Revered composer, pianist, DJ and acknowledged bridge between jazz, dance and hip-hop, Mark de Clive-Lowe (MdCL), links up with jazz vocalist/flautist Melanie Charles and Detroit drummer/producer & DJ, Shigeto on Hotel San Claudio, a collaborative LP of spiritual jazz and live deconstructed beats. Following Melanie Charles" formidable Verve album Y"all Don"t (Really) Care About Black Women and MdCL"s lauded 2022 Soul Bank album, Freedom - Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders, the three forward-thinking musicians unite for a sonic exploration across jazz, hip-hop and soulful house.
Revered composer, pianist, DJ and acknowledged bridge between jazz, dance and hip-hop, Mark de Clive-Lowe (MdCL), links up with jazz vocalist/flautist Melanie Charles and Detroit drummer/producer & DJ, Shigeto on Hotel San Claudio, a collaborative LP of spiritual jazz and live deconstructed beats. Following Melanie Charles" formidable Verve album Y"all Don"t (Really) Care About Black Women and MdCL"s lauded 2022 Soul Bank album, Freedom - Celebrating the Music of Pharoah Sanders, the three forward-thinking musicians unite for a sonic exploration across jazz, hip-hop and soulful house.
past present (tone poems across time)" is Mark de Clive-Lowe's exquisite new solo album and his debut for Greg Boraman's Impressive Collective label in partnership with BBE Music. Previously the pair released the Pharoah Sanders tribute album 'Freedom', and the equally lauded 'Hotel San Claudio' in collaboration with Shigeto & Melanie Charles. A deeply personal sonic exploration by Mark, "past present" is a reflection on family, heritage, and healing which was created in tandem with retracing his late father’s journey across Japan 70 years ago. The project is a collection of ambient jazz, emotional cinematic soundscapes that weave analog synths with field recordings from Japanese sacred sites and nature locations. "past present” partially came into existence thanks to the perseverance of producer, percussionist and Mark’s friend Carlos Niño, who after experiencing Mark's multi-layered motifs in the studio and in live contexts over many years explains, "I kept hearing him make an album like this, I kept telling him that he needed to, and that it would be his best album yet. Subtle, poetic, solo, texturally rhythmic, expressive, full of rippling layers, and arrangements representing such profound thoughts, feelings, relationships, and memories". Mark also took on board Carlos' recommendation of recording the bulk of "past present" at Ken Barrientos’ analog synth studio, 'The Breath' in Pomona, California - where he utilized no less than 22 different keyboards to create the ethereal and engaging soundscapes across all 11 tracks, also intertwining his own field recordings made during a long, explorative stay in Japan. Being such an individual and personal concept, it was only correct that Mark wrote the extensive album liner notes, to fully illustrate the decades-long backstory to this stunning collection. Mark completes the album's presentation using archive images from his family's private photo collection - an entire process he likens to time travel and signs off to the listener by stating that he hopes "it takes you on your own journey of imagination and reflection, leading to unexpected places, just as it has for me
Letters from the Atlantic displays a seamless blend of jazz, house, indie, funk, R&B, soul, bossa nova, and more. The band elevates to a new level of sophistication with their genre defying approach, while featuring numerous female guest artists: Yaya Bey, Melanie Charles, Leanor Wolf, Mia Gladstone, Victoria Victoria, along with Nicholas Payton and Neal Francis. With the new album, the band ventures closer to a indie vibe, rather than the hip-hop style displayed on Solar Music (2023). The Richmond, Virginia based collective consists of friends and bandmates Corey Fonville (drums), Andrew Randazzo (bass), Morgan Burrs (guitar), Marcus “Tennishu” Tenney (trumpet, saxophone, vocals) and Devonne “DJ Harrison” Harris (multi-instrumentalist), who make music that is as diverse as their own varied tastes and backgrounds.
Butcher Brown has a storied touring history having played many of the world biggest and most prestigious festivals including Afropunk, Pitchfork Festival, Monterey Jazz, and more have toured with the likes of Pink Siifu, Tom Misch, Galactic, Lettuce, and Kamasi Washington. In support of Letters From the Atlantic, Butcher Brown has plotted headline tour dates across North America in spring of 2025 followed by an extended European festival tour this summer.
For the past 20 years, NO FORMAT! has been cultivating the idea of an artisanal and homemade label, supporting artists who stand out with unexpected projects. Its motto, "You never know in advance what you"ll fall in love with", has guided its direction from the outset. Its high standards on the quality of the sound has become its trademark, while one of the mainstays of its work is the development of collaborations between artists from diverse backgrounds. For its 20th anniversary, a new guard of electronically-inspired artists takes over the NO FORMAT catalog for an original remix album, specially created for the occasion. 10 iconic tracks from the label are reimagined by 10 young, talented, emerging and/or established producers, carefully chosen on each track. While Pan-African trio Toto Bona Lokua"s music is reworked by British-Ghanaian afro-bass pioneer Hagan, South African vocal duo Msaki x Tubatsi is reimagined through a remix by amapiano heavy-weight Vigro Deep. Blick Bassy"s delicate Cameroon folk turns into an afro-club anthem produced by Moonshine collective leading figure Vanyfox ; Haitian-American neo-jazz artist Melanie Charles electrifies "Kouzen" by Haitian Canadian singer-songwriter Mélissa Laveaux ; renowned sound artist Sofie Birch transforms Koki Nakano"s delicate piano into an ambient soundscape. Japanese house pioneer Shinichiro Yokota gives a new spin on electro-jazz collective Asynchrone, which was inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto"s work. "NO FORMAT! Remixed (2004-2024)" is both a celebration of 20 years of music and creation, bringing this beautiful and curated catalog into a vibrant and festive compilation, and a step towards the label"s next 20 years.
"Even God Has A Sense Of Humor" is the long-awaited follow up album to Maxo's critically acclaimed 2019 release Lil Big Man. Across the 14-tracks, Even God Has A Sense Of Humor pays tribute to the mercurial nature of life and includes features from Liv.e, keiyaA, LastNameDavid, and Melanie Charles along with the previously released singles "Free!," produced by Dev Morrison and "48," produced by Madlib and featuring Pink Siifu. The FADER recently sat down with Maxo to discuss the album, which they described as having "a defiant glow, like a bronze statue still standing after an intense tornado."
Born Maxamillian Allen, Even God Has A Sense Of Humor finds Maxo earnest, full-hearted, and lyrically agile. His delivery punches as he poetically unpacks the trials and blessings that have marked the last three years since Lil Big Man, his stirring and meditative debut album. “Life is always gonna be life-ing,” Maxo says, speaking to the spiritual lessons that inspired this new project and an album process that has revealed to him the many ways in which he’s divinely protected.
The album’s striking cover features three casted sculptures of Maxo by legendary NYC-based artist artist John Ahearn, photographed by the rapper’s friend Steven Traylor. The image both preceded the music and set the tone for the record’s overall aura. Experiencing the casting process—which required long periods of stillness for form, and breathwork to avoid claustrophobia—became a metaphor about ego death for Maxo. “I had to go to a space where I was just not there,” he says. As the molding was poured over his body and the voices of those in the room became distant, Maxo’s inner world came into focus. “By the time it hardened, it seemed like the sculpture had risen to be 20 feet above where it was first— almost like it grew tall,” he explains. EGHASOH, in its aural ebbs and flows, honest questioning, profound revelations, and elegant verse, is Maxo standing spiritually tall following a period of challenges with family and friends.
Maxo’s writing process has always been rooted in imagery, observation, and capturing moments. Growing up in Southern California, Maxo spent a lot of time combing through old family photo albums, some of whose contents have become the artwork for prior releases. But his fascination with visual memento is less about nostalgia or remembering, and more about exploring concepts of growth, healing, and cycles. His artistry is intentional and deeply sensitive: “If I’m not feeling it, I’m not gonna record.” While his past records openly grappled with emotional turbulence, anger and depression, EGHASOH is Maxo’s acceptance stage: “I can't really judge nothing. I can't sit up and be mad at shit because everything is, everything is kind of coexisting,” he says.
Musically, EGHASOH is an impressive evolution from Maxo’s earlier, unornamented lo-fi projects. With an emphasis on jazzy instrumentalism and soothing, intricate vocals from both the artist and featured chanteueses Liv.e, Melanie Charles, and keiyaA, EGHASOH is a welcome and beautifully complex sonic effort. Its contributors include a range of musicians: Pink Siifu, LastNameDavid, Madlib, GrayMatter, Karriem Riggins, Beat Butcha, Lance Skiiiwalker, and more. The album was executive produced by Mount Kimbie’s Dom Maker.
“Nobody talks about the fact that we’re changing as we get older... Everybody just acts like you supposed to know,” Maxo says on album standout, “Face of Stone”. It's moody bassline meets a cinematic accordion melody that paradoxically both broods and uplifts—a fitting production choice that mirrors the song’s story. “I’m seeing how this world is chipping you and withering your bones,” Maxo says. “I’m talking about myself, talking about my bro. But it’s never nothing you gonna do that’s a one stop shop in this life. You gotta keep staying diligent and consistent.” For Maxo, Even God Has a Sense of Humor is nothing more than another moment on the timeline of his offerings of self-expression as an artist—one whose sole intention is to, in his words, develop as a human being and heal.
JAZZ MONEY, the debut album from multiinstrumentalist, composer, and producer Zacchae'us Paul is an irreverent, fresh take on "America's classical music" that speaks to the 24 year old artist’s deep-beyond-his-years understanding of Black music and the African diaspora. Paul stretches and bends jazz sounds around the Atlanta hip-hop he grew up with, the gospel sounds and philosophies that have long shaped his music making, and the Caribbean rhythms he learned studying in Puerto Rico. He has created a wholly personal sound that is youthful, and thoughtful all at once.
"When you listen to this album, listen to it again," Paul says. "A lot of the songs have multiple meanings, and I'd love for people to have different perspectives on them." Made with a cast of improvising upstarts and veterans that includes the album's executive producer, Terri Lyne Carrington, fellow Atlanta native and Candid recording artist Morgan Guerin and Paul's fiancée and star vocalist Melanie Charles, Jazz Money is jazz music for this, and future, generations.
"“A jazz artist to watch” (NPR) and “a virtuoso in the truest sense of the word” (JazzTimes), Morgan Guerin spent nearly a year crafting his multi-dimensional Tales Of The Facade, layering instruments and sounds track upon track. And while an impressive amount of the album is performed solely by Guerin, he also enlisted stellar collaborators, including Georgia Anne Muldrow, Melanie Charles, Cisco Swank, Zacchae’us Paul, J Hoard, and Kokayi. Despite Guerin’s widespread acclaim as a jazz artist, it would be reductive to call this a ""jazz album." "It touches a lot of different periods and styles of music," Guerin explains. "Wayne Shorter and John and Alice Coltrane are big influences, but so are people like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Minnie Riperton, and Kendrick Lamar. I wanted all of those sounds to be represented. ” What’s left in the grooves obliterates concepts of genre even as it celebrates genres themselves. Now signed to Candid, Guerin’s music will finally reach an audience as vast and diverse as his musical vision."
Black Vinyl[26,26 €]
Remixes JID020 is the twentieth installment in the Jazz Is Dead catalog. This remix album features London based artists Shabaka Hutchings and Theon Cross, New York tastemaker Melanie Charles, LA based producer Bei Ru, Brazil's Dj Nyack, Detroit based producer Tall Black Guy, Bay Area producer Mophono and the LA based house duo LO & Disko. Remixers sampled the previously released Jazz Is Dead records created by Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and icons including the following: Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne, Tony Allen, Henry Franklin, Phil Ranelin, Wendell Harrison, Garrett Saracho, and Katalyst.
Remixes JID020 is the twentieth installment in the Jazz Is Dead catalog. This remix album features London based artists Shabaka Hutchings and Theon Cross, New York tastemaker Melanie Charles, LA based producer Bei Ru, Brazil's Dj Nyack, Detroit based producer Tall Black Guy, Bay Area producer Mophono and the LA based house duo LO & Disko. Remixers sampled the previously released Jazz Is Dead records created by Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and icons including the following: Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne, Tony Allen, Henry Franklin, Phil Ranelin, Wendell Harrison, Garrett Saracho, and Katalyst.
The first release from the remastered catalogue campaign on Melanie’s own revitalised Neighbourhood Records label (via UKs Easy Action) features the song recently used on the cult TV show Black Mirror, backed with an unreleased version of the 60s hit ‘Bo Bo’s Party’. This year Shindig Magazine did a 3-page feature on Melanie as more and more people start to ask who is she? The 7” is limited to 350 coloured vinyl copies and comes in a spined picture sleeve. Melanie landed in the New York City music and radio scene in the late 1960’s. Her first single Beautiful People immediately became a turntable hit. Her first tour began with an impressive 40-day run of shows at Paris’ world-famous L’Olympia Theater at the personal invitation of Bruno Coquatrix. In the years to come she would entertain millions: at An Aquarian Exposition (the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival), at Carnegie Hall, and the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury music festivals, The Sydney Opera House, the South Korean DMZ, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Royal Albert Hall, and other Venues around the globe. Melanie launched Neighborhood Records, making her the first American woman to open a mainstream record label. She recorded over 20 chart hits. Melanie received an Emmy after composing lyrics for the theme song of the hit television series Beauty and the Beast. “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” was re-recorded by Ray Charles with the Count Basie Band. Nina Simone delivered a remarkable rendition, as well. “(Lay Down) Candles in the Rain” was re-recorded by Mott the Hoople on their 1971 album Wildlife. Meredith Brooks and Queen Latifah later re-recorded the anthem. “Some Say (I Got Devil)" was re-recorded by Smith’s frontman Morrissey. Melanie has always known her calling in life was to entertain. Audiences have welcomed her to the stage for more than fifty years, and she continues to perform today.
Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. My Words Are Music provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. The spoken word album hosts an inspired array of artists who personally chose their favorite Sun Ra poems to recite. Freed from the page, his poetry acquires an unexpected simplicity and poignance it possessed all along.
This all-star and intergenerational lineup of artists conjure wisdom from his words: spoken word elder Abiodun Oweyole of The Last Poets; rapper, and singer-songwriter Saul Williams; jazz experimentalist Melanie Charles; British-Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph; poet Mahogany L. Browne; poet, playwright, and conceptual artist Carl Hancock Rux; musician/digital composer L’Rain; singer, actor, and director Tunde Adibempe of TV on the Radio singer; British DJ and BBC radio host Zakia Sewell; ballistic hip-hop poet Jive Poetic; and longtime members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Marshall Allen, Knoel Scott, and Tara Middleton.
Punctuated by impish electronic interludes composed and played by Marshall Allen, these voices bless Sun Ra’s poetry with new life My Words Are Music offers the opportunity to follow Sun Ra into a
better future. “Prepare for the journey,” he writes in his poem “The Cosmic Age”, “You have a rendezvous / With the living wisdom.” My Words Are Music is a project developed in conjunction with Living Sky, the all-instrumental Sun Ra Arkestra album released on Omni Sound in 2022
Coming out on July, Jazz Codes is Moor Mother's second and latest album for Anti- and a com?panion to her celebrated 2021 release Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Jazz Codes uses free jazz as a starting point but the collection continues the recent turn in Moor Mother's multifaceted catalog toward more melody, more singing voices, more choruses, more complexity. In its warm, densely layered course through jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, and other Black classical traditions, Jazz Codes sets the ear blissfully adrift and unhitches the mind from habit. Through her work, Ayewa illuminates the principles of her multidisciplinary collaborative practice Black Quantum Futur?ism, a theoretical framework for perceiving and adjusting reality through art, writing, music, and performance, informed by historical Black ontologies.The songwriter, composer, vocalist, poet, and educator Camae Ayewa spent years organizing and performing in Philadelphia's underground music community before moving to Los Angeles to teach composition at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. She released her debut album as Moor Mother, Fetish Bones, in 2016, and has since put out an abundance of acclaimed music, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians who share her drive to dig up the untold. She has performed and recorded with the free jazz groups Irreversible Entanglements and the Art Ensemble of Chica?go, and made records with billy woods, Mental Jewelry, and YATTA.
Auf 'Third' hebt Jitwam seine Fähigkeiten als Beatmaker und Produzent auf ein neues Niveau, verschmilzt Live-Musik mit Samples und Edits, garniert sie mit Features von Melanie Charles und Akhtari und weckt Erinnerungen an die Suche nach Frieden im Chaos des täglichen Lebens. Inspiriert von seiner Zeit in NYC kombiniert Jitwam mit trunkener Unbekümmertheit Einflüsse aus Latin, Soul, Punk und einer Menge Disco zu einem einzigartigen, reichhaltigen Sound. Die 10 ansteckenden Songs aus moduliertem Gesang und traditioneller Instrumentierung vermengen sich mit dem Schwung von Soul-House und Jazz. Entsprechend erhält Jitwam Support von Gilles Peterson, Moodymann und Matthewdavid.
If now the time for voodoo amulets and protective talismans, sharpened swords and unbreakable shields, it’s also a moment for music to assume its highest form as a healing art, a source of benevolent spells, and a refuge from the chaos. After all, the best creators are always those that tap into the telluric current that exists below the surface. Those who delve into the collective unconscious so that timeliness is a happy accident; timelessness was always the intent. If Quelle Chris and Chris Keys’ Innocent Country 2 sounds like an antidote for a moment of surreal anxiety, the same could be said of it a decade from now. It’s an album best understand in a dialogue with the first volume of the series. Released in 2016, the initial Innocent Country focused on isolation, pessimism, and the notion of finding peace within pain. At a time when those feelings convey the mood of the moment, Quelle and Keys have responded with a soundtrack that offers soothing light in a bleak timeline. A hopeful record in a hopeless moment, precisely when it’s needed most.
