Suche:sect

The optimum effect of Music of the Five Elements will be achieved if each side of this recording is played through, from beginning to end without interruption. Music of the Five Elements, when used as a meditational or body work tool, rather than entertainment, will increase in effect over time. Overplaying or improper use, however, may eventually diminish its designed effect'
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Music is the healing force of the universe. It's an ancient idea bandied about by Pythagoras and Plato. In the last century, music as medication has been explored by musicians as diverse as Albert Ayler, Spacemen 3 and Pauline Oliveros. Nowhere did this concept gain more traction than in the so-called realm of New Age Music, an entire movement of synth droners and echoey flautists recording home-baked healing mantras on 4-track. In recent years, thanks to cassette collecting devotees and open-minded music journalists, New Age has shed its flowing robes and is being mined for the truly incredible music that swells under its pastel surface. Musician/acupressurist Sam McClellan's 1982 Music of the Five Elements is one of those revelatory discoveries, an unrivalled work of intense research and focus, simultaneously a near perfect work of art and a scientifically sound elixir for body and mind.

After studying electronic composition at Hampshire College with Randall McClellan (no relation), Sam McClellan became intrigued with the possibilities of healing through music. He explored this idea by applying the ancient Chinese philosophy of medicine to the principles of musical composition. Using the pentatonic scale (the traditional scale of Chinese music), McClellan related each of the notes to one of the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal Water), and created five variations for each. He experimented with tempo, beat, pitch, duration, and sound quality, studying the effect on people's energy levels. Using the results of his tests he developed a comprehensive theory of sonic healing and spent the next year composing an album designed to help people achieve inner balance, reducing anxiety and energy depletion.

Music of the Five Elements is not only the acoustic massage' that McClellan set out to make, but is a fully realized and peerless piece of music. Taking cues from Minimalism, American Primitive guitar (Fahey & Basho) and even psychedelia, the album is a continuous sound voyage for voice, synthesizer, guitar, bowed bass, piano, effects and ciao (Chinese flute) all played by McClellan himself. Although divided into sections, the journey is best undertaken as a whole, without distraction.

Double Vinyl edition of 300 copies w/ download code and etched d-side.

Breaching is the debut album from Leeds-based, 6-piece, post-metallers Hundred Year Old Man. Hot on the heels of recent EP Rei, Breaching emitsthe same heaving intensity and unforgiving, wall of sound approach. Dense and billowing riffs are intertwined with field recordings and spoken word passages to form an unyielding, sprawling piece of work that delivers the bands artistic vision perfectly. The more ambient, drone sections of the record compliment and allow the real songs to take flight. Debut single Black Fire is reworked to give the track a new lease of life, whilst the other heavy hitters here; The Forest, Long Wall, Disconnect and Ascension are a continuation of the excellent work found on the Rei EP. Breaching contains masses of atmosphere and is a ferocious and immersive listening experience. An epic, monolithic voyage full of texture, depth, aggression and emotion. This is an album that should be approached as a whole, with patience and attention. The rewards will deliver a unique, crushing and quite simply superb record.

Ultra tight & rare Soul / Funk stylings from Mississippi's Natural High outfit. Originally released in 1979 on the Chimneyville label, an obscure soul imprint operating as part of the Miami Malaco label family tree. This one has it all - lush strings and orchestration, tight as rhythm section, amazing songwriting and everything else in-between.
Amazing that this group only cut one LP and a handful of singles. The talent on display here is truly of another level and one wonders how such an album came to be.
Either way, this is an amazing set of rarest of rare grooves and the LP has been a heavily coveted item by the rare record cognoscenti in the past. This is a 100% legit repress, made in conjunction with the rights holders and remastered to the highest possible standard, a truly essential record for fans of quality underground soul & funk. Now's your chance to bag a copy for a decent price! Quality all around

Dublin based musician Lerosa has built an impressive discography throughout the years. With his first efforts dating back to 2005 the producer who has a broad palette of sounds has already been around for over 10 years with releases for a vary of respected labels.

For the first release on SAFTX , Lerosa hands out a taster of the labels new series ambitions. Vivrant house music is most definitely the back bone of Playa De La Guancha as a whole. The opening is packed with a strapping rhythm section and a vocal cut that is reminiscent of the Trax Records classic House Nation . Julius Steinhoff (of Smallpeople fame) gives Soul Tracing a modern sounding treatment that completely shifts the feel of the original and turns it into an adventurous piece of contemporary electronics.

Lerosa opens up the B side with Bruised which is a work out of alternating basslines and brutal machine claps that give the piece a club oriented feel. Acidic sounds cut through the mix with determination and wobbly synth sounds serve as a pleasant sauce for this intergalactic sounding work. Marauder is a hefty bit at a slower tempo than it s predecessors. A loose rhythm section is causing for the listener the focus on the immense LFO threated sounds that float on to and the low down bassline that supports the overall atmosphere in a grounded manner. Playa De La Guancha will be available through all specialized retailers starting early April.

The Pendletons return with their latest EP, Funk Forever, a Jazz flavored boogie affair with soul inspired song-writing that evokes old school vibes while still staying fresh and current. Horn lines, Yamaha dx7 keys and snapping hip hop inspired drum programming topped by sweet singing with heartfelt themes, the group carves out a bold new sound on these 5 solid tracks. Featuring Elive, Potatohead People and Ishtar.

The Pendletons are a long-standing boogie-funk and modern soul project of E da Boss (of Myron and E on Stone's Throw) and Trailer Limon. The group emerged with their very first release in 2010, a 7" inch of "Coming Down/Waiting On You" on the Slept On record label, which set the tone for the group to emerge... it instantly became a cult classic receiving constant play at nights like Sweater Funk and Funkmosphere, and fetching for serious sums among collectors. Most recently, in 2016, they released the EP "Gotta Get Out". The title track caught the ear of renowned DJ Gilles Peterson, who liked it enough to release it on his Brownswood Bubbler compilation.

In 2018 the group is hitting the ground running with a brand new EP out this spring, and a full-length album to follow later later in the year on the renowned Bastard Jazz label. Now armed with a horn section, a vast array of accomplished jazz and funk contributors, and a knack for quality song-writing, the Pendleton's sound has shaped into something fresh and unique, setting it apart from the legions of imitators.

There are some records that manage to sound both of a time and utterly timeless and Bon Voyage Organisation's Jungle Quelle Jungle (a nod to Supertramp's Crisis What Crisis) is one of those albums. Its silken-smooth production, irresistible grooves, funk-tinged guitars, lush soundscapes and general glowing presence could easily lead one to believe that have dug up a lost disco gem from the 1970s. However, behind the disco-pop gleam lies eerie dystopian sci-fi ruminations of a futuristic bent and tones that can often feel as French as they do Asian or African.

This sort of cross-continental exploration is an expansion on BVO's previous two EPs, the man behind the Organisation, Adrien Durand, says. 'I tried to continue the musical expedition between dystopian Science-Fiction Haunted Africa - plus Haitian Vaudou on 'Soleil Dieu' - and futuristic Asia. Addressing, in a double entendre manner, some of the political issues that I am sensitive to.' In fact the jungle in question in the album's title is a metaphorical one and one that creates a vast series of environments for Durand to explore such subjects as world trade, utopian ideals and themes of idols, as well as of time and communication. However, one will need to speak French to decipher such explorations, as well as shake off the natural impulse to move with every glorious beat on its 13 tracks, of which are moved along by Maud Nadal and Agathe Bonitzer's golden vocals.

Durand is a full-time producer based in Paris, working with the likes of Amadou & Mariam, so it makes sense that this record would absolutely sparkle in this department. Durand feeds off the variety of musicians coming and going during recording sessions as well as the rotating members and numbers of people involved with the band but fundamentally he writes all songs on piano first before bringing them to record live. 'We recorded a rhythm section of five - drums, percussion, guitar and myself on bass/synth bass and keyboards - at La Frette which is a studio located in a mansion outside of Paris and fitted with a beautiful 1973 NEVE desk. We only used analogue gear, by taste really, and found it a pretty reliable way of doing things. This simply consists of putting good players together in a room and waiting for the right take to happen.' Two four-day sessions and a 'cooling off' period (to let the recordings settle) soon followed before Durand picked the material back up to give it a final polish.

The resulting album is one loaded with intricacies and idiosyncrasies, something that Durand puts down to his own unique approach. 'I don't consider myself much of a songwriter but I love arranging rhythm sections and I'm pretty proud of the ones on this record.' This applies when it comes to working with such musicians as Inor Sotolongo Zapata, who with Durand used traditional Cuban percussive instruments and explored Haitian rhythms. When Durand expands on some of the ideas and influences that were funnelled into the record, you begin to get a sense of the vastness of the sounds that fill his world, from Trevor Horn's production work on ABC's Lexicon of Love, to the literary work of JG Ballard to the visual flair of the original Blade Runner and even the Tuareg sounds of Tinariwen, due to the fact that his studio neighbours their manager's and he would hear their rhythms bleeding through the walls. You therefore end up with an album that offers tracks such as 'GOMA' that fuses Chinese and African rhythms as well as 'SI D'Adventure' a piece of pop music that is dazzlingly hook-laden.

As a result of this cooking pot of sounds, influences, thoughts and creations, Durand has more of a gumbo approach to making this music than a set-out scientific formula. 'There is no definite recipe for me to like the production of a record,' he says. 'Of course it really sticks out that my work is really influenced by the 1978-1983 period, the golden age and last stand of analogue studios and session musicians.' Whilst Durand adores the traditional and conventional music, he really views this as something bigger and wider. 'I have a taste for the otherworldly vibe from records coming from less sought-after musical scenes, particularly Poland, Haiti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo and early Cantonese pop. Languages and the rapport of the people involved in the making of those records really inspires me. I particularly hate the use of the word 'World Music' as a potpourri for everything that doesn't sound quite western enough.'

Tim (aka Jean Marie Tiam)and the sadly departed Maurice Foty who died in 2011. The musical cousins hails from Bafoussam in Cameroon. Their signature vocal harmony sound may be the first thing you hear, however they also have produced a host of funkiest African funk around. They sing in their native language Ngomâlah, as well as Duala and English.

We start the album off slowly with the scene-setting and largely instrumental "Douala By Night". Tight guitar and choppy clavi drive this song along. The groove is so deep even Missy Elliot couldn't resist a cheeky sample. "Funky Bafoussam" carries on the theme and expands it to include a kick-ass horn section. "More And More" is next and here the vocals burst forth over this up tempo punchy pop-funk track. With "Love Is Light" the pair show their versatility with a smooth English-sung soul ballad.

The hopelessly upbeat "Aie" is next with its earworm keyboard riff, slice guitar and catchy falsetto vocal. "Not So Bad" brings on the boogie. "I Love Yaounde" is a smooth swinging boogie-ballad with a killer chorus hook. "Eda" is a hit from early in their career. We close of the comp with the disco funk of "Funky Boogie Love" and synth grooves of "Eya Mba".

The songs on the comp represent only a 2 year period but some of the finest from the duo. These days Tim keeps the Tim and Foty flame alive. He currently lives between France and Cameroon. A musical flame that most definitely is burning bright.

* From the pumping heart of The Magnetic System comes the 'dirtiest' Da-Da-dancefloor anti-jams with this lost 1979 blueprint of Italian conceptual cosmic disco played by the cream of the Goblin studio band. Ultra-rare and unscrubbed,Finders Keepers finally snip the trip from the cash machine to the trash machine.
* Carving its own grubby niche as an early prototype of cosmic disco cum Italo space funk whilst simultaneously harbouring Dada hat stand satire with a junkshop glam aesthetic, this ecological illogical poplitical crab cabaret clearly broke the mould before way before the jelly had set.
* Fans of 'other' obtuse outernational agit-camp might find a fantasy fusion between France's JP Massiera and Sweden's enviroMENTAL marvel Kaptain Zoom while trying to unravel the Madfilth tangle - but rest assured there were method men behind this madness and a portal to Italian funk royalty still festers
at the bottom of the psych rap scrapheap.
* Originally drip-fed out of Cesare Andrea Bixio's Cinevox stable as one of a tight grip of non-soundtrack LPs, made to test the label's commercial potential, Madfilth would follow the band Goblin (and their non-cinematic Roller) as well as the hens' teeth eponymous long player by the group The Motowns in what was perhaps the last-ditch attempt at custom built popsploitation - combining the skills of overqualified composers with undercooked conceptual mind belches. Naturally, after almost 40 years in the barrel, this micro-brewed oddity finally quenches the acquired taste of a new breed of shambolic psychotropic guzzlers proving that 1979 was obviously good year for fool's gold. The Madfilth medicine has finally come to cure your psychic ills so open wide and don't bite the spoon.
* It is beneath the flamboyant rhythm rants and vari-speed osric slop of alt-comedic sarcy-satirist Alberto Macaro (a genetic beneficiary of a vaudevillian comic bloodline) that we find The Magnetic System maestros Franco Bixio and Vince Tempera as the sonic driving force behind this unmarked treasure trove of
B-musical diamanté discoids. It will also come as little surprise that
Cinevox/Dario Argento favourites Goblin were not too distant from the whiff of this curate's egg with the men who many consider to be the group's greatest assets - bass player Fabio Pignatelli alongside sports rock drummer Agostino Marangolo. It was this unison that remained consistent throughout Goblin's career, weathering the temporary departure of Claudio Simonetti and
maintaining the stylistic heartbeat of the group. Madfilth's inclusion of Goblin synth Maverick Maurizio Guarini and the band's mid-period guitarist Carlo Penessi (founder of the band Etna) pinpoints the jobbing Goblin session group during the time they recorded the soundtracks for the films 'Buio Amiga' and 'Squadra Antigagsters'. This lesser-celebrated late 70s era also witnessed the mutating Goblin rhythm section providing discoid backbeats for records such as Giorgio Farina's 'Discocross' album, Simonetti's own Capricorn alter-ego and the homoerotic nightclub spin-off Easy Going - all of which, alongside Madfilth,
provide a strong mutual stylistic support system for their claim to cosmic disco's deep red bloodline.

Long time friend of the label, Neue Grafik, steps forth with his most fully realised offering to date. This record has been a long time coming, born out of a encounter in Paris back in 2016. This meeting of minds led to a blossoming friendship between Fred ( Neue Grafik) and Bradley ( RS INTL) which has taken them across 3 continents, countless dance-floors and finally crystallised onto this 12'.

The record itself takes cues from the broken-beat sound of London while paying homage to the Parisian house dance scene. Largely sample based, but also employing much more live instrumentation than ever before, Neue Grafik's music is informed by movement and in turn offers so much for Dancers to respond to.

The EP begins with the lysergic ebbs and flows of 'Innervision', ( in which Wayne Snow graces the record with a sublime vocal performance) and moves effortlessly to the uplifting bruk of 'Dance to Yemanja' via the staccato of ' to Peckham Rye'( a homage to the labels origins) , before finishing on the hauntingly melancholic tones of 'Aulnay's Tears' - an homage to the victim's of police brutality in the Parisian Suburb in 2017.

With releases on 22a, Beat X Changers and Wolf Music and a whole host of exciting plans for the near future - we're very pleased to welcome Monsieur Grafik onboard!

TenGrams are brothers Alessandro and Davide, who collectively have a deep and long understanding of dance music. Davide is a co-founder of N.O.I.A, one of Italy's first electronic live acts to perform and record with drum machines and synthesizers as early as 1978. He was also behind seminal Italo outfit Klein + M.B.O and proto house hit 'Dirty Talk.' Since then they have released under an array of aliases, have clocked up numerous club hits and this new project brings them back to their electronic roots, with influences like sci-fi movies and old school electro and italo looming large.Devious' is a very breezy and energetic track with a rolling arpeggio and rich keyboards section over a simply but groovy Tr-808 pattern. Classical Italo Space Disco sound updated to nowadays. 'Translucent' sounds like a dreamy electro-ballad heavily influenced by Kraftwerk. 'Pop Song' keeps the same 80's electro vibes with simple, wistful melodies and a great funk bass line. 'Disco Dub' is a pretty damn cool early eighties electronica, with a great pumping 'robo-funk' Linndrum!

Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra have been a consistent presence on the u.k. music scene, touring constantly in the promotion of their debut LP "Dilla" and steadily building a loyal and supportive fanbase.Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures, breathing new life into familiar material.The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets, and trombones and features the cream of the north of England's jazz scene, who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse.

"New Day" is the eagerly anticipated new single and features rapper and J Dilla's brother Illa J on vocals. Supported by a U.K. tour with Illa J throughout February, "New Day" takes the blueprint laid out on last years LP "Dilla" and expands it with Illa J's understated vocal delivery. Radio support anticipated from BBC6's Gilles Peterson who has been an advocate for Abstract Orchestra on both his BBC6 and Worldwide FM shows, as well as Huey Morgan (BBC6), Shawn Lee (Soho) and Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s). "New day" is the first original work by Abstract Orchestra and builds on the foundations laid on their debut. Flutes and electric piano lay out a gentle pad, propelled forward by Joost Hendrickx's insistent drums. Occasional fragments of saxophones add an urgency to the insouciant groove laid out by the rhythm section as soft trumpets and trombones are gradually added to the flutes. This provides the perfect foil to Illa J's laid-back vocal delivery as he describes a typically relaxed Tuesday morning spent contemplating the day ahead. The B-side is the AO remix which takes the instrumental performances of the A-Side, chopping and fragmenting them and re-framing the original with a slightly harder edge, which should be popular with those DJs and listeners looking for something with a tougher sound.

The third chapter in the vinyl installments on Gaze ill's Danish Cue Line Records is written by Belgian artist Zygos, Georgio Roumans. An unforgettable piece formed by 3 distinct original tracks plus an outstanding remix by Italy's most wanted, DPRTNDRP (D- Operation Drop).

The EP opens with the toxic symphony of 'Laicism'. By chest pressuring hits right from the beginning, we're pushed into another world where everything is moving though it feels like time stands still for a moment. Mellow melodies formed in layers of feedback alike sounds and endless reverberated stabs generate a persistent tension held tight by the static, marching drums. The title track 'Sudd' forms part 2 of the journey through Georgio Roumans' explorative universe. To think everything can move this fast yet keeping a minimal expression is beyond reality. From 8th to 16th to 24th notes - variations through the bass, percussion, and melody sections - a discreetly conducted progression is reached throughout the track. Accompanied by weird background soundscapes the sub bass takes the lead on the tight Halfstep- package of 'Tapered'. The drums are simple and hard, which is just what's needed to tame and control the strong movements from the sub. Super minimal for the sound system. Italian DPRTNDRP brings new life to 'Sudd', which awakens in a completely different light than the tempo- filled original. Strange sounds and rhythms, raw and dirty. DPRTNDRP makes the remix a must hear.

The vibe is intense from start to end, and the EP hits perfection due to Georgio's naturally alive style, and the clever remix from the ever boundary pushing DPRTNDRP. Signature sound, deluxe on 180 grams heavyweight vinyl!

One of soul music's great female voices, Millie Jackson's reputation was made by the release of Caught Up' and Still Caught Up', released in 1974 and 1975 respectively.

Here we reissue Caught Up' on vinyl. Both albums deal with infidelity - and see it from both the wife's and the lover's point of view. The combination of spoken word raps and forceful, risqué lyrics was to become Millie's trademark for several years to come

Side One belongs to the lover and gives us an eleven-minute plus version of 'If Loving You Is Wrong'.

Superb backing from the classic Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section line-up of Beckett, Johnson, Hood and Hawkins features throughout, with long-time Millie Jackson producer Brad Shapiro at the controls.

Experimental Spanish composer and multi-instrumentalist Pepo Gala´n makes his vinyl debut with an exquisite record of carefully orchestrated ambient pieces.
Conceived as a fierce response to the gradual decay of our society, "Human Values Disappear" takes us on a trip to the darkest corners of a dysfunctional world, painting a broken landscape with deeply arresting and meditative drones.
Composed initially on a vintage Casiotone, the album was further enriched with lush and spacious arrangements, giving the songs a newfound intensity. In this effort, Pepo Gala´n surrounded himself with talented artists Lee Yi and David Cordero, each of whom bring their unique approach to composition into play. The result is an eclectic, yet deeply cohesive palette of sounds that flow seamlessly into each other, creating a moody ambiance that permeates everything.
Despite the bleak tones and subject matter, Pepo Gala´n is able to strike a balance between darkness and hope, allowing glimpses of light ("Half Moon", "Old Testament") to filter through the sheer sonic intensity of the fiercest tracks ("We Are All Welcome Here", "Almost Alone in this Life"). This transition is better exemplified on the album's centerpiece "Sacred Autumn", a collaboration with David Cordero that starts off with an elegant string section, gradually building into a guitar feedback climax that slowly fades off, paving the way for an epic closing number.
By the time we hear the last sounds of "Few Dollar More", the emotional impact of the record is undeniable. "Human Values Disappear" is indeed one of the most sincere, enigmatic and life- affirming records that Pepo Gala´n has ever produced.

Well before Shuggie Otis (Born Johnny Alexander Veliotes, Jr.) cut his debut album, musicianship and performance had long been a part of his life. The son of rhythm and blues legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie learned to play guitar as early as the age of two, and performed professionally with his father's band at eleven. Throughout his long and illustrious career he'd performed on records for the

likes of Frank Zappa, Al Kooper, Etta James, and George Duke, to name a few. In spite of all this, widespread mainstream success eluded Shuggie for much of his career. His most famous release to date is his 1974 album Inspiration/Information, which would experience new resurgent life in 2001. Those willing to dig a little deeper however, would discover hidden gold in his earlier releases, especially in the album directly before Inspiration/Information, his sophomore 1971 release Freedom Flight. As with his debut, Freedom Flight was produced by Shuggie's father Johnny Otis, and built upon the distinct sounds of his debut album: lush, baroque, string section arrangements, paired with hard funk rhythms, and funky blues melodies, with the majority of the instruments once again performed by Shuggie himself. The album also featured backing from premium session greats like George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar, and the track "Strawberry Letter 23". which became a Billboard hit for The Brothers Johnson 3 years later. An unearthed treasure of deft, technical skill, and virtuosic composition.

Dekmantel regular Matrixxman returns with the third, and final instalment in the Sector series, Part III: Polyphony. In this triptych, the producer from San Fransisco sets out to highlight the key components behind the sounds and style of techno, exploring the range within the confines of a particular limitation. Following Parts I and II, which looked at Rhythm, and Acid, Charles McCloud Duff charters the realm of Polyphony with four, meticulously produced techno tracks, expanding his repertoire of cult, dancefloor music.Polyphony refers to the simultaneous combining of many notes in a musical sequence. In electronic music, this specifically refers to the role of the synthesiser - such as the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, which can produce different pitches simultaneously. Polyphony has been an integral characteristic of the genre's sound for over a quarter of a century, and can be heard in many key records, living a the sonic forefront of these four tracks. 'Sector Series: III Polyphony' provides an exercise in melody and polyphony. Throughout the EP, swaggering rhythms are inter-washed with a sea of multi-melodious, reverberated notation. 'Initiation' resonates with the grandiosity, and harsh claustrophobia of early Underground Resistance. 'Access Granted', drives hard with pulsing effects, with a dystopic, rhythmic cacophony of euphony. 'Desert Planet' plays around with a differing tempo, imagining a more fantastical vision of music, echoing back to earlier Plastikman productions, using a vast sonic spectrum to conjure up a colour palette of alien imagery. 'Horizon' rounds things off; a track that builds on minimalism with a progressive composition, allowing the polyphonics to drive the track, harnessing the adept production qualities that Matrixxman has come to be recognised for.

It's impossible to talk about this album without acknowledging the spectre of death that hangs over it - not only is it the third entry in Strata-East Records' Dolphy Series, a collection of archival recordings from some of the label's close associates honoring the recently deceased multi-instrumentalist, but it is actually dedicated to two members of the band, Wynton Kelly and Kenny Dorham, who died in between the recording sessions and its release. The point is driven home even further by the fact that the album begins with a tribute from Payne to the fallen Martin Luther King, Jr., a piece that acts as a de facto solo for Dorham - his playing all rosy elegance and regal warmth - before shifting into the lighter (though equally coolly-paced) "I Know Love," a showcase for Payne's sax. While not the most somber jazz track ever recorded, this opening suite is a low-key and mournful way to open the affair, but thankfully the album really picks off and shows these musicians more in their element the rest of the way.

"Girl, You Got a Home" is a funky piece, beginning very soulfully with some tight interplay among the rhythm section of Kelly, bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Albert Heath. Ware is in especially fine form on this track, tying together the disparate passages of the piece by grounding the more ponderous moments in a deep funk, while Kelly's playing is especially ear catching in the way he stabs at his piano like it's an organ. After the first two tracks take up nearly twenty minutes, the four-minute "Slide Hampton" feels almost impossibly brief, a feeling that's enhanced by its quick, jittery, and infectious rhythm, driven by some really dexterous work from Kelly. The final track, "Flying Fish," may be the album's highlight, a Caribbean-inspired composition that casts the rhythm section as flighty ground for both Payne and Dorham to vamp on. The track is oddly danceable for something released on Strata-East, maybe the most fun moment ever for the label, and relentlessly uptempo. Though this release may be in part defined by the deaths that preceded it, it's clear that the recording process was actually a lot of fun for everybody, as their enthusiasm and energy jumps right out of the speakers. This is one of the first Strata East records I really got into and is still one of my favorites, a must-hear for any fans of the flightier moments of Dorham or Kelly's career, and a fitting tribute for both master musicians.

Nicole Willis, known for her collaborations with The Soul Investigators & Jimi Tenor produces an album including some of the tracks she composed with the former as well as originals specifically for a fresh collaboration with UMO Jazz Orchestra. Jimi Tenor, who is a multi-faceted artist, has penned all arrangements for the big band and their talented rhythm section. Pete Toikkanen who is a mega-talent guitarist from The Soul Investigators, along with the two, composed those original tracks that highlight their alternative influences. Indie god & personal hero of Ms Willis, Ian Svenonius introduces Ms Willis on the first track and wraps up the LP with a final plea.

The Black Pearl is very proud to present a real 80´s futuristic proto club banger from the STRÖER Brothers, with lots of clubby remixes by buddies & friends. The original track "Night Falls" was only released on a very limited hand-spread promo 12inch, which was especially pressed for the Kunstdisko art-project for the 24th Olympic games in 1988 in Seoul / South-Korea. Together with the Goethe Institut they created the "Kunstdisco" project for germany, which was located at the Yoido Ankara Square and took part for the german Seoul Olympic Art Festival. The Ströer Brothers, who were responsible for the video & music sector, invided and encouraged 25 young german composers and producers (among of them was the young DJ West Bam) to produce new music for the Kunstdisco between Rap and new electronic club music from the end of the 80´s. The Ströer Brothers, together with Howard Fine & Nadeen Holloway, were presented  through many DJ´s who played their music that they espacially created for this event. Next to the in-house project Mudegg, the single audio tracks of "Night Falls" were givin to musical buddies like First Touch, Enzo Elia, DJ Rocca, Siggatunes and Manelet to remix them and Black Pearl is more than proud to present a great variety of remixes, styles and visons on the original track. 

Recorded in 1953 and 1954 with a veritable who's who of West Coast cool jazz including backing from Zoot Sims, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne, as well as arrangements from Jack Montrose, and Shorty Rogers, Chet Baker & Strings is a beautiful and airy collection of some of Baker's most sultry trumpet work. The string section perfectly complements the cool jazz quintet backing and makes this one of the Baker's finest and most unique sets. Essential.