Cerca:hutch

It gives us great pleasure to introduce the baddest new voice in the land, Napoleon Demps. A Flint Michigan native, he grew up listening to Soul luminaries OV Wright, Willie Hutch and Sam Cooke, whose influence led Demps down a path to becoming an accomplished Soul singer himself - scoring his first hit at the age of 24 in the still thriving Southern Chitlin Circuit of the early aughts. Demps, having been a long time Daptone fan, connected with the Dap-Kings at a soundcheck at a Detroit nightclub for an impromptu rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come.” Bosco Mann was floored by his voice and swore they would meet again. Last year, with that sweet soulful voice still ringing in his ears, Mann would reconnect with Demps and bring him out to Penrose Recorders in Riverside, California to finally cut his first Daptone side. "Norma Jean" is a funky soul groover that lands somewhere between the nuanced big city sounds Chicago and Detroit were pumping out in the late '60s: think the grit of Twinight's houseband Pieces of Peace, kissed by the sophisticated Motor City production of Dave Hamilton or The Brothers of Soul and you're getting warm. Napoleon's smooth, commanding voice injects a je ne sais quoi that's wholly fresh, bypassing the affected trappings that plague many of today's singers. In short... Napoleon Demps is a Soul singer's Soul singer. Take a listen and hear for yourself!

'Oblique is one of only two quartet sessions the great vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson recorded for Blue Note (the classic Happenings being the other).
Both albums featured the seminal pianist Herbie Hancock and drum master Joe Chambers, with the only variable in the line-up here being bassist Albert Stinson. Hutcherson’s breezy opener “‘Til Then,” Hancock’s tremendous “Theme From Blow Up,” and Chambers’ adventurous “Oblique” are standouts of a session that, taken as a whole, is an incredible journey from hard bop grooves to exploratory sonic tone poems. Recorded in 1967, the album wasn’t first released until 1979.

Unclassifiable percussionist and producer Chiminyo will be releasing his long-awaited debut album “I Am Panda” via London tastemaker label Gearbox Records on the 25th of September. The ten-track album is a foray into unexplored sonic territory, featuring a host of diverse guest musicians from London’s burgeoning music scene. Chiminyo's music may be rooted in the London jazz scene, but his music is transcendent of anything that could be defined as such. Whilst his joint use of analogue and digital technology meaningfully honours the manic city lights of London’s bustling scene, it remains ever-changing crossing over into hip-hop, future pop, experimental electronic and global spheres. Chiminyo's tech-heavy drum kit set-up, combines the raw, immediate live sound of percussion and the futuristic timbres of his electronic productions to create his own, daring soundscapes. Via laboriously self-coded software, each cymbal crash and drum hit triggers a synth or sample, allowing Chiminyo complete control and freeing him of all loops, click-tracks and backing tracks.However, it is important to note that Chiminyo's music is far more than just a technical feat. Whilst still highly innovative in it's composition, "I AM PANDA" is purely the result of a deep and tireless exploration of the music that Chiminyo truly resonates with to create a soulful, spiritual, and evocative record that feeds off the conflicting duality between technology and nature. Composed and arranged by Chiminyo and recorded at Konk Studios by Ricardo Damian (Jorja Smith, Sampha, Binker & Moses), the new album also features a host of talented guests including Kweku Sackey aka K.O.G, singer Dunja Botic, and spoken word artist Brother Portrait of Steam Down fame. The new album follows on from Chiminyo's 2019 debut EP "I Am Chiminyo", which served as a visceral introduction to his unique sound, and earned plaudits from the likes of Gilles Peterson, BBC 1Xtra, CLASH, Red Bull, Jazzwise, Jazz FM and more. As well as his own solo project, Chiminyo also performs and records with some of the leading figures of London’s music scene, including spiritual jazz-leaning outfit Maisha and psychedelic energy bomb Cykada. He has also previously collaborated and recorded with Gary Bartz, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross, and Zara McFarlane.

A dramatic, string-drenched epic, James Ralph Bailey’s Just Me ’N’ You has been a sought-after soul masterpiece for decades. A lush suite of beautiful songs, it was conceived as a concept album; a sophisticated paean to love.

Originally released by MAM Records in 1974, Just Me ’N’ You is a breathtaking jazzy soul album. It’s similar in style to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On - particularly the performances, orchestrations and chord progressions - but dealing with a different universal subject matter. If What’s Going On was about romance instead of politics, it would sound like this.

Fans of Marvin, Leon Ware, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson and Willie Hutch will love this record. Not as well known - this is definitely an underrated gem - the work of James Ralph Bailey is no less mind-blowing. It’s got to be one of the best soul albums of all time.

The original productions were made on a basic home tape machine and enhanced with strings, rhythmic overdubs and a variety of other instrumentation. These are beautiful arrangements of strings and jazzy horns. Rhythm guitars and bouncy bass serve as the groove foundation, congas provide a Latin feel whilst the vibraphone and harmonica add colour. And then of course there’s JR’s voice.

His style recalls Hathaway, with a delivery akin to Marvin at the time. As he scats and sings, accompanying himself in sweet harmonies, there is still a rawness of pain and longing in his voice, the rawness familiar to all deep soul.

As an album, Just Me ’N’ You is no mere collection of songs. The tender, smooth tunes flow perfectly together into a fluid, single artistic statement. This is one where it’s hard to pick out any standouts. You may have heard the soaring title track before, maybe on Gilles Peterson’s Digs America compilation. The opening track “After Hours” sounds as fresh now as it ever was and segues beautifully into the majestic “Heaven On Earth”. Recorded by Hathaway the previous year, Bailey’s original of “Love Love Love” is incredible and arguably the definitive version. The powerful, dreamy, sax-and-harmony-laced “All Strung Out Over You” has echoes of the Chi-Lites, it’s that good. Goosebumps. And we could go on.

Mastered by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry, this Be With edition of Just Me ’N’ You sounds every bit as brilliant as it should. A joyous celebration of love, this album is perfect in every way. If you don’t already own a copy then now is the time.

Legendary labels Decca Records and Blue Note have joined forces for Blue Note Re:imagined; a brand new collection of classic Blue Note tracks brought together for the first time, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the jazz scene’s most exciting young talents today. Representing a bridge between the ground-breaking label’s past and future, the project will feature contributions from a rollcall of internationally acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B acts-Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Mr Jukes, Steam Down, Skinny Pelembe, Emma-Jean Thackray, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei, Fieh, Ishmael Ensemble, Blue Lab Beats, Melt Yourself Down, Yazmin Lacey, Alfa Mist, and Brit Award-winning Jorja Smith.

This is the next 7’’ singles installments with Steam Down’s version of Wayne Shorter’s Etcetera (ft. Afronaut Zu) and Yazmin Lacey’s version of Dodo Greene’s - I’ll Never Stop Loving You.

Hailed by none other than Seun Kuti as "one of the best things to come out of Lagos", Nigerian trumpeter, composer and bandleader Etuk Ubong has developed an original style he calls "Earth Music". Weaving together a unique combination of not only afrobeat, highlife and jazz, but also the ritualistic drumming of Ekombi, the result is urgent and highly energetic, yet spiritual; his compositions reflecting his heritage and life philosophy of goodwill, peace and love for humanity. Ubong's music is so vibrant and propulsive that one can easily make comparisons with leading lights of the UK scene, such as the Shabaka Hutchings-led Sons of Kemet, but at the same time it is distinctly Nigerian.

For the last 20 years London-based author and party organiser Tim Lawrence has dedicated himself to excavating the history of New York City party culture and bringing some of the most powerful aspects of that culture to London’s dance scene, from where it has ricocheted around the world.

Having conducted the first and set of major interviews with David Mancuso of the New York City Loft, Lawrence started to host Loft-style Lucky Cloud Sound System parties with David and friends in London in June 2003. In February 2004 he published the first of three published three pioneering histories that have excavated and championed the previously overlooked foundations of contemporary party culture: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music (1970-79), Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene (1973-92), and Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor (1980-83). Since 2018 Lawrence has hosted and DJed at the community audiophile party "All Our Friends. Paper Magazine describes him as the “reigning authority on the history of dance music in New York”.

With knowledge to share, and a readership as well as a dance floor to feed, Lawrence released Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor as the debut imprint on Reappearing Records. A year in the making, a compilation featuring rare and iconic tracks that appear in his much-loved and heavily-thumbed classic Love Saves the Day amounts to the follow-up. The collection features several tracks selected regularly by Mancuso, the party host who exerted a prophetic and unparalleled influence on New York City party culture, as charted by Lawrence. It also includes choice picks from groundbreaking DJs such as Michael Cappello, Steve D’Acquisto, Francis Grasso, Richie Kaczor, Larry Levan and Nicky Siano, whose expressive contributions are faithfully recorded in Love Saves the Day. The compilation traces how disco grew out of the record collections and intuitive sensibility of these and other DJs, offering a unique survey of the era’s expansive sonic palette.

Future Ethics’ first release is an eight-track compilation on a special USB stick with an accompanying zine. The label wanted to foster a spirit of collaboration with an unusual compilation-building structure. Artists gradually added to the compilation as it grew: each artist received the existing tracks and was asked to contribute or remix a track from the compilation. This took time, but resulted in a cohesive and beautiful compilation, rich in emotion, ranging from a vintage club rant from tati au miel; disoriented housy jams from Bergsonist, Beta Librae, and Violet; tense experimental compositions from Englesia and Odete; a 139 BPM banger from softcoresoft; to a dancefloor-melting System of a Down edit from Estoc & Bored Lord.
The zine features an interview from Discwoman’s Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, writing on off-Facebook event organizing from Adwoa Afful, a beautiful cover from collage artist Fenna Fiction, and a guide to recognizing opioid overdoses and administering Naloxone from Liz Singh and Sara Martin in Toronto. It also features a comic from Berlin-based artist @juicycomics and a poem from Wafa Ktaech.

Skyf Connection (pronounced skAyf) was a short lived project by long time friends Anthony Mthembu and Enoch Nondala. At the time they were working for Annic Music, an independent label run by married couple Anne and Nic Blignaut. Although the label was known mostly for Zulu, Sotho, Tsonga and other traditional styles, they had a few Disco releases on the label including groups like Keith Hutchinson’s Focus and Enoch’s discovery Lena, who went on to have huge success under the name Ebony a few years later.

In 1984, when an artist didn’t show up for a booked session they decided to make use of the studio time and began working on a demo. At the time Anthony and Enoch had been playing for a year at a new club called Gamsho, located on a farm on the outskirts of Kliptown Soweto. Along with Blackie Sibisi, Sepate Mokoena and Elijah “chippa” Khumalo they made up the resident house band. Due to cultural boycotts and American artists refusing to perform in the country, locals took it upon themselves to fill the market with the American sound the crowds demanded. The demo they recorded at Blue Tree Studios was going to be their product they could use to promote their brand of the American sound. They then took the demo to Universal Studios where their friend and trusted engineer Jan “fast fingers” Smit was working. It would be here that they would polish their demo into something they could take to their bosses and have pressed. Equipped with a DX 7, Linn Drum and some Juno synthesizers they were on their way. Jan lived up to his name and programmed the drums, it is rumoured he could program in almost real time, a skill that translated to the local arcade where he held high scores on many machines. Enoch would be singing and playing guitar while Anthony would do all the Bass and Keyboards. The result was 4 funky party anthems with synth work like no other recording at the time. Their take on what they believed the crowd would want to hear at the beloved club they called home.

From start to finish the 4 tracks portray what would have been a standard night at the Gamshu. Although the club would open earlier and the standard hours of most clubs was 6 to 6 , the band would start playing at 10pm. With their standard set time and Anthony and Enoch unique view on what a Disco should be, they chose the motto Ten to Ten as the album title because those were the hours when they were the stars and Disco ruled the dance floor. To get to the club was a bit difficult, you needed to drive along an empty road where thieves waited for any patrons trying their luck walking after dark. Since there was no transport during the night, the safest way to get home was to wait till the next morning to walk home. Even though in the summer months of Johannesburg light begins to peek in just after 4am, crowds refused to leave and stayed enjoying good music and company until 10am. The lead off track “Let’s Freak Together” has powerful lyrics encouraging people to let go of their worries, put aside any differences and let the music bring everyone to freak and dance together. The whole album is about the joy we can all feel when we share the same moments and how music can bring people together in a unique way, a philosophy shared with the original nightclubs of 70s New York. This approach to music is where the name Skyf Connection comes from, translating from slang to mean the connection we create through sharing, in this case Music and good times.

Skyf Connection would go on to play at Gamsho till the club’s closure in 1986. In those years their popularity lead to being booked for private events like weddings and birthday parties, as well as gigs in some other venues like Mofolo Hall. They would share the stage with many artists through the years learning artist’s songs and providing support as a backing band. After the club closed Anthony would go on to join the house band at The Pelican, another famous club located in Orlando East, as well as dabbling with songwriting for artists like Phumi Maduna and helping Enoch on many projects through the years. Enoch would ditch live music altogether and immerse himself in studio work, starting full time as a house producer and A&R for the recently formed Ream Music. He would go on to produce hit albums for pop artists like Percy Kay and Makwerhu but made his mark discovering countless artists that would become stars in the traditional market. They would remain friends until Anthony’s passing in 2016 and although Anthony is no longer with us his spirit lives in the grooves he left on this one of a kind record. His wife Vinolia will be accepting his portion of the profits on his behalf.

2024 Repress
ODD OKODDO is a Kenyan/German duo consisting of Olith Ratego and Sven Kacirek.

The two artists met in Kenya, about a decade ago, when Sven Kacirek was recording his "Kenya Sessions", an album that put Kacirek on the map of outernational producers. It was reviewed as a "World Music 2.0" (de:bug magazine), whose "fascination endures" (The Wire). Olith Ratego also made an appearance on the "Kenya Sessions”, on the track "Too Good To Be True".

The duo formed the project ODD OKODDO in 2018, with the two musicians joining their various talents which dovetail in perfection. Ratego writes the lyrics and vocal melodies while Kacirek composes, records and produces the arrangements of all nine songs on AUMA. They create a colourful, dynamic sound which is defined by both Ratego’s enormous vocal compass and range of timbres as well as Kacirek’s outstanding skills as a sensitive percussionist.

Olith Ratego sings in a musical style called "dodo", which originates from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, high in pitch and soulfully expressive. He refers to his music as "dodo blues". His lyrics touch upon the topics of politics, family and of course: love. As a skilled luthier, Ratego builds his instruments himself, like the five-stringed Okodo which lends its name to the project.

Sven Kacirek is a multi-instrumentalist who has been commuting between Germany and Kenya for many years now. In the past he has closely collaborated with various international musicians, among them Nils Frahm and Shabaka Hutchings. Kacirek’s sound builds upon a powerful bass marimba which is present throughout the album. It sometimes invokes the sound of a tuned 808 kick-drum. He works with Kenyan an arsenal of percussion instruments as well as household objects and found materials. Kacirek has now settled into a signature sound which has been described as "thrilling and dizzyingly inventive" by the Australian Cyclic Defrost magazine.

The LP comes with a printed inner sleeve with liner notes by Tabu Osusa from the Nairobi based label Ketebul as well as explanations about the song lyrics.

Having spent the past few years quietly building up a dedicated crowd of followers and dancers as a club night, Scenic Route step out for their first offering as a label with three expertly crafted club cuts from Desert Sound Colony, an artist whose pumping productions have provided some of the parties’ most memorable moments. Since his debut release in 2014 on New York’s Scissor & Thread, Desert Sound Colony (real name Liam Wachs) has been refining a deeply personal club sound with releases for the likes of Futureboogie, Me Me Me, his own Holding Hands imprint and most notably of late, Nick Höppner’s Touch From A Distance. In addition to his productions garnering support from the likes of Midland, Raresh, Andrew Weatherall and Lena Willikens, Wachs himself is also a highly sought after DJ whose skills have seen him land bookings at some of the world’s most well respected clubs and festivals, including two stints at Berlin’s Panorama Bar already this year.

His prowess as a DJ has undoubtedly informed the music featured on the Cartographer EP. All three tracks are primarily designed for club use yet their intricate arrangements and undulating instrumentation ensure they remain captivating, despite the effectiveness of their functionality. The EP’s opener, “The Cartographer”, is a sleazy machine-driven odyssey, continuously building and evolving until snapping back into its original groove with a vengeance. “Gypsy Moth” sees Wachs team up with fellow Holding Hands affiliate Guava (real name Bradley Hutchings) for a dangerously syncopated drum workout doused in warped agogo bells, spliced vocals and a two-note bassline with a distinctly London flavor. Rounding the release off is “Budapest”. The combined power of the track’s interlocking kick and bass provide a solid stage for Desert Sound Colony to unleash an eerie arp and pads combo alongside a flurry of stuttering percussion and twisted samples while intermittently sprinkled with an unintelligible and downright ominous pitched down voice.

ODD OKODDO is a Kenyan/German duo formed by Olith Ratego and Sven Kacirek. This vinyl single marks their first outing, announcing the album "Auma" which will be ripe and ready in autumn 2019. Olith Ratego performs his immaculate vocals in the musical style called "dodo", which originates from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, high in pitch and soulfully expressive. He himself refers to his music as "dodo blues". As a skilled luthier, Olith Ratego designs and builds his string instruments himself, first of all the five-stringed Okoddo which lends its name to the project. Sven Kacirek is a multi-instrumentalist commuting between Germany and Kenya for many years now. He plays the marimba, percussions and piano, next to producing this project. He has closely collaborated with various international musicians, among them Nils Frahm, Shabaka Hutchings, F.S. Blumm and Marc Ribot. "Okitwoye" is one song of the first ODD OKODDO album "Auma“, it comes in a multi-layered, ambiguous rhythm between three and four. The remix on the B side amplifies the essence of the song. Peter Power is a part of the Voodoohop collective from Brazil and his releases on Multi Culti or Polychrome Sounds fuel the rather slow, organically hypnotic dancefloors. He premiered this remix at the Heliodora festival in Brazil, at sunrise next to a giant waterfall, and it was just perfect.

Legitimately available again on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 1983, Outernational Sounds proudly presents a major statement from a crucial figure on the Los Angeles jazz underground – pianist Nate Morgan’s spiritualised deep jazz classic, Journey Into Nigritia.

How many 16 year olds would have the confidence to walk up to a revered bandleader at a gig, and inform him that one day they’d be playing together? As improbable as it sounds, this is how pianist Nate Morgan introduced himself to the great Horace Tapscott, founder of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. The teenage Morgan had heard Tapscott’s Flying Dutchman LP The Giant Is Awakened being played by Greg Kufahamu on local Los Angeles radio station KUSC, and Arthur Blythe’s wailing sax had gone ‘straight to the heart. It was a spiritual experience.’ Morgan showed up to all the Arkestra shows he could find. He was already studying with Joe Sample and Hampton Hawes and playing in local bands, but the draw of the Tapscott’s band was too much for the gifted young pianist:

‘I could only take about two or three more concerts before I had to run up on stage. When I first introduced myself to Horace, he tells everybody that I said, “Yeah, I’m Nate Morgan. I’m going to play with you all.” Not that I want to, but that I’m going to.’

Over the next decade and beyond, Morgan would become a central figure in Tapscott’s UGMAA (Union Of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension’), bringing new figures into the fold (it was Morgan who first hipped Jesse Sharps to Tapscott’s circle; they were lifelong friends), running jam sessions, and eventually being given the task of organising the Arkestra songbook. During the early 1970s he also worked commercially, doing a stint with Rufus and Chaka Khan and appearing on Willie Hutch’s Foxy Brown soundtrack. Into the 1980s and 1990s he remained active, keeping the UGMAA flame alive in late night jams and private sessions, and working tirelessly around LA, including collaborations with Bone Thugs N’ Harmony; he was also part of the early 2000s LA jazz collective Build An Ark. A true musician’s musician, Morgan died in 2013.

Journey Into Nigritia, featuring firebreathing reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, was the first of two LPs Morgan recorded for Tom Albach’s storied Nimbus West imprint. A committed, spiritualised work that showcases Morgan’s heavy composing as well as his McCoy Tyner- influenced and technically flawless playing, Journey features dedications to Coltrane (‘He Left Us A Song’) and Cecil Taylor (‘Study In C.T.’). Surging, modal jazz from the LA undergound, Journey Into Nigritia is a crucial recording by an unsung jazz legend.

Part of the new wave of artists credited with stirring up the sound, including Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal, Sons of Kemet and The Comet is Coming, Yazz Ahmed is thrilled by the possibilities of making something new. "I feel like I'm a part of modernising jazz and connecting it with audiences today" Yazz says, "it's exciting".

Her take on jazz weaves in Arabic melodies to evocative, cinematic effect.

'La Saboteuse' is a deep exploration of both her British and Bahraini roots. Ably assisted by musicians including Lewis Wright on vibraphone, MOBO-winning new jazz kingpin Shabaka Hutchings on bass clarinet and Naadia Sherriff on Fender Rhodes keyboard, it's composed of undulating rhythms, Middle Eastern melody and Yazz's sonorous trumpet lines. The record sounds like the passage of a desert caravan, bathed in moonlight. The theme of 'La Saboteuse' is the sense of self-doubt that Yazz feels when she is creating, personified in a female saboteur, an anti-muse that spurs her into action. "Giving 'her' a name has really helped me to identify those negative voices we all get," she says. "I know what it is and I know how to combat it"

With 10 albums already to her name, Muriel Grossmann is well-placed to create more sonic waves in 2019. Taken from her mesmerising spiritual jazz LP 'Golden Rule', we have deep jazz, modal jazz, esoteric jazz, spiritual jazz; refined, intensified and concentrated into 2 whirlwind sides.


"Arresting, deeply moving spiritual jazz... it's deep"

"Muriel Grossmann... embraces the groundbreaking, exploratory jazz of Sun Ra and John Coltrane, gives a very respectful nod to fellow contemporaries Nat Birchall and Shabaka Hutchings, and immerses itself in a swirl of transcendental expression" - UK Vibe

" Recommended, particularly for listeners who are ready explore sounds beyond straight ahead jazz or those comfortable with more esoteric jazz sounds." - The Vinyl Press

After expanding its roster and musical scope into jazzier terrains with Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, Timmion now introduces Sami Linna Quartet. Led by guitarist Linna, this international group of elite players paves way for their full length album with the single release "Mode For Tomorrow" b/w "Umoya".

The single hints to what's to come with a deep modal tune referencing 1970's spiritual jazz on the A-side, and groovy soul jazz on the flip. You can immediately hear that these compositions have been crafted with thorough understanding of the tradition, but with passion and capability to breath them to life in this modern age.

The lineup is truly something to write home to. Linna himself has over 20 years of experience working in the Finnish jazz scene, same as saxophonist Jussi Kannaste. Organist Mikko Helevä plays in Jukka Eskola Soul Trio as well as a host of other top jazz groups. But it is drummer Dana Hall who's is the most seasoned member of this experienced troupe. Namedropping might seen lame, but in this case we'll take it there as Hall has worked side to side with Joe Henderson, Kenny Barron, Bobby Hutcherson, Ray Charles, Horace Silver, and Benny Golson to name a few.

Both tracks get a single edit treatment here and the full length versions will be available on the coming album. This is not jazz for the faint hearted, but the real deal meant for real people.

The Blue Note Record label needs little introduction. Musically, graphically and sonically iconic, the label created and defined the golden age of modern jazz on record. Founded in 1939 by German émigré Alfred Lion, the label's roster of artists is a litany of giants - Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock and many more. With peerless musicians in the grooves, the legendary Rudy Van Gelder behind the boards, and graphic design genius Reid Miles creating emblematic artwork for every release, Blue Note - 'the Cadillac of the jazz lines' - was outstanding in every way.

Volume 8 of Jazzman's Spiritual Jazz series takes a close look at the deeper side of Blue Note - from the experimental avant-garde explored by younger musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson and Pete La Roca, to the exciting new developments in modal sounds put forward by stalwarts Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Duke Pearson. The music we have selected shows how musicians working with the label responded to a period of dramatic social and sonic change, charting the route toward the esoteric and spiritualised sounds that would dominate the deepest jazz of the 1970s.

As ever, Blue Note had lit the path, and this new Spiritual Jazz collection shows that the progressive and underground jazz sound of the 1960s was not only the preserve of obscure artists and private pressings. Blue spirits and heavy sounds on Blue Note - the finest in jazz since 1939, brought to you by Jazzman.

Universal Beings is jazz drummer / producer Makaya McCraven's new album - his most ambitous, elegant and refned work yet.
Recorded at 2 intmate live sessions and 2 pop-up 'studio' sessions across the 'new' jazz hotbed cites of New York, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles, Makaya collaborated with an all-star cast of improvisers (15 musicians in total,
including Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Je Parker, Miguel AtwoodFerguson,Tomeka Reid, Brandee Younger and Carlos Nino) to create source material for the signature style of 'organic beat music' producton he debuted on the groundbreaking 2015 release In The Moment.
The result is this epic, 2xLP/CD set that represents another breakthrough in Makaya's career as a recording artst, as well as a defnitve new work of the excitng global groundswell of next-generaton, Black musicians re-vivifying and
re-artculatng 'jazz' in 2018.

The Stunning And Ground-breaking Album From The Composer And Saxophonist Chris Bowden.

'this Is The Album That Connected It All.' Gilles Peterson 2018

Chris Bowden's Debut Album Time Capsule Was First Released On Soul Jazz Records In 1992 To Universal And Widespread Critical Acclaim. Now 20 Years On A New Wave Of Current Jazz Artists Led By The Likes Of Kamasi Washington In The Usa And A Host Of British Artists - Shabaka Hutchings /sons Of Kemet, The Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Fourtet, Yussef Kamaal, Tenderlonious, Binker & Moses - Have Brought This Original Ground-breaking Album Into The Limelight Once More As A Pivotal Starting Point, Sharing Many Of The Aesthetics Of These Current Artists At Work Today.

Musically All Are Inspired By The Spiritual Jazz Of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry Et Al Paired With A Modern Electronic Music Sensibility. Chris Bowden's Time Capsule Has Stood The Test Of Time Like Few Other Albums (as The Title Of The Album Suggested), And Remains A Pivotal, Wholly-successful And Original Experimental Musical Collage, A Radical Inspiration And Forebearer To Many Of The Best Progressive Jazz And Electronic Artists Working Today.

The Album Has Been Fully Hi-spec Re-mastered And Is Available As A Limited-edition Heavyweight Double-vinyl Release With Gatefold Sleeve (+ Free Download Code), Slipcase Cd And Digital Album.

Nach Dem Sensationellen Erfolg Des Ersten Albums - oracle Im Letzten Jahr, Erscheint Nun Das Zweite Album Der Deutschen Jazz-supergroup Web Web. - dance Of The Demons Ist Ein Furioser Tanz Mit Den Dämonen - Mal Im Positiven Spirit Soul Jazz Rausch Wie Bei - land Of The Arum Flower , Das Mit Seiner Ergreifenden Melodie An Ethopian Jazz Der 60er Jahre Erinnert, Oder Mal Verrückt, Entfesselt Wie Bei - sandia .

Web Web Spielt Nun Mittlerweile Seit 2 Jahren Intensiv Zusammen, Man Hat Duzende Konzerte Absolviert Und Man Spürt Förmlich Die Geschlossenheit, Intensität Und Kraft, Die Sich Als Homogener Organismus Aus Einem Guß Heraus Zu Einem Phantastischen Sound Zusammenbraut.

Als Einen Besonderen Glücksfall Konnte Die Band Den Berühmten Marrokanischen Sänger Und Gembri-spieler Majid Bekkas Gewinnen, Der In Rabat Beheimatet Ist. Tony Lakatos Arbeitete Mit Majid Und Joachim Kühn In Den Letzten Jahren Immer Wieder Zusammen, Ebenso Roberto Digioia In Zusammenhang Mit Klaus Doldinger. Insofern Lag Es Nahe, Diesen Brillianten Musiker Mit Seinen Nordafrikanischen Wurzeln Mit Dem Ungeschliffenen Konzept Von Web Web Zu Verbinden. In - maroc Blues , Einer Soloperformance Von Majid, Hört Man Den Warmen Klangkörper Der Gembri, Einem Kontrabassartig-klingendem Instrument (dreisaitige Langhalslaute), Sowie Auch Majids Wunderbare Stimme, In Der Sich Die Jahrhunderte Alte Tradition Der Berber Widerspiegelt. - safar Zeigt Ebenso Die Große Improvisatorische Klasse Von Web Web, Vor Allem Wie Sie Auf Allen Ebenen In Die Spirituelle Sprache Eintauchen.
Majid Bekkas Ist Einer Der Bedeutendsten Musiker Und Vertreter Der Gnawa-musik, Die In Der Südlichen Sahara Beheimatet Ist. Am Konservatorium Für Musik Und Tanz In Rabat Studierte Er Seit 1975 Klassische Gitarre Und Oud.
Nach Ersten Erfahrungen Mit Eigenen Bands In Den 80er Jahren Gründete Er 1990 Sein Trio Gnaoua Blues Band, In Dem Er Blues Mit Gnawa-musik Verband. In Den Darauffolgenden Jahren Interessierte Er Sich Zunehmends Für Jazz, Trat Schon Bald Mit Größen Wie Archie Shepp, Louis Sclavis, Peter Brötzmann Oder Hamid Drake Auf.

- dance Of The Demons- Wurde Wie Auch - oracle An Einem Wochenende Live In München Eingespielt
Toningenieur Ist Wie Auch Bei - oracle Jan Krause (beanfield, Poets Of Rhythm U.v.m.)
Das Nächste, Dritte Web Web Album Wird Im Winter 2018 Ebendort In München Aufgenommen, Und Es Werden Wíeder Ein Oder Zwei Hochkarätige Gäste Dazu Eingeladen.

Web Web Sind: Roberto Di Gioia (piano, Synth, Percussion), Tony Lakatos (tenor- Und Sopranosaxophone), Christian Von Kaphengst (upright Bass) Und Peter Gall (drums).

Roberto Di Gioia Arbeitete Mit Zahlreichen Jazz-legenden Zusammen, Wie Z.b. Mit Woody Shaw, Art Farmer, James Moody, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse, Clifford Jordan, Clark Terry, Roy Ayers, Gregory Porter U.v.m.
Anfang 1990 Wurde Er Mitglied In Klaus Doldingers Passport.
Als Pianist Machte Er U.a. Aufnahmen Mit Udo Lindenberg (mtv-unplugged,2011), Charlie Watts (- music Of The Rolling Stones , 2005), Console (- reset The Preset , 2003), The Notwist (- shrink 1998, - neon Golden , 2002).
Seit 2007 Arbeitet Er Zusammen Mit Samon Kawamura Und Max Herre Als Kahedi: Max Herre (- hallo Welt , 2012), Joy Denalane (- gleisdreieck , 2017), U.v.m.
Seine Eigene Band Marsmobil (produziert Von Peter Kruder) Wird Im Herbst Ihr 4.studioalbum Veröffentlichen.

Tony Lakatos Stammt Aus Der Berühmten Lakatos-familie Aus Budapest, Ungarn. Sein Vater War Ein Berühmter Geiger, Ebenso Sein Jüngerer Bruder Roby. Er Begann Mit Dem Saxofon-spiel Als Er 15 Jahre Alt War.
Tony Studierte Auf Dem Bela-bartok-konservatorium In Budapest, Machte Seinen Abschluß 1979 Und Spielte Seither Auf Über 350 Jazzproduktionen Weltweit Mit, U.a. Mit Al Foster, Kirk Lightsey, Randy Brecker, George Mraz, David Witham, Terri Lyne Carrington, Anthony Jackson. Tony War Mitglied Der Band Pili Pili Von Jasper Van´t Hof. Seit 1993 Ist Er Solist In Der Hr Radio-bigband.

Christian Von Kaphengst Bekam Mit 6 Jahren Klassischen Klavierunterricht Im Peter-cornelius-konservatorium In Mainz.
Von 1988 Bis 1995 Studierte Er Jazz-kontrabass Sowie Instrumentalpädagogik An Der Musikhochschule In Köln.
Sein Jazzquartett - cafe Du Sport Absolvierte Im Auftrag Des Goethe-instituts Tourneen Nach Pakistan, Indien, Türkei Und Westafrika. Seit 1999 Ist Er Regelmäßig Bassist Von Patti Austin Sowie Der New York Voices Für Europäische Konzerte.
Von Kaphengst Spielte U.a. Mit Randy Brecker, Nat Adderley, Roy Hargrove, Joe Sample, Charlie Mariano, Katja Ebstein, Xavier Naidoo, Roachford, Yvonne Catterfeld.

Peter Gall Gewann Bereits In Jungen Jahren Erste Preise Bei Jugendjazzt Und Tourte Mit Dem Bundesjazzorchester Unter Leitung Von Peter Herbholzheimer. Er Studierte An Der Berliner Universität Der Künste Und Am Jazz Institut Berlin Bei John Hollenbeck. Gall Absolvierte Sein Masterstudium An Der Manhattan School Of Music Bei John Riley.
Er Arbeitete U.a. Mit Kurt Rosenwinkel, Seamus Blake, Ben Street, Gabriel Rios, Jasmin Tabatabai, Thomas Quasthoff, Peter Fessler.

Feedback - Web Web - oracle :

"oracle Ist Nicht Nur Ungemein Packend, Sondern Klingt Auch Absolut International, Bewegt Sich Auf Einer Ebene Mit Leuten Wie Kamasi Washington Oder Shabaka Hutchings." - Jazzthetik

"ein Wirklich Erstaunliches Erstes Album" - Süddeutsche Zeitung

"sun Ra Wäre Stolz Gewesen Auf Web Web Und Ihr Erstes Album Oracle." - Soultrainonline.de

"...the Album Is Engaging And Fascinating In Equal Measures. ... Sonically, The Album Embraces The Various Late 1960s And '70s Jazz Aesthetics Of Modal, Fusion And Spiritual Jazz Soundscapes, But 'oracle' Isn't A Strata East Or Black Jazz Tribute Record. This Is Very Much A Contemporary Affair With Its Richness Emanating From The Group's Varied Musical Tastes And Sensibilities And It Favours An Entire Listening Experience." - Ukvibe.org

"raise A Glass And Toast This Supremely Enjoyable Recording." - Birdistheworm
"oracle Contains 13 Tracks Of Pure Retro Sounding Perfection. This Is Like A Long Forgotten Treasure. It's Certainly An Album Serious Lovers Of The Genre Will Embrace." - Reviewgraveyard
"wonderful Album!!" - Simon Harrison / Basic Soul

"this Is Amazing. Going To Have To Grab A Vinyl Copy For The Collection" - Kev Beadle

"fantastic Record ! Love It ! We Need More Music Like This !!" - Peter Kruder

On Arise , Zara McFarlane returns to a buoyant UK jazz scene with a head-turning third album. Exploring the musical possibilities of British-Jamaican identity, it's a cultural exchange that's born of London's current musical climate. Released on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings, it sees her working with much-feted drummer and producer Moses Boyd. Both rose through London's Tomorrow's Warriors programme, a finishing school for many young vanguards of the live, ascendant jazz scene springing up across the UK capital. Sharing Caribbean family heritages, it's a product of their joint exploration of the meeting points between jazz and the rhythms of Jamaica, reggae, Kumina, calypso and nyabinghi, shaded with hints of the psychedelic.

Zara's breakthrough 2012 track, a jazz cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves', provided a jumping off point to further explore the blurred, colourful territory in between jazz and roots-reggae. Covering Nora Dean's 'Peace Begins Within', she breathes a syncopated groove into a soulful, reggae classic. A beautifully poised version of the Congos' Fisherman teases out the poignant lyrical content of the 1977 classic. Meanwhile new, original compositions from Zara, like 'Fussin' and Fightin'' and 'Freedom Chain', combine a deep, reverberating bass with a steady-stepping roots rhythm. Album opener 'Ode To Kumina' touches on the kumina tradition brought to Jamaica by indentured labourers from The Congo in the later part of the 19th Century. Part of Zara's deeper research into her Caribbean heritage, it alludes to a deep-rooted culture encompassing music, dance and religion.

Similarly, 'Silhouette' arose from that same research, in this case, however, it was about how records and documents often get lost in Jamaica. It kind of came out of the idea of black history and blackness and feeling like you're trying to find yourself,' she explains. Trying to be proud of your history and who you are. And never forgetting the things that brought you to where you are.' Alongside drummer Moses Boyd on production, the album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on Trombone and an unusually restrained turn on Clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings.
Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home. Boosted by new platforms, like East London showcase Church of Sound and a newly-refreshed Jazz Café, the record surfs the momentum currently propelling jazz-influenced music in the UK.

For Zara, Jamaica's musical legacy is deeply intertwined with her sense of the place itself. Spending whole summers in the hills of Jamaica, it's the sounds and smells which she most vividly associates with her stays there. In particular the local sound systems which were an everyday feature of the local area, be it in shops or bars, each of the small local shacks would have a sound system where they'd play music through the day and evening.

From where my nan used to live, in Cauldwell there's a sound system almost opposite her house,' she says. So you feel this boom of the bass, and then all the smells of the hills and the greenery of Hanover. When you land in Jamaica and you go to walk off of the plane, the heat and the smells hit you and it feels like home away from home for me. When I hear Jamaican music, these are the senses that come.'

Re-issue of the seminal 'Dust On Common' LP, from Led Er Est (Sam De La osa, Shawn O'Sullivan and Owen Hutchinson) was originally released in 2009 by the seminal Brooklyn based record label Wierd Records.
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The band's first full-length release showed the three piece clearly breaking out of the minimal synth underground they have been a vitally integral part of since its inception in Brooklyn to create an undeniably contemporary set of highly crafted and restrained, icily psychedelic pop songs.

Synthesizing countless disparate musical influences from first wave British industrial music to house, disco, and the largely unknown cold wave (aka 'La Vague Froide') tradition in Northern Europe, the trax on Dust fly by, straight out of the frozen hot, lonely cold plains of vocalist Samuel Kklovenhoof's native central Texas. After digesting a few songs of this rich dust, the listener can do no other than lie down in the wild weird Laredo bunker to revel in the refreshingly brisk blast of hedonistic analogue pleasure dancing through the airwaves in the sky above...

Strut team up for the first time with respected French label Heavenly Sweetness for the brand new album by the inspired poet, novelist and musician, Anthony Joseph.The Caribbean is an influence that runs through Joseph's discography, obliquely or headon, suggested or on full display. It resonates on each of his albums, from the furious trance of 'Bird Head Son' to the more polished 'Time'. On 'Caribbean Roots', he has now decided to turn a guiding thread and a reference point into a communications cable - a powerful bond that makes light of distance and braves the seas to link his island to that of his friends in the Caribbean arc, dancing to the strains of tumbélé and mendé only a few miles
from Port of Spain where people live it up to rapso and soca beats. Caribbean Roots' represents a return to his roots for Anthony Joseph, who has always remained true to a powerful, deep-seated sense of his Caribbean identity. Having started
out as a joint project with the outstanding percussionist Roger Raspail (Cesaria Evora, Papa Wemba, Kassav), 'Caribbean Roots' swiftly grew into a creative force incorporating
the rhythms, sounds and vibes that rock the Caribbean from San Fernando, Scarborough, Kingston and Les Abymes to Port-au-Prince and Havana. Backed by a band made up
of a blend of local musicians, the album attempts to unite the different islands into a single entity whilst ensuring that the identity of each is in no way diluted by the mix instead creating a richer and stronger alloy. The saxophones of Shabaka Hutchings (The
Heliocentrics) and Jason Yarde, the trumpet of Yvon Guillard (Magma), the bass of Mike Clinton (Salif Keita) and the trombone of Pierre Chabrèle (Creole Jazz Orchestra) all combine to form a group of Caribbean All Stars to which Andy Narrell, the master of the steel pans, brings ringing drum beats. The album features bursts of catchy rhythms and slow percussive riff progressions, as on a film soundtrack, incandescent voodoo funk and rhythmic high-speed frenzies shot through with free-jazz sax. This reunion of the Caribbean diaspora was never meant to come up with a formula divisible into eleven separate tracks - its goal was to explore and discover new sounds. And all of this under Anthony Joseph's guidance, as he spins his lyrical blend of afro-futurism and surrealism, commemorating the Caribbean people's sometimes violent resistance to colonialism. Anthony Joseph, one moment a chronicler reciting his text against a background of simple percussion, the next a storyteller possessed by the power of a hypnotic bassline, then an adventurer chanting among mangroves where the rhythm section and the brass have created an impenetrable thicket. At turns, an MC too, strutting to a fat, throbbing groove in vocal tandem with Sly Johnson or David Rudder to pay tribute to Mighty Sparrow, the undisputed and indisputable king of calypso

Given its short gestation, it is striking how far removed the new album is from its predecessor . After the dark complexity of recent output, Same As You is startlingly fresh, as inclusive and accessible as the title suggests, while still maintaining the playful experimentation on which the band has made its name.

Originally conceived as a single longform piece, the tempo remains constant but does not prevent the band from producing swells of raw, joyous, life-affirming energy within these self-imposed limits

The vocal performances and the heartfelt, spiritual lyrics are an inspired addition to the rich instrumental mix: Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart (tenor sax), Tom Herbert (double bass) and Leafcutter John (guitar, electronics), with Shabaka Hutchings (Sons Of Kemet, Melt Yourself Down) making a guest appearance.

The album's lead single 'Dont Let The Feeling Go' sees Rochford take on vocal duties alongside a choir of friends and collaborators: it's Polar Bear at their most direct.

The use of vocals may catch the ear but that should come as no surprise given that Rochford has enjoyed working with singers as diverse as Beck, Spoek Mathambo, Paolo Nutini and Rokia Traoré over a 15 year career that has seen the drummer, composer and producer emerge as a pivotal figure in contemporary British music

Recorded by Rochford in London, and mixed in the Mojave Desert with Ken Barrientos late last year

Polar Bear will tour Europe from February (see confirmed dates below)

PLAYS BY : TOLGA FIDAN, DARIO ZENKER, DE WALTA, NICO, PAWEL GZYL, JULIETTA, ALI KURU, ANA, PETER, SVEN HARTMUELLER, TIEFSCHWARZ, KASPER, MUTLU, JIM HUTCHISON, DESY BALMER, BONN CHAVEZ, LUCADOOBIE, CIAN O CIOBHAIN, MILOSH, JORGE SAVORETTI, YOURI