Since the first release 5 years ago, Jazz Room Records has released an eclectic and interesting selection of releases.
From the Jazzy commercialism of the Take Vibe version of The Stranglers "Golden Brown" (5,000 vinyl single sales) to the 1960's Headshop Sounds of West Coast Fluteman Eric Ghost.
Other notable releases on Jazz Room include the critically lauded album by Vibraphonist Khan Jamal "Infinity", a compilation of Japanese tough funk fusionists indigo jam unit put together by DJ Colin Curtis, Nuyorican Latin House from Tata Vasquez, Jazz Dance Madchester Rave from Cruisic and some South African Holy Grail grooves from Abacothozi! The latest release is the Underground Latin J-Jazz of Copa Salvo, first introduced to London by DJ & Music Legend Jean-Claude.
Next up is an in demand Jazz Funk Obscurity from Educator and Trumpet Player John Lamkin whose self released album "Hot" saw the light of day in 1984 then disappeared into the Rare Jazz ether.
Currently changing hands for €300 and upwards it's again about to see the light of day in 2025!
This is an album that is aptly named with all the elements we love: Latin, Funk, Soul, Jazz and all round Double Hipness. What a Hot item it is too. From the Funky as it gets opening bars of "Ticket" through the Rio bound flight "722", taking in a visit to Wonderland with some Soul Jazz Vocal stylings on "Flower Power" and the Funkiest 17 minute Journey to Trumpet Enlightenment in the Title track "Hot" which is, true to its name, Scorching by the finish line is reached.
Already getting Big Ups on UK Jazz Funk Scene Founder Colin Curtis's Cult Radio Show "Jazz Dance Fusion" it's gonna be getting plenty of plays worldwide at the "Hottest" radio stations and funkiest jazz dance nights near you soon!
Ross Allen: It's brilliant!! Perry Louis: Massive! Dr Bob Jones:I Love Big Time!Colin Curtis: Killer!
Suche:jazz co
We are excited to announce the first reissue of Tony Scott's iconic “Manteca” album originally released in 1973. This 180-gram vinyl audiophile edition captures the essence of a true master of contaminated jazz, allowing listeners to experience Tony Scott's vibrant artistry like never before.
Originally described in the album’s liner notes by Sam Charters, "Manteca" embodies the spirit of the jazz musician’s journey—a testament to durability, warmth, and exuberance. Charters notes, “You have to be durable these days to be a jazz man... a musician like Tony Scott has the kind of personality that it takes to be a jazz man today” — a sentiment that perfectly encapsulates the artist's incredible career.
From the bustling club scene of New York in the 1950s to captivating audiences in Japan, Scott's journey brought him to Sweden in the summer of 1973, where he collaborated with exceptional local musicians. The result was a collection of vibrant, uptempo jazz tracks combined with reflective ballads, showcasing the remarkable versatility and inventiveness of Scott's clarinet, baritone, and even his distinctive scat vocals.
The album opens with the titular track "Manteca," setting an exhilarating tone that endures until the final, almost sinister note of "One For Topsy." Complemented by an all-star lineup, including bassist Sture Nordin, drummer Ed Thigpen and legendary percussionist Sabu Martinez, this session embodies the international spirit of jazz—a genre that transcends boundaries and unites souls.
This audiophile edition has been meticulously remastered to provide an unparalleled listening experience, preserving the authenticity of the original while ensuring superior sound quality. With only a limited amount produced, this vinyl reissue is a must-have for collectors and jazz aficionados alike.
Join us in celebrating the reemergence of Tony Scott's "Manteca," a true landmark in jazz history, and immerse yourself in the dynamic sounds that have inspired generations.
First official vinyl reissue
180g virgin vinyl pressing from Pallas / Germany
350g. cover
Original artwork and liner notes
Recorded in Stockholm in 1973
360 mcn white-white light cardboard paper / one side only hand plasticization / 2 separated parts prints / hand gluing / PVC outers / original artwork / gatefold sleeve / Bandcamp limited edition 30x60 cm insert with extended liner notes by Tony Higgins and Interview with Babs Robert and Sébastien Gorlé with exclusive pictures and self-portrait by Babs Robert himself printed on GF Smith "Takeo Tant Select" Canvas Paper tip-on left jacket panel / Exclusive never released Memorabilia from Babs Robert's vault.
Personnel:
Babs Robert - alt sax, tenor-sax, electric tenor-sax, Bin Recorder, Acme siren, Chinese-bell, sleigh-bells, maracas, tambourine,hand-rattle,claves)
John Van Rymenant - baritone-sax, fluegelhorn, Bala, tambourine, sleight-bells, cowbell, triangle, claves
Johnny Peret - vibes, bongo's, cowbell, maracas, castanets, rattle-snakes, tambourine, drums, woodclock, trinagle
Johnny Brouwers - piano, prepared-piano, triangle, cowbell, sleigh-bells, maracas, caves,hand-rattle, guiro, woodblock, tambourine
Paul Dubois - bass, triangle, cowbell, claves, rattlesnakes, hand-rattle, woodblock, tambourine
Michel Gobbe - bass,Chinese-bell, claves
Robert Pernet - drum, tambourine, seven-notes M'Bichi, guiro, alarm-siren, home-made metal xylophone, African telephone-drum, triangle, sleigh-bells, Siku
Notes:
Despite its modest role on the world stage, Belgium has produced a number of internationally renowned musicians and composers. There is the iconic gypsy jazz guitar maestro Django Reinhardt, whose position remains unassailable, and guitarist/harmonica player Toots Thielemans, who became an internationally renowned artist performing and recording with Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Shirley Horn and Quincy Jones. The other key Belgian figure is composer/arranger Francy Boland, co-leader with US bebop drumming legend Kenny Clarke of Europe's leading big band of the 60s, the Clarke-Boland Big Band.
The Love Planet performed in the main clubs of Brussels, such as Blue Note, Pol's Jazz Place, and Smog as well as in major musical events throughout Belgium including to big festivals in 1969 - the Avant-Garde Festival in Ghent and the First International Jazz Event in Liege – where the Love Planet shared the bill with Miles Davis - and the Bilzen Jazz Festival in 1970. The contrast between the musical architecture of the themes and sonic freedom in the improvised playing perfectly illustrated the polymorphism – an order within disorder – which the Love Planet aimed for.
The initial original quartet line-up was Babs Robert (sax), Paul Dubois (bass), Johnny Brouwers (piano), and Johnny Peret / Robert Pernet (dru- ms). On the album session, the quartet was augmented with the addition of John Van Rjimenant (saxes) and Michel Gobbe (bass). As well as their main instruments, the band members also played an array of unusual instruments, principally percussion. This is the first official re-release
of the 'Babs Robert and the Love Planet'. Original copies of the album fetch many hundreds of Euros on the collecting circuit and it remains a curious and fascinating window into a moment in time that still resona- tes some fifty years later. Come with us to the Love Planet. (Tony Higgins)
Info: The highly anticipated ROAD RASA from JAWARI is a genre-defying journey led by the Tommy Khosla’s evocative sitar playing, seamlessly blending classical Indian influences with jazz, electronic, cinematic textures and poetry. Drawing inspiration from the expansive sounds of artists like Ananda Shankar and Kikagaku Moyo, the album weaves intricate rhythms and ethereal melodies into an immersive experience. Celebrated by Jazz News and featured on NTS, ROAD RASA has earned critical acclaim for its innovative soundscapes. The vinyl edition features stunning artwork by ceramic artist Nehal Aamir, reflecting the album’s conceptual depth and transcendence, and is in a limited run of 500 numbered records.
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UK-born DJ, producer and label boss Jimpster debuts on cult label Nu Groove in 2025 with a fresh set of four originals, The Phoenix EP, now on wax. Across this four-track collection, Jimpster showcases over two decades of production expertise, starting with a title track that showcases a club-ready sound built for the underground; ‘The Phoenix’ builds a tight groove through the ebb and flow of overlapping rhythmic patterns. What follows is ‘Lightening In Me’ featuring vocals from East London’s Oliver Night, an electronic artist and songwriter whose work has been supported by the likes of tastemakers Kerri Chandler, Gilles Peterson and Honey Dijon.
Rounding off the EP is ‘Beat Of An Era’ and ‘You Got My Love’, two select cuts that demonstrate Jimpster’s mastery of the deep house scene, complete with dreamy synthwork and jazz inflections. With vinyl alive and well in 2025, The Phoenix EP is a must-have for the modern wax aficionado.
Unter seinem Pseudonym Blendreed lässt der französische Saxophonist Musina Ebobissé den Erfolg seiner ARMAUN EP aus 2024 mit einer überarbeiteten Neuauflage seines zweiten Albums "Tales Of Tides" auf Vinyl folgen, das Ende 2022 nur im digitalen Eigenvertrieb erschien. Als Konvergenz akustischer und elektronischer Elemente erkundet Blendreed die Schnittstelle zwischen Jazz, Ambient, Post-Rock und experimenteller Musik. Der Hörer wird in einen hypnagogischen Zustand versetzt, die ihm eine Reise der psychischen Flucht bietet, die das Gleichgewicht der Seele wiederherstellt. Wie ein Raum, in dem sich Macintosh Plus und La Monte Young auf Augenhöhe begegnen.
Fly Free is the newest EP by Jon Dixon on his Hi-Tech Jazz label, 4EVR 4WRD (Forever Forward). He collaborated with 2 good friends and Detroit legends, John "Jammin" Collins and Al Ester to create two unique edits that best suit their personal DJ style. He is no stranger to both jazz heads and techno innovators. He's played with UR's Timeline with Mad Mike, Carl Craig to jazz great Marcus Belgrave. "I wanted to make something that could be the theme song for a Detroit summer regardless of where you're going or coming from," Jon said. "I wanted to create a song that was perfect for cruising down Jefferson heading to Belle Isle, or being stuck in downtown traffic after a game." Jon Dixon took something so familiar to the people of Detroit and transformed it into a piece the world can dance to.
- A1: Fading Dreams - Moonseed
- A2: Days Gone By - Luqęt X Strong.al&
- A3: Imperfections - Less Gravity
- A4: Light Roast - Levon Forever X Burbanksy
- A5: Oceanview - Juniorodeo X Levon Forever
- A6: Petrichor - Copacetik X Hoogway
- A7: Starlight - Andrew G
- A8: Stratego - Goson - Stratego
- B1: Golden Memories - Strong.al&
- B2: Time Flies - Otaam
- B3: To The Sea - Neele Harder
- B4: Rainy Day - Jazzyhan
- B5: I'll Miss You - Another Silent Weekend
- B6: Lakeside - Hoogway
- B7: Core Memory - Marsquake X Flowray
- B8: Don't Forget To Care - Mell-Ø X Ambulo
- C1: Oceans, Mountains - Morningtime
- C2: I Will Wait For You Just Like Last Year - Vimef X Copacetik
- C3: The Lovers - Your Magnolia
- C4: For The Flowers - Girl From Nowhere
- C5: Forgotten - Late Night Tones
- C6: Finding Hope - Dimension 32
- C7: Textures - Coils
- C8: Overpour - Burbanksy X Levon Forever
- D1: Wishes - Banks X Socrab
- D2: Beyond The Moon - Andrew G
- D3: Given A Chance - Banks X Tibeauthetraveler
- D4: Always Remember You - Mondo Loops
- D5: Waterlike - Team Astro
- D6: Quiet At Heart - Forever Dreaming X Zycix
- D7: True Story - Dimension 32
Embrace the golden tranquility of summer with Childhood Memories! Let yourself be enchanted by a compilation where each note softly whispers warmth, inviting the essence of summer to dance freely. Envision yourself nestled in a cozy treehouse, surrounded by lush greenery, basking in the warm sunlight as guitar melodies fill the air. Whether you're lost in a captivating book or sharing laughter with cherished friends, allow these laid-back tunes to become the soundtrack to your summer bliss.
Marbles is the legendary 1970 proto punk / dance classic from John McLaughlin’s US debut album 'De?otion', recorded at the time in which he played on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and taped the Record Plant session with Jimi Hendrix.
Marbles didn't just deliver jazz rock's most danceable 4/4 beat, played by Band of Gypsies / Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. It is also centered with a once-in-ageneration bass line performed by Billy Rich. Larry Young's otherworldly Hammond textures predate a lot of what synthesizers were about to do much later, and the blowtorch energy emanating from John McLaughlin's cranked amp went beyond what most would had dared during the defining era of heavy rock guitar. An apex achievement at the intersection of jazz rock, guitar rock and dance music without parallel, before or since.
Background: John McLaughlin arrived in New York in 1969 to join Tony Williams' new group Lifetime which also featured Larry Young and eventually Jack Bruce (of Cream). On the second day in town he found himself in the studio with Miles Davis, recording 'In a Silent Way.' His playing would also take center stage in Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, On The Corner and several other Davis key works of his much beloved first electric era. In between a busy schedule with Lifetime and Davis, McLaughlin also recorded two solo albums in 1970, 'De?otion' with an all-electric group and ‚'My Goa|’s B?y?nd' as its acoustic counterpart. By the time he formed his group Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1972, John McLaughlin was firmly established as the most important practitioner of his instrument of his generation within and well beyond the emerging jazz rock / fusion genre, and he has continued to evolve and surprise until today.
Here, a thorough remaster is supplemented by a new and throbbing techno version by Stefan Goldmann.
Last summer, after six months of diving into his vault and crafting new sounds, 15 tracks found their home on Deeleegenz's final playlist for this double vinyl album titled ‘Color Residues’.
Sozyone joined this journey by creating the stunning artwork. His distinctive bird designs now grace both the album cover and the labels of all four vinyl sides.
Limited pressing of 200 copies.
On the third Ziemia release, Private Press invites their long-time friend Piotr Baranowski, known as Mutual Attraction. Piotr is a veteran of the local Warsaw scene, recently channeling his talent through a combination of jazz and house music. The musical inspirations and absolute joy of studio time shared by Piotr, Jan and Adam (Private Press) form a solid foundation for this compilation.
The first side of the record is dedicated to a signature corroded dub sound, infused with an emphasis on rolling bass and heavily delayed stabs. While A1 is an old-school-leaning take on fast, straightforward techno, A2 is a minimalistic definition of a tool track, executed with metallic chords and a frosty atmosphere.
The situation changes dramatically on the other side, bringing warmer and more uplifting vibes, yet it still maintains the energy as all the artists focus on a moodier, more laid-back sound. Mutual Attraction brings his skills, laying down the smoothest melodies and chords, while Private Press dubs out the sounds to their limits. This collaboration offers a beautiful contrast between the functional roots of club music and more storytelling melodies cut from a late evening jam. It’s all held together by classic house grooves, bridging the familiar sounds of Chicago and Berlin in these two collaborative tracks.
Everything is perfectly finalised by on-point mastering by Wouter Brandenburg and the atmospheric artwork on the label. This record offers a great, cohesive atmosphere from top to bottom.
Since the first releases of ECHT!, one question has been on everyone's lips: does this act belong on a live stage, or is their music best experienced through a set of powerful speakers in a packed, sweaty club? With their third album, 'Boilerism', the band finally settles the debate, diving headfirst into the heart of club culture and bringing the ecstatic energy of the dance floor to the live stage.
Since their debut with the EP DOUF (2019), followed by the full-length albums Inwane (2021) and Sink-Along (2023), ECHT! has consistently been building a reputation for redefining their musical standards, blending deep grooves and adding raw textures. With 'Boilerism', they pick up the pace, exploring genres like acid, drum & bass, footwork, and UK garage. all while retaining their signature love for the unexpected. The album features tracks filled with sudden shifts and twists that keep listeners on their toes. Known for transforming electronic, hip-hop, and jazz influences into live-performed compositions, ECHT! continues to deliver a fresh perspective on electronic music that feels both innovative and uncompromising.
The album's title, a nod to the underground club scene and its unifying energy, captures the album's spirit: music that challenges limits, encourages experimentation, and unites through its intensity.
Opening with tracks like Boilerbeek, Wacky Wave, and the single Highed, the band builds upon the foundations of their two previous albums. However, it's with Mtwk Parts 3 & 4, a direct continuation of earlier chapters, that the energy kicks into higher gear. Midway, the album ventures into harder, more intense territory, showcasing the band's confident evolution. A brief but intricate interlude, Black Sablon, offers a layered moment of respite before the intensity returns. From there, ECHT! fully embraces their club-oriented sound with acid-infused bangers like Klaas Rescue and the provocatively titled BK-hole. These tracks leave no doubt about their intent, delivering straight-up, relentless dancefloor energy that captures the essence of their live performances.
The album concludes with Penguin Alfred, a thoughtful and emotive finale that seamlessly transitions between ambient soundscapes and delicate breakbeats, highlighting the band's dynamic range and creative depth.
It's been three years since ECHT!'s debut album Inwane, followed by their second LP Sink-Along in 2023, both released on Sdban Ultra. Their music has garnered acclaimfrom notable outlets such as Mixmag, DJ Mag, and Tsugi while earning support from respected DJs including Lefto, Gilles Peterson, and Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 6. ECHT! has performed at iconic venues such as the Jazz Café (London), AB (Brussels), Melkweg & Paradiso (Amsterdam), and Gretchen (Berlin). Their most recent tour spanned 14 countries, including Mexico and India.
Polish saxophonist, producer and composer Jerzy Mączyński fuses utopian electronics and organic improvisation on sci-fi jazz odyssey, DO 555ps. Building on his 2023 collaboration with Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being, DO 555ps is Mączyński’s first self-produced album – a tour de force of spacious, galactic sound design that leans into drone, minimalism and the rich history of sci-fi soundtracks for a 10-track suite of astral proportions.
Mączyński’s sound is both maximalist and restrained, sensitive to detail and atmosphere, defying categorisation and swirling in an orbit of its own making.
Set to be released on Eivind Vullum’s Vibrasjon label in Norway, DO 555ps follows the 2023’s TUNE IN, made under Mączyński and Hieroglyphic Being’s Universal Harmonies & Frequencies moniker.
Described by The Quietus as one of the most interesting records of the year (“as bold as it is massive”), TUNE IN laid the foundations for Mączyński to strike out alone on DO 555PS, inspired by Moss’s skewed production and arrangements to striking and unique effect. - Anton Spice
From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser known jovem guardua group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker ‘Jackson Conti’.
With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of rootsy electronic samba and tripped out jazz, beats and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom).
Take a bite of Mamão’s psychoactive Papaya and join the maestro on a weird and wonderful stroll through the Brazilian jungle.
United by a love for the music of Mamão and Azymuth, the CD and digital edition also feature the previously released remixes and dubs from some of today’s most forward-thinking producers with a penchant for percussion, including IG Culture, the 22a crew, Max Graef and Glenn Astro.
Here comes a true South American LATIN JAZZFUNK treasure from Argentina!!!
Sound Essence is more than proud to present these lost recordings from 1974 to music lovers again in all their glory.
CARLOS FRANZETTI, who has once again been in the spotlight in recent years thanks to the re-release of his strong late 70s JazzFusion record "Graffiti", was also in charge of this record called DEDOS. The story behind:
In 1974, after CARLOS FRANZETTI was living in Mexico and worked as the musical director of FERMATA International, he returned to Argentina. In Buenos Aires his friend MOCHIN MARAFIOTTI was recently appointed A&R at the local recording label MUSIC HALL . Marafiotti asked Carlos if he wanted to record some of his music and he answered that he had in mind a group playing LATIN JAZZ . After a couple of meetings they came out with the idea of covering the RUBEN RADA tune DEDOS recently recorded in the US by AIRTO MOREIRA along with the OPA TRIO. Carlos contributed his own composition "Doce y Diez" . He selected the group consisting of his friend and member of the uruguayan Band TOTEM, Ruben Rada on percussion, Ricardo Lew on guitar , Emilio Valle on bass and Osvaldo Lopez on drums covering keyboards and vocals himself . This formation recorded tracks and vocals in a three hour session and the next day the track was mixed. Music Hall released "Dedos" and "Doce y Diez" on a single record and after months of discrete airplay and not so good sales the project for an album was draped.
"It is a rewarding experience to see a re-release of this two songs a half century after the original release.
It was hot and it looks and sounds even hotter now. I love it!" (Carlos Franzetti, New Jersey, December 2024).
The record captures an expansive performance in Poitiers, France in November 2023. First working together in an unpredictable trio with minimalist legend and eccentric extraordinaire Charlemagne Palestine, Ambarchi and Thielemans quickly established a remarkable musical chemistry that led to an ongoing series of duo concerts, including the performance documented on their LP Double Consciousness (Matière Mémorie, 2023).
Kind Regards finds the duo refining their shared language while continuing to take risks, allowing the music’s gravitational pull to lead them from meditative calm to unexpectedly expressive passages of melodic invention and rhythmic drive.
Recorded in sparkling fidelity and carefully mixed by Ambarchi’s longtime collaborator Joe Talia, the LP contains a single unbroken performance, stretching out for over 45 minutes. Guitar and drums weave together into a symbiotic whole that nevertheless affords us ample opportunity to marvel at the highly personal approaches these two musicians have developed to their chosen instruments through decades of diverse collaboration and prolific performance. The set begins with Thielemans’ hypnotic tom patterns, around which Ambarchi’s wavering, shimmering guitar tones—achieved with the help of the rotating speaker of a Leslie cabinet—flurry and swirl. Thielemans’ drums play subtle tricks with time and perception, adding and dropping beats within repeated patterns to create an effect at once rhythmically insistent and liquified. Growing at first into a rapidly pulsing texture of brushed drums and flickering harmonics, the music builds momentum into an irregular groove over which Ambarchi’s guitar is transformed into haunting, monumental electric organ chords, strikingly recalling the Wurlitzer work of Alice Coltrane, before settling into a section of gentle portamento melody embedded into the tactile clicks and clangs of Thielemans’ percussion.
When Thielemans adopts a more traditional jazz approach to the kit in some of the set’s second half, the results are stunning, demonstrating a feel for shifting accents and sensibility to the touch of the stick on the drum or cymbal that recalls greats like Jack DeJohnette or Billy Hart (one of Thielemans’ mentors). And when Ambarchi turns up the heat, he does so in an unexpected and delightful way, letting loose a swarm of jittering delayed tones straight out of Henry Kaiser’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life, with a more active use of the guitar’s fretboard than his usual approach to the instrument allows. As the performance draws to a close after a climactic episode of distorted harmonic groans and crashing cymbals that manages to be at once thunderous and carefully attuned to detail, it is clearer than ever that, for these two serial collaborators, this is a very special pairing.
Kind Regards shows us the kind of magic that can happen when two masters who have dedicated decades to reimagining their instruments simply begin to play, following the music wherever it goes.
Emotional Especial returns to the music of Peter Reilly aka Persian, with a second EP diving into his extensive catalogue to celebrate this cult artist and evaluate his recent decision to retire from music production.
For over 20 years Reilly has been an exemplary electronic producer, a producer’s producer, a DJs producer, releasing over 50 EPs that crossed genres, from Breaks to Digidub, Electro to Garage, House to Jungle and on and on.
If this release is to act as an epitaph, then its exploration of Reilly’s wonderful programming, sampling and understanding of emotions is laid bare. Spread across a series of self-released edits hidden within limited run EPs, Questions appeared as something akin to beats interludes, across numerous releases over the last 10 years.
Bringing the best versions together on one EP, Questions 1, 2, 5, 3 and 7 have been re-edited, extended and sequenced into a continuous mix especially for this finale. Starting with the ambient breaks of Questions 1, this is a Balearic beginning where bubbling acid meets haunting refrain, before segueing effortlessly into the sunrise breaks of Questions 2. A nod to Carl Craig’s classic Incognito remix, the solo keys add a touch of jazz to a glide by shooting melody.
Side 2 rises. Question 5 heralds a half stepper Dub bassline riding the Amen breaks, the now familiar Brando sample, a wormhole in your brain that ties the EP together, joining the dots as strings float skywards, allowing Questions 3 break it all back down. Herbie Handcock inspired Funk Boogie beat, shouts out to his own Existence To Resistance label, leads to the pure ambient closing of Questions 7. A showcase again of Persian’s multi-genre dexterity and maybe, just maybe brings an influential music chapter to a close.
Nail is one of UK house music's most vital contributors. His raw sound pioneered a new style of tech house in the 90s and here he reappears under a different alias, AM Vibe. 'Vibe With Me' kicks off with nice loose drums and perc and jazzy keys adding the warmth and soul. 'I'm So High' brings some loopy and filtered fun and phased vocals for a sleazy feel, then 'Dried Fruit' gets more upbeat with lush synth swirls and effortlessly cool drums and rich r&b vocal samples. 'Powder' closes out with some thumping kicks and more tender vocal stabs. As always, this is brilliantly heartfelt and effective tackle from Nail.
Some of Stay True Sounds most celebrated hits of 2024 assemble on Stay True Cutz Vol. 8, the eighth vinyl edition of the label’s compilation series featuring standout sonics that defined a year. Opening with a record that fuses deep house and neo-soul, Jimpster’s remix of ‘Say Yes’ by SA torchbearer beatsbyhand, featuring Rona Ray on vocal duty, was the bestselling release of 2024 on the Traxsource Deep House chart. What follows is the compelling collaboration from two leaders of the Afro scene, China Charmeleon and Hypaphonik with ‘We R 1’ - plus jazz and house maestro Crackazat’s 3-step release ‘Can’t Blame A Soul’ (Mana’s Dub). Closing out this curation of four tracks that capture Stay True Sounds’ unique aesthetic is ‘SARS’, an original also from the mind of talented DJ and producer beatsbyhand.




















