’ in this insistence is a fairly broad church, referring to the (generally brilliant) soul pop made in Britain over the last 30 years. As a testament to the often-overlooked music made in the days when RnB still meant Big Joe Turner, not Beyoncé, Soul UK is remarkably effective. The songs covered here are wide-ranging, from the Prince-like rock pop of Roachford’s Cuddly Toy to Heatwave’s gorgeous ballad Always and Forever. Knight’s memory and taste are impeccable – it’s nothing but a joy to hear Junior Giscombe’s Mama Used to Say or Princess’ Say I’m Your Number One again.

- David Quantick

The New Mastersounds - Breaks from the Border (2011)

2011-08-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

05 Freckles by LordIce

The New Mastersounds have just released their first ever US recorded album, 'Breaks From The Border'. 'Breaks' marks a new era in the band's sonic landscape by topping their unique syncopated grooves with group vocal styling. Band tested, fan approved. Check out a glimpse of behind the scenes in Tornillo, TX of the making of 'Breaks From The Border' in this exclusive video created by Ben Mears and Christopher Doody for amodernlove.com

OUT ON AUGUST 8 on ONE NOTE records

The Sweet Vandals - So Clear (2011)

2011-08-05T03:20:00.000-07:00

Throughout 2010 The Sweet Vandals have been focusing on writing and recording their third album So Clear. They have also spend their time on further developing their studio "Funkameba Studios" and their own label: Sweet Records. So Clear, released by Unique Records in May 2011 and, go on it's own musical journey, exploring new sound territories but at the same time staying loyal to the organic, warm, pleasant and timeless analogical way of work with a rough and gnarly touch. Real music without any digital tricks, played by real musicians for true listeners. The Sweet Vandals, who have naturally grown out of a mixture of classic Soul, Raw Funk and authentic groove will give the listeners something to talk about.

Eddie Roberts & The Fire Eaters - Burn! (2011)

2011-08-05T03:01:00.001-07:00

When in touring and recording in Spain with his band The New Mastersounds, guitarist Eddie Roberts joined forces with The Sweet Vandals' rhythm section, adding Chip Wickham's (Nightmares On Wax, Rae & Christian, The Pharcyde) world-class flute and Taz Modi's funktastic organ from Leeds/UK, and he sensed that this could be the beginning of something special. Burn! is the proof that his feelings were true. The Fire Eaters, as the combo was called, recorded the album produced by Eddie Roberts himself in 2010, completed 12 tracks including a good number of originals as well as their versions of classic acid jazz & soul tunes like I Believe In Miracles, the Lope Song or Latona, travelling way back to the times when jazz had soul and there was freedom in the rhythm.

OUT NOW ON Légère Recordings

Submotion Orchestra - Finest Hour (2011)

2011-08-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

[...] Finest Hour has been cut in magnum opus mode, so there is no real break between tracks, giving the work a seamless quality, even as it drifts between genres. Broody opener Angel Eyes begins with full orchestration before dropping down to drum’n’bass basics; Back Chat starts out sounding like Richard Clayderman attacking Nadia’s Theme, until raspy bass warbles soon remind that we are heading for the dubstep zone. Always has a pick’n’mix feel, and Hymn for Him has down-tempo minimalism; All Yours could be Sade gone acid, while Pop and Lock and Secrets merge skewered jazz and broken d’n’b to fine effect. And even if songs like Suffer Not and Finest Hour seem unnecessarily sentimental, the dub-wise element of each lends a sensation of infiniteness. By the time we reach the closing Perfection, the journey has been a quietly bewildering one, becoming only marginally more familiar on another spin. [...]

By David Katz, BBC - Music, More HERE...

Finest Hour Album Preview by Submotion Orchestra

Omar - Sing (If You Want It) [2011]

2011-08-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

One of TWISTED JAZZ absolute fav artists gets a TruThoughts treatment

of a modern lost classic!!!

Omar’s ‘Sing (If You Want It)’ album – featuring collaborators including Stevie Wonder, Estelle, Common and Angie Stone – released by Tru Thoughts on 18th July 2011 with the addition of two new bonus tracks

Omar’s sixth album, ‘Sing (If You Want It)’ is a bona fide soul classic and was all set to tip the UK soul sensation into the pop-star realm, once and for all, on its release in 2005. However, a series of setbacks – not least the sudden collapse of the record label involved, a week after release – severely dented its chances of breakthrough success. Hardly a flop, it impressively still sold over 50,000 copies, but as Tru Thoughts A&R and long-time Omar fan Robert Luis says, “it was so heavily anticipated, and with collabs from the likes of Stevie Wonder…well, everyone knew it could have sold ten times that”.

More HERE..

Omar - Feeling You (Featuring Stevie Wonder) by Fuse Group Australia

Ocote Soul Sounds - Taurus (2011)

2011-07-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

After winning a Grammy Award in 2011 and backing the Tony Award winning broadway show “Fela!” with their respective bands Grupo Fantasma and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Adrian Quesada and Martin Perna return to their sun-soaked Latin-psychedelia project Ocote Soul Sounds with their fourth studio album, Taurus.

Like its bullish namesake, their latest album smashes through sonic barriers with a heavy and dynamic mix of pan-Latin flavor, conscious political attitude, afrobeat and hip-hop rhythms. Taurus was produced by Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation at the Washington DC based ESL Music Studios and features vocal collaborations with fellow ESL Music regulars Natalia Clavier, Sitali, Verny Varela and Chico Mann.

With soaring vocal anthems like “Primavera,” bass-bin rattling groovers like “En El Temblor,” red-hot Latin jams like “Contigo Jamas,” and even pensive Italian folk excursions like “Nessuno”, Taurus is Ocote Soul Sounds’ most expansive and complete album to date!

Ocote Soul Sounds - Primavera by INgroovesmarketing

Ikebe Shakedown - S/T (2011)

2011-07-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

Ikebe Shakedown, the self-titled album from the Brooklyn-based band, plays with elements of Cinematic Soul, Afro-funk, Deep Disco, and Boogaloo in all the right ways. After spending a few years together the group, named after a favorite Nigerian boogie record (and pronounced “ee-KAY-bay,”) delivers a driving set of tunes featuring a mighty horn section anchored by tight, deep-pocketed grooves.

Ikebe Shakedown - "Tujunga" by Ubiquity Records

Farewell, my lady...

2011-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Jill Scott - The Light of the Sun (2011)

2011-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Light of the Sun feels like the sort of album made by someone who’s busy doing something else: in Jill Scott’s case her acting, bringing up her child and recovering from a broken heart. This doesn’t mean, however, that it feels as if her music is taking second place to all these other matters. In fact, the album feels like the rush of somebody being able to celebrate/commiserate while on the run. Hence the album has a looseness, an unfinished air, and it revels in its spontaneity. There is studio chatter and laughter left on the tape, capturing a freewheeling vibe.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - From Africa With Fury:Rise (2011)

2011-07-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

With the mighty new From Africa With Fury: Rise, Seun Anikulapo Kuti heads up Egypt 80, the extraordinary combo first fronted by his renowned father. The album follows Kuti's critically praised debut, 2008's Many Things, which was unanimously hailed for continuing Fela's musical legacy. From Africa With Fury: Rise sees Kuti finding his own idiosyncratic voice as songwriter, singer, and band leader, its songs and sonic approach marked by provocative edge and mature self-assurance.

Produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds, and Seun Kuti, with additional production by Godwin Logie, and mixed by John Reynolds and Tim Oliver, the album captures Seun and Egypt 80's extraordinary power, fraught with the scorching rhythms and kinetic funk energy that has earned the band – as ever, under the leadership of alto saxophonist Lekan Animashaun – worldwide acclaim as one of today's most incendiary live acts. With Kuti's booming vocal stylings at the forefront, songs like "African Soldier" and "Mr. Big Thief" are fueled by call-and-response hooks, breakneck tempos, and combative, topical lyricism which firmly sets the classic Egypt 80 sound in the modern era.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 : Rise by VMLive

The Echocentrics - Sunshadows (2011)

2011-07-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Echocentrics is a new band from Austin-based two-time Grammy winning producer Adrian Quesada, a member of Grupo Fantasma, and one of the minds behind bands Ocote Soul Sounds and Brownout. Teaming up with Argentinean singer Natalia Clavier and Brazil-based Tita Lima, he has carved out a southern-fried, laid back, and psychedelic-tinged album.
more here...

TOKiMONSTA - Creature Dreams ep (2011)

2011-06-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

TOKiMONSTA ("toki" means rabbit in Korean, apparently; "monsta"… is something that lives under your bed, right?) is Los Angeles producer Jennifer Lee – a female presence in a scene dominated by laptop-mashing males. While softer and calmer at its centre than the work of labelmates like Lorn and Teebs, her music’s design isn’t informed directly by her sex; it’s more likely that this well-studied but emotionally rich sound is the product of development, of trial and error. Active for some time (though this EP is likely to comprise an introduction for many), Lee is no newcomer to the world of experimental electronica, and has enjoyed limited overseas exposure – she toured the UK back in 2009, and released through London-based label Ramp Recordings. Creature Dreams, then, is the latest evolution of an artist steadily developing a very singular voice.

Not that she uses her own, literally. Creature Dreams’ vocals come from Gavin Turek, another LA native (and a she, not a he) whose soulful contributions decorate Darkest (Dim) and Little Pleasures: not numbers to bop to, but to relax with. The latter has a really warm, slightly trip-hop feel to it: more mid-90s Massive Attack than coffee-table Morcheeba. Light acoustic guitar on Stigmatizing Sex gives an otherwise solely synthetic piece a nice organic quality, and Bright Shadows is a skittering delight that ticks many of the same (quirky) dancefloor-pleasing boxes as another inventive individual on the Brainfeeder roster, Daedelus. Mood-wise, this is a set best listened to at twilight.

By Mike Diver

Latest tracks by TOKiMONSTA

San Javier Jazz Festival, Spain (25/6 - 30/7 2011)

2011-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

The 14th edition of the San Javier Jazz Festival which will be held from June 25th to July 30th, will be dedicated to the memory of Gary Moore and Solomon Burke and will include some of the best musicians in the current jazz and blues scene.

The return of legendary pianist Ramsey Lewis, this time with his Electric Band and with a Jazz-Funk project, a genre which he invented. Jazz Rock supergroup Chicago's first concert in Spain; the return of Eric Burdon & The Animals, and two of the world's most prestigious big bands, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with special guest John Pizzarelli are some of the highlights of this year's program.

Other jazz greats like Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander, Californian guitarist Lee Ritenour, or guitarist John Scofield will clear the way for other young musicians who are already world renown like Japanese pianist Hiromi with her new trio, Danish pianist Niels Lan Doky, or the new star of the accordion Ludovic Beier. Among the many European performers in this edition of the festival there will also be Spanish jazz musicians, like the pianist from Cadiz Sergio Monroy, the guitarist from Mallorca Biel Ballester and his trio who will perform with Romanian violinist Costel Nitescu, Catalonian pianist Albert Bover and his trio with the Detroit singer Carla Cook, and the also Catalonian pianist Jaume Vilaseca and his quartet with Indian sitarist Ravi Chary.

Other important names are the fantastic jazz vocalist Rene Marie; the great lady of the bossa nova Leny Andrade, or the French group Pink Turtle.

Blues and rock will also be featured, as expected in an edition dedicated to Gary Moore, therefore, in addition to the already mentioned performances by Chicago and Eric Burdon, there will be performances by Elvin Bishop, Lucky Peterson, Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes and veteran British singer Chris Farlowe with the Norman Beacker Band, without forgetting to mention San Francisco bluesman Joe Louis Walker.

All in all, an edition with concerts to satisfy the most diverse palates, and which will stay true to the festival's policy of maintaining popular prices for tickets and season passes so everyone can have easy access to the temple of jazz and blues that is the Parque Almansa auditorium.

Most of the concerts can also be enjoyed by fans throughout all of Spain thanks to the collaboration of Televisión Española, Radio 3 and 7 Región de Murcia.

Complete Program HERE...

Jazz on Film: "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957)

2011-06-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
USA 1957 • 93 mins • Directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Great film about New York ‘s underbelly. The sound track and the film features Chico Hamilton and his group with Jim Hall (gtr) ghosting for Martin Milner, the jazz musician being framed by Burt Lancaster. Conte Candoli (tpt) and Frank Rosolino (tbn) are briefly featured with Chico Hamilton. With Carson Smith, Paul Horn and Fred Katz.

Nu:tone - Words and pictures (2011)

2011-06-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

12 NuTone - Invisible (featuring 4hero & Natalie Williams) by snex908999

This is Dan's most ambitious project yet with a wealth of cutting edge drum and bass productions featuring some of the finest vocalist and collaborators from within the scene and beyond. 4 Hero, Ben Westbeech, Natalie Willams, Stac, Logistics, Heidi Vogel, Lisa Milett, Kyan and Sophie Paul all feature on this breathtaking album! Out now on Hospital Records!

Preview the whole album right here

Festival Season: "Voices Across The World" @ the Royal Opera House London

2011-06-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

Orlando Gough, Royal Opera House Associate Artist, curates this year’s annual summer celebration of traditional and contemporary music from a variety of global cultures, with a focus on different singing traditions and the uniqueness of the human voice.

The Royal Opera House

Paul Hamlyn Hall 2pm - 6.30pm

July 31 2011, Covent Garden, London

Orlando has invited twelve of his favourite singers to perform at the Royal Opera House on one day. The singers will perform unplugged, either a cappella or with minimal accompaniment in the Paul Hamlyn Hall between 2pm and 6.30 pm. In Orlando’s words:

‘Each of them not only has an amazing voice but an original and radical attitude to singing’ :

Christian Zehnder is a spectacular yodeller and throat-singer.
John Tomlinson, the legendary opera singer with a seriously bass voice.
Mikhail Karikis is an eye-opening performer and ear-opening singer.
Erika Stucky sounds more like Tom Waits than any other female singer I know of.
Dessi Stefanova sings like a Bulgarian, which she is – enough said.
Clare Wilkinson sings early music as if it were brand new.
Manickam Yogeswaran is a Tamil from Sri Lanka with a voice of pure honey.
Phil Minton sings with a bravery verging on the heroic.
Loré Lixemberg is the most experimental opera singer I’ve ever come across.
Eska Mtungwazi sings jazz-soul-hip-hop-folk-African music with a friskiness verging on the ecstatic.
Talitha MacKenzie sings Gaelic music in a way that makes you understand Gaelic
Melanie Pappenheim has the voice of an angel and the sense of humour of the devil

Orlando Gough

There will also be surprise events in the other front-of-house spaces including an exclusive showing of the film Turbulent by artist Shirin Neshat and a chance to try out your own voice in an Extreme Karaoke – an aural playground created by composer Dominic Murcott.

Motor Mouth Music Linbury Studio Theatre 7pm - Unreserved standing only

A selection of the singers from the day will join electronic artist Andrew McDonnell in a thrilling improvised session. Expect looping, live sampling, duets, trios, choruses, transformations - experimentation and exhilaration!

Festival Season 2011

2011-06-09T09:21:00.001-07:00

It's been kinda lazy lately @ TJ headquarters and usually what it needs to get up and going again it's an email from the other part of the globe from a keen reader who just wants to know some crucial jazz dates in the Old Continent and beyond.
Montreux, Switzerland begins its allstar festivities on the 1st of July with Carlos Santana & John McLauglin. And that's only the opening act! Quincy Jones, Sting, BB King, , Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Jimmy Cliff, The Skatalites, Ziggy Marley, Alpha Blondy, Yousou N'Dour, Seal, Trilok Gurtu, Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin, George Benson, Leon Russel, Dr. John, Ruben Blades, Liza Minelli, Ricky Martin, Rumer, Esperanza Spalding, James Blake, Arcade Fire, Lamb, Mogwai, Deep Purple and TJ absolute favs RAPHAEL SAADIQ, CHARLES BRADLEY, ALOE BLACC, MARIO BIONDI, ERIC TRUFFAZ, FEMI KUTI and last but not least BOOTSY COLLINS!
Worth checking out the celebration for the 30 years of TommyBoy records with a concert featuring Africa Bambaata, Coolio, Digital Underground, House of Pain, Naughty by Nature, Prince Paul as well as a Tribute to Miles Davies with Herbie Hancock and Wayner Shorter!

The capital of Umbria region, Perugia, hosts one of the best European jazz festivals known as UMBRIA JAZZ (8-17 July). It's a perfect opportunity 4 us to make it public that this particular jazz institution is the spark of birth for this blog. In fact the idea of the blog was conceived while living in the Etruscan town and breathing the UJ air every summer!
Wanna know what's in store 4 this year's edition? Grab a bite ...
P R I N C E (yeah the one and only, Gilberto Gill & Sergio Mendes, BB King, Dee Alexander & Caro Emerald, Miles Tribute feat. Hancock, Shorter and Miller, OUR MAN AHMAD JAMAL, Branford Marsalis, Santana, Liza Minnelli, Renato Sellani & Massimo Moriconi, Stefano Mincone Trio, Anat Cohen Quartet, Giovanni Guidi Quintet (feat another TJ fav GIANLUCA PETRELLA), Tia Fuller Quartet, Chihiro Yamanaka Trio and many more...

Our (relatively) newest entry of favourite festivals, GP's WORLDWIDE takes place between 6 - 10 July in Sete France and between 16 - 18 September in Singapore (we'll be posting more about the Sing fest nearer to its dates).
Meanwhile in Southern France this year's line-up is rammed with heavyweight talent includes Raphael Saadiq live, Dam Funk w/ Master Blazter live, James Blake live, Jamie xx, Flying Lotus live, Mount Kimbie live, Derrick Carter, Laurent Garnier presents L.B.S live, Kode9, The Pyramids live, DJ Harvey, Konono No.1 live, Rich Medina, Benji B, Owiny Sigoma Band live, Sofrito Soundsystem, FM Belfast live, Cut Chemist, Joy Orbison, Brandt Brauer Frick live, Souleance live, Prommer & Barck live, Baths live, David Rodigan, Ghostpoet live, Pearson Sound aka Ramadanman, Rainer Truby, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Lefto, Simbad, Dj RKK, Quantic, Boiler Room x Young Turks, Ross Allen, Toshio Matsuura, MC Dynamite and many more

That's it for now folks...more essential info about Euro Twisted Jazz fests as we go along. Have a nice trippin' ...Take Care!

Matthew Halsall - On The Go (2011)

2011-05-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's best to get straight to the point, to stop beating around the bush and avoid going round in circles. This is one of those times. On The Go is superb .-
more here...

The Weeknd - House of Balloons (2011)

2011-04-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

It's THE controversy of 2011! RNB's mystery men THE WEEKND released via their website 4 free "House of Balloons" dividing the hip hop and RNB fans.

"What makes this whole thing work in an album context is that all the thematic and sonic pieces fit together-- these weird, morning-after tales of lust, hurt, and over-indulgence ("Bring the drugs, baby, I can bring my pain," goes one refrain) are matched by this incredibly lush, downcast music. It's hard to think of a record since probably the xx's debut (definitely a touchstone here) that so fully embodies such a specific nocturnal quality. And even though the image of nightlife painted by the Weeknd isn't a place you'd ever want to live, it's one that's frankly very hard to stop listening to."

Joe Colly - Pitchfork

The Weeknd - House Of Balloons by The_Weeknd

New Music in Yo Ear

2011-04-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Cubic Zirconia's DAVI, one of the finest talents of our days, just released this beautiful tune that's been on rotation in the TJ headquarters for the past week and dare we say one of the best to be released in 2011. A TJ instant classic...check it out!!!

available as a free HQ mp3 download from DAVI's official website right here

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous (2011)

2011-03-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

Scandalous was produced by Jim Eno of Spoon, who also produced the band’s celebrated 2009 debut, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! (Lost Highway). Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! featured a young band’s modern and gritty take on classic American funk, soul, rock and blues. The album garnered positive feedback from the press, including Esquire, Spin, NPR, UTNE Reader, Los Angeles Times, Mojo, and Popmatters.com. On Scandalous, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears elevate their game to another level with 11 new songs that offer more diverse and contemporary stylings than its predecessor. Gospel punk burner "You Been Lyin'" (featuring The Relatives) fits squarely alongside the country blues of "Messin'" and the Stax-meets-Stones soul of Solomon Burke’s "Since I Met You Baby." The raw funk creeper "She's So Scandalous" stands out as an album highlight.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - World of Funk (2011)

2011-03-14T01:46:00.000-07:00

OUT TODAY ON OBIQUITY RECORDS

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - "Bina" by Ubiquity Records

Lee has as an uncanny ability to pick-up and play any instrument he can lay his hands on (his studio is like a candy-store for curious musicians) and for World of Funk he went global playing sitar, ektar, Balaphone, Tanpura, kalimba, Steel drum, Guitarron, Moroccan castanets, Cithare, vibraphone, Xylophone, Bulbul tarang, Charango, Bouzouki, talking drum, and Udu.

Adding to Lees melting pot of sounds are guests from around the world. Brazilian singer-multi instrumentalist Curumin (Hailing from Sao Paulo, and of Japanese/Spanish Brazilian background) and British/Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas completely embody the spirit of World of Funk. While on-tour in Los Angeles this Summer Lee locked down three very special collaborations. The first was with Chhom Nimol the LA based Cambodian singer with the band Dengue Fever. Lee made an instrumental track with Clutchy Hopkins (which includes the sound of a 1960's Smith and Corona typewriter!) for Dengue Fever member Paul Smith who recorded Chhoms haunting vocal. A chance meeting with Bardo of Chicano Batman on Sunset Boulevard led to some garage-y flavored West Coast Latino-funk. And then both Willie McNeal and Money Mark suggested Lee work with Cava.

The album also features Truth and Soul Recording artist Michael Leonhart, NOMO bandleader Elliot Bergman, and Lee’s mother-in-law (aka Nanny Jee)!

Red Snapper - Key (2011)

2011-03-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

‘Key’ is a guide to all things ‘Snapper’, ghostly sonic landscapes, ripping machine gun rhythms and bone shaking bass. Two years in the making, from a band who met nearly 20 years ago, a sonic journey through afrobilly funk, grinding dub jazz and future blues bophop, full of dark soul and blistering passion. “Key” is the seventh and arguably the best album from a genre-defying group that continue to break boundaries and create new sounds while staying true to their unique energy that fans have always loved.

Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin' (2011)

2011-03-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and record producer Raphael Saadiq has announced the release of his fifth studio album Stone Rollin’ on May 10, 2011 on Columbia Records. Known for defying the confines of working within one genre, this standard bearer for “old school” R&B returns with a new release that celebrates the classic sounds of 60’s and 70’s soul with a futuristic twist.
With Stone Rollin’, Saadiq nods to his heroes like Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Little Walter and Sly Stone, while merging his own contemporary twist, one born out of a combination of his recent touring experiences, as well as inspiration derived from indie acts that hold regular rotation in his ipod. The end result is a collection that showcases Saadiq’s gifted musicality and the stellar production skills that have become the artist’s signature.

Raphael Saadiq says of the recording

“Both the attraction and reaction to my music from my listeners has giving me all that I need to continue pushing the envelope and making music that wakes and rocks the soul of many, Its Ready, I’m Ready, and I know the world is Ready, Lets all go Stone Rollin.”

Cubic Zirconia - Black & Blue

2011-02-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Nostalgia 77 - The Sleepwalking Society (2011)

2011-02-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Nostalgia 77’s long-awaited fourth studio album, ‘The Sleepwalking Society’, featuring the vocals of German singer Josa Peit, is out on 21st March 2011 on Tru Thoughts.

5 tracks from the forthcoming Nostalgia 77 album

BOOK: Bossa Nova Cover Art by Soul Jazz

2011-02-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

This is the first ever collection of bossa nova record cover artwork, featuring stunning modernist and revolutionary designs that reflect the radical and exciting idealism of Brazil at the start of the 1960s.

Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) bring you this amazing new deluxe hardback 12" x 12" book, 200 pages, 100s of stunning absolutely killer Bossa Nova sleeves from Brazil plus loads of historical, cultural and social text as well as biographies on loads of the artists!

As Brazil developed into an urban society, with ‘apartment living’ and consumer goods, bossa nova projected an image that was modern, sophisticated and cool. Bossa Nova music arrived in Brazil at the end of the 1950s with an optimism and modernism that parralleled the arrival of the new Brazilian president, Juscelino Kubitschek, who promised 'fifty years of progress in five' in his election campaign and announced the building of a new capital city, Brasilia, deep in the heartland of Brazil. The city was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, a man who had just designed a new musical theatre production in Rio of a play written by Vinicius de Moraes and with music written by Antonio Carlos Jobim. These two, along with the singer João Gilberto were about to make Bossa Nova, the first modernist Brazilian art form, the most succesful Brazilian export since coffee.

This book is a unique collection of the cover art of Brazilian bossa nova music, containing hundreds of record covers complete with a history of bossa nova, biographies and essays on many of the artists involved in the movement. The book follows on from our previous cover art book on Jazz called Freedom, Rhythm and Sound, also edited by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker.

To coincide with the book, there is also a separate double-CD album, 'Bossa Nova and the Rise of Brazilian Music in the 1960s' also released on Soul Jazz Records.

Stuart Baker interview on Jungle Drums mag

4 more Bossa covers click the Guardian photo library here

Talib Kweli – Gutter Rainbows (2011)

2011-02-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Remaining one of the most proficient lyrical social commentators, Kweli’s lyrics evoke much emotion and genuine care, which makes every verse (in which he addresses issues) the more convincing. Whilst an abundance of past and present emcees have donned the conscious thinking cap, Kweli today still remains one of the best. It’s his skill to marry thoughtful stories with his gift with words, which creates epic records, such as ‘Tater Tots’ playing the role of an ex-soldier disillusioned with life after the army. Production is handled by an array of talented (and somewhat slept-on) beatmakers, yet they all manage to arrange some of the hardest, emotive and true to the vintage sounds of Hip Hop.
more here...

Quasimode - Magic Ensemble (2011)

2011-02-01T15:12:00.001-08:00

Quasimode soar nicely on this great little set for Blue Note Japan - a record that draws on their many years in the club jazz scene, and finds a way to give their music even more focus than before! All the piano-driven grooves we've always loved are firmly in place - hard-rolling modal lines that step out boldly over acoustic bass and percussion - but this time around, the horns are even more prominent than before - some tight trumpet and tenor that both sound mighty nice, given some occasional string sweetening on a few cuts, but never in ways that dampen the highly rhythmic energy of the combo! Titles include album versions of "Whisky's High" and "Flyin To The Dark" - plus "Seven Colors", "Cosmic Eyes", "Lush Life", "Music Can Change The World", "Nahogoi Jumping", and "Ant Soldier".

Ghostpoet - Cash and Carry Me Home (2010)

2011-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Sara Mitra - April Song (2010)

2011-01-19T00:35:00.000-08:00

Singer/songwriter Sara Mitra has attracted a compelling amount of critical praise for her début album “April Song”. Her own highly personalised songs sit alongside a couple of jazz and pop standards plus a version of the Irish traditional tune “Black Is The Colour”.

In addition to Mitra’s assured and emotive singing and intelligent, literate writing the success of the record also owes much to the contribution of a stellar cast of young British jazz musicians. Mitra’s husband Tim Giles is on drums with the core group also featuring Giles’ Fraud band mates James Allsopp (reeds) and Philip Hochstrate (keyboards) plus Riaan Vosloo on bass and Fulvio Sigurta on trumpet and flugel horn. There are also contributions from organist Ross Stanley and cellist Lucy Railton (of Kammer Klang fame). The core group are heavily involved in the arranging process and as a result this is a genuine jazz album with much to enjoy instrumentally as well as vocally.

more here...

BSC - Bossa Nova Smells Funky REMIXED (2011)

2011-01-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE TWISTED JAZZ ALBUMS OF THE YEAR JUST GOT BETTER!!!
: 13 Top producers, DJs and artists from all around the world worked their magic on a few BAHAMA tracks from the stunning album "BOSSA NOVA JUST SMELLS FUNKY". Some of the best songs with singers like Pat Appleton, Bella Wagner, Sitzka, John Turrell & Kojato were rebooted into pure rhythmic bliss.
A bright collection of Latin, House, Reggae, Funk & Soul with a thoroughly modern take on Dancefloor Jazz.
Welcome to 15 tracks from selected artists like:
CLUB DES BELUGAS, SUONHO, TAPE FIVE, MOP MOP, VALIQUE, DR RUBBERFUNK, MASH & MUNKEE, ACUSMATIC GROUP, RENEGADES OF JAZZ, MINIMATIC, QUINCY JOINTZ, DJ KINSKI, FROHLOCKER.
: OUT ON 11 February 2011 from Buju Records

The Bahama Soul Club "King's Wig (Renegades Of Jazz Remix)" by Renegades Of Jazz

Our deepest love and respect to ...TONY POOLE
for passing this on and for keeping the vibe alive!!!

The Afro Soultet - Afrodesia (re-issue - 2011)

2011-01-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Jack Millman, aka Johnny Kitchen, had a hand in many interesting, obscure and highly collectible records from the 1960s and 1970s. Producing, composing, recording, editing, releasing, licensing – you name it, Millman did it. The records he touched had an eclectic range from psychedelic rock to Latin jazz, and several include editing techniques that can only be described as an early incarnation of sampling in music.
After seeing them play at the Living Room (which later became the Comedy Store) on Sunset Boulevard, Millman became manager of the Afro Latin Blues Quintet +1, and signed them to Randy Woods (creator/owner of the Mira, Mirwood, Crestview, Surrey labels) in the late 1960s.

Having released several albums this band would later become the Afro Soultet. The liner notes to their Afrodesia album state "This is Afrodesia! A Musical collage of many peoples. . .it comes from Africa and from Arabia, from the South Seas and from Asia." Living up to the promise of those notes Afrodesia mixes Latin Jazz, with straight jazz, worldly percussion, surf, rock, funk, oddball sound effects, a touch of lounge, and some hints of tropicalia. Millman produced and released the Afrodesia album on his own Banyon label sometime between 1968-1971 (no release date is listed on the record, and Millman cannot recall a more exact date.)

4 more click here ...

WORLDWIDE RELEASE ON JANUARY 18, 2011
UBIQUITY RECORDS

Afro-Soultet - "Aphro Bugaloo" by Ubiquity Records

Joe Lovano US Five - Bird Songs (2011)

2011-01-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

On January 11, 2011, Joe Lovano Us Five will release Bird Songs, an exploration of the Charlie Parker songbook and the Grammy-winning saxophonist’s 22nd album for EMI’s Blue Note Records (the release of which will mark his 20th year on the label).

"At the young age of 34 Charlie Parker passed and left us with open questions about what would be. I kept wondering how Bird would have developed within these tunes, not just as the incredible soloist that he was but as an arranger and band leader. Bird Songs is my humble attempt to answer some of those questions in my own way." - Joe Lovano

4 More Visit Blue Note here...

Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (2011)

2010-12-31T19:38:00.000-08:00

Charles Bradley by Dunham Records

It's taken just two short years for Dunham Records - an imprint of Daptone Records - to establish itself as one of the most captivating creative forces in soul music. The brainchild of guitarist/producer Thomas "Tommy TNT" Brenneck, Dunham's indelibly atmospheric sound is epitomized by its flagship artist, Menahan Street Band. After releasing a handful of crucial 45s, Dunham Records prepares to enter the next phase of its evolution with the debut album of its inaugural vocalist, Charles Bradley.

Charles Bradley's voice has evolved from a lifetime of paying dues, having nomadically labored for decades at various day jobs from Maine to Alaska - singing and performing in his spare time - before re-settling in his hometown Brooklyn and eventually finding a musical home at Dunham. In his distinctively rough-hewn timbre one hears the unmistakable voice of experience - each note and gruff inflection a reflection of his extended, sometimes rocky, personal path. It's only fitting that No Time For Dreaming's producer Brenneck (also a member of The Dap-Kings and The Budos Band) would recognize in Bradley a kindred musical spirit - a singer whose performances exude both raw power and poignant beauty. Recorded at Dunham Studios, and mixed at Daptone Records' internationally revered "House of Soul" Studios, No Time For Dreaming is the inspired sound of an awakening.

- Paris Dj...

OUT ON JAN 24th 2011 on DUNHAM records

Indigo Jam Unit - Roots (2010)

2010-12-29T07:46:00.001-08:00

One of Japan's finest and most prolific bands return for their 6th long play in 5 years! Now we all know what a fantastic scene Japan has in what is very loosely called acid/club/future/contemporary/ you name it, anything goes ...jazz and Indigo Jam Unit are heading this coalition of joined Nippon forces with the likes of Quasimode, Mama!Milk, Montain Mocha Kilimanjaro, Soil & Pimp Sessions etc. "ROOTS" is another foray into dynamic as well as complex textures of modern jazz and with tracks such as Roots, Voyager and Mony Trick it might as well be their best effort yet!

OUT NOW ON BASIS RECORDS

Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra (2010)

2010-12-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

The Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra formed in late 2007 when members of the Kidkanevil live show and First Word stalwarts Homecut began a series of late night afrobeat sessions at Leeds’ Sela Bar. It was out of these jam sessions that The Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra was born, combining their love of afrobeat with their appreciation of the space jazz pioneers of the 70’s and the free jazz trailblazers of the 60’s, coupled with a hefty nod towards James Brown. Individually they have been lucky enough to Perform with the likes of Yarah Bravo, Gilad Atzmon, Jehst, The New Mastersounds, The Haggis horns, Kidkanevil, Homecut, Kissey Asplund and Ty, to name a few...

Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra by djgilla

Wynton Marsalis - Crescent City Christmas Card (1989)

2010-12-25T02:11:00.000-08:00

“Because these tunes use such traditional chords and forms, much can be learned by bringing the language of jazz to them. You have to rethink every musical element: melody, timbre, harmony, and rhythm. You have to thin about different rhythms and tempos and which tunes they’re appropriate for. The challenge is whether or not you can maintain the meaning of the song but bring your own personality to it, relentlessly. That’s why I call this album Crescent City Christmas Card: I’m bringing things to this music that originated in New Orleans, especially in terms of the use of the ensemble. Jelly Roll Morton’s conceptions are now basic to what I do in my own band. I use interludes, riffs, breaks, tempo and meter changes, counterpoint, whatever gives the music more richness. On this album, I also wanted to write for more horns because you can deal with more sophistication, colors, and timbres.” - W. Marsalis

The Bad Plus - Never Stop (2010)

2010-12-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

For the past ten years The Bad Plus Reid Anderson, Ethan Iverson and David King have broken down the walls of jazz convention and created an uncompromising body of work. Few jazz groups in recent memory have amassed such acclaim, and few have inspired such controversy. Their belief in the band ethos and their personal brand of avant-garde populism have put them at the forefront of a new instrumental music movement, drawing audiences both traditional and mainstream. While the bulk of their output has been original music, they have deconstructed songs in the pop, rock as well as the country and classical music idioms.

NEVER STOP is the first album by The Bad Plus to consist entirely of originals. Recorded in Minnesota with a live, stripped-down sound, NEVER STOP showcases the band's range as well as its three distinct personalities. From gentle and melodic to fierce and abstract, from swing to 80's techno, NEVER STOP is tied together by a group sound that embraces diversity as strength. Ten years in, The Bad Plus is here to stay.

Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone (2010)

2010-12-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and soul/gospel legend Mavis Staples delivers more wall-to-wall joy on her triumphant new Anti- album, You Are Not Alone than any other release you’re likely to hear this year.

Produced by fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy at Wilco’s studio The Loft, the intimate and textured production showcases the iconic singer at her most powerful and fervent. You Are Not Alone mixes traditional gospel numbers with two new songs written for Mavis by Tweedy, plus her unique interpretations of songs by Pops Staples, Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, John Fogerty, Rev. Gary Davis and Little Milton.

Watch here an excerpt from the making of You Are Not Alone