Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

The New Album From Forward-Thinking Jazz Quartet Led By Bassist Henrik Jensen. Double Bass player and composer Henrik Jensen will release his third album Affinity in March, a collection of incendiary tracks performed by his quartet Followed By Thirteen. Their 2016 album Blackwater received a wide range of complimentary accolades from The Guardian, Evening Standard, London Jazz News and various
other influential critics. Affinity is a whole new proposition, generating an emphatic, melodic sound and lyrical flow in celebration of the Double Bass. Building on the work done by other great bass band leaders like Dave Holland, Charles Mingus and Drew Gress.

Followed By Thirteen is an ensemble of musicians at the top of their game and who deeply respect each others individual merits and sensitively represent each part. They create a disci-plined, measured structure around which Simmons, Tjalve, Ibbetson and Jensen all take turns interpreting the theme of the song. The result is a measured, evening jazz album that has an international feel. Tracks like Chaoyang Park and Darvin transport the listener from a jazz club in Chicago to the reaches of the Far East within minutes. Historically, Followed by Thirteen is a band lead by their heart - their first album Qualia was dedicated to Jensen’s mother who died in the years leading up to the recording.

"Affinity" is no different, the whole album is an earnest celebration of his aunt Jyta Peterson who passed away recently. Within the album Four for a Boy is dedicated to his new-born son with Gentle Giant a dedication to his late friend and esteemed pianist Paolo Losi. Artwork for their new album is created by the talented fine artist Aur lie Freoua, created live during a solo bass performance at the Vortex Jazz Club in September 2019. The resulting piece and methodology has obvious parallels with the work of Wassily Kandinsky and the Bauhaus Movement.

Marcos Valle's incredible 1963 debut, Samba ''Demais'', established him as one of the premier performers and composers in the emerging Brazilian popular music landscape. Barely out of his Rio high school, where classmates included fellow Brazilian musical legends Edu Lobo and Dori Caymmi, Valle caught the eye of label executives and had a debut record out before his 20th birthday. Though he would later go on to be a massive superstar across his native country and a cult figure throughout the rest of the world, these humble beginning show Valle already had a complete mastery of the samba songwriting form and was already a brilliant performer. An essential Brazilian title on 180 gram vinyl with 1 bonus track from Cornbread.

Bernabe Jurado is the third release from Monocled Man, the brainchild of trumpet player/producer Rory Simmons – featuring guitarist Chris Montague and drummer Jon Scott. This EP glues together the atmosphere of Massive Attack inspired dub and Fourtet influenced ambience – with freewheeling improv amongst the trio itself. Four tracks of delay drenched trumpet, choppy guitar lines, chewed up drum patterns and brooding production unfold around melodies penned by Simmons.

Multi-instrumentalist producer Emma-Jean Thackray presents the ‘Rain Dance’ EP, launching her new label Movementt - cuts to nourish the body, the mind and the soul. As a musician, composer, singer, bandleader and DJ, Emma is just as at home working with the
London Symphony Orchestra as she is hosting her show on Worldwide FM. A former RBMA alumna, co-signed by Gilles Peterson and previously worked with Makaya McCraven. Across the whole record, the music was created through a variety of ways that Emma likes to work; directing her band live, sampling herself to create
new worlds and producing solo as a self-contained one-woman band.
Recent solo release ‘Ley Lines’ on The Vinyl Factory follows Emma-Jean’s acclaimed ‘Walrus’ EP and maintains her trajectory as one of the most talented young musicians whose ambitions go far beyond narrow genre tags. 180g vinyl in printed inners and CMYK sleeve with
3mm spine.

Strata-Gemma's eponymous debut album is set to provide a soundtrack to 2018.

The trio hail from Modena, the Northern Italian motor city. As with the Ferrari and Maserati cars that are designed and manufactured in Modena, Strata-Gemma produce a music of beautiful symmetry.

Strata-Gemma create jazz for the head, the heart and the body. Their sound is shaped by the ambient adventures Miles Davis and Ron Carter engaged in alongside the electronic pulse Mo' Wax and Ninja Tune carved out of clubland. Add to this a touch of Nino Rota's Fellini film scores, employ a pinch of Balkan and klezmer brass arrangements, and you have an instrumental trio who create music so fresh it stimulates the senses.

Strata-Gemma are a collaboration between Billy Bogus, Luca Cacciatore and Andrea Moretti. The trio first took shape as a club jam between DJs and musicians. Their ability to create atmospheric music, pulsing with rhythm but never solely reliant on beats, music that breaks free and explores sonic possibilities, quickly won notice and lead to the trio playing their freeform music in clubs, music venues and festivals across Italy.

Strata-Gemma consist of producer Niccolò Bruni (aka Billy Bogus), horns player Luca Cacciatore, double bassist Andrea Moretti. Bruni is a DJ, producer and founder of Pizzico Records. Over the past two decades he has striven to mix jazz, beats, soundtracks and funk. Coming together with Luca and Andrea allowed Bruni to explore a vision of post-club jazz that is as rich as Modena's food and as elegant as Modena's cars. Strata-Gemma create a sensual sonic storm, music to be savoured and explored, the opposite of much of today's fast-food music.

Lorenzo Bandiera, the London-based Italian founder of Fly By Night Music, heard a Strata-Gemma demo via friends and was immediately impressed. "I thought 'this is great!", he says. "Music as strong as this can't be ignored. I'm excited about releasing Strata-Gemma."

We Jazz Records presents "Lonna 2019", a nautical live album bringing together recordings captured at the successful concert series at the island of Lonna just outside Helsinki in July 2019. This is part 3 of the ongoing "We Jazz Live Plates" series documenting the label's live activity, "Lonna 2019" features inspired performances by Aleksi Heinola Quintet, Antti Lötjönen Quintet East and Oaagaada. Drummer Heinola's quintet and the Hämeenlinna-based quartet Oaagaada make their We Jazz Records debut with this release, while Lötjönen is releasing his debut as a leader on the label in April.

"Lonna 2019" captures the easy-going feeling at the island series fittingly. Aleksi Heinola Quintet swings with their natural ability of making no-nonsense hard bop sound fresh in the contemporary setting. Antti Lötjönen leads his star-studded Quintet East through a high-spirited rendition of Don Cherry's "Art Deco". Oaagaada charm with their deep DIY spiritual jazz. And somewhere just above the music, a seagull screeches, echoing a perfect sunny day at Lonna.

"Lonna 2019" released together with "Ateneum 2019", We Jazz Live Plates vol. 2, is an inspiring example of the active and high quality jazz scene in Helsinki.

Beautiful private spiritual jazz LP "Deep Stream" released in 1979 on Evidence Music International.

After more than two years of hard work, the Tramp Records crew invites you to join them on yet another enlightening journey into soulful Jazz, Folk and Funk from the 1970s.

Very few compilation series' release as many as seven volumes and those that get that far often start to run out of quality music or meander too far from their original artistic direction. That certainly is not the case with the "Praise Poems" series which leaps from strength-to-strength as our team of compilers and researchers continue to unearth lost and often overlooked music from an era long gone. Many of these records were released in small quantities as private pressings or by small regional labels. Obviously, those labels neither had the budget, expertise, nor options to promote their releases in a sweeping way. Therefore the majority of these artists failed to find the wider audience their music so richly deserved.

This 7th volume contains seventeen Soul, Folk and Jazz nuggets from between the late 1960's and the early 1980's. One of the many highlights is the opening track by Marva Josie which is most likely one of the finest vocal jazz recordings ever put on wax. Bill Comstock delivers an inimitable example of uncategorizable Jazz-meets-Soul-meets-Folk. Promotion Soul Concern was a group originally from a small town close to Bonn, the former capital of Germany. Their version of "Summertime" stands out among the myriad of cover version of this all-time classic. Another jewel which we are extremely proud to present is "So Far Down" by James Kelly Duhon - absolutely marvelous! Shalynn and The New Hope Project deliver an offering of beautiful folk music with a psychedelic touch not to be missed. These are just 6 out of the 17 tracks which are now meant to be discovered by you!

Hopefully, this will be the case with the little-known and vastly underrated singles, B-Sides and album tracks that are featured on "Praise Poems 7 - A journey into soulful jazz and funk from the 1970s" which is stuffed full of hidden gems. Some say it is one of the best installments in the series thus far. While we certainly approve that statement, we also give thanks to the wonderful artists who made their praises into poems to bless our ears and souls today.

Helsinki's We Jazz Records presents "Ateneum 2019", part 2 of their ongoing "We Jazz Live Plates" series documenting the label's live activity. Recorded at the historic Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki during spring 2019, the intense live compilation brings together three acts on the label's roster: Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen, OK:KO and Alder Ego, each performing two tracks here.

OK:KO opens proceedings with their sound electrified by Toomas Keski-Säntti changing from piano to Fender rhodes, a little touch that opens up new avenues in their sound. The band who made a big splash with their 2019 debut album "Syrtti", present energetic new versions of the title track and the looping "Piik". Alder Ego, led by drummer Joonas Leppänen, shifts gears with a new deep version of their 2018 album track "Cubism", and add a new track "Mystery Room Nr. 6" into the mix. Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen strecth out their compact tracks "Fallow" and "Goldenrod", which grow into new lenght and depth in the live setting.

"Ateneum 2019" released together with "Lonna 2019", We Jazz Live Plates vol. 3, is an inspiring example of the active and high quality jazz scene in Helsinki.

This 2xLP bundle brings together Volumes 2 & 3 of the We Jazz Live Plates series: "Ateneum 2019" & "Lonna 2019". Features performances captured at We Jazz event series at the Ateneum Art Msueum (spring 2019) and Lonna island (summer 2019) in Helsinki, Finland. Bands featured include Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen, Antti Lötjönen Quintet East, OK:KO, Alder Ego, Aleksi Heinola Quintet and Oaagaada.

The 2xLP includes both volumes in their original sleeves, kept together with a "Japanese-style" re-sealable inner sleeve.







[g] 7 Art Deco (Live at Lonna 10.7.19) [feat. Verneri Pohjola, Mikko Innanen, Jussi Kannaste & Joonas Riippa] Antti Lötjönen

The Roundtable & Northside Records are pleased to offer this long awaited and special Record Store Day reissue of this highly collectible Australian rare groove LP.
If you can imagine the gathering of a group of Australian session musicians channelling the sounds of Herbie Hancock Headhunter's and Marc Moulin's Placebo, recording an album out of hours at a TV studio and then releasing a privately pressed hard hitting jazz funk record then what you have is Arena, one of Australia's most revered and scarce rare groove records.
This was the name given to a pick-up group of session players led by Ted White, a veteran of the British big band jazz scene (an associate of Ted Heath and Basil Kirchin) who had immigrated to Australia in the 1960s to work in the burgeoning television industry. This one-time studio project (recorded only to test out the facilities for a new studio) barely yet thankfully saw an LP release in 1975. Pressed in minute quantities only with limited distribution, the album was subsequently forgotten and obscured by time, only to be resurrected in the 90s by DJs and collectors seeking out lost and rare records.
The album has since become one of the country's most celebrated and collectible jazz funk recordings and has proved to be a pivotal point in Australian jazz, marking a shift from the modern jazz and R&B sounds of the previous decades to the cross pollinating electric jazz funk of the 70s. Characterized by the heavy use of electronically treated saxophone, psychedelic guitar, Moog and spacey Fender Rhodes, the album is a classic of the genre.
While acknowledging the often compiled and sampled breaks track, The Long One, the complete album offers much more, exemplified by its complicated and obsessive jazz rhythms, abstract and middle-eastern horn lines and pulsing electric funk.

Only those who read all the credits on record liner notes will know the full details: Areski is of course Brigitte Fontaine's partner in life, but also her creative alter ego, and the composer of the music of most of her songs. Even though it was his wife Brigitte and not him who wrote the lyrics, Areski is a poet in his own right. Furthermore, he is polyvalent: composing, arranging, singing, improvising, playing every possible instrument and even acting! Areski, to sum up, is the perfect mix of the tradition of Munir Bashir with the European sophistication' of someone like Jean-Claude Vannier, one foot permanently in Versailles (where he was born) and the maghreb. Areski, is left bank French songs without the stylistic effects, revised and updated through contact with arab-andalusian music. He is a Living Theatre style happening with a dose of cosmic free jazz, surrealist poetry viewed through the prism of Kabyle culture... All that and a lot more!

Areski honed his talent observing the stars of traditional chaâbi, testing it out in bars and dives before meeting, during military service, the singer Jacques Higelin with whom he would record his first cult album, and who would present him to his wife-to-be, Brigitte Fontaine. Between 1969 and 1980, with her, Areski would contribute an essential chapter to French underground music including classics such as Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago), Je ne connais pas cet homme, L'Incendie, Le Bonheur and Vous et nous. For all that, Areski has never really tried to have a career under his own name, in spite of the wonderful Un Beau matin first published in 1970, and which it is high time to de (re)discover (better late than never). Those already in the know will not be surprised to see, especially, Jean-Charles Capon, author of the inspired L'Univers-solitude, Brigitte Fontaine of course, or Daniel Vallancien, author of a no-less inspired duo with saxophonist Philippe Maté. All contributing to an acerbic poetic universe, concerned but never militant, and open to worldwide influences long before they became a fashion.

Inspired, poetic, in a word essential: Un Beau Matin is one of the best albums of the French underground produced by Pierre Barouh on his label Saravah, alongside those by Maurice Lemaître, Catharsis, Claude Yvans, Mahjun, Barney Wilen, Cohelmec Ensemble et Michel Roques.

The first reissue of the famous and long-awaited "Medley Maxi 45" by Cortex. Originally released in 1979, this Medley is the perfect tool for DJs (Already played by MCDE at We Love Green Festival as the Final track…). On B side the “Mary & Jeff (Fender Rhodes Version 77)” was released in 2010 on a very limited 7inch (TV003).

Never republished! Remastered from original tape by Trad Vibe records.

Vinyl records were made in two versions - black and super limited (100 copies) blue one. Both are 180g.

Immortal Onion are an instrumental band from Gdańsk, PL. The group consists of Ziemowit Klimek (upright bass/bass guitar/moog), Tomir Śpiołek (keyboards) and Wojtek Warmijak (drums).

The band was formed in 2016. Having won the "Jazz phonographic debut" competition, the group released their first album ("Ocelot of Salvation") in July 2017. Since then, they have performed in 11 countries at numerous international festivals and venues. In 2019, the trio recorded and self-released their live album from Sopot.

In the beginning of this year, the group signed to "U Know Me Records" and released their second studio album called "XD Experience Design" in March 2020.

Immortal Onion offers a bold combination of many seemingly remote styles - jazz, minimalism as well as fusion, electronic music and even progressive metal.

Classic 1961 hard-bop album by the alto sax great. McLean’s fifth Blue Note LP. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio on 26th October 1961. Featuring Tommy Turrentine (trumpet), Sonny Clark (piano), Butch Warren (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums). Showcasing fine McLean originals (the title track and ‘Subdued’), the only Thelonious Monk/Sonny Clark collaboration (‘Five Will Get You Ten’), plus Clark’s ‘Sundu’, Turrentine’s ‘Enitnerrut’ and Warren’s ‘Lost’. Includes session photography by Francis Wolff and liner notes by legendary jazz writer Ira Gitler.

“In Chicago there weren’t a lot of dance clubs or places youth could go to enjoy the nightlife, meet girls OR boys, and get loose on the dancefloor... so there became a strong revival of the “house party”. Where one person would get a sound system & DJ, red or black lights, few beers or bottles of liquor, and throw a party in the basement of their own (or relatives) house. You would invite your close friends and all the cool people in your neighborhood, and the later into the night it got... the more packed it would get. The music they played at these became known as “House Music!”

Now Chicago has always been rough and these parties happened on the South or West sides of the city, so you couldn’t just rock up on your own and you couldn’t necessarily just walk into an outside neighborhood’s house party to jam. You would go to the House Party with a your whole crew, it eventually turned into a community showcase of all the different factions in the local area, but here you didn’t compete with fists or weapons, at the house party your crew represented on the dancefloor. Each different crew had dance routines plus call & response phrases they would sound out during the best jams to the beat (one would say something fly and his crew would repeat it, or respond and it also had to be clever, catch everyones attention). This would “turn the party up” and get everyone going, and soon became as much a part of House music as the beats and melodies that everyone loved to hear.

“In the House” is Hypnotic’s ode to that era, our band’s attempt to explore the original principles of that style of music. We wanted to present it with our own Brass twist but definitely going back to the root of what it is the music was meant to display. HBE prides ourselves on being musical historians and enjoying the ability to explore ALL styles of music in our stage performances and albums. We touched on this with song “Lets Get the Party Started” from our 2009 self-titled album. On this track we just took it a bit further, and gave the people something for dancefloor that they can bump in all elements of their life. Its always good when you can have fun while you work, and this track is one thats just as fun to play for us as it is for people to listen to. Also gives audiences a sneak peak into the Hypnotic Brass live concert and energy (right on wax), so it was natural to lead with this one as a single.”

Two classics from the vibes master, Mr. Roy Ayers. “Searching” is an all-time anthem in the soul and rare groove world. Original 7’ for Searching sell for £100+. One sweet love, has never been released as a 7” before. Perfect first time cut!

This collection of ground-breaking instrumentals captures a moment of musical alchemy. Stylistic edges become blurred with by-turns into jazz, gospel, soul, funk and dance. A new genre – gospel jazz – was created in their wake. The son of a minister father and a missionary mother, Tankard grew up playing drums in his local church. Numerous offers of scholarships to music college came his way but his height and youthful speed determined the choice of a scholarship in basketball. Turning pro, he was drafted with NBA team Portland Trailblazers before a knee injury cut his career short and led to a period of homelessness: “I could not pay my rent so for a short time I was living in my car and sleeping on friend’s sofas.”

A church visit proved life-changing: “I heard of a revival service that was going on. I was nearly starving with no job or income so I went only for the free meal. Afterwards the preacher called me up and told me to sit down at the keyboard. I was hesitant but after all I did not have anything to lose. When my hands touched the keys I began to play like George Duke! No lessons - just instant awareness. That is where ‘gospel jazz’ was born. Since it was jazzy in nature, yet inspired in the church, I decided to call it ‘gospel jazz’.”

Tankard got a job at a local music store where he spent the next few years honing his craft before he began recording his own music. “I programmed all the instruments myself on a keyboard so I called it All Keyed Up.”
Curator Pol Valls found the record while digging and was struck by its genre-defying creativity: “the track which stood out the most for me was Eden Celebration which has the feel of early dance music. I also loved Melodic Heaven and the title track All Keyed Up. That track was really short though so we decided to make a remix of it.

If Eden Celebration, with its highly rhythmic cross-breed of jazz fusion and electro shows Tankard at his most creative, then All Keyed Up - a stellar exercise in funk-laced jazz fusion replete with Don Blackman-esque piano runs - demonstrates his prowess on the keys. On Melodic Heaven lo-fi synths and boogie-fied bass synths combine with his elegant and soulful piano. The remix of the title track expands the short-but-sweet piano-based vignette into a Balearic anthem replete with extra drums, synths and guitar.

Released in 1989, Tankard’s All Keyed Up album kick-started a hugely successful recording career. Nowadays he’s also known as a motivational speaker, author, trained pilot (famously flying to shows in his own planes) and as the star of his own reality TV show. This collection chronicles the magic that happened at the beginning of his career, its inspired melding of styles sounding as fresh today as when they were first put to tape in his home studio.

The music would make the perfect fit in movies like the recently released Dolomite revamp, and the now cult classic Black Dynamite. But it doesn't fit into a blaxploitation soundtrack style box alone. You could imagine iconic rappers like Ghostface or Black Thought using
these soundscapes. ‘3’ would even fit comfortably next to classic KPM or De Wolfe library releases from the mid 70’s, just as well as current indie trio, Khruangbin. A heavy drum break intro and trippy wah-wah guitar licks accompany cinematic strings and stirring horns on ‘Finnish Funk,’ followed by the killer sleazy bass and fuzz guitar of ‘Breezy Day’, two standout cuts both included on previously released 45’s by KU that swiftly sold out. Contributing to the scene of classically-tinged soul and funk beats with contemporary class,
MI3 display a smooth burst of colourful moody grooves with lush Rhodes keys and soulful head-nod breaks. With stellar musicianship throughout, the band present top shelf tunes for the crate digging
Dj and discerning music collector alike. Formed just shy of a decade ago, the group shows skills far beyond their years together.

Based on the idea of transferring the sound language of Ambient, Minimal Music and Avant-Pop into an orchestral format, Leipzig-based pianist, composer and sound designer Philipp Rumsch founded his own ensemble in 2015. This ensemble consists of twelve artists from Leipzig, Berlin, Dresden and Weimar. Besides the ensemble, they all work in various musical contexts and environments.

Between 2013 and 2020 Philipp Rumsch has studied jazz piano under the aegis of Michael Wollny and Richie Beirach at the Academy of Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig. In 2016 and 2017 he has refined his sound design and composition capabilities at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen with, among others Niels-Lyhne Løkkegard and August Rosenbaum.

After his last LP reflections (2018), Philipp Rumsch deals on his third Denovali release µ: of anxiety x discernment with the subject of anxiety. Based on his own researches, observations and interviews he made, Rumsch develops a multi-dimensional picture of this complex emotional state. Individual experience dissolves in order to explore a collective perception of this phenomena.

On µ: of anxiety x discernment Philipp Rumsch for the first time uses his self-written texts, but implements also writings by other people, who especially wrote them for the new album. The music of the suite, which consists of two mirror-inverted pieces, adopts different shapes. These shapes range between songs, complex compositions and conceptual improvisation.

For the recording of µ: of anxiety x discernment, Rumsch extended his ensemble by numerous guest artists. The sessions took place at the prestigious Jazzanova Recording Studios in Berlin. In order to achieve an extraordinary listening experience, specialized artificial heads were used to record in binaural stereo. The artwork again has been created in cooperation with Berlin-based Designer Andi Rueckel.

µ: of anxiety x discernment was mastered by Valgeir Sigurðsson (collaborations with Björk, Sigur Ros, Ben Frost, Nico Muhly, Hildur Guðnadóttir et al.) who already was part of the production process of Philipp Rumsch’s Solo-EP A Forward-Facing Review.

A very welcome reissue of one of the highly regarded pieces of music by the great pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. The concept behind "Black Christ of the Andes" is about the ideal meeting between Jazz and Spiritual. From the dark, smokey atmospheres of the Devil's music to the luminous sound of the African American Church. A very enjoyable record made up of different materials like "Jump Blues" numbers, a cappella choral pieces and some striking piano trio cuts. All arranged and conducted by the great Melba Liston and featuring performances of Jazz luminaries such as Milt Hinton, Grant Green, Percy Heath, and Mary Lou Williams herself.

Gil Scott-Heron was one of the foremost singer-songwriters of his generation. A committed
civil rights activist that also wrote a couple of unusual novels exploring negative elements of
the black experience and the punitive societal attitude against black people in the United
States, Scott-Heron recorded an exceptional body of work during the 1970s and 80s, and
although longstanding issues with drug addiction resulted in repeated bouts of imprisonment
and an ultimately shortened lifespan, he continued to produce noteworthy material into the
new millennium. Anyone that had the pleasure of seeing Scott-Heron and His Amnesia
Express band during the mid-1980s is unlikely to forget it; percussionist Larry McDonald,
drummer Rodney Young, saxophonist Ron Holloway and backing vocalist/keyboardist Kim
Jordan provide a full yet uncluttered backdrop to the man and his piano, as evidenced by
these stunning excerpts from the summer 1986 tour, with “Winter In America,”
“Johannesburg,” “Blue Collar” and “Shut ‘Em Down” being among the standouts.

Getting stuck into the new year with a fresh, contemporary jazz attitude, Rocafort Records are proud to present the Kumadé EP from exciting Swiss-French quartet KUMA, led by keyboardist Matthieu Llodra and saxophonist Arthur Donnot.

Confidence, rhythmicality and solidity are the first impressions that hit you from this tight outfit of young but highly experienced musicians. After nine years of holding down a 10-night residency at the prestigious Cully Jazz Festival, Llodra and Donnot have honed down their skills in front of a live audience making tension, pacing and release their speciality in compositional strategy. Grooves and moods are created with just the right amount of rise and fall, push and pull, melodic catches and improvisational wanderings.

The EP is well balanced out with two spaciously laconic, ethereal tracks - Alfama and The Core - that could easily belong on some ECM-inspired soundscape, juxtaposed with Kumadé and I.G.A.T.F. that pack a fuller punch, fat and chunky in all the right places, hinting at a 1970s style George Duke at his funky-fusion best.

Despite a whiff of nostalgic reference, rest assured that the KUMA timbre is fresh and exploratory, as innovative and curious as any protagonist from the current UK jazz explosion. Keep an ear out for these young Jedi masters, all of them at the top of their game. More assured, impressive releases are due out this year.

Matthieu Llodra – Fender Rhodes

Arthur Donnot – Sax

Fabien Iannone - Bass

Maxence Sibille – Drums

Zacharie Ksyk – Trumpet (guest on Kumadé").

Scottish trumpeter Malcolm Strachan is a founder member of top UK funk/jazz-funk band The Haggis Horns as well as being one of the busiest session musicians in the UK today. In a professional career spanning 20 years, he's recorded with the likes of Mark Ronson, Amy WineHouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Jesse Glynne, The Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band, Black Honey, The New Mastersounds and Blue Note saxophone legend Lou Donaldson. Now he's finally releasing his first solo album, aptly titled "About Time", on Haggis Records and he's going back to his original roots... Jazz.

The album is a collection of original compositions, all written and arranged by Malcolm, which are firmly rooted in the classic acoustic modern jazz style typified by the great 60's and 70's recordings on the legendary Blue Note Records label. A nice variation of themes and tempos feature throughout the album. From full-on latin vibes to beautiful ballads, soul jazz grooves to cinematic soundtrack flavours, all woven together by a great group of experienced musicians.

Malcolm's core quartet is himself on trumpet/flugelhorn, fellow Haggis Horns members George Cooper (piano) and Erroll Rollins (drums), plus Courtny Tomas on double bass. Featured guests are Atholl Ransome on tenor sax (The Haggis Horns), Rob Mitchell on baritone sax (Abstract Orchestra) and Danny Barley on Trombone. Strings are courtesy of Richard Curran and the percussionist is one of the finest session players in Europe, Karl Vanden Bossche (Incognito, Robert Palmer, Joss Stone, The Gorillaz, Sade, Blur - He and Malcolm met while touring with Mark Ronson)

Malcolm's love of jazz comes from his parents. Aged 7, his jazz musician father gave him a trumpet. From then on, jazz was his life. His musical education came via music teachers, youth jazz orchestras and jazz summer schools but mostly from his dad's record collection listening to Art Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie records and learning to improvise and solo by ear. At 18, he enrolled at Leeds College of Music and quickly immersed himself in the city's vibrant acid jazz, funk and soul scene and from making his recording debut in 1999 with The New Mastersounds, jazz was his musical passion but took a back seat to funk/soul/pop which were the day job. Until now.

Jazz is back. The wait is over. It really is "About Time" for Malcolm Strachan.

Christophe Chassol is reshuffling the deck. After making his name worldwide with three magnificent ultrascore compositions (Nola Che?rie in 2011, Indiamore in 2013 and Big Sun in 2015), working with Solange and Frank Ocean, and playing the most prestigious halls, he's taking his quest to arrange reality even further with Ludi, his new project that includes an album, film and show. It's play - an all-important word in music - that underscores this impressive, masterful construction freely inspired by Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game. Everything is part of the melody: a playground or basketball players in the suburbs, an arcade in Tokyo, a roller coaster, singer Crystal Kay and rapper Kohh. Solo musicians were filmed in rehearsal, like flautist Jocelyn Mienniel and the composer's partner, drummer Mathieu Edward, who managed to reprise on stage

Chassol drew from the great German author's utopic book, where music, mathematics, aesthetics and spirituality intermingle, to create a passionate work produced by Bertrand Burgalat's label Tricatel that once again justifies his special place in the musical landscape.

With Ludi, Chassol directs his own round of Hermann Hesse's game, taking on the title of Magister Ludi, master of The Glass Bead Game. With this double album, Chassol realises his ambition: to compose unprecedented music that fills us with joy and prompts reflection.

GoGo Penguin present Ocean in a Drop (music for film), a 5 track EP drawing from music originally written for their original live score to Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi. Expect music that moves from fragile beauty to powerful themes that offer both a stand-alone snapshot of the trio’s world and echoes of the images that inspired the music.

More Trouble is a collection of bonus tracks and alternate takes from Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man sessions taken from the Trouble Man: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition. These track will be on vinyl for the first time.

“Live In Europe Vol.1” is the second Altsax production. These live recordings capture a series of the artist and his quartet’s performances throughout Europe in 1975. These gigs reflect Howard’s peculiar musical identity on the Free Jazz scene of that era. An uncanny and heavy atmosphere unifies the different compositions which are constructed with improvisations on disturbing repetitions.

Noah Howard(as),Takashi Kako (p), Kent Carter (b), Muhammad Ali (dr), Oliver Johnson (dr)

45 years after its original release, Sconsolato is proud to annonce an official reissue of “Live In Europe Vol.1” limited to 300 remastered vinyl copies.

Thundercat drops his new album ‘It Is What It Is’ on Brainfeeder
Records.
 The record, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features
musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B,
Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington,
BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox.
 A unique voice transcending style and genre: “This album is about
love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,” says
Thundercat.
 Thundercat has previously worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar,
Pharrell, N.E.R.D., Erykah Badu, Childish Gambino, Mac Miller,
Anderson .Paak, Little Simz, BADBADNOTGOOD, Moses Sumney,
Kamasi Washington and many more.
 For fans of Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Flying Lotus, Kamasi
Washington, BADBADNOTGOOD.
 Album photography by Eddie Alcazar.
 CD in softpack.
 Deluxe 140g picture disc LP housed in a 6mm spined gatefold sleeve
with gold foil detail and OBI strip. Includes digital download code.
 Deluxe 140g pink clear vinyl LP housed in a 6mm spined gatefold
sleeve with gold foil detail and OBI strip. Includes digital download
code.
 Red 140g vinyl LP housed in a 3mm spined sleeve with OBI strip.
Includes digital download code.
 Thundercat will play his biggest UK shows to date in April.

Das dritte Web Web Album „Worshippers“ ist das reichste und vielleicht beste Web Web Album bisher. Es zeugt von Reife, und ist die logische Fortsetzung der beiden Vorgänger. In gewisser Weise ist es auf Web Webs Reise durch Afro- und Spiritual Jazz - ein Konzeptalbum.

„Worshippers“: Die Anbeter, die Verehrer. Web Web verehrt und verneigt sich vor den Großen des Jazz, und ihrer spirituellen Musik. Ganz im Zeichen des Namens entstand nach und nach tiefgründige Musik, mit Leidenschaft und einer Vision.

Es entstanden Stücke wie „The Upper“, „Paranormal Question“ oder der Mehrteiler „Free A.M.“, die allesamt komplexere Strukturen, vielschichtigere Formen und Arrangements aufweisen als die beiden Vorgänger-Alben „Oracle“ und „Dance Of The Demons“.

Einhergehend mit der Suche nach neuen Klängen und neuen Klangwelten entstand der Wunsch nach einem erweiterten Klangkörper, der über das herkömmliche Instrumentarium von WEB WEB hinausgeht:
Hinzu kam ein Musiker, mit dem man die komplexen Arrangements und die prägnanten, mantrischen Rhythmen umsetzen konnte: der Geiger und Bratschist Stefan Pintev. Der gebürtige Bulgare, der bereits mit Legenden wie Ray Charles oder Astrud Gilberto spielte, konnte mit seinem dunklen Timbre auf seiner Geige der Musik eine zusätzliche Tiefe und eine mystische Farbe geben. In Stücken wie „Mystic Flowers“ oder „Inner Revolution“ entfacht sich auf brillante Art sein gesamtes Klangspektrum, ebenso sein erzählerisches und mehrschichtiges Spiel.

Inmitten des Produktionsprozesses dieses Albums entstand die Idee, die wunderbare Stimme von Joy Denalane mit in die Musik einfließen zu lassen, da Denalane und Di Gioia zeitgleich auch an ihrem Soloalbum arbeiteten. Infiziert von den neuen Web Web-Klängen wollte Joy Denalane ein Teil dieses Albums werden.

Joy Denalane performed auf dem Album meist nicht so, wie man es von ihr kennt, sprich: in Song-Formen und Song-Strukturen, sondern sie singt vielmehr in freier, improvisatorischer Manier, setzt ihre Stimme als Instrument ein, geht in einen Dialog mit Tony Lakatos wundersamen Improvisationen (wie in „What You Give“), oder experimentiert mit befremdlich wirkenden (und verfremdeten) Gesangstiraden bei „Free A.M. (Part 1), die ihre sensationelle Improvisationskunst - ähnlich der frühen Dee Dee Bridgewater - zeigt.

"A Western Circular" is Will Archer’s debut under his new nom-de-plume, following early EP's- and an Album under the now-retired Slime moniker. Within ‘A Western Circular’ lies an exciting- and varied crew of guest artists including MF DOOM,Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands), Sudan Archives & Laura Groves, all contributing vocals to his rich, dexterous compositions!

An Album that’s been in the works for the past half-decade, ‘A Western Circular’ is a bold, reflective piece that directly relates to Archer’s personal experiences of life and death, centred on one particular week where they breathed with equal intensity. Ostensibly, it’s a poignant reflection on the duality of the human condition.