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This genre-bending 4 track EP blends organic, instrumental performance with the electronic production of ORNETTE HAWKINS' previous dnb offerings. Opening with a deceptively straight-ahead sound before collapsing into soundscapes of futuristic realms. Full pic sleeve.

Strut Records highlights a landmark in British jazz-rock with Second Wind, the 1972 album from keyboard visionary Brian Auger and his powerhouse group Oblivion Express. Capturing a fully matured lineup, the record finds Auger expanding his fusion language - bridging jazz sophistication, funk-driven rhythm, and soul-infused songwriting with the clarity and fire that defined his early ’70s work.

Though Auger’s roots lie in the lineage of hard-swinging jazz organ and the improvisational fire of the ’60s British scene, he has never been an artist content with tradition. With Second Wind, he moves further into a hybrid language that fuses rhythm with harmonic depth and groove, without sacrificing sophistication. His playing is expansive yet precise, translating the electricity of live performance into a studio work that breathes with immediacy.

At the heart of this era of Oblivion Express is the telepathic rapport among its members. Vocalist Alex Ligertwood (in one of his earliest major recordings before Santana fame) brings a soulful intensity that feels both grounded and forward- looking. Second Wind contains tracks that have become deeply significant in Auger’s discography - original compositions Second Wind, and Truth to name a few - but it was Auger's high octane revisioning of Eddie Harris' Freedom Jazz Dance, (adding new lyrics to the original instrumental) that genuinely broke barriers. The track became a DJ friendly classic and highlighted the groups deeply original approach.

The rhythm section of Barry Dean and Robbie McIntosh balances weight and fluidity, giving Auger the space to stretch across Hammond organ, Rhodes, and keys with characteristic boldness. Their collective sound is one of seamless motion: jazz-inflected lines swelling into rock-driven crescendos, funk-leaning grooves locking with vocal hooks, moments of quiet clarity emerging between bursts of improvisation.

Second Wind stands as a pivotal moment in Auger’s discography: a record that bridges the exploratory spirit of his earlier projects with the more groove-oriented approach that would soon bring international attention. More than five decades later, it remains a vivid document of a band carving out its own language. Music born of instinct, collaboration, and a restless desire to push beyond the expected.

Strut Records presents a fresh look at Oblivion Express, the 1971 album that marked Brian Auger’s shift into a new musical frontier. After years spent shaping the sound of British jazz-soul with the Trinity, Auger stepped into the new decade with a leaner, electrified ensemble and a renewed sense of purpose. This record captures the moment that transformation took shape.

Oblivion Express introduced a sound that was distinctly Auger’s own. Rather than echoing the fusion emerging in the United States, Auger developed a language rooted in the UK’s jazz underground, culminating in a spaced out jazz- rock / prog-fusion album awash with larger than life drum fills and Auger’s virtuosic organ playing. Between bassist Barry Dean and drummer Robbie McIntosh the album moves effortlessly between tight, articulated phrases and broader, improvisational passages. The trio’s interplay forms the backbone of the album and sets the tone for the sound that would define the early years of the Express.

Album opener “Dragon Song” launches with a restless drive that immediately signals Auger’s new direction. Auger chose to record this version of John McLaughlin’s piece (his friend and former bandmate in 'The Niddy Griddys') after hearing McLaughlin’s album Devotion during its mix at New York’s Record Plant Studios. Auger was blown away, recalling, “Oh my god, this is amazing. I wanted to record that myself - and I did!”. Pieces like “Total Eclipse” demonstrate the Oblivion Express’ command of dynamic contrast, and title track “Oblivion Express” explores the cinematic and compositional prowess of the group through stripped back, building moments vs. explosive melodic breakdowns. Riff-heavy “The Sword” later became known through Madlib’s usage in 2014 tracks “Yeti Movie” and “Parodies”.

In retrospect, Oblivion Express stands as a jazz leaning, prog-rock masterpiece and foundational moment in Auger’s catalogue. It captures the starting point of a new sound that is more focused, more urgent, and fully committed to the possibilities of jazz-rock at the dawn of the seventies. The album remains a vivid document of a band discovering its identity and setting the stage for the further array of influential releases that would follow.

Brown Spirits are a super-heavy psychedelic three-piece band who play raw energetic super-charged psych rock heavily influenced by krautrock, freejazz and deep funk music from the 1970s that gives them a truly unique and highly addictive sound. The group record and mix their own music to ¼-
inch analogue tape at home maintaining a strictly DIY-ethic.

Brown Spirits are Tim Wold, Agostino Soldati and Ash Buscombe. The group are from the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, home to an ever-growing
music scene that includes Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Surprise Chef, Tropical Fuck Storm and more.
The group have already released two superb critically-acclaimed album on Soul Jazz Records – ‘Cosmic Seeds’ and Solitary Transmissions’.
Soul Jazz Records are releasing three new albums from the Australian group on one day. All three albums are super-limited one-off special coloured
vinyl pressings of just 500 copies each that will all be deleted on the day of release.

These three albums were originally released (between 2017-2020) in long-deleted very short run-editions - either self-released in Australia or on an
indie German psych label. No copies of Brown Spirits #2 or Brown Spirits #3 are currently available anywhere in the world. Both of Brown Spirits two
earlier releases for Soul Jazz Records are also sold out on vinyl and these three super-limited special edition LPs will also sell out.

Brown Spirits are a super-heavy psychedelic three-piece band who play raw energetic super-charged psych rock heavily influenced by krautrock, freejazz and deep funk music from the 1970s that gives them a truly unique and highly addictive sound. The group record and mix their own music to ¼-
inch analogue tape at home maintaining a strictly DIY-ethic.

Brown Spirits are Tim Wold, Agostino Soldati and Ash Buscombe. The group are from the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, home to an ever-growing
music scene that includes Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Surprise Chef, Tropical Fuck Storm and more.
The group have already released two superb critically-acclaimed album on Soul Jazz Records – ‘Cosmic Seeds’ and Solitary Transmissions’.
Soul Jazz Records are releasing three new albums from the Australian group on one day. All three albums are super-limited one-off special coloured
vinyl pressings of just 500 copies each that will all be deleted on the day of release.

These three albums were originally released (between 2017-2020) in long-deleted very short run-editions - either self-released in Australia or on an
indie German psych label. No copies of Brown Spirits #2 or Brown Spirits #3 are currently available anywhere in the world. Both of Brown Spirits two
earlier releases for Soul Jazz Records are also sold out on vinyl and these three super-limited special edition LPs will also sell out.

Percussionist Jamie Muir was a member of King Crimson during the recording of Larks' Tongues In Aspic, in 1973. Staying less than a year with Robert Fripp, the Scot had already cut his teeth with another master guitarist, Derek Bailey, as part of the Music Improvisation Company, along with Evan Parker, Hugh Davies and Christine Jeffrey, whose eponymous 1970 album was one of the first releases on ECM. Muir and Bailey recorded Dart Drug eleven years later, in 1981.There's no shortage of great percussionists in the brief history of free improvised music but on the strength of Dart Drug alone Jamie Muir deserves a place at High Table. Unlike for example Han Bennink and John Stevens, though, you can't hear echoes of any particular jazz drummer in Muir's playing, even if he has expressed appreciation for Milford Graves (who himself sounded like nobody else who'd come before him).What on earth did Muir's kit consist of Some instruments are clearly identifiable (bells, gongs, chimes, woodblocks); others could be... well, anything. Old suitcases thwacked with rolled up newspapers Tin cans and hubcaps inside a washing machine Who cares It sounds terrific - but if you're the kind of person who faints at the sound of nails scraping a blackboard, you might want to nip out and put the kettle on towards the end of the title track.Dart Drug is consistently thrilling, and often very amusing - but it's certainly not easy listening. In music we talk about playing with other musicians, whereas in sport you play against another opponent (or with your team against another team). Why not play against in music, too That's precisely what happens very often in improvised music, and Bailey was particularly good at it. How can a humble acoustic guitar hope to compete with a Muir in full flight Sometimes Bailey's content to sit on those open strings, teasing out yet another exquisite Webernian constellation of ringing harmonics and wait for the dust to settle in Muir's junkyard, but elsewhere he sets off into uncharted territory himself.'The way to discover the undiscovered in performing terms is to immediately reject all situations as you identify them (the cloud of unknowing) - which is to give music a future.' Bailey evidently concurred with this spoken statement by Muir, including it in his book Improvisation.Derek Bailey is no longer with us, of course, and Muir gave up performing music back in 1989. All the more reason for seeking out this magnificent, wild album.

Released in 1967, Open marked a bold debut for Brian Auger & The Trinity, featuring the dynamic vocals of Julie Driscoll. Music and its makers were rapidly evolving in ‘67, the UK's Jazz and R&B scenes were being influenced by pop and psychedelia and socially, musicians of many styles found common ground in London’s clubs like The Cromwellian and The Scotch Of St James where the The Beatles, US legends Wilson Pickett and Jimi Hendrix mingled with the capitals jazzers and pop stars, often loudly jamming together in even louder 'Lord Byron' shirts. 'Open' fully embraced this spirit by fusing together those genres and attitudes of the era. From the outset Auger displays his jazz rooted approach on the A side with 'In and Out' and 'Isola Natale' (later covered by one of his American jazz heroes Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes). Both showcase the Trinity's musicianship and Brian's improvisational flair. Auger himself takes on vocal duties on the raucous ‘Black Cat’, a track that became a club hit. Open is marked by its eclecticism; 'Lament for Miss Baker' is a tender, piano ballad influenced by Duke Ellington, reflecting Auger’s jazz and classical influences whilst 'Goodbye Jungle Telegraph' is a wild and crazy percussive freak out. Brian displayed not only his virtuosity but also his surrealist sense of humour with bizarre sound effects, inspired by Spike Milligan's The Goons' radio show interspersed between the tracks.

Julie Driscoll’s arrival on the album’s B side brings a sharp shift in tone. Her smoky, emotive vocals inject a soulful depth, notably on covers of Otis Redding & Carla Thomas hit 'Tramp', Aretha's 'Save Me' and The Staples Singers ‘Why Am I Treated So Bad". With original numbers 'Break It Up' and 'A Kind Of Love In' we hear the Auger / Driscoll pop infused R&B at its very best, whilst the version of Donovan’s 'Season of the Witch' stretches out into a slow-burning epic. In 2025, Open is viewed as a cult classic and testament to a unique period when genre boundaries were fluid and artistic risk-taking was the norm. Brian Auger & The Trinity’s debut captures the adventurous energy of the late 1960s. 58 years later, its importance in the development of British jazz fusion and progressive bands that followed is undeniable, with The Charlatans Tim Burgess recently commenting on Auger's Instagram that The Trinity were a 'huge influence'.

Der Waffle House Index bemisst in den USA seit 2011 die Wucht von Katastrophen: Grün = vollständiges Menü - Restaurant hat vollen Strom, Speisen unbegrenzt, Schaden schlimmstenfalls begrenzt. Gelb = eingeschränktes Menü - kein Strom, Verfügbarkeit von Speisen ist begrenzt. Rot = Restaurant zu - ernsthafte Schäden oder Überflutungen. Übertragen auf den freigeistigen Jazzrock der Band Kuhn Fu: Die Musik auf dem neuen Album "Katastrofik Kink Machine" springt mit Begeisterung und Verve zwischen Grün und Rot hin und her, und lässt die laue Mitte aus. Dem Wort Jazzrock haftet etwas Altbackenes an: Musik, in der seelenlose Virtuosität den Spirit und die Unmittelbarkeit ersetzt hat. Der Gitarrist und Komponist Christian Achim Kühn allerdings spielt mit seiner Band Kuhn Fu einen mit E-Gitarre infizierten Jazz, dem die Spielfreude und der Spaß am tiefschürfenden Unsinn (und eben dann doch auch: die Virtuosität) aus jeder Pore dampfen. Spaß an den Extremen nicht zuletzt, Grün und Rot, kein Gelb.

2026 Repress

Lisa Decker returned with her second studio album "Soliloquise" one year after her debut album "Serendipity" in 2021 with Japanese Jazz trio Nautilus from Tokyo and a superb single remix of "Everytime" by Pat Van Dyke featuring rapper John Robinson.

For this project she worked on eight new songs. Half of the album is arranged by Nautilus and the other half is produced by SaturnVybz who is known for his works with/and projects like Slick Walk, The Ruff Cats and Jazzanova.

Getting a step forward and conceptually a bit different this release gets the "Oonops Drops" FLIP SERIES treatment which means: Side A and Side B are made by different artists or differentiate from each other like the first volume with Nautilus X Anna Sato & Toshiyuki Sasaki (OD006LP).

Songs like "Free", "Let's Wake Up" and "Summer Child" with their feel warm note of groovy, jazzy pop and the more swing-jazz tune "Rimy Whitewater" meet guitar-electronic touched songs like "Love And Hope", "On My Way" and "True Blue" or her dreamt away track "Stay With Me" with smooth bouncy beats and with an atmosphere for being the perfect soundtrack for a night ride on deserted streets.

Lisa is careful about the artwork and after working together with renowned artist Lindsey Kustusch from San Francisco on her first album she collaborates with local artist Sebastian Maria Otto who is known for his signature art style and exhibitions from Germany to Japan.

Lisa will perform live in Hanover, the 20th May at roof top of the Historical Museum together with Nautilus. Japan meets Germany. Lucky coincidence or: "Serendipity".

On a Sunday in the early 70s in South LA one could asily find themselves experiencing the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra doing what they do for the community, performing incredible music. "Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971" is a previously unreleased PAPA recording. It finds director Horace Tapscott conducting the band at Widney Career Preparatory & Transition Center, a special-education magnet high school in Los Angeles. The band played shows here between 1970 and "72, often sharing the bill with contemporaries John Carter and Bobby Bradford"s group, and at one point the Sun-Ra Arkestra. These weekend shows were free and meant for the surrounding Black community. On this date the PAPA performed a range of compositions from the Ark"s expansive songbook, including arrangements of tunes by Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane.

Mit dem Album “Elevation” verabschiedete sich Saxofonist Pharoah Sanders 1974 von dem Label Impulse!
Records, bei dem er sich seit 1966 als einer der führenden Musiker des Spiritual Jazz profiliert hatte. Bis
auf eine Studioaufnahme wurde das Album im September 1973 bei Konzerten im Ash Grove in Los Angeles
aufgezeichnet und lässt Sanders’ ekstatisches Saxofon im Zusammenspiel mit einem dynamischen Sextett
glänzen.

The leader of the internationally acclaimed Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet reveals a more intimate, personal side in his solo project. Solo, the new album from Wojtek Mazolewski, offers a chamber-like, cinematic and deeply atmospheric listening experience.

Altsaxofonist Zbigniew Namysłowski (1939-2022) wird wird oft als der ”John Coltrane Polens” bezeichnet,
so wichtig war er für die Entwicklung des modernen Jazz in seiner Heimat. Sein 1964 veröffentlichtes
Debütalbum “Lola” war zugleich das erste Album einer polnischen Band, das nicht hinter dem “Eisernen
Vorhang”, sondern in den Decca Studios in London aufgenommen wurde. Mit seinem Modern Jazz Quartet stellte Namysłowski auf dem Album sieben teils von polnischer Folklore inspirierte Originale sowie eine
Interpretation des Standards “Ol’ Man River” vor.
Produziert wurden die Aufnahmen von Mike Vernon, der später unter anderem mit Fleetwood Mac, David
Bowie und John Mayall arbeitete. 60 Jahre nach Erstveröffentlichung erscheint dieses für die europäische
Jazzszene eminent wichtige Album in der Reihe “British Jazz Explosion” erstmals wieder auf Vinyl. Gemastert von den originalen analogen Stereobändern von David Turner bei 360 Mastering, geschnitten bei Curve
Pusher, Hastings, East Sussex. Eine Beilage enthält Fotos der originalen Masterbänder und neue Liner
Notes des bekannten Autors, Compilers und Dokumentarfilmers Tony Higgins, der auch als ausführender
Produzent für Deccas „British Jazz Explosion“-Reihe fungiert.

FUMU christens the promising new label Return To Zero (RTZ) with »Funeral Rites on Planet Saturn«, the surrendering sophomore album from Nigerian artist, self-described »negro-producer«, hedonist, and iconoclast LINTD. With production collaboration from Porter Brook and features from Samrai (Swing Ting), Porter Brook, Sam Scott Francis (GOMID), Rizmi, and Imani Jendai.

LINTD’s work emerges as a call and response between the tender, dynamic sounds of Black music across history and the surreal reality of contemporary, vulnerable Black life – a haunting dialogue. These themes are catalysed in the Black Impossible LP Trilogy, reclaiming Black utopia through sound technologies via »Smooch Soundsystem Live at The White Hotel« for Second Born (Kop-Z, Porter Brook), and »DOGTOOTH. And Other Such Tales of the Macabre« on The White Hotel’s HEAD II outlet.

While earlier works engaged with the mania, joy, and paranoia of this impossible experience, »Funeral Rites on Planet Saturn« arrives at a soulful conclusion, allowing grief to tell a truer story. In the vein of Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, and Octavia Butler, LINTD introduces the speculative planet Saturn as a site where impossible Black being across the world can come and rest: a site for liberation and emancipation.

»This one is an act of care towards myself, and hopefully others like me. I have proven everything I want to prove this year; this one is my elixir from all the lonely grief, a place of rest.«

Concert at Prades-le-Lez marks the origins of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. In 1974, François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre, Jo Maka, Adolf Winkler and Guem), in the spirit of Don Cherry or Chris McGregor, playfully dismantle all borders and all styles of creative music.

On this second volume, the Intercommunal builds unprecedented soundscapes around a song of revolt, a dance tune, or a burst of dissonance. The journey is unforgettable, no question about it. On repeat listening, it even becomes… lunar!

“The music that we make is primarily meant to be listened to live,” warned a leaflet from the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. This is precisely why the (restored!) reissue of the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez, recorded on January 25 and 26, 1974 by François Tusques and his comrades, is such an important event.

In 1971, after recording a series of albums that would leave a lasting mark on French jazz (Free Jazz, of course, with Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais, but also Le Nouveau Jazz with Barney Wilen, or the solo Piano Dazibao), François Tusques founded the Intercommunal—a grouping whose very name called for the fraternization of the various communities making up the country: Our music will help, we hope, to resolve the contradictions that exist between workers be longing to different communities, by breaking down various forms of national chauvinism, and more particularly the chauvinism of certain French people toward the cultures of Third World countries… Long live the friendship between the peoples of the whole world!

Among the great records made by the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez come first, before L’Inter Communal, Vol. 4, Le Musichien, and Après la marée noire (four titles already reissued by Souffle Continu). François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre and Jo Maka on saxophones, Adolf Winkler on trombone, and Guem on percussion) performed on January 25 and 26, 1974 at the Moulin de Prades-le-Lez, a few kilometers from Montpellier. It was thus in the southern region of Occitanie that the first echoes of this musical vision of a borderless brotherhood were recorded.

“We’re not among the Colonels,” the Intercommunal reassures us right away, performing a stride piano tune carried by African winds that the audience cannot resist for long. The energy is already striking and it never lets up throughout these two recordings, from start to finish: jazz, blues, traditional music, minimalism, even funk… The musicians of the Intercommunal have heard a lot of great music and now delight in reinventing it by mixing it all together.

“We want the song form to take its place as a weapon in the struggle against capitalist exploitation and all those who oppress us morally and materially,” declared an Intercommunal leaflet, quoting Jean-Baptiste Clément, author of the lyrics to “Le Temps des cerises.” The struggle was therefore serious—but it did not prevent François Tusques and his group from waging it in a festive spirit: each piece on Concert at Prades-le- Lez sends out a call for love and fraternity. Fifty years later, the message remains as relevant as ever—and once again, it is François Tusques who makes it heard.

Seriously sought after, classic rare groove 2 stepper from Maxi, ‘Lover To Lover’ gets its first ever official reissue on vinyl with this also being the first 7 inch pressing of this oasis of joy, courtesy of South Street Soul.

Previously only ever available on Maxi’s self-titled 1977 LP, released on Blue Note. With originals of the album selling for over £160+, South Street give these glorious grooves space to breathe with a 7 inch reissue of two choice cuts. Soaring vocals, top drawer production, sumptuous instrumentation, with a string section to melt any heart out there – all arranged to perfection. The sort of track that will sweep you off your feet before you even know what’s hit you. Famously sampled by Tom & Jerry aka 4 Hero for their ridiculously rare Jungle anthem ‘Maximum Style’.

To complete the package, another hand-picked hit from Maxi’s one and only LP with a cover of the Van McCoy penned soulful serenity ‘Walk Softly’.

Pastime Paradise, first released by Stevie Wonder in 1976 got a new lease of life when sampled by Coolio on his Grammy Award winning Gangsta’s Paradise. It has also over the years been covered by Patti Smith as well as our fave version, courtesy of Latin percussionist Ray Barretto. First released on CTI in 1981, to this day it remains a staple for both the jazz and soul rooms. Never before released on a 12 inch, Major Keys continue their fine form with this extended floor filler that will appeal to DJ’s and collectors alike. It also flips it with La Cuna and Mambotango taken from the same 1981 LP. This is a special EP and one that you will want for your collection.