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This album came about through a fortuitous convergence of circumstances. Shelly Manne & His Men were appearing at New York's Village Vanguard, sharing the bill with the Bill Evans Trio. Creed Taylor set up a session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio with Evans and Manne sharing top billing. Manne's bass player, Monty Budwig, made up the trio. This was a busman's holiday for Evans, who was freed from the musical parameters he had set for his then-current trio. The result is that his playing seemed lighter, freer, and more relaxed than it had for a while (...) It's clear that everyone was having a good time and simply enjoying being relieved of their duties with their regular combos, even if for just one day (allmusic)

Drummer Amir Bresler, born in 89, has been established as one of the most sought after Israeli drummers, performing in Israel and abroad at prominent local and world stage jazz festivals.

Starting his musical education at the age of 13, Amir was first exposed to jazz music at the age of 15 upon his enrollment for the Jazz program at the Thelma-Yellin National High School of the Arts from which he graduated with honors. In 2010 Amir Joined the world renowned bass player, singer and composer Avishai Cohen, in concerts globally. Avishai Cohen is considered to be one of the most successful Jazz artists in the world today. Amir also performed alongside visiting musicians like Sam Yahel, Joel Fraham, Mark Turner, Kirk Lightsay, Dwayne Bruno. In addition, Amir played with various israeli artists Among these are, Daniel Zamir, Omer Klein, Kutiman, Nitai Hershkovits, Yotam Silbrestein, Amos Hoffman, Gilad Abro, Shai Maestro, to name a few.

This release is comprised of two tracks, originally composed and recorded for Meinl Cymbals' drummers-videos-series. These tracks were later chosen by Amir to be officially released.

The first track, 'Afro Golden Line', is inspired by 70's african high-life music (specially from Ghana and Nigeria) this is an odd-meter afro-beat track. Featuring Sefi Zisling's distinct trumpet melody and Uzi Ramirez's playful guitar.

The second track, 'Fish', is taken from LBT's old mixtapes (originally with vocals by KerenDun). It was re-recorded at Amir's studio while bassist Beno Hendler & keyboardist Nomok composed the third part of the track.

Both tracks were produced with Rejoicer.

Jazz siren Frances Faye delivers a pair of interesting and unusual takes on two well worn standards, with her version of Summertime employing a build and release arrangement laden with rolling congas and 'Night and Day' employing a similarly latin-edged, smokey and jazzy feel.

Amazing modern jazz from the estate of composer, arranger and baritone saxophonist Helmut Brandt, recorded March 1963 at Haus des Rundfunks in West Berlin - featuring Benny Bailey, Herb Geller, Nat Peck and Ack van Rooyen. One-off concert of mostly unknown Brandt compositions played by eleven soloists from the Berlin radio orchestras of RIAS and SFB, including "Boogie Waltz", "Opus C-Moll 794", "Ferien-Suite" in six movements plus Jerry van Rooyen's lost tunes "Trifi" and "Stellar". Forgotten work by one of the key figures of cool and modern jazz in Germany, carefully restored and remastered for limited vinyl LP and 6-page-digipack CD/ digital album with two additional tracks.


This is the first presentation of a lost jazz concert from the Helmut Brandt estate, recorded March 1963 at SFB Sendesaal/ Haus des Rundfunks in West Berlin. That evening the "Helmut Brandt Orchestra" consisted of eleven soloists from the Berlin radio orchestras of RIAS and SFB, including Benny Bailey, Herb Geller, Nat Peck and Ack van Rooyen. They played a one-off concert of mostly unknown compositions, taped by producer Hans Gertberg for inclusion in the huge archive of NDR Jazz Workshop recordings at "Norddeutscher Rundfunk" in Hamburg.


Tunes like "Boogie Waltz" or "Opus C-Moll 794" are presented here for the first time ever, as well as Brandt's outstanding "Ferien-Suite" in six movements. This orchestral piece evokes five musical pictures from an imagined holiday trip, culminating in the sixth movement "Photoalbum" - a reprise of the previous five arrangements. "Berlin Calling" uses the motif of a well known WWII era BBC radio programme of the same name. "Trifi" and "Stellar" had never been recorded before and were composed by Ack van Rooyen's brother Jerry, who moved to Berlin two years later to become leader of the SFB Orchestra.


Composer and saxophonist Helmut Brandt was born in 1931 in Berlin. As a boy listening to enemy radio stations, Brandt discovered the sounds of Count Basie, Woody Hermann and "the Duke". In the beginning the young man played traditional jazz on tenor saxophone before switching to baritone in 1954, heavily influenced by the American West Coast sounds of Gerry Mulligan. Brandt made his first steps as a professional musician in the orchestras of Kurt Widmann and Lubo d'Orio before founding his own quintet in 1955, the now legendary "Helmut Brandt Combo".


The Combo made their debut at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, thrilling the audience with their distinctive arrangements and personal style. Brandt had studied the complicated arrangements of the Miles Davis Capitol Band and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, so the combo's two horns sounded as if they were six. The band soon "became the quintessence of Cool Jazz in Germany", as former tour manager Siegfried Schmidt-Joos remembers. A little later Brandt performed with Miles Davis, Zoot Sims and Kenny Clarke and even the great Lester Young played with the Helmut Brandt Combo during a four week engagement in Frankfurt. Fans soon started talking about a new style called "Spree Coast Jazz" - in reference to the banks of river Spree, as an ironic nod at the American West Coast.


"Brandt's battle cry is 'More head, less legs'. This means that he is less concerned with emotional than with witty music. About what is happening in the field of contemporary music, he keeps constantly up to date and believes that jazz can get a further boost mainly by influences from art music, a predominantly formal enrichment however. His role models are Miles Davis and Bob Graettinger. Now he writes a jazz suite, which is strongly accentuated rhythm wise, but has no continuous beat. 'I know that I am opposed to many', says Brandt, 'but I think that the Jazz should be absolute music'. The titles are merely subsequent labels." (Kurt Wolf in "Jazz Podium", October 1956)


The Helmut Brandt Combo was short-lived. "Jazz Podium" wrote about the band's farewell concert in January 1959: "Once again, this outstanding German jazz band could persuade the audience with their lovely timbre, the high level of play, the mature solo performances and the captivating arrangements. One also had the opportunity to notice the versatility of the combo members and to discover the secret of Brandt's historical background of jazz, within sophisticated arrangements on a basis of typical swing contributions that are rarely heard." In 1960 Brandt was recorded in another NDR jazz workshop with icons Lucky Thompson, Barney Wilen and Bent Jaedig, entitled "Four Brothers" and released on Sonorama Records in 2015.


After the demise of his combo, Helmut Brandt decided to join the "RIAS Tanzorchester Berlin" (later called RIAS Big Band) as leading saxophonist and wrote over 1300 arrangements during the following 38 years for performances with countless jazz and pop musicians. In memory of concerts with Brandt in Japan, RIAS trumpet player Ron Simmonds mentioned: "One of the pieces Helmut arranged for these trips was the lovely ballad 'Lullaby of Itsuki'. On it he played the most amazing cadenza as an introduction, such an incredible performance on the baritone saxophone indeed. Needless to say, it delighted everyone, without exception. The mere thought of that cadenza today can still bring a tear to my eyes".


Unfortunately, Brandt did not record much under his own name. Only a small number of EPs and a sole 10inch LP by the combo were released during the second half of the 1950s. For that reason, Sonorama Records recently published a collection of unknown AFN and SFB recordings, reviewed in German "Jazz thing" magazine in 2013: "Helmut Brandt led one of the boldest and most visionary jazz bands in post-war Germany. 'Berlin Calling', an album which includes recordings of Brandt originals and standard arrangements from the years 1956-58, is an impressive testimony. The arrangements, inspired by the contemporary avant-garde, as well as Brandt's outstanding technique on the baritone saxophone, have not lost their splendor".


In 1967 Helmut Brandt and Stefan von Dobrzynski became members of Don Ellis' "Dream Band" that played the Berlin Jazz Festival to great acclaim. Seven years later Brandt founded his "Mainstream Orchestra" with which he toured extensively. The German jazz master finally left the RIAS band in 1997 and received the federal cross of merit "Bundesverdienstkreuz" in 2000. Only one year later he died unexpectedly from heart failure. His brilliant saxophone playing and his compositions and arrangements have made Brandt a key figure of Modern Jazz in Germany, and a great inspiration for many musicians today.

Amazing modern jazz from the estate of composer, arranger and baritone saxophonist Helmut Brandt, recorded March 1963 at Haus des Rundfunks in West Berlin - featuring Benny Bailey, Herb Geller, Nat Peck and Ack van Rooyen. One-off concert of mostly unknown Brandt compositions played by eleven soloists from the Berlin radio orchestras of RIAS and SFB, including "Boogie Waltz", "Opus C-Moll 794", "Ferien-Suite" in six movements plus Jerry van Rooyen's lost tunes "Trifi" and "Stellar". Forgotten work by one of the key figures of cool and modern jazz in Germany, carefully restored and remastered for limited vinyl LP and 6-page-digipack CD/ digital album with two additional tracks.


This is the first presentation of a lost jazz concert from the Helmut Brandt estate, recorded March 1963 at SFB Sendesaal/ Haus des Rundfunks in West Berlin. That evening the "Helmut Brandt Orchestra" consisted of eleven soloists from the Berlin radio orchestras of RIAS and SFB, including Benny Bailey, Herb Geller, Nat Peck and Ack van Rooyen. They played a one-off concert of mostly unknown compositions, taped by producer Hans Gertberg for inclusion in the huge archive of NDR Jazz Workshop recordings at "Norddeutscher Rundfunk" in Hamburg.


Tunes like "Boogie Waltz" or "Opus C-Moll 794" are presented here for the first time ever, as well as Brandt's outstanding "Ferien-Suite" in six movements. This orchestral piece evokes five musical pictures from an imagined holiday trip, culminating in the sixth movement "Photoalbum" - a reprise of the previous five arrangements. "Berlin Calling" uses the motif of a well known WWII era BBC radio programme of the same name. "Trifi" and "Stellar" had never been recorded before and were composed by Ack van Rooyen's brother Jerry, who moved to Berlin two years later to become leader of the SFB Orchestra.


Composer and saxophonist Helmut Brandt was born in 1931 in Berlin. As a boy listening to enemy radio stations, Brandt discovered the sounds of Count Basie, Woody Hermann and "the Duke". In the beginning the young man played traditional jazz on tenor saxophone before switching to baritone in 1954, heavily influenced by the American West Coast sounds of Gerry Mulligan. Brandt made his first steps as a professional musician in the orchestras of Kurt Widmann and Lubo d'Orio before founding his own quintet in 1955, the now legendary "Helmut Brandt Combo".


The Combo made their debut at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, thrilling the audience with their distinctive arrangements and personal style. Brandt had studied the complicated arrangements of the Miles Davis Capitol Band and the Stan Kenton Orchestra, so the combo's two horns sounded as if they were six. The band soon "became the quintessence of Cool Jazz in Germany", as former tour manager Siegfried Schmidt-Joos remembers. A little later Brandt performed with Miles Davis, Zoot Sims and Kenny Clarke and even the great Lester Young played with the Helmut Brandt Combo during a four week engagement in Frankfurt. Fans soon started talking about a new style called "Spree Coast Jazz" - in reference to the banks of river Spree, as an ironic nod at the American West Coast.


"Brandt's battle cry is 'More head, less legs'. This means that he is less concerned with emotional than with witty music. About what is happening in the field of contemporary music, he keeps constantly up to date and believes that jazz can get a further boost mainly by influences from art music, a predominantly formal enrichment however. His role models are Miles Davis and Bob Graettinger. Now he writes a jazz suite, which is strongly accentuated rhythm wise, but has no continuous beat. 'I know that I am opposed to many', says Brandt, 'but I think that the Jazz should be absolute music'. The titles are merely subsequent labels." (Kurt Wolf in "Jazz Podium", October 1956)


The Helmut Brandt Combo was short-lived. "Jazz Podium" wrote about the band's farewell concert in January 1959: "Once again, this outstanding German jazz band could persuade the audience with their lovely timbre, the high level of play, the mature solo performances and the captivating arrangements. One also had the opportunity to notice the versatility of the combo members and to discover the secret of Brandt's historical background of jazz, within sophisticated arrangements on a basis of typical swing contributions that are rarely heard." In 1960 Brandt was recorded in another NDR jazz workshop with icons Lucky Thompson, Barney Wilen and Bent Jaedig, entitled "Four Brothers" and released on Sonorama Records in 2015.


After the demise of his combo, Helmut Brandt decided to join the "RIAS Tanzorchester Berlin" (later called RIAS Big Band) as leading saxophonist and wrote over 1300 arrangements during the following 38 years for performances with countless jazz and pop musicians. In memory of concerts with Brandt in Japan, RIAS trumpet player Ron Simmonds mentioned: "One of the pieces Helmut arranged for these trips was the lovely ballad 'Lullaby of Itsuki'. On it he played the most amazing cadenza as an introduction, such an incredible performance on the baritone saxophone indeed. Needless to say, it delighted everyone, without exception. The mere thought of that cadenza today can still bring a tear to my eyes".


Unfortunately, Brandt did not record much under his own name. Only a small number of EPs and a sole 10inch LP by the combo were released during the second half of the 1950s. For that reason, Sonorama Records recently published a collection of unknown AFN and SFB recordings, reviewed in German "Jazz thing" magazine in 2013: "Helmut Brandt led one of the boldest and most visionary jazz bands in post-war Germany. 'Berlin Calling', an album which includes recordings of Brandt originals and standard arrangements from the years 1956-58, is an impressive testimony. The arrangements, inspired by the contemporary avant-garde, as well as Brandt's outstanding technique on the baritone saxophone, have not lost their splendor".


In 1967 Helmut Brandt and Stefan von Dobrzynski became members of Don Ellis' "Dream Band" that played the Berlin Jazz Festival to great acclaim. Seven years later Brandt founded his "Mainstream Orchestra" with which he toured extensively. The German jazz master finally left the RIAS band in 1997 and received the federal cross of merit "Bundesverdienstkreuz" in 2000. Only one year later he died unexpectedly from heart failure. His brilliant saxophone playing and his compositions and arrangements have made Brandt a key figure of Modern Jazz in Germany, and a great inspiration for many musicians today.

A stunning Piccioni score for the soundtrack of the homonymous film directed by Al Bagram (a pseudonym under which the Spanish filmmaker and screenwriter Alfonso Balcázar worked). Jazz-noir numbers and disturbing chamber arrangements enforce the dark atmosphere of the film, a gothic film from 1972 that transcended the italian GIALLO tradition (which was actually an Italian-Spanish co-production). The themes created by the Maestro for this metaphysical horror bring to light a disturbing classicism, wrapping the listener in a gloomy (often nightmarish) horizon. One of the most sought after soundtracks by Piero Piccioni, available for the first time on vinyl on SUB OST.

A stunning Piccioni score for the soundtrack of the homonymous film directed by Al Bagram (a pseudonym under which the Spanish filmmaker and screenwriter Alfonso Balcázar worked). Jazz-noir numbers and disturbing chamber arrangements enforce the dark atmosphere of the film, a gothic film from 1972 that transcended the italian GIALLO tradition (which was actually an Italian-Spanish co-production). The themes created by the Maestro for this metaphysical horror bring to light a disturbing classicism, wrapping the listener in a gloomy (often nightmarish) horizon. One of the most sought after soundtracks by Piero Piccioni, available for the first time on vinyl on SUB OST.

New edition of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album first released as a private-press album in 1969 on flautist Lloyd McNeill's own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. First reissued on Soul Jazz Records' Universal Sound sub-label in 2011 (long deleted) and now available newly digitally remastered on Soul Jazz Records main label in a limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide.

Lloyd McNeill is an African-American flautist, painter, poet, and photographer born in Washington, D.C., in 1935. His multi-disciplinary creative life led to encounters and friendships with Nina Simone, Picasso, Eric Dolphy, Nana Vasconceles and other legendary cultural figures.

McNeill grew up through the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. 'Asha' was the debut album by the Lloyd McNeill Quartet released on his own private-press record label, echoing the Civil Rights and African-American themes of the era - black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency - as well as a beautiful spirituality to the music. In the mid-1960s he moved to France where he became friends with Picasso, working with a number of émigré-jazz musicians whilst living in Paris.

In the late 1960s he taught jazz and painting workshops at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington. In the 1970s he travelled throughout Brazil and West Africa studying music and taught music anthropology in the US.

This album is released as a limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide LP (+ download code), and limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide CD edition and also as a digital album on Soul Jazz Records.

This album is released in conjunction with the album Lloyd McNeill - Washington Suite (1970) which was released last month also on Soul Jazz Records.

"Unique compilation and 100th release in the catalogue of Sonorama Records - file under: cool, modern, hard bop, modal! Fourteen previously unknown tracks recorded 1959-63 in West-Germany by some of the best European jazz artists of the time, featuring Barney Wilen, Francy Boland, Rolf Khn, Joki Freund, Attila Zoller, Fats Sadi, Roland Kovac, Rolf Ericson, Michael Naura and countless others. All tunes picked from collectors' archives, carefully mastered for 2LP-Gatefold and Longplay Digipack-CD with new sleeve notes and artist photos by Susanne Schapowalow and Hans Harzheim. Great moments from the most prosperous period in the development of European progressive jazz.This music celebrates the 100th release of Sonorama, an independent record label from Berlin. Its founder Ekkehart Fleischhammer started in June 2004 with a 7-inch single that features an unreleased track by Swiss piano player Elsie Bianchi. A new cottage industry was born, bringing hidden treasures of modern jazz to international music lovers. Today the focus of Sonorama Records is on unavailable European jazz and American musicians playing in Europe.The criteria Fleischhammer is looking for always is the quality of music, the condition of the source recording, if it is a rarity and the belief that people need to hear that music. ""European Progressive Jazz in Germany 1959-1963"" is the subtitle of this anniversary compilation and mainly features a selection of musicians from the Sonorama roster. Most of the tracks presented here are previously unreleased, a few others have appeared on hard to find EPs only. Some of the tunes are live takes, others hail from unreleased studio tapes, all recorded in former West-Germany by some of the best European jazz artists of the time and finally discovered in archives or in the vaults of collectors and musicians.1959-1963 was the most prosperous period in the development of European modern and progressive jazz. Post-war Europe saw an influx of American jazz artists who felt more appreciated on the old continent. These expatriates brought with them a fresh influence, and European jazz musicians revered their American stage mates. American greats such as Stan Kenton and Lionel Hampton gave their premiere European concerts, creating a jazz-boom. By the late 1950s a new sound emerged as European players gained confidence and started to play and compose in their own style. The fervor for modern jazz was especially apparent in the many crowded jazz clubs which appeared across post-war Germany.The first track of the collection from the Francy Boland Ensemble is the perfect example of this new European sound. Belgian born Boland got his start with Chet Baker before founding his own big band with American drummer Kenny Clarke as co-leader. Boland once explained about his arrangements: ""I don't wanna imitate anybody, I'd like to create something new, something that American musicians have not come up with yet."" The composition ""Blues for Koebes"" was written for his debut as a leader, a 7inch record. For the front line, he used five reed players from the big band of Kurt Edelhagen, among them Derek Humble from the UK, Karl Drewo from Austria and Dusko Goykovich from Serbia, who all play a brilliant three-chorus solo in the beginning.Another Belgian was vibraphone player Fats Sadi, who had played with the Clarke-Boland big band. On ""Gigi's Pad"" he swings hard, in a style that Boris Vian once compared with Lionel Hampton. The track ""Inspiration in 6/8"" by the German trio of drummer Hermann Mutschler features Dieter Reith on piano, only 24 years old, but already well developed and strong in his playing. That tune was recorded live at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt 1962, the same venue as the previously unreleased recordings from Barney Wilen, Joki Freund and the Gtz Wendland Quintet.Dieter Reith and Gtz Wendland both went on to lead their own orchestras, and both worked extensively in German television. The track here from Wendland's Jazz combo features a young Wolfgang Dauner playing his composition ""Marihuana"". Dauner's heavy chords in the intro foretell not only his success in jazz sessions, but his upcoming impact on krautrock as well. Another successful pianist on the German jazz scene of the late 50s was Michael Naura. His version of Gigi Gryce's ""Futurity"", an early hard bop tune made famous in 1954 by Art Blakey, was compiled from the forgotten recordings from a jazz workshop and features the talents of Wolfgang Schlter, still one of Europe's leading vibraphone players.""Clarinet bird"" Rolf Khn from Leipzig (who chose the opposite solution and emigrated to the U.S. in 1956) used to play frequently with Schlter upon his return to Germany. Milt Jackson's ""Bag's Groove"" was culled from an unknown studio tape produced in 1962, as well as the unique ""Straight No Chaser"", a hard hitting version of the Thelonious Monk classic, performed by the Quintet of Swedish trumpet player Rolf Ericson. Both tracks show Khn on the top of his game. Berlin baritonist and arranger Helmut Brandt and his combo stood out as the most popular German modern jazz ensemble of the late 50s, influenced by the Miles Davis Capitol Orchestra. Brandt's composition ""Warm Up"" is previously unreleased and was taped in the jazz club of the small town Rheda - a lost recording finally discovered in the artist's estate.Paris in the 1950s had become the mecca of modern jazz in Europe. Miles Davis recorded the soundtracks for several films in the French capital with musicians like French saxophonist Barney Wilen, who played with Donald Byrd and also composed and recorded soundtracks with Kenny Clarke. Wilen's fast version of Bud Powell's ""Tempus Fugit"", a classic from the ""Paris Jam Sessions"" with Art Blakey, features the talent of Belgian pianist Joel Vandroogenbroeck and remains onknown to this day. Vandroogenbroeck's compatriots Jack Sels and Fats Sadi recorded ""Ginger"" for an EP with Senegalese bongo player Ghana M'Bow and American Lucky Thompson.When Hungarian guitarist Atilla Zoller played a late night session at the ""Jazz-Saloon"" in Berlin-Steglitz - including ""You Stepped Out Of A Dream"" - he was joined by George Joyner on bass and Buster Smith on drums. Joyner and Smith both had accompanied Eric Dolphy that same day at a TV concert of the ""Funkausstellung 1961 Berlin"", later issued as Dolphy's ""Berlin Concerts"". Another unknown reel-to-reel tape had been stored in a huge music library and was recently discovered on a dusty back room shelf: Austrian composer and pianist Roland Kovac got involved in a session with the Quintet of Hans Koller the following year in Munich, and recorded his progressive jazz composition ""Psychophysis"" in a piano trio format.Flutist Bent Jaedig from Copenhagen played on an obscure 7-inch for a private label with the German piano player Karlhanns Berger, later well known internationally as composer, conductor, pianist/vibraphonist Karl Berger. It is the very beginning of Berger's recording career and his tune ""Prof. Wotasnozzle"" is compiled here to reach a few more ears. On the last track, the versatile composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Joki Freund pays an excellent spiritual homage to John Coltrane, with Emil Mangelsdorff soloing on flute. It was recorded at a time when these inventors of the formerly cool ""Frankfurt Sound"" started to move away from solid harmonies and structures, enlivening their music with modal lines, free improvisations and traditional music from around the world.The cover of this album ""Cool Europa"" comes from the archive of German photographer Susanne Schapowalow. She loved jazz and followed musicians with her camera whenever she could. Trumpet player Fred Bunge was a member of the Joe Wick Orchestra and later played in the Edelhagen orchestra. Schapowalow met Bunge in Hamburg at the Heiligengeistfeld in 1949: ""I don't remember if it was his or my idea to pose up there in the ruins. I was worried because it was slightly dangerous for him, but he looked great playing the trumpet. The two young boys came by on their wooden carriage and stopped to listen. The whole situation was improvised."" After the end of the second world war, this picture seems optimistic. The two boys symbolize the post-war generation and Fred Bunge was very much into progressive jazz, but he missed the blossom of that period. He died in a car crash in 1960, only 36 years old. Another German photographer, Hans Harzheim contributes several portraits here. Harzheim has produced an impressive body of work and captured many jazz greats.Once again, Sonorama Records has unearthed some excellent unpublished tracks here that will satisfy the serious connoisseur. Fleischhammer explained in an interview for the website ""All About Jazz"" what Sonorama is looking for: ""It must always touch me in a spiritual sense, and be of historical importance regarding the repertoire of the artist. Even better if it can close a gap in certain fields of music that people, or especially the record industry forgot about."" These rediscovered recordings are perfect to celebrate the 100th release of Sonorama."

Running a record label offers adiversified and challenging field of activity. This is particularly true when speaking of tiny independent re-issue labels where one, two or three guys have to take care of everything. Tracking down musicians, collecting their stories, writing the liner notes, creating the cover artwork, mastering the songs, promoting the release, communicating with pressing plants and distributors, and so on. Most of the tasks mean fun with the exception of one thing which nobody here at Tramp is keen on doing: writing the sales notes.

Far be it from us to praise our release to the skies. Naturally, we are pretty much convinced of the sheer quality of each song, otherwise we would not have invested so much time and efforts into completing those compilation albums. One thing which surprises us is that despite thousands of Rare Groove compilations on the market neither of the songs to be found here has been compiled elsewhere yet. A fact that not only fills us with pride but also determines our claim for the future. As for now we have done our homework and it is time to let the music speak so that the Gunn High School Jazz Reunion, Keither Florence, Robert Cote, Plas Johnson, Charlie Chisholm Boss-tet, and all the others get the recognition they so richly deserve for their talent and work.

When Tramp opened its doors in the early 2000s it was just for the fun of it. A business plan did not exist and nobody involved with the label had studied anything music related. It was just a bunch of crazy record collectors and music lovers with a simple idea: to share their favourite music with the world. Nobody could have known that this would last for 15 years - and there is no end in sight.

Introspective fire music from Black Motor, one of the best kept secrets in the Finnish scene. Powerful free music brimming with energy, melodic innovation, and a strong sense of unity within the trio. Long-time members bassist Ville Rauhala and drummer Simo Laihonen are joined here by sax man Tane Kannisto (previously known from Sound And Fury) to deliver a strong musical statement, and a convincing next step for Black Motor. Especially recommended for listeners with a taste for melodic free music, such as Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, and Archie Shepp, to mention but a few.

Introspective fire music from Black Motor, one of the best kept secrets in the Finnish scene. Powerful free music brimming with energy, melodic innovation, and a strong sense of unity within the trio. Long-time members bassist Ville Rauhala and drummer Simo Laihonen are joined here by sax man Tane Kannisto (previously known from Sound And Fury) to deliver a strong musical statement, and a convincing next step for Black Motor. Especially recommended for listeners with a taste for melodic free music, such as Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, and Archie Shepp, to mention but a few.

LP comes with free digital download including a bonus track.

Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and producer Matthew Halsall has carved out a unique niche for himself as both a band-leader and producer delving deeply into the worlds of spiritual jazz and string-laden soul.

His latest project finds him playing with and producing the legendary LA jazz singer Dwight Trible, who first came to international renown with his 2005 Ninja Tune release Love Is the Answer. Trible, whose deeply soulful voice has seen him compared to Leon Thomas and Andy Bey, has worked with the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Horace Tapscott and Kamasi Washington (he sings lead vocals on the Epic) and brings a deep-rooted soulfulness to everything that he sings.

Inspirations features some of Dwight Trible and Matthew Halsall's favourite songs including brilliant versions of the timeless Bacharach classic What The World Needs Now Is Love featuring harpist Rachael Gladwin and the Nina Simone smash Feeling Good. A soulful reading of Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson's classic Tryin' Times and a heartfelt version of Coltrane's beautiful ballad, Dear Lord, with lyrics by Trible. Other highlights include a vibrant, soulful version of and a beautiful take on They also laid down two spiritual jazz masterpieces, a powerful re-working of Dorothy Ashby's Heaven and Hell (from the legendary The Rubiyat of Dorothy Ashby album) and a spine-tingling reading of the old folk song Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair. Finally the album is rounded out with and the traditional spiritual Deep River and the beautiful standard I Love Paris.



Inspirations is launched with a five date European tour featuring special guest Roger 'Chip' Wickham on saxophones and flute. April 28 & 29 - Duc des Lombards PARIS, April 30 - Flagey BRUSSELS, May 1 & 2 - Ronnie Scott's LONDON, May 4 - Band On The Wall MANCHESTER & May 7 - Funkhaus BERLIN (XJAZZ FESTIVAL).



Reviews and features from Jazzwise, Record Collector, Echoes, Mojo, Now Then Magazine, Blues & Soul, Sunday Times, Lira, Jazzthing (Germany), Nos Magazine, M Magazine and many more.

Airplay from Gilles Peterson 6 Music, Jamie Cullum BBC Radio 2, Patrick Forge, Ross Allen, Jazz FM playlist, NDR in Germany, TSF in France and much more

On Line support from Jazz Standard, AllAboutJazz, World Wide FM, Written In Music and much more...

Fulgeance & DJ Scientist are back with more dope material from their beat laboratory. Last year's debut album 'The Soviet Tape' featured their beat-fuelled take on funk, soul and jazz grooves. For the first release on the newly-established Excursions imprint, 'A Soviet Disco Excursion' follows up with three amazing edits strictly for the dancefloor.

Fulgeance takes on Charauntsy (Sorceress), a relatively unknown female band from Belorussia transforming it into a low slung, pure soulful disco flute funk groove that is a guaranteed DJ sureshot. Latvian singer Mirdza Zivere is next with an edit of her classic cosmic disco track "Vienmer but" - a track made famous by the group Modo.

On side B, Scientist edited/remixed Tatyana Kochergina's "Igray, Skripka, Igray (Play Violin Play)" which delivers some Philly and Italo disco flavours - belying it's Soviet-era Ukraine roots to devastating dancefloor effect! This vinyl only release is the first in a series of edits from the London based label.

- Warren Hampshire from The Bees teams up with pianist Greg Foat

- Recorded with full orchestra all anolog to tape

- Mixed down on fully analog desk from tape direct to the old Sun studios 1/4 Valve tape machine.

- Hand made paste back sleeve with 60s style gloss finish.

- Mastered from Tape direct to lathe at Timmion Cutting Studios Finland.

- Sleeve notes by Bob Lind

Multi talented UK Jazz Pianist Greg Foat has teamed up with Mercury Award nominated "The Bees" member and multi instrumentalist Warren Hampshire to collaborate on a new LP drawing on their diverse musical influences. Classic British library music, 60s Italian soundtracks & lost Americana combined with touches of modern classical, minimalism, Jazz and Folk. Featuring many members of Greg and Warren's previous bands and one of the U.Ks finest Jazz drummers, Clark Tracy, the LP also features an Edinburgh orchestra and soloists hand picked and scored by the boys. Recorded all analogue onto 2" multitrack in Edinburgh, mixed down by Mattias Glavå at his studio in Gothenburg, Sweden then mastered and cut in Helsinki, Finland, it's truly a European affair flying in the face of the brexit nightmare. Release June 2017

The Afro Soul Prophecy project welcomes the Spring of 2017 with a series of two exclusive 7-inch records, for a total of four fully instrumental new compositions. This first 45rpm consist consists of the main track "Red Light District", a rare groovy funk effort tinged with catchy brass melodies, backed with the slower, mellow and sensual "The Game of Love" - yes, the title says it all! Once again Alex Puddu has lent his creativity and put his music signature on these tracks, for an exciting and charming result!

The Afro Soul Prophecy project welcomes the Spring of 2017 with a series of two exclusive 7-inch records, for a total of four fully instrumental new compositions. This second 45rpm of the series consists of the main track "Daddy's Groove", a catchy funky song with wah-wah guitars and a long middle sax solo part, paired with the romantic slow-paced "Let Me Be Your Lover". Once again Alex Puddu has lent his creativity and put his music signature on these tracks, for an exciting and charming result!

Alto sax man Jukka Perko, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, presents a new project Tritone, where he joins forces with the dynamic rhythm section of Antti Lötjönen and Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen (who have appeared together in projects such as Teddy's West Coasters, The Five Corners Quintet, Timo Lassy Band, Verneri Pohjola Quartet, etc.). Perko, once a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, has put together a set of tunes made famous by Dizzy for the re-evaluation by the highly talented trio. The time is right now, Dizzy's 100th anniversary, 30 years since the alto sax player, back then a teenage sensation, shared the stages with the likes of Sam Rivers, Jerry Dodgion, Jon Faddis, and of course Dizzy himself.

As Perko himself put it: "It's not about what Dizzy's music means to us, but rather what we can bring to it. We're adding our own piece onto the mosaic which makes up modern jazz."

The CD version of the release comes with a 24-page booklet including liner notes documenting Perko's time in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, and rare archival material from press clips to touring schedules.

John Stammers released a self titled lp in 2013 it sold out immediately and was never repressed. His analogue artifact became a rare record drawing on British folk influences inspired by the sound worlds of Moondog & Sun Ra.

Waiting Around is the first single taken from his forthcoming lp of the same name which will be out on WONDERFULSOUND this June.
This 7" includes a remix from Carwyn Ellis of Colorama who's noted for his work with Edwyn Collins amongst others. Waiting Around is produced by John Stammers and Miles Copeland.

The recordings for the album took place on the 19 and 20 October 1972 at Streeterville Studios , Chicago, with the largest Arkestra line-up Sun Ra had yet taken into a studio session. The date was produced by Impulse! and Riverside veteran Ed Michel and , for the first time, the Arkestra was recorded in quadraphonic sound.
Of the two releases eventually prepared from the session, Space Is The Place initially stole the limelight, becoming one of the Arkestra's most celebrated records. Discipline 27-II, by contrast, would remain a somewhat mysterious occult twin. Although it was one of the few Saturn releases to feature a full colour cover , the album featured slight differences to the master, cover and labels on a series of different pressings. The album opens with 'Pan-Afro', a chugging, skittering post-bop excursion in 6/4 , featuring a solo by John Gilmore followed by the dirgelike 'Discipline 8' and the smoky, avant-blues classic 'Neptune', blessed by a scrawling Marshall Allen solo. Perhaps the album's main event is a stately performance of 'Discipline 27-II' , launching the listener into the deep poetics of the astroblack mythos. Echoed closely by June Tyson, and then by the rest of the Space Ethnic Voices, Ra moves from an explanation of his mission and a reproach to the people of Earth, before offering incantations to the angel realm. 'We got some news for you,' he advises wryly: 'the world ended three thousand years ago.'
We are all stranded on 'the other side of the end of time' , in a world that already ended three millennia back , at the end of the Egyptian New Kingdom. It's after the end of the world!
This first official reissue of Discipline 27-II was prepared in conjunction with Art Yard and Sun Ra LLC. The album is restored from the original master tapes and features complete original artwork and new sleeve notes by Francis Gooding.

With "Transatlantic" the Ghent based latin jazz collective Compro Oro released their catchy debut in 2015. The band explored traditional latin and cuban rhythms intermingled with wild guitar riffs and exotic vibraphone infusions. Their recent feat "Bombarda" digs deeper into several ethnic music raditions and leaves the audience dancing on dark grooves with a tinge of psychedelica. Don't expect a merry salsa gang or mini skirt dancers sipping cuba libre's in the "noche caliente"-atmosphere of touristic Havana. Compro Oro offers wild, profound and uncanny flavours, slowly fermented in some dingy slum's basement.


A track like 'Miami was a nice place in the 80s' takes you to a dark sweaty beach bar, while 'Ababa Boogie' and 'Greetings from the colony' evoke a jungle trip on LSD. Or: a twang-American, psychedelic underground road trip to Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. This is psycho etno party music!

Compro Oro is:
Wim Segers (vibraphone)
Bart Vervaeck (guitar)
Matthias Debusschere (bass)
Robbe Kieckens (congas)
Frederik Van den Berghe (drums)

For a label that wasn't around long, Strata East achieved the same sort of label recognition that Impulse! or Blue Note managed to build. In other words, you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on the label, even if you didn't know the names on the outside of the cover. This is no exception. Who is Shamek Farrah Who knows Who cares It's the music that's important. This is the standard spiritually intense new jazz one learns to expect from the label, soaked in some Eastern influences but always with its ear to the street. Musicians took their roles as leaders and spokesmen very seriously back then. This very adult statement from a group of very serious men is no exception. However, what might be an average, forgettable session is rescued by the propulsive engine of Milton Suggs' bass. He adds the fire and the drive that keeps things interesting and prevents the music from wandering into a circular spiritual morass. For fans of the sound or the label, this can be heartily recommended.

2LP in gatefold with liner notes. 180gr vinyl. Download code included. A new, twenty-track compilation focussing on a twenty-year period (1950-1970) of modern jazz in the little kingdom, featuring the leading players from that era.

Due to the absence of its main players during the heydays of modern jazz, Belgium will not be remembered for a unique jazz sound or an extensive discography. However, the little country produced a number of highly talented musicians who played lead roles on the international jazz scene.
'Let's Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970' retraces their steps and presents some of their finest works, including guitarist Philip Catherine, saxophonist Jack Sels, multi-instrumentalist Jacques Pelzer and vibraphone player, percussionist and vocalist 'Fats' Sadi Lallemand.^

The title track features Boston based female singer songwriter Saucy Lady (well known for hit singles 'Touch It Rahaan Remix' and 'On The Floor').
Disco Town U-key "Do The Right Thing" puts a neo soul re twist on the title track by Japan's hot producer Yuki Monolog.
The EP contains both "Instrumental" and "Raw Vocal" mixes of down tempo, funk groover "Losing Streak" and a crossover into a more raw form of Tom's funk comes by way of the guitar driven and funky keys of "Live it Up".

After more than 10 years releasing music under the pseudonym of 'El_Txef_A' the enigmatic Basque musician

is ready to open a new era with his first solo record as Aitor Etxebarria.
Markak (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) is Aitor's first original work for Cinema. After the premiere of the documentary on the San Sebastian international film Festival , a limited amount of vinyls will be released this April coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika (one of the main themes of the documentary).
Composed and recorded on the Basque Country, Aitor stopped for a few months his full schedule of tours to focus just on the film score.
If it's 'marks' what we're talking about, in the case of Gernika the bombing suffered on 26th April 1937 is a deep and lasting mark of profound symbolic value. For the creation a number of internal symbolic norms are essential, necessary to lend meaning to our enviroment. The creator creates on the basis of the stories he has received, the images, the feelings. Gernika's past is a field for creation amongst Gernika's young people. The documentary explores what these young creators 'have locked away inside them', their emotions. The bombing is a wall in the life of people, an interruption. It is a violence that breaks away from peaceful routine, a denial of the freedom to choose that a people and its inhabitants should have. Contrasting with this is democracy, the political system that guarantees the freedom of people.
My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes
My love wears forbidden colours
My life believes in you once again

Blackman, multi-keyboard wizard played with the biggest names in fusion music including Lenny White & Twenny-nine'. As a leader and featured recording artist Don's keyboard, vocal and composing talents all came to shine on this debut LP, Blackman' originally released on Arista/GRP in 1982. The album became a sensation on the soul, jazz fusion, funk and rare groove scenes leading to it being constantly in demand since. In the UK Don performs every year at The Jazz Cafe' off the strength of this one album twenty years ago! In 2002 Expansion released his first solo album for Expansion Listen'.
Don toured the world with his band and The Marcus Miller Band', The World Saxophone Quartet', with jazz and bassist Tuero Nakamura.. His work on the acoustic piano and other keyboards was recorded on Mary J. Blidge's, Feel Like A Natural Woman' and Janet Jackson's That's The Way Love Goes' Nard' was sampled by Snoop Doggy Dogg' entitled Hustlers N' G's'.

Mario Biondi's songs always proved to be a perfect material for an electro / dance / dub rework, and "Stay with Me", the first single from his new 2-CD project "Best of Soul", is no exception: the A-side of this 12-inch EP is covered by two different versions of that song made by legendary DJ and producer Luca Trevisi a.k.a. LTJ Xperience. The other LP side includes "Stay with Me" original version and another unreleased track, "Never Stop Dreaming", also from the "Best of Soul" recording sessions, perfectly fitting Mario Biondi's distinctive style. A must have for both Mario's fans and dancefloor DJ's!

Simply put, this album is a must have for any listener yearning for exciting and fresh contemporary music. Essential listening for fans of Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal and GoGo Penguin.

I first came across Ruby Rushton in 2011 when I saw them play live at a pub in south London. I was mesmerised by their performance that night. The music they were playing was fresh and exciting, it was unlike anything I had heard before! Soon after that night I happened to pass the sax player in the street, I stopped and asked what plans he had for the band, to which he replied "album soon come..."
It was four years before I heard that album. Recorded in 2011, 'Two For Joy' finally got its much-anticipated release via the 22a imprint in 2015 and it did not disappoint! Since then the band have had a number of gigs around London and Europe, including their celebrated Boiler Room appearance and a number of headline shows at London's Jazz Cafe.
Now into 2017 the band are preparing to release their second studio album, 'Trudi's Songbook.' Compromising of two parts, volume one will be released in May and volume two later in the year. I was given an exclusive preview of volume one and I can say with certainty that it is their finest work to date and one of the greatest recordings I have heard in a long while.
The album starts with 'Moonlight Woman,' a song that harks back to the Headhunters era, but with a contemporary twist - close your eyes and your transported to 70s Harlem, walking shoulder to shoulder with Richard Roundtree! 'Elephant & Castle' follows, a clear reference to south Londons Latin quarter, the tune has a distinct hustle and bustle quality. With a strong flute solo and upbeat rhythm section this tune is sure to have you clapping your hands and stomping your feet. The first side draws to a close with a tasteful Dilla inspired skit, 'Trudi's Mood,' which demonstrates the bands wealth of influences and leaves the listener eager to continue their sonic voyage, with Ruby Rushton at the helm.
Side two opens with a haunting ballad, 'Prayer For Yusef,' a song written in memory of the late Yusef Lateef. It starts softly with a bowed double bass and bamboo flute, accompanied by ghostly percussive noises and slowly rises to a large crescendo, with drums and piano in tow. It's a strong tune and a fitting dedication to the late, great Yusef Lateef. No sooner has Lateef's ballad gently faded away then 'Where Are You Now' kicks in. Starting with a cool, neck-popping 3/4 beat, and utilising a four-piece horn section, the rhythm section struts its stuff whilst flute and trumpet carve out a playful melodic line. Just as you settle into its hypnotic bounce the tune falls through a Monk inspired chromatic bridge and without warning reappears as a solid Latin groove, leading to strong solos from both sax and keys. The rhythm section charges through to the end, never lagging, and are rejoined by the four-piece horn section, which stabs its way to a tight finish. The album comes to a close as 'The Camel's Back' fades in with an eerie sax solo and free form drums, before settling into a catchy bass motif and quickly fading away, leaving listeners on the edge of their seats and wanting more. It's a great ending to an intoxicating joy ride through a multitude of genre defying styles!

Words by Rodriguez Guido

Simply put, this album is a must have for any listener yearning for exciting and fresh contemporary music. Essential listening for fans of Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal and GoGo Penguin.

I first came across Ruby Rushton in 2011 when I saw them play live at a pub in south London. I was mesmerised by their performance that night. The music they were playing was fresh and exciting, it was unlike anything I had heard before! Soon after that night I happened to pass the sax player in the street, I stopped and asked what plans he had for the band, to which he replied "album soon come..."
It was four years before I heard that album. Recorded in 2011, 'Two For Joy' finally got its much-anticipated release via the 22a imprint in 2015 and it did not disappoint! Since then the band have had a number of gigs around London and Europe, including their celebrated Boiler Room appearance and a number of headline shows at London's Jazz Cafe.
Now into 2017 the band are preparing to release their second studio album, 'Trudi's Songbook.' Compromising of two parts, volume one will be released in May and volume two later in the year. I was given an exclusive preview of volume one and I can say with certainty that it is their finest work to date and one of the greatest recordings I have heard in a long while.
The album starts with 'Moonlight Woman,' a song that harks back to the Headhunters era, but with a contemporary twist - close your eyes and your transported to 70s Harlem, walking shoulder to shoulder with Richard Roundtree! 'Elephant & Castle' follows, a clear reference to south Londons Latin quarter, the tune has a distinct hustle and bustle quality. With a strong flute solo and upbeat rhythm section this tune is sure to have you clapping your hands and stomping your feet. The first side draws to a close with a tasteful Dilla inspired skit, 'Trudi's Mood,' which demonstrates the bands wealth of influences and leaves the listener eager to continue their sonic voyage, with Ruby Rushton at the helm.
Side two opens with a haunting ballad, 'Prayer For Yusef,' a song written in memory of the late Yusef Lateef. It starts softly with a bowed double bass and bamboo flute, accompanied by ghostly percussive noises and slowly rises to a large crescendo, with drums and piano in tow. It's a strong tune and a fitting dedication to the late, great Yusef Lateef. No sooner has Lateef's ballad gently faded away then 'Where Are You Now' kicks in. Starting with a cool, neck-popping 3/4 beat, and utilising a four-piece horn section, the rhythm section struts its stuff whilst flute and trumpet carve out a playful melodic line. Just as you settle into its hypnotic bounce the tune falls through a Monk inspired chromatic bridge and without warning reappears as a solid Latin groove, leading to strong solos from both sax and keys. The rhythm section charges through to the end, never lagging, and are rejoined by the four-piece horn section, which stabs its way to a tight finish. The album comes to a close as 'The Camel's Back' fades in with an eerie sax solo and free form drums, before settling into a catchy bass motif and quickly fading away, leaving listeners on the edge of their seats and wanting more. It's a great ending to an intoxicating joy ride through a multitude of genre defying styles!'

Words by Rodriguez Guido

Compiled by DJ, record collector and label boss Gilles Peterson, the tastemaking Brownswood Bubblers series returns. Released on vinyl for the first time, the idea remains the same - shining a light on new and under-the-radar talent.
The roll-call of artists who've appeared on the Brownswood Bubblers series is impressive. Boasting alumni like Flying Lotus, Dam-Funk and Floating Points, the compilations have long championed the rising stars of underground music. The first edition since 2014, Brownswood Bubblers 12 picks up where 11 left off - by looking to the acts set to make waves in 2017 and beyond.

With a whole three years having passed since the last Bubblers was released, too much exciting music has amassed to fit onto one release. For that reason, it's been split into two parts - making room for the whole, expansive spectrum of new sounds, this first part will be followed by a second in the coming months.
The new compilation arrives as Peterson's independent label Brownswood Recordings - from which the series takes its name - kicks off celebrations for its 10th birthday. With two compilations, Brownswood 10 and Brownswood 10 Versions, celebrating the label's shapeshifting legacy, the return of Brownswood Bubblers is a welcome look to the future.

Following his acclaimed collaboration on Strut with The Heliocentrics, the Father of Ethio jazz presents his brand new studio album, 'Mulatu Steps Ahead' for 2010! The album explores new directions in fusions of Western jazz with Ethiopian modes, moving forward the pioneering sound Mulatu developed during the '60s and '70s, showcased on the recent Strut compilation 'New York * Addis * London'.

For the new album, tracks were recorded with members of Either/Orchestra in Boston, with contributions by traditional Ethiopian musicians in Addis, members of The Heliocentrics and some of the UK's leading jazz and African players during the final sessions in London in November 2009.

Each track on the album tells its own story. The reflective, opener, Radcliffe, was composed specifically for the Radcliffe Institute during Mulatu's time lecturing at Harvard in Boston - the original score is now framed on the wall there. The Way To Nice was written and arranged on the tour bus during Mulatu's recent French dates - "with this track, you are travelling on a long journey, talking and thinking" explains Mulatu. "It was inspired by the many beautiful places on the coast road around Nice." Assosa adapts traditional music from the Assosa tribes in North-Western Ethiopia and Mulatu's Mood re-works a Mulatu jazz fusion composition from the early '90s into a new swinging Afro highlife arrangement. "I wanted to use West African styles within this version and try new ways of using the beautiful sound of the kora." Boogaloo and I Faram Gami I Faram reprise Mulatu classics with new, fuller scores and bonus digital track Derashe highlights the traditional diminishing scales of the Derashe people of Southern Ethiopia, a musical technique that would later feature in the classical compositions of Debussy and the jazz of Charlie Parker. "Many debate how this music developed but the Derashe have played these scales for centuries. It is an untold story."

We take things to another level with select cuts from the superb 'Girl & Robot with Flowers' album remixed by Linkwood, Vakula, Lumiarja, Cherrystones and Francis Doosoo's Borrowed Breath all on lustrous green vinyl!

180g audiophile repress of a 1985 SteepleChase duo recording that has become a classic, not only due to the strong music created by two of modern music's most original talents, but also for bringing pianist Paul Bley back to playing standard material.
"The intimate conversation between two of jazz's most enigmatic characters is played primarily on Baker's home turf. Baker, bless him, can crack your heart with a single note...Baker is alive and well...and still deliciously blue." - Joe Vanderford, Spectator Magazine
"This is introspective, and deserves undivided attention to be fully appreciated. Definitely one of the most relaxing moments ever captured on vinyl." - Mark Hurd, Option Magazine

DOUBLE BIRTHDAY RELEASE !! KARLRECORDS celebrates its 10th birthday, ZEITKRATZER even its 20th! And the party starts with the necessary re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK. CD on ZEITKRATZER PRODUCTIONS, 180gr LP on KARLRECORDS.

Founded in 1997 by REINHOLD FRIEDL, ZEITKRATZER have since been creating an impressive catalogue of recordings that embraces 20thcentury avant-garde composers (CAGE, STOCKHAUSEN, LUCIER) as well as electronic artists (CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ) or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE or COLUMN ONE. In their 20thanniversary year, the critically acclaimed ensemble will release a series of diverse albums that will explore new grounds in the typical, adventurous zeitkratzer way - the first of these albums is dedicated to KRAFTWERK and their early, kraut-esque albums "Kraftwerk" and "Kraftwerk 2". As KRAFTWERK never re-released these albums, ZEITKRATZER gave its best to cover the first tranche of the songs (second tranche to come...,).

Recorded in Marseille / France in May 2016, the six tracks reveal a bucolic and even psychedelic aspect of the ensemble that's mostly known (or feared) for its interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity. And yet there's no doubt that "Songs From The Albums "Kraftwerk" And "Kraftwerk 2" turned out a true ZEITKRATZER recording in the best and full meaning!

zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl

An ingenious blend of showmanship and intelligence' - Sunday Times

'Upbeat, witty and rather beautiful' - Sunday Express

Evening Standard Albums of the Week

'Clever, and enormous fun' - Guardian

4/5 in Scottish Daily Express 'Far more akin to the lively new Orleans marching bands, this thrilling nine-piece group amalgamate the sounds of trumpet, trombone, sax, sousaphone and marching percussion with keyboards and rock and jazz sensibilities to ensure their parties go with a swing'.

i - 3/5 'Hackney Colliery Band offer an infectious tumult of horns and drums on Sharpener'

3/5 in Big Issue North 'Favourites of Gilles Peterson and Rob Da Bank, East London's Hackney Colliery Band have won praise for their lively reinvention of the brass band sound.'

'Their sound is getting richer' - UNCUT
Quotes: Times - 'Redefining the brass band format for the 21st century' Observer - 'The most fun, enjoyable music I know of' Craig Charles - 'Amazing' Huey Morgan - 'One of my favourite bands' Jamie Cullum - 'One of the best live bands we have in this country' Songlines - 'some seriously great musicians playing some seriously great music'
* After the stunning success of their critically-acclaimed third album Sharpener, which reached number 3 in the jazz charts and number 14 in the independent music charts, London's brass juggernauts Hackney Colliery Band blaze back onto the scene with their first live album, released 12th May.

* With BBC Radio 2 describing them as 'one of the best live bands we have in this country', their live shows have become legendary, selling out venues across the UK and Europe, and playing main stage festival shows (Womad, Wilderness, Love Supreme, Field Day) to huge popular and critical acclaim.

* Recorded over three shows in 2016 and early 2017, the recording captures the band on peak form. Playing largely original material from Sharpener and their second album Common Decency, they also dust off some crowd favourites including their unique mash up of Prodigy covers, rousing versions of Blackstreet's No Diggity and Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, and concluding with an acoustic version of Toto's Africa as they parade through the crowd at the end of the set.


* Hearing the band playing live is a very different experience from listening to their three studio albums; it becomes immediately obvious that, far from locked-down studio heads, these are some serious jazz improvisers, here stretching out on extended solos, and with a restless energy for pushing the groove and form in new directions. But this consummate musicianship and skill is always worn very lightly: the band have always managed to present complex music in an extremely playful, fun way, and to a very broad demographic, which on these recordings takes in young east London hipsters and Oxfordshire retirees with equal ease. Front man Steve Pretty's interactions with the crowd, particularly towards the end of the set, raise the energy levels still further, and those with a good ear can listen out for some heart-warming moments from the audience, like the somewhat slurry man a little bit too close to the sound desk microphone singing along to Heart-Shaped Box, or the room gradually falling silent during the mesmerising introduction to the album's only ballad Reawake.


* Alongside main stage sets at festivals like Field Day and Love Supreme and collaborations with Amy Winehouse, Fyfe Dangerfield, Eliza Doolittle, Jamie Cullum, Andreya Triana, Williams Fairey Band, Rhodes and DJ Yoda, they have performed live sessions on BBC Radio 2 and Jazz FM, and their performances have been festured on BBC Two (The Culture Show), Sky Arts (Brass Band Wonderland) and live at the BRIT, Mercury and Mobo Awards.

* And it's these quirks, these little imperfections, that make this album special. Rather than going through the recordings with a fine-tooth comb removing the trumpet cracks, sax squeaks or drum mishits which are inevitable in a 90-minute power set with seven brass musicians and two drummers, the production is minimal. This gives a rare 'warts and all' insight into how the band sound live.

* Steve Pretty, the band's frontman said: 'We've always prided ourselves on putting on a really great live show, and the exciting thing about live gigs is that anything can happen. Unfortunately, that means that if I missed a note somewhere, that will now live with me and annoy me forever, but we wanted a really honest portrayal, with no overdubs or excessive production, just capturing the energy of the room'.

* With the brass band revival in full swing, Hackney Colliery Band manage to occupy their own very distinctive space. Washes of Scandinavian-influenced electronica collide with extended contemporary jazz improvisation, dancefloor-friendly beats contrast with pounding rock rhythms, and Balkanesque melodies nestle up against soul and hip hop grooves. This set owes as much to modern European jazz and American alternative rock as it does to New Orleans second lines or the traditional British brass bands to which their name pays tribute.

* To celebrate the release of this unique live record, Hackney Colliery Band are playing their biggest headline show to date when they hit the legendary KOKO in London on 26th May. With all of their recent London shows selling out months in advance, including the 800-capacity Village Underground, and a few surprises and tricks up their sleeve, their KOKO show will undoubtedly be a real highlight of 2017, and a chance for fans to hear the real thing in person in one of London's most iconic venues.