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Part of the next wave in the thriving Afro-Latin alternative scene of greater Los Angeles & The Inland Empire, El Santo Golpe's debut release on Names You Can Trust leaves its mark with a very personal fusion of Central American & Caribbean folkloric traditions. This influence of different styles & cultures across the divergent regions is on full display, from the time honored rhythms and percussion of Garifuna music, to those lovingly reconizable lead elements such as the acordeón in cumbia (as heard in La Cosecha) or the jarana in son jorocho (as heard in El Camotal). It is through this uniquely American, and more specifically, Californian experience, that this group of peers has been able to come together to form a new set of multi-cultural roots and attitudes. The result of this two-sided debut is a fusion of raw percussion, unbridled energy & live performance. Two heavy sides to be celebrated within the dance.

Letherette start the year off continuing their Brown Lounge series with Brown Lounge vol.4. A collection of new beats from the letherette bunker.

"Moon In Libra" is the fifth album by Stefano Tirone aka S-Tone Inc, it follows the same artistic path of the previous ones with a renewed passion for the Brazilian sonorities from the sixties, and is influenced by the soul jazz atmospheres connected to noir movies. Many are the special guests here: the singers Laura Fedele, Angie Brown and Manuela Ravaglioli on one side, the Brazilian Toco and Adi Souza on another, plus the well-known Rosalia De Souza and Kal dos Santos (from the band Mitoka Samba)!

During three long years Soulstance have gathered a lot of material to focus on and developed new compositions that express different angles of the same perspective towards what is today generally referred as 'nu-jazz'. Some moments are spiritual and modal, others are emotional in dreamy atmospheres. The musicians dialogue between latin jazz harmonies and dance-floor percussive grooves. In a great crescendo the listeners are engaged in the great parade of sounds presented by Soulstance with skilful care and great artistic sensitivity.

'100% DOLCE VITA: SPACE AGE * COCKTAIL * MOD JAZZ * POP CORN * TIKI' - First volume in this cool lounge/exotica series. All tracks transferred from the original vinyl.

When Imarhan released their self-titled debut album in 2016, they stepped into a genre already flooded with talent and exposure, but still managed to rise to the top and be heralded as the new wave Of Tuareg music . It is with much anticipation that the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria have announced the details of their second album Temet, due out February 26 on City Slang.

Temet is a huge leap forward in production, as well as creatively for Imarhan. Whereas their debut was anchored in the meditative Desert Blues tradition, Temet eclipses such notions, finding bounce and drive by stirring their sound with funk, fuzz, disco and rock. This is not a novel concept to the band, as anyone who has seen them play will attest. Imarhan's experience as a touring band has reinforced the focus and meaning behind their music.

With Temet, Imarhan have firmly established themselves as a band to reckon with. Rather than being distracted by meddling around with big producers or famous guests, they've focused this release on their inherent strength of songwriting, using the eternal bonds in their community, families and friendships as a blueprint not only for an amazing standalone album, but as a reference for generations to come. We hope that Imarhan will allow the younger generation to become aware of the fundamental importance of friendship. As long as someone is by your side supporting you, asking for your friendship, what more could you want out of life You will want for nothing.'

Returning to Berlin for the third installment of their acclaimed live-score performance to accompany silent film classic Menschen am Sonntag' (1930), múm will also present a special treat during the upcoming Berlinale: The band's label Morr Music will release a limited edition vinyl 10inch comprising of material that was recorded during previous installments of this extraordinary film/music event. Initiated by curators Ben Czernek and Hannes Frey for their genre-defying UM:LAUT live series at Radialsystem V in Berlin, the members of what's possibly the most original band hailing from Iceland' (ByteFM) gained universal praise.

Joined by guest percussionist Samuli Kosminen, múm founders Gunnar Tynes & Örvar Smárason create stunning instrumental soundscapes to accompany and enhance the late-1920s action portrayed in the film, which was already considered a milestone shortly after its release. German daily newspaper taz praised the band's live score after the 2016 performance, stating: It worked so well that one can easily imagine the 74 minutes as an album.' Absorbingly rich in scope and cinematic in their own right, the four tracks that comprise this (significantly shorter) release work just as well without their visual counterpart.

Directed by Robert Siodmak & Edgar G. Ulme (and co-written by Billy Wilder), Menschen am Sonntag' follows the lives of a group of Berlin residents on a summer's day in a series of leisurely snapshots. A late-period semi-documentary silent film with a unique feel, it's considered a pivotal work. The film feels quite opposite to the expressionist vehemence, that dominated German cinema within the 20s: Menschen am Sonntag' is a modernist work, it feels calm and light. Watching it today however feels poignant, because it portrays a generation that was heading for the (then) unthinkable disaster.

Accordingly, múm don't shy away from adding explosive elements and sonic drama to the score: Arriving with shimmering sounds and ambient layers, the first track Cards' eventually bursts into a mix of live drums and massive beams of electronica. Whereas Evaporate' includes great piano miniatures, Cycle Boats' boasts a melody that perfectly reflects the leisurely coming and going, the ebb and flow of a summer Sunday in and around the city. The final song My Claws' is a wildly dense, unstoppable force of nature: catchy like an 80s pop tune, it's impossible to resist this instrumental grand finale that completes this special live release.

Known for presenting a mix of electronica, ambient sounds, and experimental indie pop, múm was founded in 1997 and over the course of the last decade, the former quartet has evolved into an open collective of sorts. With seven LPs under their collective belt, múm also worked on various film-related projects including a score to Sergej Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.'

At age 78, Joe McPhee shows no sign of slowing down. Plan B is the master improviser's new trio, with James Keepnews on guitar & laptop and David Berger on drums. A soundtrack to a science fiction movie existing only in their heads, From Outer Space finds McPhee and company envisioning the first encounter between alien life and a delegation of earthlings (while giving a nod to jazz's original man from another planet, Sun Ra, with a side-long suite dedicated to him). It's quite unlike anything else in McPhee's vast discography.

Recorded December 19, 2015 in Beacon, NY.Cover art by Judith Lindbloom.

DVD Language: English
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, Portuguese, Japanese


A journey inside the Sicilian chromosome of jazz, forgotten by the official history, the incredible story of a Sicilian who became the world's first man in Jazz.

Sicily Jass - The world's first man in Jazz is a film directed by Michele Cinque, about the life, the music and times of Nick La Rocca, a son of Sicilian immigrants, a self taught cornet player and leader of the Original Dixieland Jass band, the New Orleans based combo which eventually recorded the first Jazz record, in New York, in 1917.

Moving between fiction and documentary, while travelling from a timeless Sicily through New Orleans past and present, the film follows the infectious rhythms of early Jazz and goes deep into an introspective journey narrated by the voice, the gestures and the puppets of Sicilian master Mimmo Cuticchio.

Thanks to the special contribution of historians and Jazz critics and along with the discovery of precious archive materials, the film will give the audience the chance to re-live both the incredible success and the sad decline of La Rocca and his fellow musicians. The voice of Nick La Rocca himself, caught in a hitherto unpublished interview, together with the intimacy of the tale of Nick's son, Jimmy, will lead the viewer to discover why La Rocca and his men are often forgotten within the official history of jazz.

Needless to add that Sicily Jass comes with an amazing soundtrack, curated by Mark Berenford and carefully remastered by Nick Dellow. The accompanying CD features the ODJB's historical 1917 recordings, along with a selection of extra tracks by illustrious contemporaries such as Louis Armstrong, Joe Venuti, Bix Beiderbeck, Fletcher Henderson and others, amazing recordings from the beginning of jazz, over 100 years old. Mark Berenford who also curated the extensive liner notes, is considered one of the most respected experts and most passionate collectors of early Jazz and Blues. Since 1990, Mr. Berenford has been the editor of Vintage Jazz Mart, the world's leading means for buying and selling rare Jazz and Blues 78's.

After a slew of acclaimed releases by Equiknoxx, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Shinichi Atobe and Mica Levi in 2017, Demdike Stare's DDS start 2018 in typically unexpected style with a remastered reissue of David Moufang (Move D), Karl Berger, Jamie Hodge, Gunter Kraus and Jonas Grossmann's gorgeous sophomore Conjoint album, Earprints (2000).
Conjoint was the little-known but hugely regarded ensemble founded by David Moufang two decades ago, featuring techno pioneer Jamie Hodge, Deep Space Network's Jonas Grossmann, acclaimed jazz guitarist Gunter Ruit Kraus and, most intriguingly - Karl Berger (Jazz Pianist and Vibraphone player for Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and George Clinton to name but three).
The ensemble are accompanied on Earprints by Andrew Pekler, Anna-Lena Fiedler, Burkhard Höfler, and Kai Kroker, among many others, and flesh out a full frequency spectrum of instrumental and electronic timbres, precisely yet louchely coalescing a timeless and cool blue sound that is entirely respectful to its roots, yet dares to imagine them in an altered context. In that respect it's an influential, memorable precursor to Jan Jelinek's acclaimed Loop-FInding Jazz Records that was eleased the following year.
Democratic in its construction and flush with pregnant contemplative space between and around the notes, the lasting impression made by Earprints is indelibly classic, quietly awaiting immersion by a new wave of listeners who will no doubt marvel at its many charms.
If you're into late night listening and have followed the work of Move D, Miles Davis, Tortoise or Jan Jelinek's frayed, late night Jazz minimalism - this one's for you.

"Mystiphonic" is the third release from Roland P. Young on EM Records, following "Isophonic Boogie Woogie" which was originally released in 1980 and re-issued by EM in 2005, and the 2009 "Istet Serenade."
"Mystiphonic" is the fruit of two years of recordings at Young's Isophonic Sound Laboratory in Brooklyn, "comprovisations" which are more electronic than the previous EM releases, and yet this new CD retains Young's emotional life-long horn playing, a romance which began in his youth in Kansas City. Also carrying on from previous releases is the all-encompassing warmth and organic/oceanic feeling of Young's music, a rootedness that has been present since his early exposure to Charlie Parker, on through his San Francisco years and ever forward, linking past, present and future through deep American soil to his world-embracing current music, all united through his "Isophonic" philosophy.
The "Mystiphonic" blend of electronics, percussion and horns is one of subtle beauty, sure to please Young's fans while attracting new admirers.

'That Jazz' is Coops' first official offering since signing to High Focus Records back in October. By no means a debut, having already released two critically acclaimed albums 'Lost Soul' & 'God Complex' under his own steam in 2014 and 2016, the London MC is putting his best foot forward - a 'no nonsense' masterclass in smooth rhyming and soulful boom bap, produced by long time collaborator Talos. The beginning in a long line of releases planned for Coops this year, 'That Jazz' serves as the perfect introduction.
'That Jazz' is officially released on Friday 9th of February on limited edition hand numbered 7' vinyl (limited to 300) and across all digital platforms worldwide.

First ever vinyl reissue of this fabulous kraut, jazz-funk / fusion / rare grove / library album from 1972, originally released on the budget Tempo label from Germany. Lots of fuzzy distorted organ & Fender Rhodes courtesy of Kristian Schultze (pre-Passport) plus the mighty Pawel Jazerbski on bass and Joe Nay (Tete Montoliu, Roland Kirk, Blue Note Club...) on drums.

Master tape sound, original artwork and insert with liner notes.

RIYL: PASSPORT, SUNBIRDS, NUCLEUS, KLAUS DOLDINGER...

Subtitled 'Classic Latin Tunes Became Salsa Hits' LP 12" Black 140 gram vinyl (+CD)

"This is the second volume in our series on the roots of salsa...The main criterion was to pick tracks that sounded adequate for today's DJs to play at a gig, or were sufficiently interesting (or enough of a surprise to fans of the later version) to merit inclusion. The other measuring stick was that they needed to come from the old-school, before the more modern era (from 1962 on) and all of its recording innovations and marketing strategies...for now, listen to these dozen gems and then go back to their more familiar cousins from recent times and compare and contrast, and we're sure you'll be enlightened and entertained." Pablo E. Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead

A1. Sujétate La Lengua - La Sonora Matancera (1954) Covered by: Eddie Palmieri Y La Perfecta (Ismael Quintana), Willie Rodríguez And His Orchestra (Adalberto Santiago), Agustin Arce Y Su Nuevo Sonido , Papo Y Su Combo (Pachito Nalmy), Alfredito Linares (Panchito Nalmy, Koky Palacios, Rolo Bernal), Eddie Palmieri (Hermán Olivera)
A2. El Paso Del Mulo - Conjunto Colonial de Nelo Sosa (1950) Covered by: Orquesta Riverside, Celia Cruz And Johnny Pacheco
A3. Micaela Me Botó - Chappotín y Sus Estrellas (1958) Covered by: Pete Rodríguez, La Lupe (with Tito Puente)
A4. Nadie Se Salva De La Rumba - Trío Matamoros (1960) Later covered by: Los Guaracheros De Oriente, Los Armónicos, Ray Barretto And His Orchestra (Celia Cruz, Adalberto Santiago)
A5. La Familia - José Curbelo and His Orchestra (1953) Covered by: La Sonora Matancera (Carlos Argentino), Ray Barretto And His Orchestra (Tito Allen)
A6. Salsa - Flores Valdéz y Su Conjunto Musical (195) Covered by: La Sonora Del Caribe (Daniel Santos), La Sonora Habanera, La Playa Sextet, Conjunto Sensación (Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez), Johnny Pacheco (Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez), Johnny Pacheco and Monguito
B1. Hay Cráneo - Tito Rodríguez y Los Lobos Del Mambo (1951) Covered by: Fallo Cabrera Sus Voces Y Su Conjunto Ritmico, Bobby Valentín Y Su Orquesta (Marvin Santiago), Los Soneros Del Barrio (Frankie Vásquez)
B2. Fania - Estrellas de Chocolate (1960) Covered by: Johnny Pacheco Y Su Nuevo Tumbao (Pete "Conde" Rodriguez), Chamaco Ramírez, Negros Star De Dakar, Poncho Sánchez, Pancho Amat
B3. Yo No Quiero Piedra En Mi Camino - Pacho Alonso con Bebo Valdés y Su Orquesta (1960) Covered by: Cortijo Y Su Combo (Ismael Rivera), Orquesta Estrellas Cubanas, Ismael Rivera y Sus Cachimbos, Celia Cruz, Orquesta Ritmo Oriental, Willy Chirino
B4. Corta El Bonche - Conjunto Kuvabana de Alberto Ruíz (1947) Covered by: Tito Puente And His Orchestra (Chivirico Dávila, Santos Colón), Los Blanco, Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorquino
B5. Tumba Mabó - Conjunto Niágara (1945) Covered by: La Sonora Ponceña (Luigi Texidor), Los Soneros Del Barrio (Frankie Vásquez)
B6. Llora Timbero - La Orquesta Siboney de Pepito Torres (1944) Covered by: Arsenio Rodríguez Y Su Conjunto (Miguelito Cuní), Mariano Mercerón Y Sus Muchachos Pimienta , Machito And His Afro-Cubans (Machito), Senén Suarez Y Su Conjunto, Tito Puente Y Su Orquesta (Santos Colón), Chico O'Farrill (Miguelito Valdés), Tito Rodríguez And His Orchestra, Manny Oquendo Y Su Conjunto Libre , Estrellas De Areito, Rubén Blades, Virgilio Martí, Sierra Maestra, Willie Rosario Y Su Orquesta , La Sonora Gloria Matancera

First new LP in over 15 years. Builds on 3 successful ATFA reissues of Mergia's music. Legendary artist still active after decades of historic work. Modern Ethiopian jazz built on ancient scales and standards. Capping several successful years traveling the world performing to audiences big and small, Hailu Mergia's Lala Belu has been a long time coming. It builds on Mergia's remarkable career resurgence over the past few years. Beginning in 2013 with the reissue of his dreamy Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument followed by the enormous success of his seminal Ethio-jazz masterpiece Tche Belew and continuing with last year's widely acclaimed Wede Harer Guzo, Mergia has received considerable accolades from listeners and press globally, including The New York Times, Pitchfork and The Wire. His old recordings are cherished revelations for Ethiopian music fans; however, Mergia's return to the stage has been just as inspiring and electrifying. Mergia's vintage recordings are known for an inherently mysterious and worn-in quality, while his new recordings echo his band's 21st century live show with modern instrumental interpretations of crucial Ethiopian standards and Mergia's own original compositions. Tony Buck (drums) and Mike Majkowski (bass), who have backed Mergia on tour throughout Europe and Australia, form the bass-drums trio on the recording. Having played venues from Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center to jazz festivals, rock clubs and DIY spaces all over North America, Europe and Australia, Mergia and Awesome Tapes From Africa want to document this moment in his landmark career with a snapshot of Mergia's current sound. Since he emigrated from Ethiopia and built a life in Washington, D.C. around 1981—where he remains working as an airport taxi driver when he is not on tour—Mergia's career has followed a humble trajectory. He made a few recordings in America but they didn't easily reach fans back home. He kept making music on his own and with friends but after the early 80's his gigs in the U.S. mostly dried up. It wasn't until he began working with Awesome Tapes From Africa and putting together bands with the help of booking agents and musicians in Europe and the U.S., that he was able to chart a new path. With a broad audience of young listeners in diverse venues and distant locales, at age 71, Mergia is enjoying his comeback and is not slowing down.

Personnel: Robbie Basho, acoustic guitar Overview: Basho (1940-86), who died young after a stroke, never got his due in the culture at large, but steel-string guitar enthusiasts have known for decades that he was one of the greats of "American Primitive." Technically adept and compositionally imaginative, fusing the music of many cultures into a mesmerizing solo style, he has been an inspiration for many; his music has generated a surge of interest in recent years. This 1982 concert was part of a four-show Italian tour. It took place at the 18th-century Palazzo Gaddi that housed the local music high school and was mostly used for classical concerts, in an intimate space co-organizer Mario Calvitti (whose memories of the events surrounding this concert make up the bulk of the liner notes) says Basho called "one lovely little room where I could play all night." Only previously released incompletely as a download, this show can now be heard in its full glory.

We can think of fewer things more Spanish than the works of Alfonso Carlos Santisteban.

He was an anarchic genius, he was scorned on, or worst, ignored. Talent and necessity as well as geniality and the most prosaic worldliness collided in his persona.

If we can blame Santisteban for anything it would be for the way he lived and breathed music. A tireless Spanish music workaholic, he made no differences between copla, rumba, pop or soul and didn't mind if it was for Bambino, La Polaca, Mara Lasso, Calibre 38, Ellas or Mila. A sincere devotee of jazz and immediately seduced by bossa and by cinematographic music, his full works, full of inevitable flaunts as well as moments of geniality, can be critiqued for negligence and an unfinished sense of accomplishment but at the same time his panoramic view and daring musical vision, sometimes just as reckless as accurate, was evident and has made his work endurable several decades later.

Spanish Moog, an album Adarce Records has the pleasure to present, is one of those strange and almost invisible musical milestones that our man portrayed in Italy.

Just as he wrote in his autobiography, in 1973 and thanks to the help of José Antonio de La Loma, he met two of the capos of the most important film music publishing empire in Italy, Giuseppe Campi and Giuseppe Giachi. They were about to open a C.A.M. (Creazione Artistiche Musicale) delegation in Madrid so they could start building their business in the most exciting times for Spanish film industry. The company started by signing two Spanish composers: our man, and Waldo de Los Ríos.

Deception and frustration would come soon. Apart from a large number of small (or more like embarrassing) film scores, Santisteban published five library albums - catalogues of fragments and music pieces offered on a menu and sold afterwards to both co-producers as well as film producers - up until 1975 for C.A.M.: Ambiente e Folklore, Rinascimenti, Night Club, Situazione per Orchestra and this one, Spanish Moog.

Five of the songs included (Jugando al toro, Nuestro Ayer, Gitanos, Torremolinos Soul and Todo ha sido un sueño) were originally recorded by Santisteban and Rafael Ferro for the album Flamenco Pop (Sintonía, 1969), and three more (Zorongo, Nuestro ayer and Tierra mojada) were originally meant for Sabor a fresa' (Belter, 1971) by La Nueva Banda de Santisteban.

Beyond the supposed editorial filibusterism what is left is a wonderful festival of grooves and beats, an omnipresent Moog, Wah Wah and 'cañi' soul blend in Torremolinos soul'.
Dreamy melancholy, fuzz and southern tocuh in Tierra mojada', impeccable arabesque beats in the steadfast Zorongo', funk and folklore sown tight in Noche en Marbella' and pure space Blaxploitation in Tute de Reyes'...

As like other pioneers and talented adventurers in our country, Alfonso Carlos Santisteban would collide inevitably with a time already lost in the annals of history. We cannot think of a better way to resume his works and his person than the sentence he used to open his autobiography:

...I speak with the authority given to me by failure...'

A new colossal star rises in the twilight of funky soul jazz as Ernie Hawks releases his debut album "Scorpio Man" on Timmion Records. The impressive trombonist/flutist, is known to hold no punches, when performing live in the ranks of The Soul Investigators. Here he delivers a fierce selection of S.O.U.L. and Cymande flavored instrumentals that also bring to mind some of the finest sample-fodder library music.

The album's name, "Scorpio Man" might come from the stinging and slightly intimidating style Hawks handles the trombone slide, known to pierce the hearts and souls of the ladies in the front row during his live performances. On this album, Ernie rides to battle equipped only with the flute, but this does not mean we will be exposed to some smooth jazz snooze fest. Rather Ernie handles his instrument with muscular rawness at times and moody ambiance at others, sliding with ease into any groove that the extended Soul Investigators band lays down.

"Scorpio Man" is no one trick pony, and the listener will be shifted around from the exhilarating psych funk of "Scorpio Walk" all the way to the airy moods of "Street of Tears". Take a chance with the Scorpio Man, his sting will give you a funky high much better than what they sell in the streets.

'Fifteen' celebrates the work of Ben Lamdin, the musical maverick behind the Nostalgia 77 guise, with an eclectic compilation of tracks spanning fifteen years of jazz, hip hop, blues, funk, downtempo, soul and psychedelia.
Handpicked by Nostalgia 77 and Tru Thoughts, this retrospective showcases the best recordings and remixes from the respected producer, composer, songwriter and guitarist, spanning a range of projects. Featured on this fantastic anniversary release, are classics like Prince Fatty's "Medicine Chest Dub" and the second to none take of "Seven Nation Army" featuring the phenomenal vocals from the ever-soulful Alice Russell. Also included on the retrospective, the beautiful tripped out hip hop take on "Sleepwalker" from fellow Brightonian producer Ambassadeurs, and a track from Lamdin's country soul project with acclaimed songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- FEATURING SUN GODDESS', JUNGLE STRUT', LIVING FOR THE CITY' AND MORE

Ramsey Lewis is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer born 1935, Chicago. He has recorded over 80 albums and played with artists like Max Roach, jazz-singer Nancy Wilson and performs with his own trio.

The album Sun Goddess was a soul jazz-funk album, recorded in 1974 and was produced by Maurice White, Teo Macero (who had produced albums by Miles Davis) and Ramsey Lewis himself. The opening track Sun Goddess' was composed, by Earth, Wind & Fire member Maurice White and featured Philip Bailey on vocals. Living For The City' was composed by Stevie Wonder, arranged by Ramsey Lewis and Jungle Strut' is a jazz track melting funk and R&B.

Sun Goddess was Ramsey Lewis' biggest success of the decade reaching #1 on the Billboard Black Albums chart, #12 in the Pop chart and has been certified gold, it also featured most of the key players of Earth, Wind & Fire.

For over 20 years, your irrepressible host Rex and his legendary Fool's Paradise radio show on WFMU has held a grudge against the whole square world. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location in rural New Jersey in a fur-lined fall-out shelter located miles below the earth's crust, this weekly "excursion to nowhere" continues to proudly play nothing but greasy grooves from inane 45s, non-hit misfires, curveballs and oddballs from the Rock & Roll era. Yes sirree, those weird and warped ones about monsters, beatniks, chickens, apes, stewed moonbeams and mosquito knees...

And now, in the tradition of free love and nickel beer, Jazzman Records has teamed up with Rex to bring together a fabulous collection of his top spins! These are the songs that, by virtue of Rex's dogged persistence, have now achieved a kind of classic status that was surely never previously thought imaginable - The Fool's Paradise Favourites.

Gatefold LP includes 18 tracks with extra special chicken-themed twin spin bonus 45 single!

- First-ever 180-gram vinyl reissue

- Lacquers cut by Kevin Gray, Cohearent Audio

- Old-school style tip-on jacket

- Includes Jazz Dispensary "Authorized Dealer" window cling

A true is a masterpiece of genre-bending groove, Vibes of Truth covers all the bases: from silky-smooth R&B, to politically conscious jazz-funk grooves, Vibes of Truth has it all. Long sought-after by collectors for the three club friendly tunes within its grooves, Backed Up Against The Wall,' Concrete Jungle,' and I Need You Girl,' this lost classic from the Fantasy catalog represents the very best of the mid-70's jazz-funk crossover sound and fits perfectly in a collection next to the likes of the Blackbyrds' City Life or RAMP's Come Into Knowledge.

Capra Black remains one of the seminal recordings of jazz's black consciousness movement. A profoundly spiritual effort that channels both the intellectual complexity of the avant-garde as well as the emotional potency of gospel, its focus and assurance belie Billy Harper's inexperience as a leader. Backed by an all-star supporting unit including trombonist Julian Priester and drummer Billy Cobham, Harper's tenor summons the brute force and mystical resolve of John Coltrane but transcends its influences to communicate thoughts and feelings both idiosyncratic and universal. This is music of remarkable corporeal substance that somehow expresses the pure language of the soul.

- 180-gram vinyl pressed at Quality Record Pressings (QRP)

- Vinyl housed in a one-pocket old-school style tip-on gatefold jacket

- Includes Jazz Dispensary "Authorized Dealer" window cling

Harlem Bush Music - Uhuru remains extremely relevant. Though the album came at a time when Black Consciousness and Black Pride were coming to the forefront of American culture, current times are such that its message of struggle, love and hope transcends racial categories. That is both a great testament to the power of this music, as well as to the dawning fact in this country that we're all in this together," said All About Jazz. Joined by the inimitable Andy Bey on vocals, Juini Booth and Ron Carter on bass, Harold White on drums, and Nat Bettis on percussion, Bartz turns in a set of politically relevant, hard-grooving, funky, searching and essential soul-jazz. The centerpiece of the album is the righteously grooving, original seven-minute version of Celestial Blues' featuring the incredible vocals of John Coltrane's favorite vocalist, Andy Bey.

The Believer collects recordings from 1958 from tenor master John Coltrane. Featuring longtime collaborators Red Garland and Paul Chambers, as well as two of the finest trumpet players to ever grace a jazz record, Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard, the album begins with longtime Coltrane collaborator McCoy Tyner's title composition. Though it's a piecemeal album, Coltrane is in top form and his soloing on tenor at the time was unparalleled. Another great one from 'Trane.

KUF create emotion-laden dialogues across layers of time and dimensions of sound. Voices recorded in private are chopped up and brought out center-stage to sing with beats hammered out right here and now. Glowing synths push forward. Basslines rise to grab the melodic role of a track while a vowel is truncated and locked into a grid, driving the rhythm. Voices move within the frame of a sample, performed by hands pushing keys, guided by the ear, immersed in a trio session's deep flow... A vortex of quirky hands, responsive ears and glowing circuits. Since Thomas A. Edison first recorded the human voice in 1877, the recording arts have changed music forever. Musicians have explored the endless possibilities of bouncing their input onto layers of tape, off the walls of an echo chamber or the circuitry of electronic helpers - technology that modulates, spatializes, shifts, divides or multiplies the work of human hands and mouths. An era of sampling offered a cubistic analysis of the recorded past and DJs took dancers onto intricately fractured time travels. This is the historic foundation that KUF keep probing. Just like the sampler and the DJ before them, they found new ways to re-allocate where machine and man stand when making music together. Most importantly, they turn the resulting friction into sparkling bursts of energy. 'Universe' digs deeper into the android vocal chords. The album offers sweeping melodies, different beats and persistent bass. Immerse in the intimacy of the voices, probably recorded in trains, backstage areas and at late night private parties during Berlin Lichtenberg warehouse rehearsals. By striking the keys, KUF squeeze out and serve up all

Few Traces surveys a near decade of Mark Renner's scarcely released and unreleased material from 1982 to 1990, embracing and evoking the timelessness of his artistic statement: a wordless translation of the individual's musical experience, met with the poetic expression of being here.

Mark Renner first encountered punk while a teenager in Upperco, a country town in rural Maryland. Growing up on his family farm, he became a young acolyte of the British exports hitting not-so-distant Baltimore record store shelves in 1979 / 1980 and was baited by an area musician-wanted ad declaring Ultravox a primary touchstone.

This nascent band and a pair of other group experiments flamed out under the typical totem of despotism. In their ashes Renner began recording independently around 1983 with a portable four-track, electric guitar, and classic Casio CZ101 synthesizer. Aside from John Foxx-era Ultravox, Renner's process was inspired by the period's electronic pioneers venturing into deeper, romantic pop pastures: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Bill Nelson, The Associates.

With his tools and teachers in place, the blueprints for Renner's sound were laid out - metronomic, skeletal rhythms built on sturdy yet singular drum machines supporting luminescent guitar and synth lines, Renner's reverent voice guiding the fables and construction.

Most directly influential, Renner's enthusiasm for Days in Europa, the third album by Scottish new wave band Skids, would lead to a correspondence and long-distance tutorship with Stuart Adamson. Before Adamson would achieve worldwide success co-founding the group Big Country, a chance friendship with Renner would impart great confidence in the young musician from Maryland, who, after a visit in Edinburgh, would then travel to London to demo an early version of Half A Heart' featured in its final form on Few Traces.

The sum of Renner's music is one-part literary, one-part painterly. The artist cites the individualism of Herman Hesse as a guiding force, and there are overt references to W. B. Yeats and John Greanleaf Whittier among other authors. Lyrical themes evoke the presence of the ancient past, much like early Felt songs or the spiritual visions of Van Morrison. (Tellingly, Renner cites Morrison's 1980s albums made between Inarticulate Speech of the Heart and No Guru, No Method, No Teacher as musical influences.)

Apart from his writing, Renner explored music as a complement to visual language: many of the dream-like instrumental passages presented across Few Traces were originally implemented as sound elements for exhibitions of his paintings. Renner pursued wordless music as a pure aesthetic in its own right, pristinely balanced segues and open-ended compositions that lead to pasture but not without shepherd.

Compiled three decades after the music was originally put to tape, Few Traces collects Mark Renner's early music but strives not to simplify or reframe it. (Mark is still active making music and painting) The instrumental explorations remain on par with the great ambient adventurers of the period (Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Roedelius), while the vocal and guitar-centric songs crystalize across similar terrains being transversed by Cocteau Twins and The Chills.

Few Traces highlights in intuitive sequence gems from Renner's scarce discography and archive: the self-released debut All Walks of This Life (1986), the aptly titled follow-up Painter's Joy (1988), plus early singles, compilation tracks, and exemplary songs that saw no original release. The collection allows an intimate look at an artist growing into their sound and surroundings, finding the in between echoes and spirituality of the individual.

Late 1962 and early 1963 were a period of transition for Miles Davis. He had health issues and his original quintet from the 1950s was on its last legs. He played with a variety of hired hands while working on assembling a new quintet. Seven Steps To Heaven collected various recordings from LA and New York, and the New York recordings are particularly interesting because they feature the 17 year old Tony Williams, as well as Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock, 3 of the brilliant players that would make up Davis' working Quintet for the next several years. While comprised of various players and sessions, Seven Steps To Heaven is still a beautiful album from the legendary trumpet player well worthy of inclusion among his finest works.

In 1963, Miles Davis was at a transitional point in his career, without a regular group and wondering what his future musical direction would be. At the time he recorded the music heard on this disc, he was in the process of forming a new band, as can be seen from the personnel: tenor saxophonist George Coleman, Victor Feldman (who turned down the job) and Herbie Hancock on pianos, bassist Ron Carter, and Frank Butler and Tony Williams on drums. Recorded at two separate sessions, this set is highlighted by the classic "Seven Steps To Heaven," "Joshua" and slow passionate versions of "Basin Street Blues" and "Baby Won't You Please Come Home."

A fantastic-sounding album. Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl by the best in the business, Quality Record Pressings. An old-style tip-on jacket by Stoughton Printing makes this one a jewel for your LP collection.

Like Gerardo Iacoucci (already celebrated twice by Intervallo with Simbolismo Psichedelico and the new Industria N.1), Narassa - real name Sandro Brugnolini - is back in our catalogue with another gem: his second release on the legendary Rome-based label Rotary, which came out after the amazing Tensione dinamica. Guerra e angoscia was born as the fifth installment of seven and, like the previous album (which was recorded with the collaboration of label boss Amedeo Tommasi, the mind behind every release on Rotary), moves away from the experimental and mechanical drift of the first chapter, to dive headfirst in a dark and heavy mood - as the title suggests ( War And Distress'). Guerra e angoscia is truly faithful to the topic of its title - with tracks like Rommel, Minaccia di guerra, Campo di sterminio, Commandos, Battaglia tragica, Beat bellico, Eruzione, and Linea calda there's little room for misunderstanding - and it does a brilliant job offering library music to evoke tragedies, dark times and the madness of human kind. This is done with wonderful beats, sharp and powerful percussions, grievous rhythms and dramatic string sections. No more dynamism, to quote Narassa's other release on Rotary: here the tension is just the effect of explosions and wrecked nerves.

Having released music under various aliases over the last decade most famously as Renegades Of Jazz, as well as recent incarnation Dem Juju Poets and his Latin outfit Mankoora celebrated producer and DJ, David Hanke, has gone back to his blissful electronic roots with his latest project, Keno. Hanke's love for the early 21st Century downtempo music, as is apparent when you listen to this, his debut under the Keno moniker, entitled Around The Corne. It's far from simply early 'noughties' nostalgi a though, as his keen contemporary ear adds a modern touch tothe proceedings.