Search "nas+life+is+good" 529 Items

Unheimlich Manoeuvre Transparent Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Roberto Laneri's works always convey a clear artistic certainty: a total composer with an eclectic cultural background. In this latest adventure it seems to propose a kind of weird and curious Exotica music; his Mediterranean ragas release glows and shadows, but the music plays more the plateaus of the Maghreb than the Indus Valley. Like a sorcerer piper, the sax shapes alchemy and hypnotic phrasing become: vague dances of camels, ecstatic progressions of an aboriginal vortex or a mystic arabesque tropicalisms. He doesn't neglect his training as a jazz clarinetist, with gentle and smooth orchestral veins that are decidedly retrò and old-style; remembering the dreamlike compositions of Nino Rota for Fellini's movies. There is no lack of esoteric voices from distant islands, Amazonian soundscapes, or rocking Brazilian moods. Laneri filters hidden traces of different traditions, creating unknown geographical syntheses without borders, furious extrapolations of compositional elements and famous themes misrepresentations. A visionary gaze, but also a good dose of ironic plaesure and fairytale humor. Not surprisingly, the original cover-art of Noura Tafeche does nothing but suggest the idea of a tasty psychedelic fruit-salad.

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Jo Myhre Berger

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Rarenoise)

Gil Ok-Yun, Lee Saeng-Gang, Lee Sung-Jin & Ryu Bok-Sung

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Norwegian Bassist, Composer And Producer Jo Berger Myhre Has Long Thrived On Collaboration, Bringing His Distinctive Voice To A Wide Variety Of Adventurous Projects. He Is Best Known As One-Third Of The Exploratory Electro-Acoustic Trio Splashgirl And A Member For The Last Seven Years Of The Nils Petter Molvær Quartet, With Whom He's Recorded And Co-Produced Two Albums: 2016's Buoyancy And This Summer's Stitches. He's Also A Frequent Duo Partner Of Multi-Instrumentalist Olafur Björn Olafsson And Has Performed And/Or Recorded With The Likes Of Mariam The Believer, Jenny Hval & Susanna, Geir Sundstol And Finland, The Improvising Alt-Rock Quartet Of Pål Hausken, Morten Qvenild, Ivar Grydeland And Myhre.Now, Myhre Makes His Solo Debut With The Release Of The Captivating And Mysterious Unheimlich Manoeuvre, The Title Is An Obvious Play On The Life-Saving Technique, Though Whether The Added Negation Makes The Threatening Or Simply Subverted Remains Ambiguous. More To The Point, The English Translation Of Unheimlich Is "Uncanny" Or "Eerie" - An Apt Descriptor For The Sounds That Myhre Creates. To Borrow A Phrase From David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Myhre Conjures Aural Landscapes That Suggest "A Place Both Wonderful And Strange," Stunning In Their Beauty With Something Alluringly Unsettling Lurking Just Underneath.

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Spirit Junction: Korean Folk Music Meets Jazz

LP | 2021 | JP | Original (Beat Ball Music)

Melodi Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lyrical pop / gayo composer and saxophonist Gil Ok-yun was a central figure in Korea's golden age of gayo (1960s to 1980s), and has given us countless gems through his collaborations with greats such as Hye Eun-yi and others. Gil never did let go of his jazz roots, and would occasionally release gayo records in the jazz-tinged kayokoku style with the help of musical colleagues during his time in Japan such as Keitaro Miho and Shungo Sawada. It was through his meeting with Korean classical musician Lee Saeng-gang in the 1980s - an era in Korea that was characterized by experimental crossovers of Eastern and Western styles - that Gil's musical aspirations were finally realized in the form of a 'proper' jazz record.

Lee Saeng-gang's ensemble included himself as daegeum flautist and his brother, the janggu percussionist Lee Sung-jin. They were joined by Gil and a member of his jazz ensemble, the percussionist Ryu Bok-sung. Several live performances eventually led to a recording session. This album, which comprises just two tracks recorded in the form of improv jams, has often been referred to the only work of its kind in Korea's jazz scene. The mélange of two woodwind instruments (saxophone, daegeum) and various percussion elements (bongos, janggu, jing, & kkwaenggwari) come together to conjure a ritual-like confluence that is spiritual in nature and transcends the boundary between East and West.

For some reason, the album was initially released only on CD - the present reissue is the first-ever vinyl release. Though Gil was a jazzman through and through all his life, it was only in his later years that he finally got a 'jazz recording' to his name. Rediscover his legacy and gift to Korea's jazz scene, restored here in its full glory.

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Kit Sebastian

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

LP | 1969 | UK | Reissue (Matsuli)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Follow-up album to cult-classic debut, Mantra Moderne.

‘Melodi’ is the second album from captivating duo Kit Sebastian (aka Kit Martin and Merve Erdem). Those familiar with the band's cult classic 2019 debut record 'Mantra Moderne' will instantly recognise their unique sound that blurs boundaries of world music, jazz and psychedelia. Not to be content replicating the same album, sonically the feel of ‘Melodi’ is a maturation. It is more diverse and provides glimpses into many different worlds from the Italian Riviera to the mountains of the Caucasus, the beaches of Bahia to the city streets of Istanbul and Paris. This joyous merging of soundscapes evokes a borderless planet with music as an international language, belonging everywhere and nowhere.

‘Melodi’ is imbued with Kit Sebastian's love of vintage records and world cinema, but it is not a retro homage. It celebrates its influences but is very much a modern record, being simultaneously brand new and retro. This is a credit to the duo's craft as musicians and songwriters, presenting their influences as a circular interaction between the present and the past rather than a linear one.

The music was written during the first UK lockdown and recorded that summer, a time of opening up that only briefly existed. In a world with a slower pace than before the Covid crisis, the band were able to spend more time experimenting in the studio. The album’s range of instrumentation has expanded from the previous record to include zithers, harpsichords, congas, bongos, bulbul tarang, and a mock-up choir on top of the synthesizers, balalaikas, organs, and saxophones. Session musicians and friends were also booked to introduce trumpet and string sections giving the album an added depth and orchestral texture. Despite the added complexity, the album was recorded using the same techniques employed for the previous album with various tape machines, bouncing back between cassette and ¼” tape for practicality and sonic abstraction. To pierce through this abstraction, the vocals are intentionally more expressive. Merve took cues from the Turkish singers of her youth, adding a slightly more melancholic, darker and more reflective style than 'Mantra Moderne’. Rooted in observations from everyday life, they speak often about the worlds and thoughts that arise from the end of the night.

Like with many of the best albums, the record seems over all too soon and has you instantly wanting to play it again. On each listen you decide on a track that you think is your favourite from the album only for it to be replaced with a different one on the next listen. The songs and production have hidden depths that seem to evolve and morph the more you devour them. Moments of pure pop, moments to fall in love, moments to contemplate. This journey is rich in musical vitamins and nourishment, but like all the best things still leaves you wanting more.

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Gideon Nxumalo

Gideon Plays

29,44 €* 30,99 € -5%

De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1969 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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• Long lost 1968 album from visionary South African jazz composer incorporating traditional African music sources and instruments.

• Officially licensed from the Nxumalo family and reissued with inner sleeve containing archival photographs and new liner notes by Francis Gooding.

Gideon Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays might just be the most mythologised and sought-after LP in the whole South African canon. A sophisticated bop excursion with a distinctive African edge, it was only Nxumalo’s second LP as leader, despite his crucial place in South African jazz history. Pianist Nxumalo was a visionary jazz composer who had recorded regularly during the 1950s, and his 1962 Jazz Fantasia album was the first South African jazz recording to incorporate traditional African musical sources and instruments. But he was also the country’s most significant radio presenter and jazz tastemaker – from 1954 onwards, he had worn the nickname ‘Mgibe’ to introduce ‘This Is Bantu Jazz’, South African radio’s premier jazz show. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961, Nxumalo had been side-lined from radio play, and was eventually sacked for playing records with political meanings. By 1968, he had not been heard on record or airwave for several years. Gideon Plays was a celebrated return to the studio for one of South Africa’s best loved and most forward-thinking jazzmen, and it showcases Nxumalo’s deep understanding of jazz, his brilliant touch as a composer, and his commitment to bringing South Africa’s indigenous sound into the music. However, it was released on the tiny JAS Pride label owned by production impresario Ray Nkwe, and after one pressing in 1968, Gideon Plays fell into the undeserved silence that has obscured so much of the South African jazz discography. It has since become a legend: hardly more than a rumour, it has been bootlegged by the unscrupulous, changed hands for eye-watering sums, and has scarcely been heard outside the circles of the most committed South African jazz devotees. It goes without saying that it has never been released outside South Africa, and even now only a handful of original copies are known to have survived. Over the last ten years, Matsuli Music has been proud to present some of the greatest lost and found jazz recordings in South African history – but we have never presented a rarer, lesser known album than the mighty Gideon ‘Mgibe’ Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays.

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Viejas Raices

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Altercat)

De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Altercat proudly presents the definitive reissue of one of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz's leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked Lopez Ruiz's departure from the traditional forms of jazz. The trio that recorded this album, consisting of López Ruiz joined by his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro, created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz's long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title (in English: 'Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate') readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.

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Viejas Raices

CD | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Altercat)

15,99 €*

LP | 1975 | EU | Reissue (Sommor)

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Barcelona Traction

Talk Memory Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1975 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“After recording in 1972 the cult album "We Are Digging The Beatles" with ex-Màquina! sax player Peter Rohr, innovative pianist Lucky Guri decided to form his own band, having jazz as a starting point but taking it to a more electric, eclectic sound with multiple influences. And thus, in 1973, he created the New Jazz Trio, which would become the embryo for Barcelona Traction. Lucky was accompanied by top double bass player Jordi Clua (ex-Dos +Un) and drummer Francis Rabassa (a veteran of the Barcelona 60s beat scene). The New Jazz Trio was the house band at the legendary La Cova del Drac jazz club, where they played every day, even acting as the backing band for international artists that came mainly through the USA-Paris jazz connection.

Performing life on a daily basis gave the trio great skills and the confidence to create a more personal sound through improvisation. But the turning point came when they decided to go electric. Lucky Guri moved to electric piano and even introduced the mini-moog to their sound. Jordi Clua never left the double bass, but started to use an electric bass as well. Add the modern, daring beat of Francis Rabassa and they started delivering a totally electric jazz-rock sound. The resulting mix arose the criticism of their more jazz-purist followers who turned their back on them, but the younger generations and a new audience coming from rock started to follow them instead.

After changing their name to Barcelona Traction, they caught the attention of popular catalan singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat, who arranged for them to sign for his label, Òliba-Edigsa. The resulting LP contains five instrumental tracks. Three are written by Lucky Guri, the other two are fabulous covers of Rubens Serrano's "Sudamérica" and James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", here translated to Catalan as "Foc i pluja".

On Francesc Bellmunt's film about the famous Canet Rock festival, the band appears playing "Sudamérica". Thanks to this footage we can see how powerful the trio was on stage. Barcelona Traction marked an era, and their eponymous debut LP is here to prove it. Modern, fresh music that gets the attention of the listener. Unlike other bands like Música Urbana, more based in sophistication and more technical developments, Barcelona Traction is a combo that stands out due to the apparent simplicity and high energy of their sound, with the quality of being able to appeal and be listened in any situation, taking it beyond strict, pigeonholed mind sets.” - Álex Gómez-Font

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BBNG (BadBadNotGood)

LP | 2021 | UK | Original (XL)

30,99 €*

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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. Talk Memory,
the band's first album with XL Recordings, features 9 new songs and is due October 8th. The album
features musical contributions from Arthur Verocai, Karriem Riggins, Terrace Martin, Laraaji and
acclaimed harpist Brandee Younger, who has worked with Moses Sumney, and Thundercat. Sporting
visuals from Virgil Abloh, whose design firm Alaska-Alaska™ designed the cover for Talk Memory,
the album is an evolution focused on collaboration and the magic of improvised live performance.Demonstrating emotional and poetic progress, the new album is an aural odyssey and a heartfelt
expression of joy for the music and community the band considers itself lucky to inhabit.
Of the album, BBNG says: "It took a year or two of just living life to get to the place where the
creative process was exciting again and once we actually went in to the studio it was the most
concise recording and writing process we’ve ever had. We hope that the improvised studio
performances bring the listener closer to our live experience."

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LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Piano Piano)

Natura Morta

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Morning Trip)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The highly anticipated follow-up to Eastern Flowers and Wabi Sabi US pressing The staff used on Natura Morta is the following: 9 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 1 flute, 1 piano, 1 electric piano, 1 cembalo, 1 twelve-string guitar, 1 electric guitar, 1 trumpet, 1 flugelhorn, 1 tenor horn, 1 marimba, 1 electric bass, drums and percussions / On Natura Morta, Sven Wunder is exploring art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions with brightly colored textures and an emphasis on vibrant melodies.

Throughout human history, we have depicted the world we live in through art. By reworking what we see in the world, the simplest things have helped us understand the beauty of nature and to evaluate the material world that we have created around us, as a window to a constantly changing reality, through our own perception. It is that absolute reality that appears in the seam of human and nature and that can be revealed through art.

Still life painting, also referred to as Natura Morta (”dead nature”) in Italian, stretches back to ancient times. Some of the earliest works, found in Pompeii, depict commonplace objects such as fresh autumn fruits alongside man-made objects such as a small amphora and a small terracotta heap with dried fruits. These two-thousand-year-old paintings give a snapshot of Roman life, and also creates a link to time and space. A slice of life has been created by binding the earth’s pigments with extracts of oil, made from nuts and seeds, painted with brushes, made from a variety of fibers, such as trees and hair from animals. While life wanes with each brushstroke, by shifting reality into the past, art exists to make us come alive, being a living image of a dead thing, a surface and a symbol with symbolic powers of its own. Still life works celebrate material and ephemeral pleasures by returning to nature as the ultimate source for our standards in art as well as in life itself.

Natura Morta collects pieces from a continuous variety of melodies — supported by a decisive rhythm section — creating a musical kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. Sven Wunder brings life into this rich assortment of musical implications by fusing and combining melodic instruments with each other in a setting that spans from a classical to a modern idiom. The author evokes this panoramic portrait by articulating an instrumental dialog between a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. The result is a musical celebration of material pleasures that also serves as a reminder of the brevity of human life. This album was produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.

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Alice Damon

Windsong

19,99 €*

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (South Of North)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Morning Trip & Yoga Records are proud to finally reveal one of the ultimate lost masterworks of new age music: Alice Damon’s Windsong. Gently propelled by Damon's haunting breath-of-life vocal winds reminiscent of Joan La Barbara underscored by field recordings and Damon's fretless bass sound calling to mind mid-70 Joni Mitchell, Windsong is traveling music, for the roads or for the skies. Instantly moving, it conjures vistas both romantically familiar and cosmically mysterious — waterfalls and wind, the voice of the earth, as heard through heavenly prisms. Damon attended college in Massachusetts, where she formed and fronted the all-female garage band called The Moppets in the late 60s. The band began to garner national attention, but Damon moved instead to the wilds of northern Vermont to homestead and raise a family. In 1981 or thereabouts she was able to gain use of an early Sony digital home recorder, and created her masterwork, Windsong. But Damon waited until 1990 to release a packaged version of this album, now titled "Windsong II", and sent samples to regional distributors like Vermont’s fabled Silo-Alcazar, where a copy of the album was first discovered, but little evidence exists of a proper commercial release. Alice Damon passed on in 2011 and remained essentially unknown until the landmark I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age In America 1950-1990 first revealed her genius to a wider audience two years later. Now, just in time for the recording's 40th anniversary, Alice Damon's Windsong may at last be heard as one of the most singular, moving and profound examples of new age music's psychedelic essence. Morning Trip & Yoga Records proudly present Windsong.

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Lyckle De Jong

CD | 2021 | UK | Original (XL)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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"Oscillation associations

This album is titled Os. When I look at the shape of these two letters, O and S, I realize that they are a rotation and an oscillation.

Os is Dutch for Ox. An ox is a castrated male bull. The primary benefit of castrating bull calves is to temper their tempers, making it easier and cheaper for people to handle them. Os is also an abbreviation of oscillation, -cillation being castrated off. Oscillation means a movement back and forth in a regular rhythm, like breathing, push-ups, tides, swinging or sound. For this album Lyckle was not dealing with oxes or bulls, but with oscillations, guiding them through synths, handling their tempers. If I look at the etymology of oscillation, I learn that it stems from the term Oscilla, which were ancient disks depicting a face or animal on each side. Oscilla is a diminutive of os and means ‘little face’. They were hung in trees during religious feasts honoring various deities, as well as being thought of as purifying the air as they swung in the wind.

The wind chime with its little sunny face, smiling on the cover of this record was hanging in the windowsill of Lyckle’s studio, behind his back, where the wind would make it jingle, averting the Evil Eye according to apotropaic magic. In ancient Rome, wind chimes named Tintinnabulum were decorated with a phallus, which was also seen as a good luck charm. Phallic charm also appeared as objects of jewelry such as pendants and finger rings. It has been suggested that some types of phallic pendants were designed to point outwards in the direction of travel in order to face any potential danger or bad luck, nullifying it before it could affect the wearer.

When I take the record itself out of the sleeve, I see that there are two phalluses carved into the surface of the vinyl, like little ornaments. When you start playing the record, they start chasing each other, going round and round. They point in all directions of the room, but are never able to point at each other. Finally, I am told that it is recommended to listen to this record with the window open, allowing sounds from outside to blend in with the music. "

- Bernice Nauta

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BBNG (BadBadNotGood)

Talk Memory

14,99 €*

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Adarce)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Paco Ros

Clasicos Con Ritmo

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Zoe's Shanghai)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Adarce proudly presents the reissue of ‘Clásicos con Ritmo’ by Paco Ros. Originally released in 1978 on Discos Maller, still sounds as special and out of time as when it was released; a strange album that has become one of the most sought after jewels - and most hard to find - for lovers of Spanish Groove. 'Clásicos con Ritmo' offers a mix of sounds that range from a kind of analog pre-Balearic to something similar to Library Music, passing through a slow cadence groove based on sinuous layers of Hammond organ, Fender pianos, vibraphones and xylophones. During the 11 songs on the album, Paco Ros revisits his life trajectory through memories: his Valencian childhood in Godella, his professional beginnings in Madrid and his musical adventures as a backing band, his return to Valencia -where he would form 'Los 4 Ros, then simply the Ros - to finally take refuge in his Mallorcan retreat, cradled between Party Rooms, Hotel Discotheques and endless sunrises, moved as always by his infinite love for music.

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Zoe's Shanghai

Lava Love

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (No Format)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lava Love is the new album by Zoe’s Shanghai. Led by singer Zoé Renié Harris, the band has made a splash into the crowded neo-soul scene with their debut EP A Mirage (Meant To Last Forever) released in 2019 - a deeply evocative sound and Zoe’s extraordinary voice gained them immediately the spotlight as ones to watch (“a worthy torchbearer for heady and hearty soul music”- Earmilk). Following a successful string of EPs and singles, the Barcelona & Paris-based four-piece band is now ready to share with the world their first full-length album. Lava Love was recorded in an old stable in the French region of Auvergne - known for its mountain ranges and dormant volcanoes, this region could not have been a more apt setting. Lava and love portray in fact a dynamic flow of memory and meaning pouring out of Zoe’s Shanghai’s heart. In and out of the metaphor, Lava and love can be powerful, frightening, beautiful, dangerous and at the same time are essential elements that create fertile change and growth. Through the 11 songs, the band evoke memories and pose questions - inner dialogues, life stories, encounters and relationships – the album depicts a kaleidoscope of moods and feelings, prompting the listener to open to the conversation: while each song presents a microcosm on its own, the album manifests itself in the shared musical experience - immersive music to listen to and enjoy with your loved ones. Produced with Oli Barton-Wood (Nubiyan Twist, Joe Armon-Jones, Nilufer Yanya), the sound of Lava Love brings together hypnotic melodies, groovy rhythms and thoughtful lyrics - fusing the essence of multiple music styles and forging Zoe’s Shanghai unique contemporary soul. The album follows the critically acclaimed EP ‘A Mirage’, which garnered the support of Gilles Peterson & Huey Morgan (bbc 6 Music), Jamz Supernova (bbc Radio 1Xtra), Worldwide FM and Earmilk to name a few.

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Koki Nakano

Pre-Choreographed

Coming Yesterday-Live At Salle Gaveau 2019

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Koki Nakano has spent time in the worlds of both classical music and electro-rock (with his band Gas Law). After training at the prestigious Toho Gakuen music school and the Tokyo University of the Arts, he embarked on his career with the strength and serenity of a man who had already ditched all those qualms about identity and heritage that often hobble young musicians.It was back in 2016 that Koki Nakano first came to the attention of those who hunger for the wondrous and unprecedented. The nine pieces on his first album Lift, recorded for No Format! with help from cellist and admirer Vincent Segal, revealed a composer of singular talents. His work displayed a subtle versatility, a high-wire delight in floating above established musical genres. The title of the album evokes a move well-known to ballet dancers: the porté, and conveys the deep relationship, both physical and spiritual, that Koki's music maintains with dance, a bond he's been cultivating ever since he moved to Paris in 2015.Pre-Choreographed is the sequel to that beautiful opening chapter, a new episode in No Format's adventures with the emancipated genii of the piano, which began fifteen years ago with the release of Chilly Gonzales's classic Solo Piano. This project evokes the strong "saudade" for the era when the music and the dance were very close to each other, when they used to function congenially in the society. It also means the state of the music such as "awaiting" or even "missing" the choreography. That is to say, the character of the music is yet very "raw", no direction is given. Koki Nakano's basic intention resides in the urge to re-transcribe the intimate topography of a man's life, whilst remaining deliberately detached from fashions, slogans, from a binary vision of the history of music in which modernity and past, avant-garde and classicism, new and old stand in opposition to each other as a matter of principle. For that reason, his creations never emit the dusty odour of schools and lecture halls, or the perfum...

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Martial Solal

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Challenge)

Tülay German & Francois Rabbath

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Coming Yesterday is the recording of what turns out to be Martial's last concert, he decided to stop playing piano after that show:

Martial Solal
"When I walked onto the stage on January 23, 2019, I did not yet know that I would decide not to play piano anymore after this concert, more than seventy years after my debut. To maintain a certain level, this instrument requires your daily attention; it requires delicacy, brutality, and especially energy. I have lived with these demands all my life, with the joy of seeing the progress, the technical and musical advances, the rhythmic and harmonic enrichments that we acquire over time. Of course, everything goes very fast at first. As long as you are gifted, if you spend a little time on it, if you listen to what was done before you, if you choose a path, everything may seem easy. Progress is rapid, illusions are immense, and then walls arise, walls that you want to reach and overcome. Seventy years to achieve this is a minimum... When energy is no longer available, it is better to stop.

I had the impression on January 23 of having reached the beginning of a path that I would have liked to continue, after so many years of improvisation, of creation, based on what are called standards, which I call pretexts, challenges, essay topics that you can develop in a thousand and one ways according to the evolutions that arise in your mind or in your circle of musicians. The standards have gone out of fashion, replaced by other themes that most of the time may not have the qualities to become standards, the so-called “originals”. All musicians considered themselves composers, free jazz burst onto the scene and swept away old themes, eliminating the difficult rules of stability of tempo, harmony and melody. Some standards have survived, and those you will discover can be described as indestructible. They are always only pretexts for expressing ideas, but with relaxed rules, the rubato being entitled to be cited as well as accelerations, atonality or the absence of a continuous tempo.

That is what I was thinking on January 23. Part of this concert seems to reflect my knowledge to this date. For me, jazz remains that of the twentieth century, the one that saw the birth of New Orleans, middle jazz, be-bop, and free jazz. The first three of these jazz eras were built on ternary rhythms. Charlie Parker may have been the first to use sixteenth notes on a medium tempo, abolishing the necessity of this permanent balancing called swing that has disappeared in this form with the emergence of binary rhythms and phrasings. This style of rhythm no longer corresponds to what I considered essential. I preferred a greater freedom, playing on the melting of keys, rhythms, duration, style, rather than on the forced slavery of the “new” ones. Great freedom requires a lot of work. I’ve done my share. I want to thank those who helped me, who helped me progress thanks to their encouragement or criticism, to those who were kind enough to play alongside me, for me, who often played my compositions for years. Too bad for all those who have missed out what I have tried to offer them. Progress is a very selfish happiness. I feel as if I have sown a blade of grass during this concert, showing a direction that I would like to see continue. In some places, this grass has already grown enough to be considered a musical testament… improvised''

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LP | 1980 | EU | Reissue (Zehra)

20,89 €* 21,99 € -5%

Washington Suite Ox Blood Red Vinyl Edition

Release: 1980 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Remastered vinyl reissues of the two essential albums by Turkish folk/ jazz singer Tülay German, starting with the self-titled release (1980) and followed by "Hommage to Nazım Hikmet" (1982) in early 2022. Referring heavily on turkish poets and the tradition of aşıks (singer-poets and wandering bards) these two albums represent unique and modern interpretations of turkish folk songs unmatched
to this day. A matured artist with full conviction at the height of her powers! Back in the 60s Tülay German (*1935 in Istanbul, Turkey) shook the turkish music landscape with several 7" records. Most notably her first 7" record Burçak Tarlası (1964) is now considered
the cornerstone of what was to become the Anadolu Rock/ Pop movement and underlines her rebellious nature and sense of justice.
But due to increasing repression Tülay German and her lifelong partner and intellectual impetus Erdem Buri decided to leave Turkey a few years later. In fact, an impending prison sentence for Erdem Buri for translating Hegel’s Dialectic and Science of Logic led the couple to emigrate to France.

In France Tülay German signs a major contract with Philips resulting in many 7" releases sung in french under her french moniker Toulaϊ. In the long run Tülay German doesn’t feel quite comfortable with this major deal. And thus, despite the success and recognition she had gained, she decides to quit the contract with Philips! Later on she signs to independent world-music label Arion to pursue her actual artistic goals more in line with her origin and temperament. Back to her mother tongue, Tülay German records above mentioned albums for Arion under full artistic freedom, the only full-lenghths in her 20+ years career. Alongside with double-bass virtuoso and turkophil François Rabbath (*1931 in Aleppo, Syria) the albums consist of aşık traditionals and intonated poems mainly by Nazım Hikmet. Her passionate voice and the restrained arrangements of François Rabbath turn these centuries old melodies and poems into glowing manifestos for love and justice.

The fruitful collaboration of these artists-in-exile adds significantly to the rich heritage of turkish folk music. The self-titled debut, which was awarded with the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque of Académie Charles Cros in 1981, is now seeing a vinyl reissue after 40 years. Tülay German ended her musical career in 1987 and after the death of Erdem Buri in 1993 she retired from public life completely, leading a quiet life in Paris where she still lives to this day. In 2021 Tülay German was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Turkey.

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Lloyd McNeill Quartet

LP | 1970 | UK | Reissue (Soul Jazz)

2LP | 2021 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Release: 1970 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soul Jazz Records' new ox-blood red Colored Vinyl limited-edition 1000-copies worldwide LP (+ download code) issue of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album, first released as a private-press album in 1970 on flautist Lloyd McNeill's own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. 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. Lloyd McNeill's hypnotic 'Washington Suite' was originally commissioned as a piece of music for the Capital Ballet Company, in Washington, DC.

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Justin Thyme

A Life In A Day

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Shapes Of Rhythm)

Release: 2021 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This exclusive Jazz-Fusion album is a work composed by famous Hawaiian composer/musician/educator Gary Washburn. "A Life in a Day" was a project to fulfil a National Endowment of the Arts grant that he was awarded, and he performed it to fulfil a State Foundation grant that was also awarded to him. Gary composed the music in Hilo specifically for the individuals who performed the music (in the same way that Duke Ellington composed for his band). It's a concept album. The Justin Thyme line-up played a series of shows across the island, and they were initially recorded on a 4-channel recorder. The songs was introduced to brother and producer Kent Washburn, and he agreed to release it on his independent label EmKay Records. The album was mixed and pressed, but the distribution company he was with doubled it up and the album never really made it to the public. The musical Styles used by Washburn to present this unique conceptual representation include traditional and contemporary Jazz, Funk, Pop and, in some passages, classical.

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Awkward Corners

Amateur Dramatics

17,99 €*

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Amateur Dramatics is Awkward Corners AKA Chris Menist's second LP in the space of a year. In 2020 â€“ a time when the global pandemic gave artists more time and space to think about their music â€“ Chris took his collaborations and compositions to a different level. Having already collaborated remotely with Sarathy Korwar, as well as Kitty Whitelaw through Karthik from Flamingods' Isolate/Create/Collaborate community, Chris turned his thoughts towards a new project. Amateur Dramatics is influenced by the events of early 2021 and alludes to the general atmosphere of political life in the UK right now where we are chivvied along by people who seem woefully unqualified to be commanding authority. Musically, the LP builds on foundations of the meditative, devotional electronic aspects of previous LP Dislocation Songs but this time frames it more in a jazz context with significant collaborations with Collocutor and Maisha's Tamar Osborn on four tracks.Vocals (from Kitty Whitelaw) feature on an Awkward Corners track for the first time, as well as double bass provided by David Leahy.The result is a thoughtful and deep listening 40 minute listening experience.

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Horace Tapscott

Live At Lobero Volume 2

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This is a reissue of a now out-of-print album from live trio date by the legendary LA-based pianist, composer and multi-bandleader, Horace Tapscott. Pianist Horace Tapscott is always at his best when he is leading a trio. Born in 1934 in Houston, Texas, Horace came from a musical family centered around his mother, Mary Malone Tapscott, who worked professionally as a singer and pianist. When Horace was nine, the family moved to Los Angeles. As a teenager in the late 1940's, Horace was surrounded by the music of Central Avenue: Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, were among the many cats on the set. Around this time, Horace also began to take music lessons from teachers Dr. Samuel R. Browne and Lloyd Reese, whose other students included Eric Dolphy and Frank Morgan. Horace's musical studies included trombone in addition to piano.
In 1952, Horace graduated from Jefferson High, got married to Cecilia Payne and went into the Air Force. Horace played in an Air Force Band while he was stationed in Wyoming for his term of duty. After mustering out, he returned to Los Angeles where he worked around on various gigs until he joined the Lionel Hampton Big Band as a trombonist.
In 1959, Horace finally went with the Hampton Big Band to New York, where his friend Eric Dolphy introduced him to John Coltrane. A tough winter, a lack of gigs, and too many nights on the floor of a friend's art gallery finally sent Horace packing for sunny Southern California, where a life with wife and family awaited his return.
The sixties saw Horace emerge as a die-hard leader of the Avant Garde. Horace began to gain public notice playing with his own group, that included alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, bassist David Bryant, and drummer Everett Brown II. Horace also appeared on records for the first time.
Horace was always outspoken about racism, politics, stereotypes, and social ethics. His forward-minded vocal presence on and off the microphone is as much a part of his art as his piano playing. As a result, he was labeled a 'dissident', categorized as an 'employment risk', and black-listed from the music industry establishment in the early 1970's. None of this slowed Horace down. He began gigging sporadically at Parks and Recreation events and for churches around Watts. This 'dark period', with his only regular gig at his friend Doug Weston's Troubadour on Los Angeles' "Restaurant Row", was also a time of intense creativity.
Around 1977, Horace reorganized the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra with the help of several old friends and many new faces. The Arkestra performances involve singing, dancing, and poetry in addition to the music. Soon after the new group's debut, Horace came to the attention of producer Tom Albach who contracted Horace to record a number of albums for Nimbus Records. Albach also helped introduce Horace to an international audience by arranging several European tours.
The 80's saw Horace emerge as one of jazz's premiere solo pianists. He recorded several solo piano albums for Nimbus.

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7" | 2021 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

Impasto / Prussian Blue

15,99 €*

Yellow Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In collaboration with Piano Piano Records, Mr Bongo is thrilled to present a taster 7” single, ‘Impasto’ / 'Prussian Blue’. The single showcases the colourful palette of Sven Wunder's fabulous forthcoming third album 'Natura Morta’. The album is set to be released on Piano Piano Records later in 2021 with this 7” acting as the perfect prelude. Sven's 2019 album 'Eastern Flowers' took us into the world of Anatolian rock, European jazz, library, funk, psychedelia, and traditional folk melodies. The 2020 follow up, 'Wabi Sabi’, mixed jazz and Eastern and Southern Asian sounds to present an aural aesthetic of the Japanese ancient wisdom. 'Natura Morta’, "still life" in Italian, owes its inspiration to art. Sven Wunder explores it as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe through eleven unique musical compositions, each one brightly coloured and textured with an emphasis on vibrant melodies. As with previous Sven Wunder material the tracks here on this 7" are covered in lush orchestration, evoking the rich musical soundscapes of a previous era (think library music or the film scores of Morricone). First up is the beautiful ‘Impasto’ which refers to the technique used in painting where the paint is laid in very thick layers on a surface. With its lavish sweeping strings and melodies there are echoes of the arrangements of Arthur Verocai, but it then takes a turn into 60s detective movie territory. You can imagine it being the score to a scene in a Harry Palmer film which breaks for a romantic interlude in between the action and suspense. 'Prussian Blue’, is built on Sven’s ‘Shinrinyoku' from the 'Wabi Sabi’ album, sharing the same melody but here with an uptempo beat and another arrangement. It begins with a moment of calm with its soothing piano intro before it bursts into a percussive breakbeat workout. It skates and glides with the influences of Italian library music and Eastern melodies, yet at the same time it retains a unique element that can only be Sven Wunder. 'Prussian Blue' refers to the pigment that was imported to Japan. Once again, we are indebted to Sven Wunder and John Henriksson at Piano Piano Records for letting us share this melodious vision from one of our favourite contemporary musicians. The compositions on this 7" were produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.

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Emma-Jean Thackray

2LP | 2021 | UK | Original (Movementt)

36,99 €*

So Much Soul Players (Chris Read & Rob Barron)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“I approached the record by trying to simulate a life-changing psychedelic experience, an hour where we see behind the curtain to a hidden dimension, where the physical realm melts away and we finally see that we are all one,” she explains.

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Happy Hammond

7" | 2021 | UK | Original (Dinked)

12,99 €*

Jazz Montez Presents Volume I

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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‘Happy (Hammond)’ is the second release from London based Funk & Soul outfit the So Much Soul Players (aka Chris Read & Rob Barron), a gritty, instrumental Hammond Funk take on Pharrell Williams’ ubiquitous feel-good Pop/Soul cut ‘Happy’. Harking back to the raw stylings of 60s/70s Funk, this dancefloor oriented rendition of the popular song features driving drums, funky Hammond licks and crunchy, overdriven organ lines galore.

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V.A.

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Jazz Montez)

Sangue Si Sbirro pAd Reworks

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Jazz Montez is a music collective from Frankfurt, Germany dedicated to spreading the gospel of jazz throughout the universe. To them, jazz does not describe a particular style of music but an attitude, mindset and an approach to art and life that can manifest itself in a variety of ways. For their first vinyl release, they invited seven of the most talented and ambitious young groups from all over Germany to Frankfurt to record a track in the renowned studio Lotte Lindenberg. Despite the band’s various influences, ranging from classic jazz, afrobeat and funk to hip hop, electronic music and rock, “Jazz Montez Presents Vol. I", mixed in its entirety by Drum&Bass legend Kabuki, works as a cohesive album. Pressed on high quality 180g vinyl, the record comes packaged in a beautiful and eco-friendly bagasse gatefold cover, designed by artist Clara Sipf. It features a 20 page booklet that includes a comic on the making of the album, texts by and information on the participating musicians, an interview with the sound engineers and an essay on the contemporary relevance of jazz. May this record inspire us to go through life guided by a spirit of open-mindedness and collaboration so that we may create a better, healthier and more beautiful world.

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Alessandro Alessandroni

12" | 2021 | EU | Original (Four Flies)

17,99 €*

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Holy Basil)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Welcome to the latest installment of Four Flies’ 12-inch vinyl series for DJs! This time, Neapolitan-born producer pAd has put a dance-floor spin on two themes from Alessandro Alessandroni’s soundtrack to the 1976 pulp/noir film Sangue di Sbirro, giving them the double treatment with a “daylight” and a “nightclub” version each. These brilliant reworks at once respect the spirit of the originals and give them new life in the present – a time where the music of a genius like Alessandroni is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

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Modern Sound Quartet

Floreama

Sylvin Marc / Del Rabenja

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Following the work previously made on "Cocktail Bar" and "Erbe Selvatiche", Modern Sound Quartet release their third full-length "Floreama" in 1977, this time focusing their work around the world of flowers. The twelve tracks on this recording boast the highest form of Italian jazz-funk vibes, with some rock, disco and spacey moods thrown in for good measure. Each flower sets the track in a different mood and brings the listener in a different dimension, alternating upbeat funky moments to some more mellow atmospheres. Now available on vinyl for the first time since its original release as a limited edition of 500 copies.

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Madagascar Now

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Life As We See It Splatter Vinyl Edition

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Key players on the mythical albums, "Funny Funky Rib Crib" by Byard Lancaster, "Soul Of Africa" by Hal Singer & Jef Gilson and "Malagasy At Newport-Paris" by Jef Gilson, the young Malagasy musicians Del Rabenja and Sylvin Marc were able to develop their own compositions on an album for Palm in 1973. Del Rabenja takes us to the depth of spirituality with his valiha (a small Malagasy harp) while Sylvin Marc oscillates between free jazz and electro-groove.

"While he was working on the repertoire for the new version of his group Malagasy, with young Malagasy musicians he had met in Paris in 1972 (and who can be heard on the album "Malagasy At Newport-Paris"), Jef Gilson realised that two of his new discoveries, in addition to being established polyinstrumentalists (who both had sharpened their skills in the legendary seja-jazz band from La Réunion, Le Club Rythmique), were also skilled composers. They were capable of reinventing jazz and traditional Malagasy music, adding influences from the new generation inspired by pop, rock and funk into the mix. He offered them the chance to share the two sides of an album recorded on his own label, Palm, alongside their compatriots. Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Raholison.

This is how Del Rabenja and Sylvin Marc came to record this "Madagascar Now / Maintenant 'Zao". The first side really showcases the valiha (a small Malagasy harp) of Del Rabenja who uses the occasion to pay homage to the sadly missed Rakotozafy, often called the Django Reinhardt of the instrument. His three compositions are full of spirituality and invite an almost trance-like state. But Rabenja is equally a very good tenor saxophonist and organist on the other tracks. The other side displays the full range of talents of the multi-instrumentalist and composer Sylvin Marc, who moves from bass to drums, from vocals to percussion and offers four compositions ranging from free jazz to cosmic groove.

At the same period the five men could also be found amongst the cast list of the mythical albums, "Funny Funky Rib Crib" by Byard Lancaster and "Soul Of Africa" by Hal Singer & Jef Gilson. Later, Sylvin Marc would play bass for Nina Simone on her album "Fodder On My Wings" in 1982, then join the team of violinist Didier Lockwood, while Del Rabenja would be part of Manu Dibango’s and Eddy Louiss’ orchestras for a long time and would even be at the front of the top 50 at the end of the 80s with David Koven. He would also be the special guest of the Palm Unit trio (Fred Escoffier, Lionel Martin, Philippe "Pipon" Garcia) on their first album, an homage to the œuvre of Jef Gilson, in 2018." --- Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau

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Howl Quartet

LP | 2021 | UK | Original

LP | 1981 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Life As We See is the debut album from Howl Quartet, the London based collaboration between long standing friends Dan Smith, Harry Brunt, Pete Komor and Matt Parkinson. With each musician bringing their own sound and influences into the mix through composition and performance, this album combines a strong melodic sensibility and rhythmic creativity with ever evolving interaction, to provide a refreshing outlook on improvised music. Howl Quartet are grateful recipients of Help Musicians’ ‘Do It Differently’ fund, which supports this release.

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Creative Arts Ensemble

One Step Out

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Whirlwind)

Release: 1981 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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One of the most sought after and highly-regarded titles to have appeared on Tom Albach's celebrated Nimbus West imprint, "One Step Out" is a timeless work of spiritualized jazz. A true gem from the Los Angeles jazz underground, the album was pianist and composer Kaeef Ruzadun Ali's first recording as leader of the Creative Arts Ensemble, the only large ensemble group that emerged directly from Horace Tapscott's legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra community jazz group. A Los Angeles native, Kaeef was introduced to the Tapscott circle in the late 1970s. His first experience of the Arkestra's ethos was through Papa tenorist Michael Session, who took him to the famous "Great House" at 2412 South Western Ave., LA -- a large mansion house which members of the Arkestra had taken over as a space for communal living. Life in the Great House was a continuous stream of music, dance and community events. »When I walked in there,« recalled Kaeef, »it was like this whole rush came over me, just from going in the front door -- It was like a very, very warm feeling of love. I went and I came out with "Flashback Of Time", and that was my first arrangement.« Kaeef quickly became a significant contributor of compositions to the Arkestra's songbook -- his piece "New Horizon" would be recorded by Horace Tapscott for the latter's Tapscott Sessions series. But "Flashback Of Time" would eventually appear on "One Step Out", played by the new group he had put together from stalwart Arkestra members. Inspired by both Tapscott's example and by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kaeef had wanted to follow their lead by assembling a larger unit. Featuring seasoned Arkestra regulars including reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, drummer Woody "Sonship" Theus and altoist Gary Bias, with veterans Henry "The Skipper" Franklin on bass and George Bohannon on trombone, "One Step Out" is a key document of the Los Angeles radical jazz underground. Featuring the sanctified vocals of Kaeef's sister, B. J. Crowley, the album is a tour de force of spiritually energized independent jazz music.

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Brotherly

Analects - Best Of

35,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

Tony Allen

There Is No End

33,99 €*

Jac Berrocal, David Fenech, Vincent Epplay

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The wisdom of Tony Allen's words was as deep as his grooves, and these two sentences, which announce the dozen songs that follow, truly capture the spirit of There is No End. Tony’s motivating concept and desire was to work with younger artists, and especially the new generation of rappers, and give them voice in a time of global turmoil when music has never been more important – not necessarily as a "weapon" for the future in the manner of Fela's violently political songs, but also as medicine to heal a fractured world today.

For all those who knew him, he was a deeply spiritual man whose life's mission was not just to create a new musical language, but to pass it on to subsequent generations. In thinking back on the incredible process of creating this album without Tony physically present to guide him, producer Vincent Taeger remarked that his friend and mentor "was a teacher without speaking... a drummer and a guardian, with a great artistic vision and that vision filled the songs even after he had left us." Ben Okri, like everyone else involved in this valedictory album, had a very similar experience, declaring in awe that "this man could have lived another 150 years and kept creating new worlds. He had become the master shaman of his art. He knew himself and his mind. He wanted the album to be open to the energies of a new generation... but like a great mathematician or scientist who found a code of for a new world, with just a few beats, he created this extraordinary canvas." Featured artists include Skepta, Sampa The Great, Lava La Rue, Danny Brown, Damon Albarn and many others

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Exterior Lux

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Akuphone)

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Time Is The Enemy)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Jac Berrocal is a 1946-born musician (trumpet player), poet and sometime film actor who came of age in the ‘70s Paris improv scene, where the boundaries between music, art and theatre were porous and begging to be breached. Inspired by bebop, chanson, free jazz, beat poetry, early rock ‘n roll and myriad Eastern influences, and with an iconoclastic, anything-goes approach to instrumentation and technique that would later align him with post-punk sensibilities, Berrocal blazed an eccentric and unstoppable trail across the underground throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, both solo and as part of the Catalogue group he co-founded. During this time his uproarious performances routinely wound up jazz and rock audiences alike, but earned the admiration of many musicians: Steven Stapleton invited him to perform on two Nurse With Wound albums, and other notable collaborators in his career include Sunny Murray, Lizzy Mercier-Descloux, Lol Coxhill, Yvette Horner and James Chance. In the 90s his protean achievements were celebrated on the Fatal Encounters compilation, but far from slowing down in the autumn of his life, Berrocal has maintained an extraordinary work-rate, keeping studio dates with Pascal Comelade, Telectu and Jaki Liebezeit, among others.

Now Berrocal has found the perfect foil in David Fenech and Vincent Epplay, two fearlessly inventive improvisers, composers and catalysts who create challenging, acutely modernist yet historically aware settings – wrought out of synthesis, guitars, computer processing, field recordings and unorthodox percussions – for Berrocal’s unmistakeable voice and breathtakingly lyrical horn sound to flourish.

Fenech cut his teeth in the mail-art scene of the early ‘90s, leading the Peu Importe collective in Grenoble. His 2000 solo debut was recently reissued by Felix Kubin’s Gagarin label, and he has also worked as a software developer at Ircam, and played with Jad Fair, Tom Cora, Rhys Chatham and James Plotkin; in 2011 he formed a trio with Berrocal and Ghedalia Tazartes for the Superdisque LP.

Epplay is a highly regarded sonic and visual artist with a particular interest in aleatory composition and autonomous pieces, concrète, and the puckish reappropriation of vintage sound and film material, with dozens of published works to his name on labels like Planam/Alga Marghen and PPT/Stembogen. Exterior Lux is the third part in the series of albums and was again mastered by the legendary Noel Summerville.

"It’s like The Bonzo Dog Band meeting Scott Walker, with Codona booked for the interval music" (Brian Morton - The Wire)

"Jazz, Dub, Musique concrete and a Gallic punk spirit, coalesce into a sound so potent it is a wonder it hasn’t been done before" (Rewind Forward)

"An eclectic mix of folk anarchy, West Coast jazz cool, African kalimba, French poetry and studio dub. All the beauty and terror of jazz at its most lawless." (Andrew Male - Mojo)

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Ze In The Clouds

Magical

LP | 1971 | UK | Reissue (Musica Infinita)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Organic Grooves

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Magical is a fusion of a dozen genres, where every song opens up like a Russian doll, splitting into real songs within the song. Hundreds of details are part of the different sonic worlds in which each song progresses. Magical is no doubt hard to decipher for very good musicians, but it’s easy to dance to for very normal people. Since the orchestral introduction of the first song your senses will be automatically taken on a journey between irony and sadness, emotional intensity and vibing, extreme nerding and introspection. Magical is a dream that, through sound illusion, makes you meditate on the meaning of life, death and love, three fundamental topics in the album lyrics. The album is a leap into a future where no tradition is missing. Just a perfect way to discover the surprising world of Ze in the Clouds.

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Gerry Weil

The Message

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Inmelo Music)

Release: 1971 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Olindo Records is proud to launch sister label Música Infinita, with its inaugural release, ‘The Message’ by Gerry Weil - a forgotten cornerstone of Venezuelan jazz, greatly influenced by ‘Bitches Brew’ era Miles, Hendrix, Tower of Power and fusion of jazz and rock. ‘The Message’ is packed with raw funk grooves, big band horns, and Gerry’s gravelly Waitsian vocals. Remastered with love by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, this edition of just 500 copies features brand new artwork and an extensive interview with Gerry. In 1969 Miles Davis put the world on notice with “Bitches Brew”; a bold statement that broke every pre-conceived notion people had about jazz and music in general up to that point. Taking this as inspiration, Gerry Weil decided to emulate Miles in 1971, but on Caribbean soil, gathering a dream team of 15 Venezuelan musicians, most of which went on to become renowned bandleaders in their own right, to record an avant-garde album that would later turn into a coveted item amongst record collectors. The album opens with “The Joy Within Yourself”, showcasing Gerry’s dexterous organ playing within seconds, accompanied by stunning horn arrangements, a bluesy vocal by Weil himself and a killer electric guitar solo by Vinicio Ludovic (Luisito Quintero / Arturo Sandoval). Continuing with “The Bull’s Problem”, the LP settles into a jazz funk groove with a nasty rhodes and bass combination alongside a heavy drums and congas exchange between Alberto Naranjo (Los Kenya / El Trabuco Venezolano) and Freddy Roldán (Grupo Mango / Alfredito Linares). Side A closes with title track “The Message”, a sort of funky anthem or mantra that describes Gerry Weil’s attitude towards life. Its lyrics describe the way “squares” reacted against hippies in the 70s when “all we want to give you is a little bit of love”. On side B, “Johnny’s Bag” kicks off proceedings on a spiritual tone. This time Gerry’s on acoustic piano, accompanied yet again by a beautiful, but equally powerful horn section featuring a who’s who of Venezuelan jazzmen, such as Benjamin Brea on alto, Victor Cuica on tenor, Rodrigo Barboza on trombone and Luis Arias on trumpet. “What Is A Man” begins with a vocal duo between Vinicio Ludovic and Gerry before settling into a funky groove underpinned by Michael Berti’s (Aldemaro Romero y su Onda Nueva / Jayme Marques) booming bassline. The album closes with “Little Man”. A meditative, yet grooving piece that could easily be found on any of the best Blue Note albums from that same time period. The interplay between Gerry on keys, Berti on bass and Naranjo on drums is simply stunning and provides a perfect ending for the album. Arriving in Venezuela from Austria as a 17 year old in 1957, Gerry has become one of the most influential musicians his adopted country has ever seen. His compositions are now part of the repertoire of Venezuelan jazz standards, but perhaps more importantly, Gerry’s career in music education has seen him impart his music theory and piano teachings to at least three generations of musicians. Still active at the age of 81, Gerry is a living legend and a true testament to perseverance through music.

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Eduardo Hopper

Gratidao Infinita

43,99 €*

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Funkiwala)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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If one had to embody Eduardo Hopper with a single word, that word would be “virtuoso”- a term the master musicians he worked with often used in reference to him. His unusual harmonic approaches in compositions and in musical interpretations beguile the ear and instil curiosity in the listener. This talent is only matched by Hopper’s technical skills as an instrumentalist, illustrated especially by his mastery of the acoustic and electric guitars.

As a Brazilian music researcher, he travels through diverse and rich universes of sound. Inspired by the instrumentalists Baden Powell, Hélio Delmiro, Lula Galvão and Guinga on one hand, and Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans and Sonny Rollins on the other ; Hopper’s perfectionism becomes a tool, which allows him to work relentlessly until he is sure that every resource at his disposal has been used to express his vision.

Besides being a superb guitar player, he also plays the cavaquinho, the bass, the drums and the piano. He teaches music and is renown as a prolific creator of soundtracks for television programs, as well as music for commercials, etc. Throughout the 21 years of his career, he performed alongside many great names in Brazilian music, such as Francis Hime, Johnny Alf, Zimbo Trio, Dominguinhos, André Mehmari and Mônica Salmaso, among many others.

Born in 1983 in Santo André, a big industrial city, Eduardo Hopper began studying music at the precocious age of 4 years old by learning the guitar. He grew up surrounded by a festive and musical family environment. His determination and dedication also came from his parents, who were farm labourers and left the countryside in order to seek a better life. His first musical references were his father and siblings who played and rehearsed with relatives and friends at family gatherings.

Although he played in gospel music groups, he only began attending music school at the age of 13. Three years later, he was invited to replace his own teacher, thus starting his teaching career. In the meantime, he began composing which allowed him to gain entry to some of Brazil’s most prestigious music schools. Firstly, to Fundação das Artes in São Caetano do Sul, where under his teacher, Renato Santoro’s, guidance, he deepened his knowledge of guitar in popular Brazilian music. At the age of 19, he joined the Conservatório de Tatuí, the Institution supported by Hermeto Pascoal, where he further mastered the guitar with Fernando Correa, who was specialised in teaching Jazz and popular music.

At this point he was already touring professionally accompanying different bands and artists. At the Universidade Livre de Música de São Paulo, while he was guided by master Olmir Stocker, he was invited to join the orchestra Jovem Tom Jobim, at the time conducted by the maestro Roberto Sion. In this orchestra he had the opportunity to play with major names of the Brazilian pop music and contributed to the orchestra’s first album Álbum de Estréia.

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Lokkhi Terra

Cubangla

Jay Richford And Gary Stevan

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Funkiwala Records presents Cubangla - the sixth album by London fusionistas LoKkhi TeRra. Following on from their hugely successful collaboration with UK afro-beat ambassador Dele Sosimi on 2018's "Cubafrobeat"(mixing afrobeat and Cuban Rumba/Timba), this album sees them return to their Bangla-Afro- Latin-Jazz-Roots. 8 tracks of 21st century London groove â€“ from Sufi Samba to Baul Blues to Bengali folk-Son to Bangla Roots Reggae to London Descargas - recorded in between tours, sessions and collaborations â€“ a true celebration of traditions taking on new forms as they travel and co-exist. In these divided times, their collective musical journey has never been so relevant.
Background Kishon Khan's Lokkhi Terra have been blending the musical traditions that surround them in London, for many years now. "Stunning Headliners... A majestic multi-cultural blend of sounds... effortlessly builds bridges between rolling Indian raga rhythms, Afro-Cuban grooves, Acid Jazz/funk and free flowing improvisation" (Timeout London).

The band is composed of musicians who take seriously the different languages of the different genres they mix. Each in their own right play with calibre purist outfits. Members have collaborated with the likes of Hugh Masekela, Tony Allen, Ibrahim Ferrer, Johnny Clarke, Orlando Poleo, Africa Express, Jazz Jamaica, Ska Cubano, Giles Peterson's Havana Cultura, Kyle Eastwood, Bellowhead, Akram Khan to name a very few. The tracks on this album were gigged for a number of years before being recorded, with the exception of the last 2 tracks which were recorded in 2015 just before performing at Womad and Songlines Encounters. With Cubangla the band has come round full circle â€“ a journey that started a decade ago with their debut No Visa Required (2010). An urban London view on the musical world.
Songlines Review
"Acclaimed groovesters Lokkhi Terra continue their creative roll, returning to their Bangla-Afro-Latin-Jazz roots after a wildly successful colaboration with Afrobeat keyboardist Dele Sosimi. Featuring a who's who of London based players from, variously, Bangladesh, Brasil, Cuba, Spain and Nepal, Cubangla offers more sparkling genre crossing. Its eight tracks veer from fresh takes on traditional Bengali folk tunes to unlikely but sophisticated pairing including Baul blues, Sufi Samba and Cubangla funk. Keys player and main man Kishon Khan â€“ here on piano, Fender Rhodes, microKORG and (on root-reggae remake "Bhandari Revisited") wah-wah harmonium â€“ has written and/or arranged a clutch of tunes that respect tradition while forging new pathways. "Badaam"jumps off the Cuban standard "El Manisero" into a suhg conversatio between Cuban sonero Javier Camilo and Bangladeshi songbirds Sohini Alam and Aanon Siddiqua.
The albums title-track is a glorious descarga jam riffing on themes Cuban and Bengali, stoked by piano, percussion, trumpet and Jalal Ahmed's snaking Bansuri (flute). An upbeat variation on a legendary Sufi song, "Lal Mere" finds Alam and Siddiqua in powerful form and Khan deploying a fiery Rhodes solo. Originally performed at a Songlines Encounters festival, "Kon Kole Revisited" features the rough-hewn voice of the late Baul musician Rob Fakir, his lyrics celebrating Bengali philosopher Lalon and his attitude of religious tolerance. Deep, laced with joy and a masterly lightness of touch, Cubangla rewards repeated listening"
John Armstrong review
Despite Latin and Afro-Cuban music's longstanding popularity in the UK, there have been relatively few UK based artists who have pushed the limits of convention, adding novel elements whilst remaining (more or less) 'en clave' . Alex Wilson is one, and another is the formidably talented pianist, keyboardist, arranger and producer Kishon Khan with his band Lokkhi Terra. Kishon can play straight afrobeat, timba and Afro-Cuban descarga with the best, but his musical curiosity leads him in other directions, too- most specifically, to Bangladeshi music. To these ears, Lokkhi Terra's third (fourth?) outing, Cubangla, is their crowning glory to date. Lazy reviewers will call this a 'fusion' album: i don't know about you, but I find the term 'fusion' as meaningless as the term 'world music': all modern music is a fusion of something or other. This is Afro-Cubano-Bangladeshi music, please don't call it 'fusion'.
Khan's real arranging achievements here can be heard immediately in one of the shortest tracks, 'Bhromor' - described as a 'son cubangla'. The melancholy traditional Bangla song is subjected to the strict conventions of the Eastern Cuban son format, but nevertheless finds space and time for the strong improvisational elements in Bangla singing, a space that the singer Aneira Khan fills to perfection. The rest of the album is equally arresting, with a couple of instrumental descargas and more of that beautiful Bangla melody and vocal impro rising above the Afro-Cuban bedrock. Almost thirty musicians and singers...studios in London, Dhaka, Brooklyn..this must have been a helluva logistical feat (well done Kishon!), as well as being one of the outstanding albums of the year so far for me."
Jazzwise Review
London-based collective Lokkhi Terra have been blending sounds from around the globe since 2010. They describe their music as Bangla-Afro-Latin-Jazz, but even that doesn't do justice to the range of traditions that find their way onto Cubangla, which weaves in everything from funk grooves and Afrobeat hornlines to bluesy guitar and the music of the Bauls, a group of musician-mystics from Bengal. Lots of bands mix African and Latin sounds with jazz and it's these Indian influences that really set Lokkhi Terra apart. Among the highlights is 'Bhromor', a traditional Bengali song about the love between Radha and Krishna that drifts over lilting Cuban guitar, fluttering tabla and delicate flutes. 'Lal Mere' sets a traditional Sufi song to breezy samba percussion and 'Badaam' has an easy-going reggae feel with both Spanish and Bengali vocals. Remarkably, the blend of styles always sounds natural, never forced or cluttered, which is testament to the ingenuity of the arrangements and the standard of the playing. Flautist Finn Peters and trumpeter Graeme Flowers are on particularly good form.
John Warr Review (AfroBase)
"Tracks like Como with its Cachao phrasing, hats off to Graeme Flowers and Justin Thurgur for some stunning solos, the Spanish/Bangla tinges, not forgetting your inspiring piano work and arrangements. Love the percussion throughout and especially on Cubangla, the beautiful Banzuri flute solos from Jalal Ahmed, the joyous vocals on Kalare, and not forgetting the very radio friendly Bandari although I really want to play Como!
This album is a true high point in the work of Lokkhi Terra and its worldly mix of influences. I hope I get to see the band play this live whenever that is."

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Feelings

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

2LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Trost)

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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More than once Jay Richford and Gary Stevan’s Feelings has been described as the greatest library record ever released. Of course Be With can’t be seen to be playing favourites, but we have to admit, it’s pretty good. Insanely rare and immensely sought-after, it’s a tough funk, street jazz masterpiece coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres. Since its original release on Italian label Carosello in 1974, Feelings has appeared on several labels with different sleeves and even under a different artist. Indeed cult library label Conroy put it out in one of their iconic red sleeves in 1976 and yes, Feelings has indeed had more than one modern re-issue since these “original” releases. But a record this special deserves to be kept in press and we think it deserves the Be With treatment. No, Jay Richford and Gary Stevan aren’t two of the most Italian sounding names. As the story goes these were the pseudonyms adopted by Stefano Torossi and Giancarlo Gazzani who wrote the album but couldn’t use their real names on the original release for legal reasons. But Stefano Torossi himself later both clarified and confused the tale further by explaining that Feelings was the work of four people not just Gazzani and himself. Fellow composers and musicians Sandro Brugnolini and Puccio Roelens also worked on the album and as Torossi himself explained “we all worked together”, with all four gents “dividing the royalties in equal parts… that’s the story.” Right, so, with that all sorted out let’s get back to talking about the music.

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Brom

Dance With An Idiot

The Legend Of The Sun Virgin

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Anton Ponomarev - alto saxDmitry Lapshin - bass guitarFelix Mikensky - guitar, electronicsYaroslav Kurilo - drumsA fresh new studio album by the powerful Russian Free jazz band, now with a fourth player (guitar and electronics)Press about their last album (Sunstroke, Trost):Jazzandbluesblogspot: It is a reverent and thoughtful performance, with powerhouse electric bass at its core, leading to a fast and furious conclusion.Jazzwise: Moscow based power jazz trio BROM are a group that push against musical boundaries and allow suchdiverse genres as rock, noise, free jazz and improvisation to leak into their ever evolving sound.Jazzword: The antithesis of polite Chamber Jazz, this fiery Sunstroke should provide pleasure for those who prefer theirJazz (Rock) blistering without succor, no matter the temperature.TracklistingA1 DemonsA2 A Simple StoryA3 Dance With An IdiotA4 Goodbye, White Rhino!B1 Iron HairB2 The Saltiest PeanutsB3 PanaceaB4 This Is A Good Club Though Bad Music Is Played Here

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Yma Sumac

LP | 1955 | EU | Reissue (Ellas Rugen)

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Young Turks)

Release: 1955 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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With the intention of celebrating the music of Yma Sumac and continuing to spread her legacy, Ellas Rugen Records reissues on vinyl one of the highest points of her career: "Legend of the Sun Virgin", recorded in 1952 in the United States by Capital Records. The production, which she signed with her husband and close collaborator, the composer Moisés Vivanco, reflects the exotic proposal of Sumac, a pioneer in World Music and a true ambassador of Peruvian culture in the world. True to the spirit of this new record company, the vinyl has been carefully edited and it includes unpublished photos from Sumac's personal archive, an informative text written by renowned historian Carmen McEvoy and a state-of-the-art sound remastering. In addition, through the pre-sale, which has already started through BandCamp, collectors will be able to access a limited edition that includes a colored vinyl. With this, Ellas Rugen Records begins its journey with the aim of reclaiming and giving a new life to the great Latin American artists of the second half of the 20th century. In addition to Sumac’s reissue, the label already has its next releases in process, which will focus on iconic singers from Venezuela and Mexico. “Due to the lack of cultural preservation policies and the negligence of small record labels from the 60s, 70s and 80s, a lot of our musical legacy is being lost. The current low profitability of these projects means that large companies forget productions that still have a lot to contribute. This is why this label aims to honor these artists by reissuing, revaluing and bringing their best productions to new generations”, says Jalo Nuñez del Prado, music producer, founder and director of Ellas Rugen Records.

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Kamasi Washington

OST Becoming (Score)

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Soundtracks

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Kamasi Washington composed and produced the original score for Becoming, the four time Emmy-nominated film that provided an intimate glimpse into the life of Michelle Obama. Produced by Netflix Originals, Becoming documented a moment of profound change for the former First Lady, not only for her personally but for the country she and her husband served over eight impactful years in the White House. Washington, who joined the project in its embryonic stages, provides the powerful musical backdrop. Young Turks Recordings will be releasing Vinyl and CD of this Emmy nominated score on 11th December 2020.

Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios, LA. Engineered by Tony Austin. Mixed by Randy Emata. Mastered by Kevin “Daddy Kev” Moo. Kamasi Washington – Soprano, Alto, Tenor Saxophnone Rickey Washigton – Flute, Alto Flute Ryan Porter – Trombone Dontae Winslow – Trumpet Sean Sonderegger – Contra Bass Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bb Clarinet Matt Haze – Guitar Cameron Graves – Piano, Rhodes Kenneth Crouch – Organ, Keyboards, Piano Miles Mosley – Electric Bass, Upright Bass Tony Austin – Drums and Percussion Jen Simone, Yvette Devereaux, Reiko Nakano, Tylana Renga - Violin Michael Whitson, Chad Jackson – Viola Artyom Manukyan – Jared Snyder – Cello

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Force Majeur

LP | 2020 | US | Original (International Anthem)

Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In March of 2020 bassist Dezron Douglas & harpist Brandee Younger were nestled in their apartment in Harlem, New York, not long after every live concert in the world was cancelled and most folks in the United States were forced to shelter in place for the covid lockdown. With all their gigs cancelled and their incomes strapped.. the two came up with an idea. They would host a live-stream performance from their living room, where they would perform classic tunes for friends and family to watch online, and folks could send them donations. They called it “Force Majeure: Brunch in the Crib with Brandee & Dezron,” the first part in homage to the ubiquitous contract clause that never seems to have any use (except all of sudden, c/o a covid-induced live music industry collapse). The immense popularity of their first performance roped them into doing it again, and again, until it eventually became a weekly ritual for Douglas, Younger, and their many friends and family who tuned in every Friday morning (ourselves included). Knowing the beautiful, natural sound they made in their living room would be as enjoyable (or more) as a record as it was through a social media stream… we mailed them a microphone to record themselves. What’s heard on this album, Force Majeure, is a collection of highlights from Douglas & Younger’s legendary lockdown livestream brunch sessions. It includes gorgeous interpretations of songs by Alice & John Coltrane, The Stylistics, The Jackson 5, Pharoah Sanders, Kate Bush, Sting, and The Carpenters… plus some solid gold nuggets of their banter between tunes. It’s an uplifting suite of real, soulful comfort music – a spiritual salve, emanating warmth from the hearth of a Harlem sanctuary.

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger are long time companions in life and in music. The two East Coast natives met early in life and have accompanied each other, personally and professionally, through their equally prolific careers. Douglas, a bassist who has established himself as a musician’s musician, is known to many for his work with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, David Murray, and Keyon Harold. Younger, a harpist who has distinguished herself as one of the premiere voices in her field, is known for her work with Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, and Moses Sumney. To the day Douglas and Younger often accompany each other in many of the ensembles they lead, respectively.

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Love Is Where The Spirit Lies Black Vinyl Edition

2LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Strut)

LP | 1963 | EU | Reissue (Jazz Workshop)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Strut present the first ever international reissue of one of the most sought-after albums from the Black Fire catalogue, Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra's life-affirming 'Love Is Where The Spirit Lies' from 1977. This first international reissue of the album features new sleeve notes including interviews and commentary by Lon Moshe, Plunky Branch and band members with original illustrated artwork by Mary E. Greer. Audio was remastered from original tapes by The Carvery. "Lon was creating his own path in his music life at this time," remembers Black Fire's Plunky Branch. "We had met in San Francisco and he had become an original member of JuJu during the early '70s. He then wanted to pursue his own music, primarily in jazz; he was an avant-gardist and loved Tribe, Strata-East and Sun Ra." For his Love Is Where The Spirit Lies album, Moshe drew from musicians within the Black Fire stable. Oneness Of Juju's Jackie Eka-Ete sang and helped to write songs and members of Southern Energy Ensemble contributed, including their bandleader Marvin Daniels. "The band name, Southern Freedom Arkestra, was a proud declaration that this music was from the U.S. South," continues Branch.

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Roy Brooks

Beat

Thomas Stronen / Time Is A Blind Guide

Release: 1963 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"Recorded for Berry Gordy's short-lived Workshop Jazz imprint, Roy Brooks' simply but authoritatively titled Beat fuses the intellectual rigors of the modern idiom with the physical prowess of soul-jazz to create a record of uncommon scope and reach. Working with Horace Silver Quintet colleagues Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, and Gene Taylor alongside Detroit contemporaries George Bohanon and Hugh Lawson, Brooks channels influences spanning the breadth of the Motor City scene, resulting in a clutch of challenging but engaging performances with the unmistakable patina of the embryonic Motown sound. While their technical proficiency is stunning, Brooks' rhythms never lose sight of the almighty groove, and for its hard bop stridency, the record has the proverbial good beat and you can dance to it."

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Lucus

LP | 2018 | EU | Original (ECM)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure/Strata-East)

John Hicks

Steadfast

Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood Ferguson

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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John Hicks (1941-2006) gave much to jazz over several decades but never really received the appreciation he so richly deserved. As a pianist, he proved himself in the Art Blakey and Betty Carter universities. He was also the prototypical musician's musician, a first-call pianist for many jazz greats and a magnificent accompanist to the art's best saxists, including Pharoah Sanders, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, Archie Shepp, and David Murray.
He was often accused of hovering in McCoy Tyner's shadow, which is unfair and untrue. But he evinced a great fondness for Coltrane's music and was often heard on many a Coltrane tribute, showing affection for the saxophonist and his appreciation for Tyner's contribution to Coltrane's finest music.
Another facet of John Hicks' career, which gets even less attention than his wondrous playing, is his ability to craft identifiable compositions that are wandering and melodic, suggestive and malleable yet memorable all at once.
It would be difficult to conceive the ideal tribute to John Hicks. As a jazz contributor, he wasn't easily pigeon-holed. While he was always a (straight) jazz player, he skirted the edges of free jazz and pure romanticism that neither side ever appreciates in the other. But both camps could find moments of joyous life in all the ways Hicks chose to express himself. He was an unmistakably perfect accompanist in any mode. This LP was recorded at the same session as his “Hells Bells” album.

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Chicago Waves

LP | 2020 | US | Original (International Anthem)

Daylight Savings Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In late November of 2018, long-time collaborators (& life-long Los Angelenos) Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood Ferguson flew to Chicago to participate in the album release performance of Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings. Just 11 months prior, Carlos & Miguel were part of recording the 'Los Angeles Side' of Universal Beings at Jeff Parker's house in Altadena, California, and this performance in Chicago would be the first time that all of the musicians reunited to re-learn and perform the music they'd collectively composed during those sessions. The Universal Beings performance and preceding days of rehearsal took place at the iconic South Shore Cultural Center - a historic gilded-era urban club-turned-public facility deep on Chicago's Southside and right along the reedy shore of Lake Michigan, giving the building's backdrop an infinitely blue Northern expanse.

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Surprise Chef

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Chuwanaga)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Daylight Savings is the second full-length album by Melbourne's cinematic soul journeymen Surprise Chef.

Recorded over a weekend in Surprise Chef's DIY analogue studio (dubbed The College Of Knowledge), Daylight Savings expands on the dramatic 1970s cinematic soul sound established on their acclaimed first album, 2019's All News Is Good News.

Created in Spring 2019, just as the jasmine bush in the backyard of the College Of Knowledge was coming to full bloom, Daylight Savings is filled with the optimism and hope that comes with the impending long, warm evenings after a dreary Melbourne winter.

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Ishkero

Brume

16,99 €*

Norman Williams And The One Mind Experience

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Parisian label Chuwanaga curated by Clémentine & Saint-James is back in the production game with fresh music from Ishkero, maybe the hottest Jazz-Fusion band of the capital city. Going from Jazz-Funk to Afrobeat through Prog and Psychedelic influences, Brume infuses together killer grooves, irresistible melodies and excellent musicianship. The 12inch, coming with its beautiful illustration, reveals a uniformly good yet diverse musical journey.
Behind Ishkero, you’ll find five young and gifted musicians with strong jazz knowledge: Tao Ehrlich (drums), Adrien « Dridri » Duterte (flute & percussion), Antoine Vidal (bass), Victor Gasq (guitar) and Arnaud Forestier (keys). With its strong evocation power fuelled by their youthful energy and creativity, Ishkero’s music is a one-of-a-kind variation on the Jazz genre. Fusion at its best potential! Expect intense rhythmic sections, virtuoso solos, lush FX sections and robust arrangements. Used to play a lot live, the musicians developed a vigorous connection that really shines on stage and during studio sessions.
Collectively with Saint-James as their co-producer, they recorded Brume in summer 2019 at Studio Delta (Paris) with sound engineer David Cukier aka Greita (Disques Flegon). The first track, "Triple B", is an ode to 70’s jazz-funk carried by Jeff Mercadié’s Sax performance. "Tonik Gin"’s mighty jazz-rock groove which comes afterwards brings the genre to its emotional climax. B side starts with the main track "Brume", bringing together long-tailed reverberated guitars and Mizell-like piano chords for a very warm and hazy effect. As the last track, "Gare De l’Ouest" is a nice jazz variation on the Afrobeat genre, again with Jeff Mercadié on Saxophone.

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The Bishop

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

All Rise Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Bishop Norman Williams is an amazing musician. He not only has command of his instrument and music, but a great spirit that reflects a knowledge and love of his people and what they give the world — the same spirit shared by Satchmo, Bird, and Trane. Reign on, Bishop. Michael Howell Bishop Norman Williams is one of those unique talents in music. He has the gift of being able to say what he wants and at the same time say something always significant. He has many influences because he is open to all of the good music of the world. When you hear him play, you feel that he has assembled all of these 'world ideas' in music to speak through his horn. John Handy It’s time. It’s time for all to hear the Bishop proclaim spiritual truths in his church, the One Mind Temple, dedicated to the spirit of John Coltrane. The time is also overdue for all to hear the Bishop proclaim musical truths through the medium of his alto saxophone. My first few gigs in 1962 were with the Bishop’s band. I’ll never forget what an inspiration it was for me learning how to play while standing next to the Bishop, who already had it together. I’m sure after hearing the Bishop, you will also agree that his time has come. Eddie Henderson

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Gregory Porter

2LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

38,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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All Rise Limited Deluxe Hardcoverbook Edition

Gregory Porter

CD+Book | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

All Rise Limited Digisleeve Edition

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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CD sized hardback book with 32 pages and glued-in wallet for CD on inside back page

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Gregory Porter

CD | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

13,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This is the limited Digisleeve edition that contains 13 tracks.

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Magnolia / Tulip Green Vinyl Edition

7" | 2020 | US | Original (Mr Bongo)

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Black Sweat)

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Mr Bongo is delighted to present a new and exciting collaborative project with Swedish label Piano Piano Records. Hearing the Swedish outfit Sven Wunder for the first time is as refreshing as an ice-cold Limoncello after an Italian meal. One of those bands that feel instantly familiar like an old friend, yet simultaneously fresh and new. Straight away we fell in love with their sound and knew we had to work with them. The first fruits of our partnership is a collector's edition 7.

We have selected two tracks of Turkish inspired funk goodness taken from their already cult-classic 2019 album, 'Do?u Çiçekleri (Eastern Flowers )'. Both instrumentals, 'Tulip' and 'Magnolia' could easily have come from a lost soundtrack to a psychedelic movie. With their beautiful, yet raw aesthetic, they will enthrall funk, B-Boy / Girls, and psychedelia fans alike.

Cut at the Timmion Records Cutting Lab in Finland.

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Don Cherry

Om Shanti Om

Koma Mate / Jagd (Feat. Jameszoo)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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An amazing document of the life experiment that was the Organic Music Society. This super quality audio, recorded by RAI (the italian public broadcasting company) in 1976 for television, documents a quartet concert focused on vocals compositions and improvisations. Here, Don Cherry and his family-community’s musical belief emerges in its simplicity, with the desire to merge the knowledge and stimuli gained during numerous travels across the World in a single sound experience. Don's pocket-trumpet is melted with the beats of the great Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, the Italian guitar of Gian Piero Pramaggiore, and the tanpura drone of Moki. A pure hippie aesthetic, like in an intimate ceremony, filters a magical encounter between Eastern and Western civiliziations, offering different suggestions of sound mysticism: natural acoustics in which individual instruments and voices are part of a wider pan-tribal consciousness. A desert Western landscape marries Asian and Latin atmospheres. Indigenous contributions with berimbau explorations find fossil sounds of rattles and clap-hands invocations. Influences of Indian mantra singing are combined with eternal African voices or with folkish-Latin guitar rhythms , while flute and drums evoke distant dances. In the Organic Music everything becomes an act of devotion and love, an ecstatic dwell in the dimension of a sacred free-rejoice.

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Petter Eldh & Koma Saxo

7" | 2020 | EU | Original (We Jazz)

9,99 €*

LP | 1961 | UK | Reissue (Roulette)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Producer/bassist Petter Eldh's celebrated Koma Saxo returns with a fresh single release on We Jazz Records, June 12. "Koma Mate" is a new look on "Koma Tema" from Koma Saxo's 2019 debut album. The track's anthemic quality remains, but with an extra 10% bangerism added for good measure. On the flip, Eldh invites Jameszoo to tear apart and reassemble Koma Saxo's elements, making for an extra tasty serving of spicy Koma Soup, filled with criss-crossing saxes and odd grooves. Lightning in a bottle, times two. "Koma Mate / Jagd (Feat. Jameszoo)" will be released by We Jazz Records on June 12 as a 7" single and digitally. True to We Jazz style, the 7" comes with an old school heat-pressed labels and a generic brown paper sleeve.

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Count Basie

Basie In Birdland

49,99 €*

All News Is Good News Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1961 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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e-mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

'Basie at Birdland' is a 1961 live album featuring Count Basie and his famed orchestra playing at Birdland in New York City. Recorded on June 27-28th of 1961, and released just one month later in July of that year, 'Basie at Birdland' proved once again that Count Basie was one of the world's best players, band leaders, and flag bearers of Jazz. Birdland, the self-proclaimed, 'Jazz Corner of the World' provides a raucous, lively backdrop to the band's soulful Kansas City style Jazz, on tunes like, 'Blue Backstage', and 'Good Time Blues' alongside their harder hitting, big band bop. 'Basie at Birdland' features the Count at the height of his prowess, and he and his band's fervent, swinging performance cannot be missed - it's perfect for novices and aficionados alike.

This is a jaw-dropping recording of Basie's band in 1961. The band is so tight and swings so hard it sounds at times as if one is listening to a Wurlitzer organ. There simply was no band that swung as hard as Basie's - at least not as recorded on this live date. Amazing.

Simply the best live recording of a big band ever!

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Surprise Chef

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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There is something simultaneously both brand-new and retro about 'All News Is Good News’ - the debut album from Melbourne's instrumental soul group Surprise Chef. It sounds like something dreamt up by lo-fi cousins of David Axelrod and Janko Nilovic, with dramatic Library-music-eqsue cinematic arrangements echoing both light and dark, delving into moments of dissonance and positivity. There is a meticulous education of 1970’s soul on display that touches on the legacies of the great composer / producers, yet at the same time this is a truly contemporary record that could have only been made now. The first limited pressing of 'All News Is Good News’ was released on the band's own 'College Of Knowledge' imprint in November 2019. It slipped rapidly into the collective consciousness of underground music lovers around the world, with all copies selling out within a week and becoming a firm favourite at Mr Bongo HQ in the process. We felt Surprise Chef had made something very special, a future-classic, and that needed to be heard well beyond those lucky enough to have bagged those limited first copies. Formed at the end of 2017, Surprise Chef have grown within the fertile, creative, and supportive Melbourne music scene. Whilst the band is comprised of four core members, the album features friends and family as guest instrumentalists on flute, saxophone, vibraphone, congas, and assorted percussion; all adeptly recorded by engineer Henry Jenkins from the band Karate Boogaloo. The warm-raw-authenticity of the album was captured in the recordings live to tape over a handful of sessions in the band’s home studio in Melbourne’s inner-northern suburb of Coburg. As band member Lachlan Stuckey explains “All of the music we record is tracked live to tape, simply because so many of the records we love most were made that way". The results are a captivating journey of instrumental cinematic-soul that will connect with the hardened Axelrod, Truth & Soul, El Michels Affair, and Daptone's fans, as well as the open-minded first-time listener. We are very excited to share this first slice of Surprise Chef’s world, with plenty more magic from these guys coming around the corner very soon.

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Dee Dee Bridgewater

Afro Blue

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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If you collect vintage 70's soul-jazz vinyl, there is a good chance that you already own a record that features the amazing vocal talents of Dee Dee Bridgewater. Whether it be Roy Ayers, Norman Connors, Billy Parker or Carlos Garnett - Dee Dee is the glue that fuses these artists together. Although best known for her jazz work, Dee Dee has had a wonderfully rich and varied career encompassing soul, musicals, gospel, and underground disco from the 70's to the present day. She is still active as a vocalist, composer, and producer and remains one of our favourite vocalists at Mr Bongo HQ. We take things back to the early years of Dee Dee's career with her debut album 'Afro Blue'. Recorded in Tokyo in 1974, the album was released exclusively in Japan via two different Japanese labels (Trio Records in 1974 and All Art in 1985 respectively). Each release had unique cover art and we have opted to present the album in its original 1974 form.
'Afro Blue' features an exquisite collaboration of American and Japanese musicians, such as Cecil & Ron Bridgewater, Motohiko Hino and producer Takao Ishizuka. The result is a sublime deep soul-jazz masterpiece with timeless versions of 'People Make The World Go Round', 'Love From The Sun', and 'Afro Blue'. It is arguably one of the finest albums in its genre. This record has long been a sought-after item for DJs and collectors alike, so we are delighted to finally make this wonderful music from an understated great available to all.

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LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Piano Piano)

Wabi Sabi

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Edition)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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By welcoming the beauty of imperfection and simplicity, Sven Wunder applies the timeless wisdom of wabi sabi on this musical journey. What you can hear is filtered through Ukiyo-e (which translates as pictures of the floating world), which illustrates everyday life, as well as through Japonism, the study of Japanese art, and more specifically its influence on European works. The result is a surface that creates an illusion by sound. The infusion of Miny? with jazz rock, this hazy scene evokes the landscape of Monets The Water Lily Pond, which depicts the painters Giverny garden, with a Japanese bridge, bamboo, ginkgo trees and the reflection of the sky in the pond. This illusion constructs both time and space.

The surface of the music, like the canvas of the painting, invents a journey between now and then by interpreting the idiom of folkloric and western art instruments. In this composition, the sound of the Western concert flute, which stretches back to the Renaissance and Baroque periods, evokes the sound of the bamboo-flute (shakuchachi), which reached its peak during the Edo period. The guzheng, also known as the Chinese zither, with a more than 2,500 year history, joins traditional Japanese folk melodies with modern pop percussion and 20th century electronic instruments such as the Moog synthesizer, Wurlitzer electric piano and electric bass.

This is the illusion that celebrates the fleeting nature of all things. A journey. A deep inhale and a slow exhale. It has a mix of jazz (both funky and progressive), East Asian and South Asian sounds. The idea of fusing these styles and reframing them with the aesthetic of wabi sabi is to reconnect with nature and concentrate on asymmetries and emphasize ornamentation to generate new ways of looking at the world, here and now.

This record is produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.

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Rob Luft

Life Is The Dancer

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Sonar Kollektiv)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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British guitarist Rob Luft returns with Life Is The Dancer, his second album following acclaimed debut Riser (2017). With the same line-up Life Is The Dancer confirms all the praise and promise of an artist of the moment and commands attention for its brilliance and originality. Rob Luft is a superstar in the making - a virtuoso, a band-leader, a composer of vibrant, original music and a captivating communicator. Life Is The Dancer is an eagerly awaited and anticipated release from a future star.

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Key Elements

2LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Berlin based label Sonar Kollektiv has been waiting for it anxiously: Key Elements‘ debut album leads Jazz music into the new decade down-the-line. The music Key Elements create is fresh, merciless and ruthless and has always the finger on the pulse of the time. The album‘s eight tracks are all far away from Broken Beat nostalgia or Beatmaking nedism, they breathe inspiration from the young, thriving British jazz scene.
Key Element‘s initiator, DJ and producer Marian Tone, built up a reputation in the Berlin hiphop, soul and jazz scene over the years (also as a co-founder of Beatkollektiv). With all of his compositions you always feel this heritage and his love and passion for hiphop. But the other two allys within «Key Elements», drummer Waldi and the keyboard or bass player Jim Dunloop made their contribution with compositions and ideas as well. An album which was initially designed to be a mere solo project became an effort of a trio over the years being inherently consistent. Already the opening track «Mike Needs Sugar» shows the direction this album will take us: To the land of the good groove. It‘s here where the three thoroughbred musicians feel on top of the world obviously and deliver one luscious track after the other. From the cheerful «Morning Boom» to the kinda furtively laid back «Impossible» and the final «Funky Dave», which could be on an Italian soundtrack from the 70‘s every single tone and note from «Key Elements» is great fun.
Especially because even when you listen to it a second, third or fourth time you will discover new nuances and niceties again and again. As is right and proper for really good jazz album.

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Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes

What Kinda Music

16,99 €*

CD | 2020 | EU | Original (Four Flies)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Organic Grooves

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We are excited to present Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes’ “What Kinda Music” – an astonishing collaboration between two artists of very different disciplines, and one of the most unique and seamlessly original projects of its ilk to date.

Moving fluidly through sleek electronica, avant-garde jazz, vintage hip hop and so much more, Misch and Dayes take you on a journey that is by turns surprising and spontaneous, heady and head spinning, and nothing less than compelling – a singular vision which fuses the DNA of both musicians with spectacular results, as can be seen in the title track, which comes backed by a gorgeously atmospheric video by XX.

Even though the fundamental bones of this project came together very quickly, its actual provenance stretches back much, much farther back, with the pair not only growing up in the same area of South East London, but Misch actually seeing Dayes play on drums in the school talent show for the first time when he was roughly 8 or 9. They both kept tabs on each other – Misch becoming a fan of Dayes’ act Yussef Kamaal, Dayes clocking his videos in 2014 – but it was only when they met at a launch party for Misch’s debut LP “Geography” in 2018 that the proverbial creative sparks began to fly. “As a musician you’re always looking for contemporaries who can push you and challenge you and make you better”, says Dayes. “I instantly felt that with Tom – he was such a gifted musician, and so prolific”. That summer they decided to go into the studio together, jam a little, and see what happens, with no other expectation placed upon it.

As it turns out, the music came fast and furiously. Two initial tracks were suddenly followed by a handful of others, and the pair found themselves contemplating what to do next. “Pretty soon, we knew that something was gelling”, Dayes says. “It didn’t feel like a one-off collaboration, it felt like a body of work”. What made the pair click, according to Misch and Dayes, were the exact same factors that meant it shouldn’t, by all rights, work. Misch says, “Yussef comes from a more experimental background, and he has a lot of loose, crazy ideas. I know how to write a catchy melody, but with interesting chords and have a good understanding of popular song forms, so I think I streamlined those ideas and made them accessible”. And certainly, in “What Kinda Music” you can sense the DNA of both musicians, but fusing so effortlessly and beautifully that it creates something else entirely, the appropriately named “Lift Off” sending goosebumps with its jazz flecked crescendo, and “Night Rider” hynotising with its deeply mesmeric grooves. “I have a love for harmony and chords”, Misch adds. “Working with someone like Yussef, who has such a gifted sense of rhythm allowed a perfect balance”.

Throughout the record, there is an utterly joyful feel of two musicians at the top of their game sparking off one another, picking up ideas and running with them – zigging where the other zags, ebbing where the other flows, with Misch producing the majority of the record and both having a hand in the overall sound and feel of the record.

“Working with Yussef has actually changed the way I work as a musician”, Misch muses. “He’s pushed me and unlocked a more experimental part of me that I hadn’t really allowed myself to explore before. I think we really did impact each other in a fundamental way”. Dayes is similarly effusive in his praise for Misch. “A musician like him, who’s at the top of his game, he doesn’t need to do this”, he raves. “He can just keep doing the same thing and why not? He’s killing it. The fact that he’s so humble, that he’s so curious about everything and open to collaboration, speaks a lot to him as an artist, because it’s not easy finding musicians who want to collaborate. Something always gets in the way, whether it’s ego or their team or whatever. But with Tom it felt like the intention was purely creative, and that’s what made it exciting”. In fact, Dayes says that the intentions of the record go even deeper than just music. “Both our parents who’d never met each other before, are now best friends as a result of this, they now see each other more than we do! I’d like to think, in some small way, that this album has a similar impact for people too – everything feels so divided these days, it would be nice for people to hear the record and hear two very different musicians coming together and realise it doesn’t have to be that way”.

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Alessandro Alessandroni

Forever

13,99 €*

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Blacklake)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Soundtracks

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"Forever” is a special album that celebrates Alessandroni’s genius and represent his musical testament. Composed and arranged in Namibia during the last months of his life, the album is a stunning collection of orchestral tracks that reveal Alessandroni’s many virtues and abilities as a composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, fusing pop, jazz and classical music with his unique (Italian) touch.

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Jazz Sabbath

It Is What It Is Cream Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Jazz Sabbath (1968) were considered to be at the forefront of the new English jazz movement. Their self-titled debut album would be released on 13 Feb 1970, but on Feb 12th founding member and pianist Milton Keanes was hospitalised with a massive heart attack; leaving him fighting for his life. The record company shelved the album and cancelled the scheduled release out of financial uncertainty of releasing a debut album from a band without its musical leader.

When Milton was released from hospital in September 1970, he found out that a band from Birmingham, conveniently called ‘Black Sabbath’, had since released two albums containing so-called metal versions of his songs. His recalled albums had been destroyed in a warehouse fire in June 1970; leaving only a few bootleg tapes of Jazz Sabbath’s live performances as proof of existence.

The master tapes, believed to be lost in the fire, were found last year. These songs will now finally be heard; proving that the heavy metal band worshipped by millions are in fact nothing more than musical charlatans, thieving the music from a bedridden, hospitalised genius.

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Thundercat

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Brainfeeder)

It Is What It Is Clear Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The album, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox.

“It Is What It Is” follows his game-changing third album “Drunk” (2017). That record completed his transition from virtuoso bassist to bonafide star and cemented his reputation as a unique voice that transcends genre. “This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,” Bruner says about “It Is What It Is”. “It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at different points in life you come across places that you don’t necessarily understand… some things just aren’t meant to be understood.”

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Thundercat

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Brainfeeder)

36,99 €*

It Is What It Is Red Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Thundercat

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Brainfeeder)

Tape | 2019 | KR | Original (Helicopter Seoul)

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Dydsu

Consume K

17,99 €*

These Are My Roots - Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly

Release: 2019 / KR – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Just scratching the surface of the broad musical output of South Korea, from the 1950s onwards. Buddhist chant, traditional folkloric song and drumming, court music, psychedlia, experimental, and some jazz soundtracks thrown in for good measure.

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Clifford Jordan

LP | 1965 | EU | Reissue (Atlantic)

Diapositive Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1965 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Clifford Jordan hailed from Chicago, hometown of hard-driving, so-called ‘tough tenorists’ like Gene Ammons and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis. While Jordan shared their unnerving bravado, his tone is different, an alluring tone, simultaneously rough around the edges and ephemeral. A sought-after sideman, Jordan recorded with stalwarts as Lee Morgan and Max Roach in the late fifties and early sixties, as well as a series of high standard solo albums. Like age matures wine, Jordan’s style ripened in the early seventies, his lines becoming fluent like ripples of lake water. Jordan kept recording and performing steadily until his death in 1993.

Maybe this album, filled with interpretations of such classic tunes as Take This Hammer and Goodnight Irene, is not such a surprise act after all. The preceding year, Jordan had been part of Charles Mingus’ outfit (appearing on the hi-voltage live album Right Now: Live At The Jazz Workshop) Musical gobbler Mingus’ unfazed search for new vistas while retaining an all-embracing sense of the past’s relevance and blend of harmonic finesse with unbridled juke joint tumult surely rubbed off on Jordan.

Da Gray Goose is one of the cases in point. Tasteful harmony over the stop-time theme kicks it into action, strongly plucked bass and fiery drums inspire the soloists, creating an atmosphere of abandon. Lusty shout choruses stoke up the fire as the tune progresses. There are also some, yes, virtuoso banjo parts.

The gloomy folk blues music of Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter, whose life story reads like a combined effort of Shakespeare and James Baldwin, including oppression, hardship, addiction, treachery, murder and prison life, is excellently cast in a jazz frame. But not too jazzy, often the sound of Jordan’s top-notch group is as tough-as-nails as the sound of any one group that enlivened the back alley bars way back when. Jordan’s unpredictable phrasing overcomes the restrictions of the rigid folk blues form.

Craftily uncrafted, These Are My Roots is a spirited album of earnest, raw and ebullient swing.

Recorded on February 1 & 17, 1965 in NYC

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Massimo Guantini

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Loneos)

19,99 €*

8: Kindred Spirits - Live From Lobero

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Beside the telluric year in pop music and culture, 1977 was still ranked as the future for Italian leftfield composers. Published by roman imprint Gemelli and credited to the elusive Massimo Guantini (none else than influential jazz player and composer Sandro Brugnolini), Diapositive is a fully cinematic journey in the realm of sci-fi and cool jazz. Fully produced at famous roman Emmequattro Studios (home of many fascinating recordings by piano player Enrico Pieranunzi) the album is deeply rooted in the coolness of italian libraries, showing up such an incredible music craftsmanship. Fully adorned by a vibrant rhythm section, an acoustic piano, a clavinet, a Fender Rhodes and a proper ‘acid jazz’ guitar-playing, this album will lift your mind and soul for good.

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Charles Lloyd

2LP+DVD | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

Sings And Plays With Len Mercer And His Orchestra Angel Eyes

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Charles Lloyd has played the 150-year-old adobe theater in downtown Santa Barbara more often than any other venue, and more often than any other performer. Knowing that Marian Anderson sang there on February 14, 1940 makes it a sacred space for him. In the concert film you can see him bobbing with pleasure beneath his pointy, indigo knit cap, curly white hair, and long goatee. He beams at his neighbors, places the palms of his hands together and pulls them against his black sweater and golden tenor saxophone in the traditional Buddhist greeting. “I always get nervous before I go on,” Lloyd confesses, “but once I get on, Dorothy [Darr] has to come and drag me off. It seems that once I’m on stage I get met by the spirits. I enter the now. Sometimes Prez and Bird will stop by and say, ‘Hi, Charles.’”

A birthday is a door between the past and the future, and this concert reflected that truth. Representing the future were 34-year-old pianist Gerald Clayton, who performs regularly with Lloyd, and 31-year-old guitarist Julian Lage, who had performed with him when he was 12-years-old. Representing the past was 74-year-old organist and fellow Memphis native Booker T. Jones, who had never played with Lloyd at all. This was a one-of-a-kind line-up for a one-of-a-kind ritual.

“I’ve known Julian since he was 12,” Lloyd says. “He’s from the Healdsburg area, and Jessica Felix, who runs the jazz festival there, asked if Julian could play with us during the festival in 2000. Billy Higgins and John Abercrombie were in the group. I knew she wouldn’t ask if he didn’t have something special, so we let him play, and he had something; he had big ears. We’re all seekers in life; we all get the rays of the sun, but some get a stronger dose. A lot of young geniuses flame out and no one remembers their names. But so far, Julian’s balanced: grounded but at the same time ecstatic. Even though he’s the future, he knows the past.”

“Gerald was often back stage when I was touring with the New Quartet. In 2013 when Jason’s other duties became overwhelming, I decided to try out Gerald. His father and uncle are great musicians,” Lloyd says, referring to bassist John and saxophonist Jeff of the Clayton Brothers, “so he comes from something deep. You can hear it when he plays.”

Jones was still in junior high when Lloyd was graduating from high school, so they didn’t know each other when they were both growing up in Memphis. But they both shared the city’s rich cultural heritage, and when they ran into each other at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival, they promised to play together at some point. This birthday party was the perfect excuse.

“Memphis was such a rich environment,” Lloyd recalls. “It was like New York City, only with biscuits and gravy. There was an intelligentsia that inspired me to always be a learner. New York was 1300 miles away, and Chicago 450 miles away, but we were on the river, so musicians were always coming through. These out-of-town guys would play the Peabody Hotel and then they’d come over to the joints in our neighborhood to play with us, and we’d put a hurt on them. We didn’t tap dance or do anything for the man. We had our own culture and we knew it was inspired. We knew nothing of the lamb tongues and the gold mines, and I’m so thankful; we were doing it for the music.”

Don Was first made his name as co-leader and bassist of the 1980s funk-rock band Was (Not Was) and went on to produce albums for the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Jason Moran and many more. In 2012, he became president of Blue Note Records and immediately set out to bring his hero Lloyd to the label. By 2015, he had succeeded in his quest and a magnificent series of albums has followed: Wild Man Dance, I Long To See You, Passin’ Thru, and Vanished Gardens.

Harland anchors every project that Lloyd pursues these days—Sangam, the Marvels, the New Quartet—and Rogers is present in every group but the bass-less Sangam. “Eric and Reuben put a magic carpet under me,” Lloyd exclaims, “and I can travel wherever I want to go. They want to be there, and they know that to be there they have to spread their wings in any situation. When we take that journey together; that’s communal living at its highest. Music is not for sleepwalking; it’s for wakefulness. Reuben and Eric understand. My music dances on a lot of shores, and they have the ability to be in the now with all of it.”

The Lobero set list docked at many of those shores. The evening began with the title track from Lloyd’s first album for Atlantic Records, 1966’s Dream Weaver. This infectious reverie begins with breathy exhalations and ends the same way 20 minutes later, but in between, Lloyd’s tenor saxophone attacks the theme with an increasingly edgy fearlessness—and Lage and Clayton follow his example.

“‘Dream Weaver’ is sacred ground to me,” Lloyd says. “That record was fresh and crazily beautiful. It has withstood the passage of the ages. I started playing it again and found new ways of expressing the truth. There are some notes on the saxophone I didn’t have as a young man. They aren’t on the horn; they’re in between the cracks. I’m not denying the young Charles, but as my character becomes whole, the music gets better.” If that tune reached back to the beginnings of Lloyd’s career, the next three came from his much-lauded resurgence in the 1990s through the 2010s on ECM. “Requiem,” which first appeared on 1992’s Notes from Big Sur, used patient tempos and pointillist solos by the tenor saxophone, piano, guitar and acoustic bass to create a mood that fits the title.

The Mexican folk song “La Llorona” from 2010’s Mirror (and 2016’s I Long To See You) opens with a piano solo that slowly builds from quiet to majestic and closes with a tenor solo that manages to always reference the melody as it’s sprinting through the octaves. That segues into “Part 5, Ruminations” from 2017’s Passin’ Thru, which begins with a meditative, free-floating consideration of the harmony before cohering into a more definite theme that inspires a stabbing guitar solo, a classically flavored piano solo, a rumbling drum solo and a low-register tenor saxophone solo.

The second set found Clayton sitting out until the encores. Rogers switched from acoustic to electric bass, and Was sat in for two numbers on acoustic bass. Jones contributed two compositions: the premiere of his birthday card “Song for Charles,” and his 1962 hit as leader of Booker T. & the MGs, “Green Onions.” Two Lloyd compositions from the 1960s, “Island Blues” and “Sombrero Sam,” joined the old hymn “Abide with Me” and the American folk tune “Shenandoah.” For the encore, Clayton rejoined the band to play Lloyd’s “Forest Flower” and Billy Preston’s 1974 hit single, “You Are So Beautiful.”

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Chet Baker

LP | 2020 | IT | Original (Cinevox)

7" | 2020 | EU | Original (Six Nine)

Release: 2020 / IT – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The lyricism of Chet Baker cannot be doubted because Chet in his musical expressions remains as singer and musicians essentially romantic. He fits beautifully into a context created around him and for him, a context that finds in the sonority of his trumpet or in the opacity of his voice a leading element, dominator and at the same time attractive and fascinating.

The songs on this record are aimed to everyone: jazz fans and those who are not very familiar with jazz. For music arrangers Ezio Leoni and Giulio Libano the work ground with Chet has been smoothed out: there was no need to build beyond the measure, it was important to expand, enhance, galvanize what Chet wanted to express. They have alternated lyrical songs with more stringent and alive tracks. With the continuous alternation of times, expressions and atmospheres they made sure to avoid any monotony.

The orchestra that recorded the album was consisted of 16 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, a flute, a bass clarinet, an oboe, a French horn, a harp which matched with Glauco Massetti's alto sax, Fausto Papetti's baritone sax, Mario Pezzotta's trombone, Gianni Basso's tenor sax, Franco Cerri's double bass, Gene Victory's drums. An imposing orchestra that was able to mix perfectly and alternate purely jazzy instruments with strings during the performances.

The repertoire included in the album ranges a lot: from well-known motifs such as 'Angel Eyes', 'When I Fall In Love' or 'I Should Care', to others less known but very pleasant tracks as 'The Song Is You' or
'Forgetful'. Other tracks lend themselves perfectly to a wider orchestration such as 'Autumn In New York', 'Violets for Your Fur' or 'Deep in A Dream'. Another theme was treated with a thrifty intervention of the strings, almost a crown of the whole performance, represented by the recording 'Street of Dreams'. In the last track Good-bye of Side A Chet expresses an exceptional sadness in a very valid and unusual way.

The tracks were recorded on September 28, 1958 and October 5, 1959 at the Guertler Bros. recording
studio.The tracks were recorded on September 28, 1958 and October 5, 1959 at the Guertler Bros. studio

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Byron Jamez

Time Machine

14,99 €*

Kimiko Kasai with Herbie Hancock

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soul/Disco/Funk single here for the first time ever on vinyl! The independent UK label Six Nine Records Ltd, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, proudly presents Byron Jamez who now makes his debut on the label! Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Jamez has been living and breathing soul music all his life (his mother was an active musician already during the 1970s). Byron Jamez is a multi-talented man; an artist in the music business, an established actor and a master of advanced media skills. What we cherish the most right now is his pillow clenching voice and fantastic music, which definitely make this world much more beautiful. This release contains the brand new and stunning groover “Let’s Get Together” backed with the stepper-esque “Time Machine” on the flipside. Definitely not to be missed as it is a limited UK press with small hole and full colour printed picture cover!

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Butterfly

LP | 1979 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Musax Background Music Library Volume 1

Release: 1979 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This is the 2020 repress. Due to its super-rare status as a Japan-only release, this exquisite collection of covers never got the recognition it deserved at the time, despite incredibly inspired performances from Kimiko, Herbie and the supremely talented musicians assembled for the project. From heavenly drummer Alphonse Mouzon and renowned organist Webster Lewis to bassist Paul Jackson, reedman Bennie Maupin and the master percussionist Bill Summers, the legendary performers crafted amazingly good vocal versions of Herbie / Headhunters jazz-funk.

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V.A.

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Farfalla)

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Now-Again)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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For this first volume of Musax Background Music Library, Farfalla Records continues exploring the maze of the french library music through one of its most discreet and prolific representatives: Jacky Giordano and one of his many projects, the Musax label. Farfalla Records carefully selected this tracklisting among LPs recorded between 1978 and 1979 of which the originals became particularly sought after by the collectors. Jacky Giordano who appears under his aliases Joachim Sherylee and José Pharos, is surrounded by qualified and renowned musicians such as Jean-Pierre Decerf, Jean-Claude Pierric, Serge Planchon, Patrick Petitbon, Gérard Gesina, Jean-Charles Capon, Daniel Humair and also a band composed of members from the legendary Crazy Horse cabaret, namely Pedro Perea, Claude Brisset, Bruno Bompard, Jean-Claude Guselli, Claude Thirifays, Vincent Momplet and Joseph Gatineau. This selection mixing explosive jazz-funk, lascivious jazz and electronic music more spacey or experimental, which could also be the soundtrack for a TV show, a porn movie or a car chase between cops and gangsters in the bad neighbourhoods of Paris. A fascinating slice of the French music scene of the late 70 is brought to life before our very eyes. (Erwann Pacaud)

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Lloyd Miller

Oriental Jazz

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Born in 1938, and raised in Glendale, California, Lloyd Miller has had one of the most unusual careers in all of jazz. By age 12 he had declared an
intent to make his living as a jazz musician, and by high school he had already begun to experiment, shunning swing music's mechanical perfection,
and chafing at his parents’ desire for him to nurture his talents with formal training. This tumultous relationship with his parents would eventually
lead to a stint in a psychatric hospital, before reuniting with them in moving to Iran, his father having accepted a job working for the Shah.
Stops in Hong Kong, Japan and Pakistan on the way to Iran deepened Miller's connection to other cultures he’d first felt while listening to old world
music compilations. He felt a definite calm and peace, an immense respect from everyone towards everyone else, and immersed himself in other
cultures and languages immediately. Miller spent a year in Iran with his family, picking up Farsi after a few short months, and steadily gaining more
and more of an appreciation for how deep the roots of Persian art run. However, still committed to his decision forge a career in jazz, Lloyd left Tehran
in 1958 to head to Europe to see if he could make a living from jazz music.
Miller kicked around the continent, first in Germany, then in Switzerland, Sweden and Brussels. He collaborated and performed alongside 60s jazz
legend Jef Gilson, and experimented with exotic instrumentation before returning to America to resume his studies at Brigham Young University in
Utah. In the years following his stint with Gilson, Miller had become more and more disillusioned with both modern music and modern society, which
had ashewed jazz for rock music, which he detested. In Miller’s conception, for a music to have value it had to have a deep connection to a tradition,
specifically connecting jazz to African lore. To Miller, something like “Tuareg African music is blues, just with no chord changes.”
Oriental Jazz was recorded, compiled and self-released in 1968 while Miller was studying at Brigham Young. The record, originally pressed in
a quantity of 300 copies, sought to combine a cool, modal style with the exotic arrays of instruments and styles that Miller had picked up during
his travels. Miller included songs he’d cut with Gilson in his Parisian studio years before, and a solo piano piece that he recorded in one of the
school’s practice rooms. Despite Lloyd’s professed aversion to modernity, there nevertheless is something strikingly new sounding about this
music, which fits together in startling juxtapositions. Traces of Bill Evans, Stan Getz and Jimmy Giuffre rub shoulders with Persian santur, Arab oud
and Turkish saz music.
Copies of Oriental Jazz languished in Miller's home for years after numerous failed bids for record contracts, before finally ending up in the hands of
record collectors decades later. After its release however, he would find a second life after returning to Iran, doing field recordings, and eventually
hosting a weekly television show that programmed both American jazz and the best traditional Persian musicians he could find. It was not to last
however, as he abruptly abandoned the country to return to the US in the late 1970s, predicting the arrival of the Islamic Revolution.

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Linda Hill

Lullaby For Linda

31,49 €* 34,99 € -10%

Lake Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Featuring members of the Arkesta
Re-mastering by Kevin Gray
Produced by Tom Albach
Recorded & mixed by Dennis Moody in 1981
Linda Hill recorded this LP for Nimbus West in 1981 with fellow Arkestra members, including flautist Adele Sebastian. And it’s Sebastian’s vocal duet with Hill on the spiritual jazz epic “Leland’s Song” that opens this stunning LP. Hill’s ensemble also included the serious horn player Sabir Matteen, as well as bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Everett Brown Jr., who would all go on to record LPs for Nimbus.

The Arkestra first started rehearsing at pianist Linda Hill’s house in the early ‘60s. “In a few months, we’d built up from seven or eight to about 18 cats, musicians started living there,” Tapscott wrote in his autobiography. “People got involved with the Arkestra like it was their life’s work.” Hill took the role seriously, earning her the name of “the Ark’s matriarch” by Tapscott.

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3TM

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (We Jazz)

2LP | 2019 | UK | Original (Gondwana)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Drummer/producer Teppo Mäkynen's 3TM returns with a new album, "Lake", on 29 November on Helsinki's We Jazz Records. The album is the much awaited follow up to 2017's successful 3TM debut "Form", which was awarded as the "Jazz Album of the Year" in Mäkynen's native Finland. "Lake" was preceded by the ambient electronic album "Abyss" in August, which set the mood for what's to come next: A compact yet far-reaching body of work bringing together the trio's acoustic jazz sound and ideas rooted in abstract electronic music in a remarkably boundless way.

"Lake" is a collection of 9 Mäkynen-penned originals ranging from the looping, hypnotic compositions such as first single "Laws Of Life" to the delicacy of tracks such as "Woods". There is a sense of long form narrative here, evident in glorious, slowly evolving tracks such as "Lake" and "A Pile Of Broken Dreams". The overall sound is swinging, melodic, deep and futuristic. It's acoustic jazz and abstract electronic music understood deeply and used as the base of a new sound, which goes beyond the usual distinctions of "acoustic jazz" or "electronic music". This is music for the present day, moving forward.

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Matthew Halsall

Colour Yes

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Super Sonic Jazz)

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Remixed and remastered with bonus material and released on vinyl for the first time.

Deluxe 2LP editions with artwork re-imagined by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic.

"If I could watch any jazz band in the UK, any, I would choose Matthew Halsall's band, just love what he's been doing over the last few years... It's always high level, spiritual jazz music" Gilles Peterson BBC Radio 1

Matthew Halsall (born September 11, 1983, in Manchester, England) is a Worldwide Award winning and MOBO nominated trumpeter, composer, producer and DJ. Since 2008, Matthew has released seven critically acclaimed studio recordings and has been a key figure in the rise of a new jazz sound in the UK. In addition to his own releases Halsall has collaborated with many DJs and producers, most notably DJ Shadow and Mr. Scruff, and in 2013 Matthew's music was selected by Bonobo for his Late Night Tales compilation. Halsall is also the founder of Gondwana Records, a genre bending independent record label featuring a wealth defining albums by the likes of Portico Quartet, GoGo Penguin, Hania Rani and Mammal Hands. His own rich music draws on the spiritual-jazz of Alice Coltrane and Phaorah Sanders, contemporary electronica and dance music alongside his travels in Japan, the traditional art and music of which, has left a lasting impression on his compositions.

Sending My Love (2008) and Colour Yes (2009) were his first releases and document Halsall's first great bands featuring the likes of flautist Chip Wickham, saxophonist Nat Birchall, harpist Rachael Gladwin, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes. Joyful, life-enhancing albums, drawing on UK jazz and spiritual jazz influences but with a decidedly modern bounce, they introduced Halsall's music to the world gathering support from the likes of Gilles Peterson and Jamie Cullum, Mojo, Straight No Chaser and beyond. But Halsall was never completely happy with how the records were presented and as part of Gondwana Records 10th anniversary decided to revisit the recordings, meticulously remixing and remastering them for vinyl and commissioning new artwork from Ian Anderson, one of his favourite designers. These then are the definitive editions of the records. Sending My Love comes complete with the beautiful bonus track This Time, while Colour Yes features the equally striking It's What We Do and Ai.

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Greyheads

Homes

2LP | 2019 | UK | Original (Gondwana)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Hailing from one of the world’s most famous harbours, Rotterdam, a true multicultural melting-pot, the music by 6-piece band called the Greyheads mirrors the daily life of this busy city. They approach jazz from a hip-hop point of view, or hip-hop from a jazz point of view, always carefully adding a perfect dose of other influences (all the members are heavily influenced by artists like Miles Davis, J Dilla, Herbie Hancock and Robert Glasper) with an exciting, groovy and vibrant tone.

After having self-released their debut EP "GREYHEADS × KYTOPIA" in 2017, they recently finished recording "HOMES", their first full length album.

Led by drummer Nello Biasini, this truly international band of like minded musicians was formed in 2016 and have since been busy creating their own, fresh and unique sound. Whether an intimate jazz club or the main stage of a big festival, they are all about creating a feel-good groovy vibe using live rlectronics, drum 'n bass, jazz, hip hop and pop fused together.

GreyHeads performed at NN North Sea Jazz 2019 and several other festivals such as So What's Next Festival, Jazz Delft Festival, Cutting Edge, ProJazz, Big Rivers Festival, as well as opening for the bands Moonchild and Knower.

'Homes' is a journey through space and time, travelling in opposite but jointed paths that lead to the places we call home. The concept of the record is to carry the listener to experience what every place and time can in any way, represent home, characterized by different atmospheres, sounds, images and sensations.

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Matthew Halsall

Sending My Love

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Edition Hawara)

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Word

Collected Works

2LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Speakers Corner)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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* The awe-inspiring signature piece “Lobster” has the same analogue, slow-moving aesthetic as Zenit’s timeless “Waiting” that was featured on Edition Hawara’s first release
* The Word is one of the better-kept secrets of 1980s Austrian disco music

The Word is one of the better-kept secrets of 1980s Austrian disco music. Yet once you put the needle on this record, you notice that it sounds oddly familiar. The awe-inspiring signature piece “Lobster” has the same analogue, slow-moving aesthetic as Zenit’s timeless “Waiting” that was featured on Edition Hawara’s first release. The same goes for the three other wonderfully unconventional, proto-electronic songs: “Easy”, “All my life” and the eponymous “the word”. And there are even more commonalities with Zenit’s LP: The vocals are Linda Sharrock’s, who here teamed up with Karl “Charly” Ratzer and Peter Ponger, the twin brother of legendary Falco producer Robert Ponger. The result of this collaboration is, well, also quite legendary. How this kind of sound emerged in Vienna in 1984 is still a bit of a mystery, but clearly all the stars were aligned when Sharrock, Ratzer and Ponger were jamming in the studio. We at Edition Hawara are very proud to share this secret with you. Just as there are very few lobsters in landlocked Vienna, there are very few records like this out there.

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Charles Mingus

Mingus At Antibes

55,99 €*

LP | 1974 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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You can be sure that jazz fans in the year 1960 were unfamiliar with Charles Mingus’s LPs "Blues And Roots" or "Mingus Ah-Um" when they poured into the Pinède Gould Arena at the Antibes Jazz Festival held in Juan-les-Pins, France on 13 July. At any rate, as can be seen in a short video clip, all the seats were occupied. In addition, a really good trumpeter was there, whose name would later resound throughout Europe: Ted Curson. What is more, the legendary Bud Powell, who lived in France, was invited as a special guest for one number that required a pianist.
The Jazz Workshop – which was how Mingus called his working ensemble – presented repertoire that was familiar to all the musicians: "Better Git It In Your Soul", "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and Dolphy’s wonderful solo on the bass clarinet in "What Love?". Besides this there was "Cry For Freedom" as "Prayer For Passive Resistance" was also named, and "Folk Forms", also known as "Ummh". As a mark of respect towards the guest musician, it was decided to perform the evergreen "I’ll Remember April", with Powell’s improvisation being applauded enthusiastically by the audience.
Charles Mingus was to play in numerous concerts in the 60s and 70s; he recorded more than two-dozen official LPs, accused several concert organizers and tour managers of extortionate robbery, and trampled on illegal recording tapes. But the present live recording was made by the ORTF and released officially later by Atlantic Records. It is now re-released after many years and is a rare document in the annals of music history.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: July 1960 live at the Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-les-Pins, France, by Dannie Richmond
Production: Neshui Ertegun

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Cecil McBee

Mutima

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Otoroku)

Release: 1974 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A landmark recording in early creative improvised modern music, bassist Cecil McBee's recording for the Strata East label is an important document introducing him as a leader from the international jazz-based scene in New York City via his native Tulsa, OK and following a brief mid-'60s stint in Detroit. McBee as a pure musician has staggering technique, rich harmonic ideas, and an indefatigable swing, but it is as a composer that he is set apart from other musicians of this mid-'70s era. "Life Waves" is a stunning piece of composed and improvised music, with a brief clarion horn section setting off McBee's chordal strumming and harp bop drive. Trumpeter Tex Allen's brash lines, the incendiary tenor saxophonist George Adams, and more thoughtful alto saxophonist Allen Braufman dig into hefty but contrasting solos, while drummer Jimmy Hopps stokes the coals. The other premier piece, "Mutima", has a soaring longer melody switching on and off onto a samba palate that is pretty, beautiful, and much more introspective than other wild and woolly cuts. The legendary but under recognized flutist Art Webb shines on the floaty free "A Feeling", and the atypical but wholly contemporized "Tulsa Black", a portent to the music that would be made later in this time period by Sonny Fortune, and featuring the wah-wah electric bass guitar work of Cecil McBee, Jr. The two-minute "Voice Of The Seventh Angel" sports the disparity of a complex arrangement alongside the beautiful singing of a young Dee Dee Bridgewater, while the marathon "From Within" has McBee performing solo, but overdubbed on two basses in opposite stereo channels, using serene long-toned arco and static pizzicato in arresting sounds that meld into a bridge squawk reminiscent of the saxophone playing of bandmate Adams. In retrospect, McBee's great career was ostensibly launched well before this recording, having worked with prominently with Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Charles Tolliver, and countless others. "Mutima" (translated as "unseen forces") undoubtedly solidified his stature and brilliance as a major player.

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Louis Moholo Octet

Spririts Rejoice

Abyss (A Prelude To Lake)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Otoroku is extremely proud to present the first vinyl reissue of one of the most legendary free jazz records ever produced. Originally released in 1978 on Ogun recordings, Louis Moholo Octet’s Spirits Rejoice! is a high achievement in the movement of the era as it soars beyond oppression with a raucous and spiritually uplifting surge of movement and melody

Featuring Harry Miller, Johnny Dyani, Keith Tippett, Evan Parker, Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti and Kenny Wheeler, this is former Blue Note artist Louis Moholo’s first album under his own name and is a classic example of the cross-pollination between South African and British players. Mongezi Feza’s ‘You Ain’t Gonna Know Me ‘Cos You Think You Know Me’ alone is enough to make your life a better place.

From Matthew Wright’s new liner notes:

The South African melodies, now so familiar, were wholeheartedly taken on board by the individual musicians, their unity of purpose mirroring the belief in the strength of the collective. Stunning solos, often close to the edge, feature throughout – Evan Parker and Keith Tippett on “Shine Wherever You Are”; the contrasting trombone styles of Nick Evans and Radu Malfatti on “You Ain’t Gonna Know Me...”; the octet sounding like a full big band; and behind them, the relentlessly rhythmic urgency of the piano, bass and drums. Add to this Kenny Wheeler’s moving and all-encompassing trumpet on the elegiac “Amaxesha Osizi” and the joyous flamboyancy of “Wedding Hymn” with Parker’s relatively straight-ahead tenor and Tippett’s dextrous piano solo over a bed of riffing horns, fast walking bass lines and a supreme sense of swing. Louis’ early hero, Big Sid Catlett, would have loved it!

This 2019 re-issue has been made with permission and in association with Ogun records. Features an exact reproduction of the original artwork and liner notes along with new liner notes from Matthew Wright. Remastered by Giuseppe IIelasi and packaged in a high gloss sleeve this is the definitive release of one of the absolute free jazz classics of the 20th Century.

Edition of 1000 copies.

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3TM

Tape | 2019 | EU | Original (We Jazz)

12,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Timesig)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Drummer/producer Teppo Mäkynen presents a new album by his lauded trio ensemble 3TM in 2019. Before the second 3TM album "Lake" comes "Abyss", a collection of 10 ambient pieces laying the groundwork for the upcoming album. This prelude album is a full-bodied work in itself, a glorious and somewhat mysterious LP which brings forth yet another shade of multifaceted Mäkynen's musical vision. The 10 compositions on "Abyss" feel like the discovery of life and movement in deep waters, where only the rare shades of light breaking through indicate that another world exists above the surface.
"Abyss" will be available as a clear vinyl edition, on tape and digitally, and both as a standalone album and as a bundle with the upcoming 3TM trio album "Lake".
Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen is a drummer/producer from Helsinki, who works at the centre of the lively jazz scene in Finland. His work includes projects such as 3TM, The Stance Brothers, Teddy Rok Seven and the new duo with sax player Timo Lassy. Mäkynen also plays drums in several highly-regarded ensembles such as Timo Lassy Band, Aki Rissanen Trio, Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, Verneri Pohjola Quartet, Nicola Conte Jazz Combo, plus many more. As a producer, his work has been highly regarded in projects such as 3TM, The Stance Brothers, and the albums of Timo Lassy and Jukka Eskola.

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Datach'I

Bones

LP | 1974 | IT | Reissue (Four Flies)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Joseph Fraioli, a.k.a. Datach'i, returns with eighth album 'Bones'. Released on Venetian Snares' Timesig imprint, 'Bones' features 12 tracks of mind expanding electronica, once again recorded on his custom-built Eurorack modular system. Much like its predecessor, 'Bones' manages to make the most of the possibilities modular systems offer, whilst avoiding their many pitfalls that can often turn such music into little more than a dry academic exercise. Indeed 'Bones' is a remarkably intimate album, written and recorded in the time following his father's death, and reflects this intense period of personal change in Joseph's life. "Creating this music was a therapy of sorts," Joseph recalls. "It was almost like a close friend being there for me, and it's something that I hope others can perhaps utilize in the same way." The connection to his father is something that is reflected not just in the emotional intensity of 'Bones', but in the actual production itself. "My father and I were very close," he explains. "Whilst he was sick with cancer I bought him a guitar as he wanted to learn how to play, just to have something to do while he was getting treated. After he passed away my mother gave me the guitar to have as a sort of memory of him. I had the idea to record some sounds and music on the guitar and load it onto granular sample players on the modular synth so I could make new music from those sounds as a sort of tribute to my dad. You can hear some of those sounds on a few of the tracks here like 'Arrivals', 'Motion in the Living Room' and 'Undimension'." . Even though 'Bones' is about endings and finding closure, it also looks forward to new beginnings. "It was something very much on my mind throughout recording this album," he relates, "ends being beginnings and beginnings being the end. Cycles of time and how time works, it's all reflected throughout the album right down to how the tracks are ordered." Ranging from blissful ambience and guileless, starry eyed melodies, to intricate claustrophobic rhythms that forever sound close to collapsing in on themselves before expanding into bold new patterns, 'Bones' is the work of a producer who, twenty years on from his debut, continues to push the boundaries of electronic music.

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Alessandro Alessandroni

Spontaneous

Aquamarine Teal Virgin Vinyl Edition

Release: 1974 / IT – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Maybe the best Alessandroni’s album ever. A true holy-grail for any collector and worldwide music lover, which we can consider nowadays as the most sought-after record of the whole legendary RCA SP 10000 series, and as the rarest album from the king of Italian libraries.
Jazz, mellow-funk, downtempo breaks, and incredible rock blends, make this record a refined portrait of the 70’s American way of life, viewed through the fully Italian lens of Alessandroni’s sensitivity.
The magic around Spontaneous is that this album is not only beautiful and astonishing, but is certainly on of those amazing records to which time gives new life and freshness, making it sounds unbelievably contemporary.
After five years of exhausting research, and three years later the finding of the original master tapes of the album, finally Four Flies can give a light to this obscure and fascinating mystery, rescuing it from the darkness. It’s not just another piece of Alessandroni’s legacy that is finally put back in the right place. This should be considered as the definitive act to re-estabilsh Alessandroni's leadership into the library music scene, and beyond.
Available again from July 19, coming in 180gr black vinyl, housed in a hard tip-on sleeve cover.
Limited Edition 500 copies

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Ash Walker

LP | 2019 | UK | Original (Night Time Stories)

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited numbered edition of 1000 copies on colored vinyl!

Ash’s production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts, Gideon Coe and Clash Maga- zine, XLR8R and MIMS.

‘Aquamarine’ is a projection and culmination of all he’s ab- sorbed. A cosmic explosion of sound and colour, rhythm, shape and patterns. The arrival of an unassuming dreamer now projecting his unique flavour of expression. ‘Aqua- marine’ is the take-off of this audial spaceship, a sound discovered in the grooves of thousands of records, united in one. A meditation designed to inspire good energy, Ash hopes to bring a sense of calm and tranquility to the listener amongst the chaos of life. Recorded at home with the freedom of time and space, it combines analogue with digital, and a fondness for normally unwanted shapes and textures such as fuzz, hiss and crackle.

“My previous albums have felt to me more like ventures on land. This one feels more like a deep sea voyage into the subconscious. Living to dream with visions of gran- deur. Manifesting a beautiful path to walk on. It was inspired by everything around me, from friends and family to art and design, engineering and architecture, move- ment and how we use our five senses. I love to try and push my own boundaries of what I perceive to be right and wrong, seeing mistakes as innovations, and obstacles as inspiration.”

Highlights on the album include ‘Under The Sun’, ‘Time’ and ‘Finishing Touch’, all of which feature the smooth and silky voice of Laville. Themes of metaphysical exploration and transportation re-occur in the cosmic jazz of ‘Brave New World’ and the smoked beats on ‘Come With Us’. Also featured across the album are trumpet and flugel- horn genius Yazz Ahmed, bassist Marc Cyril (Keziah Jones, Jr Walker & The All Stars) and renowned musician and producer Jonathan Shorten.

Having already graced the stages of some of the biggest UK festivals as well as as The Jazz Cafe and Rich Mix, The Ash Walker Experience is a formidable six piece live lineup. Ash has collaborated with Ezra Lloyd-Jackson to turn each performance into a vibrant, multi-sensory experience combining live reactive projections and carefully crafted frequency complimenting fragrances.

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So It Is

LP | 2017 | EU | Reissue (Sub Pop)

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Holidays)

Release: 2017 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP includes download coupon. At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it's crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City's inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history. So It Is (2017) finds the classic Preservation Hall Jazz Band sound invigorated by a number of fresh influences, not least among them the band's 2015 life-changing trip to Cuba. A visit to the island, so integral to the evolution of jazz and New Orleans culture in general, had long been in the works when President Obama's diplomatic opening suddenly allowed for a more extensive journey than had originally seemed possible. Producer David Sitek, a founder of art rock innovators TV on the Radio who has helmed projects by Kelis, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Santigold among others, offered both a keen modern perspective and a profound respect for the band's storied history. Back in print on vinyl and CD via Sub Pop, which signed Preservation Hall Jazz Band in 2018, and will soon be releasing new music by the band.

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Hüseyin Ertunc Sextet

A New World

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Amercia)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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We consider ourselves extremely fortunate having met Hüseyin Ęrtunc during his terrestrial transit. After we reissued his wonderful album Musikî (privately released on Intex Sound in 1974) and a few collaborative albums with the Konstrukt collective, in 2017 we finally managed to invite him, Doğan Doğusel, Cem Tan and Umut Çağlar to play some shows in Italy as a quartet. Things got really complicated when their visas got rejected - only one week before their plane was scheduled to take off - but then we found a stalwart supporter of free jazz music at the phone of the Italian Embassy and incredibly we got the visas in time so we could spend a whole week with Hüseyin and his band, touring Italy and playing four shows of the best spiritual free jazz we heard in a long while.
Right after that, we took the chance to book a recording session at the good old Outside Inside Studio, where our loyal partner Matt Bordin captured on tape two days of improvisation by Hüseyin Ęrtunc (Fender Rhodes electric piano, Philicorda organ and chant), Umut Çağlar (percussion and bamboo flutes), Doğan Doğusel (double bass), Cem Tan (drums), joined for this special occasion by the almighty Jooklo Duo: Virginia Genta (tenor and sopranino saxophones, clarinet, flutes), and David Vanzan (percussion). What came out of this is an incredible musical document, and not only for the fact that -unfortunately- it was Hüseyin's last session on this world.
"Most of Ertunç’s recorded appearances have been on drum set, where he’s employed a massive and materialist cymbal approach that takes Sunny Murray’s explosive chatter as a lifting-off point. Ertunç waxed one LP as a leader in 1974, Musikî (with then-regular partners Michael Cosmic and Phill Musra, issued on the tiny Intex label), and returned to Turkey in the early 1990s. Ertunç’s playing, relentless as it might be, evinces a strident, swinging quality that reaches back decades. His pianistic approach is rooted in the outpouring of voluminous, allover rhythm in concentrated shards. One might first think of early Cecil Taylor, though another Boston resident is also worth mentioning – Jaki Byard, who could move from barrelhouse to crepuscular romanticism and dense chordal superimpositions at the drop of a hat. If he and Ertunç didn’t necessarily work together, their spirits are kindred." (Clifford Allen)

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Noah Howard

Space Dimension

41,99 €*

Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings Limited Box

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Noah Howard was born in 1943 in New Orleans and, like many of his contemporaries, first played music in church as a child. In his 2010 book, 'Music in My Soul', Howard reflected upon his childhood in New Orleans and the influence the city had on him: “Growing up in New Orleans was like receiving a steady diet of music, and my taste in music became increasingly more sophisticated. In the neighborhood where I grew up kids around me were listening to Rhythm and Blues and Jazz; Rock came only much later. One of the great moments of my life was when I was around 13 years old and heard Duke Ellington with Paul Gonsalves playing a twenty-some minutes chorus solo on tenor sax at Newport. We had never heard anything like this before; a saxophone player doing so many choruses, this was years before Coltrane opened up. That experience meant there was no turning back; my ears were open and my desire was burning for music.”
He first learned to play the trumpet before moving on to alto, tenor and soprano saxophone. And his musical journey initially took him to Los Angeles where he worked with Dewey Johnson and then later moved to New York to join the Sun Ra Arkestra. Like most forward thinking saxophonists of the time, Howard was influenced by the evolving expressionism of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler and it wasn't long before he became a key member of the mid-60s free jazz movement, a stepping stone to his elevation into one of the world’s most notable saxophonists.
Howard's debut LP as leader, 'Noah Howard Quartet' was recorded in 1965, and the follow up, 'Noah Howard at Judson Hall', in 1966 but not issued until 1968, both for the groundbreaking ESP Records label (incidentally, both albums featured British trumpeter Ric Colbeck). However, Howard's view of ESP was not positive, calling it “ a monster of deception... I am aware of ESP's adventures...they continue to make money off the artists and they refuse to pay any royalties.”

Like many of the black jazz musicians of the 60s, Howard left the USA and settled in Europe (making the permanent move to Paris in 1972). In an interview in 2005, Howard explained his move: “When I first came to Europe it was 1969 and I came to play in a big festival and after that we had a lot of concerts, recalls Howard. "Then we left and we came back to the States, I was based in New York at that time. About six months later, we had some more concerts, we came back and this went on for years, going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth... I decided that instead of going back and forth all the time, it was more advantageous for me to stay over here and live and work.”
It was in Paris that Howard took part in sessions for the Frank Wright albums 'One For John', cut for the leading French free jazz label BYG Actuel and another Wight session, 'Uhuru Na Umoja', for the America label. Another album on America that featured Howard was Archie Shepp's 'Black Gipsy'. This session also featured , among others, Sunny Murray on drums and Clifford Thornton on trumpet.
America Records was to be home to Howard's third album, 'Space Dimension'. On this album, Frank Wright was reunited with Howard once more, and Wright also composed one track, 'Church Number Nine' (Wright would also do his own version as the title track on his 1970 album, initially only released in Japan. That album would also feature Howard.) 'Space Dimension' also features bop drummer Art Taylor on three tracks, with Muhammed Ali (brother of Rashid), on one. They're joined by alongside pianist Bobby Few, longtime member of Frank Wright's group and an alumnus of Archie Shepp's band.
'Space Dimension' has never seen an official reissue since its original release in 1970 and remains, among a few aficionados, one of the most in demand - and little known - albums in Howard's discography. The blend of free improvisation with a tough rhythmic foundation make for an edifying listening experience. The spectral disjointed afro-blues of the title track, with Howard's soaring, searing horn, introduces an exceptional album of weight and significance, a real statement piece. 'Viva Black' starts as a lush groove, rich with texture and tone. Bobby Few's piano is sparse and disciplined, allowing space for the interweaving angles of the horns and drums to cross and jostle and build in intensity, with Muhammad Ali's drum solo acting as a cathartic release.
'Song for Poets' is blistering in its attack, an intense assault from the whole group – urgent and imperative, a call to action that seemed to resonate with the tumult of the late 60s and early 70s and, perhaps, still resonates now. The album closes with the extended piece 'Blues for Thelma'. It starts like a sort of angular, shattered New Orleans first line march band; Howard visceral horn and Few's piano joust and punch like fighters in a ring; Ali's drums hammer a solid undertow of power and energy, relentless in its fire.
All in all, 'Space Dimension' announced Howard's arrival into a new decade, a decade that was to see not just jazz but music and wider society undergo profound change.
Howard's third record was the widely acclaimed 'Black Ark', which featured Arthur Doyle on his first recording. 'Black Ark' soon became a landmark free jazz recording and elevated Howard into the first division of globally renowned free jazz players.

He spent much of the next decade or so exploring new ideas and places to work, including Europe and Africa, moving to Nairobi in 1982 and finally Brussels, where he had a studio and ran a jazz club.
In his autobiography, Howard described going to Africa: “It was a Sunday morning with bright blue skies and I reached down and grabbed a handful of earth, holding it in my hands. It was red earth. As the first of my family to make this voyage back to my community, I was filled with emotion and started to cry – thinking about all those before me who didn’t survive the middle passage and slave trade. I thanked the few strong survivors of which I’m a descendant and was grateful to be a live and to make it back to Africa in my lifetime. The feeling of coming back home, after generations had gone through abuse and suffering, was upon me. I would put some of this into music later on when recording with James Emmanuel, the poet on 'Middle Passage'”
He recorded steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, mostly with his own label AltSax and continued to expand his repertoire, exploring a range of sounds from ethno-funk to world music in his latter decade. He returned to his free jazz roots in the 90s, mixing the myriad of influences and styles he had encountered throughout his journey.
Noah Howard recorded 35 albums, and their styles reflect the ceaseless musical searcher he was: blues, free jazz, world music. He covered it all.
Noah Howard died on September 3rd, 2010 while on holiday in the South of France. He died a day before finishing the first draft of his autobiography.

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