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

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Black Sweat)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-01

Something About Livingis an album of live recordings by experimental jazz composer/multi-instrumentalist Robert Stillman. The music was captured over the course of Stillman's time as the solo support act for The Smile (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner). The album weaves excerpts from various theater and arena shows along the tour's North American routing into a seamless whole, creating a 40-minute program that represents an expanded version of Stillman's ever-transforming live set.
Something About Livingis the product of a steady, on-stage evolution that happened over the course of the nearly 60 shows opening for the Smile across the EU, UK, US, Canada and Mexico. However, the creative origins of the set began in relative isolation during the pandemic, through Stillman's work on projects like his multi-media installationUnseen Forcesand his monthly broadcast for Margate Radio, both of which drew upon solo improvisation using saxophone, cassettes, Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, and effects.
"At the time The Smile asked whether I'd like to open for them on their first tour, I felt like I'd already been preparing without really knowing it," says Stillman. "I'd been doing this music constantly, but always for a hypothetical audience" During the pandemic, Stillman's solo set-up served as the research lab where he worked on all the concepts he was interested in: solo improvisation, creating and manipulating cassettes, FM synthesis, analogue delays chains, no-input mixing, and non-metric rhythmic pulses. So when he was offered the first Smile tour, the idea was to bring "the lab" onto the stage.
What Stillman could not have prepared for was the experience of playing in venues with capacities of up to ten thousand listeners. "The first tour was in summer 2022, so not that long after the worst of the pandemic, when I had pretty much made peace with the idea that I might never be able to perform for an audience again. Then all of a sudden I found myself in front of huge numbers of people, and felt the massive responsibility of being with an audience, of this thing I'd done alone for so longactually being witnessed, and it was completely overwhelming!" On the flip-side, Stillman also recalls, was a new appreciation of how powerful the live performance was as a social phenomenon. "It's a cliche, but also true: the moment of making and hearing music in a shared time and space has a very specific meaning and power; there was a sense that everyone in the venue was necessary to make it real, regardless of what they were doing, or how they felt about it. There was an inevitability about it that I'd never fully appreciated."
Over the course of the tours that followed, Stillman transformed this appreciation of the shared moment into an ethic of spontaneity that guided the development of his live set. "An important reference for this set has always been an Animal Collective show I saw when I first moved to New York, probably in 2001 or so, that has always set the high-water mark for what I wanted to do live- they were improvising a lot, and out of what would seem to be absolute chaos they'd find their way to something structured, and then back out again into the unknown. It was so thrilling to witness".
ThoughSomething About Livingcompiles recordings from different dates along the tour, Stillman has edited and mixed them into a work that seeks to reflect the ebb and flow between 'chaos and control' that characterizes his live set. Among the compositions featured are some from previous album releases ("Time of Waves", "What I Owe", "What Does it Mean to Be American") as well as some new compositions ("The Dream of Waking", "Renaissance 2.0," and the title track, "Something About Living").
The album/track title "Something About Living" is a reference to a line from Stillman's favorite film,My Dinner With André: "André Gregory is explaining the value of life experiences that, as he says, are'to do with living'.That really struck me, the way he articulated it. I strongly believe live music situations can ask these kinds of questions, for performers and audiences. I hope that's reflected in this music."

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Roberto Laneri

South Of No Border

19,99 €*

CD | 2022 | JP | Original (EM)

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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Roland P. Young

Spontaneous Bounce

19,99 €*

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (EM)

Release: 2022 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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EM Records celebrates Roland P. Young’s 80th adventurous year on the planet with “Spontaneous Bounce”, the sixth RPY solo release on the label. After a musical youth in Kansas City followed by audio activities in San Francisco and New York and elsewhere, he began releasing self-produced solo music in 1980 with “Isophonic Boogie Woogie”, the title of which hints at the forward-thinking yet earthy nature of his sound, a soulful and spiritual multi-world avant-music, drawing on elements of ambient, jazz, soul, new age and electronic music. His ‘Isophonic Music’ concept crystallizes these elements through a comprovisational use of soprano sax, keyboards, drum machines and the possibilities of the recording studio. This release features 13 new pieces, a diverse array of appealing and joyful celebrations of music and life. Come and join the celebration!

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Roland P. Young

Spontaneous Bounce

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (South Of North)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ronald Langestraat

Light Years Away

26,59 €* 27,99 € -5%

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Super-Sonic Jazz)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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New material from the enegmatic Mr Langestraat. TIP!

"One afternoon a couple of years ago, an excited Ronald Langestraat could barely contain himself. “I’ve started dancing!” he exclaimed. “I never did it before - I’d always admired it in the past, but just wasn’t able to move like that!” But then, at the ripe old age of 81, Ronald was gripped by the urge to respond to the rhythm and express himself in this physical way.

For a man who’s dedicated his life to music, in particular Jazz with a funky Latin inflection, it feels like an especially sage realization - like the treasure at the end of a long quest, or the princess after the end-game boss. The prize is freedom, and the shapes we make on the dance floor are mirrored in that piano solo over the stanzas - a caravan that trips from smokey basement clubs all the way to Shiva’s Tandava on the edge of the universe.

The music on this album is inspired by this revelation. Although these songs were written many moons ago, their interpretation is modern, full of renewed energy, with young, yet well-worn players. While it slots neatly into the daily music practice that Ronald adheres to, it’s a new chapter in a story that is still being written - and an invitation to get in touch with your dancing self and try out some new moves."

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Roseye

Every Move

24,69 €* 25,99 € -5%

LP | 1963 | EU | Reissue (Jazz Workshop)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Super-Sonic Jazz Records is set to release the brilliant debut album ‘Every Move’ from Dutch neo-soul risers Roseye.

Led by the captivating vocals Tallulah Rose, Roseye is a 5-piece ensemble that intricately weaves together psychedelic grooves with ethereal narratives. Their music transcends genres, effortlessly blending soul, jazz, and rich electronics. Drawing inspiration from luminaries like Jordan Rakei, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Robert Glasper, Roseye delivers an authentic, groove-infused, and explosively soulful sonic experience.

Speaking about the upcoming album, the band explain: “We're all about diving into that deep connection music brings - mixing up explosive, groovy vibes with some trippy and peaceful sounds. Our upcoming album 'Every Move' touches on some personal themes like sexuality, spirituality, nature, and grief, we wanted it to be liked a journey through the highs and lows of life”.

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Roy Brooks

Beat

Roy Brooks & The Artistic Truth

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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Ethnic Expressions

LP | 1973 | JP | Reissue (P-Vine)

38,99 €*

Inner Feelings Deluxe Edition

Release: 1973 / JP – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Groovy, spiritual, and oh so, rare, this live album by drummer Roy Brooks is one of the best to ever come out of the spiritual jazz scene. With a career spanning over 50 years and collaborations with artists like Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, Yusef Lateef, and Charles Mingus, Roy Brooks was a foundation and leading force of the Jazz scene throughout his entire storied life. As one of the most talented drummers of any generation, Brooks would lead his own group, the Artistic Truth, and create some of the most invigorating music this side of Ornette Coleman. This recording, taken from a late 1973 show in New York City features Reggie Workman (b), Olu Dara (tp), Joe Bonner (p), Cecil Bridgewater (tp), Sonny Fortune (as), John Stubblefield (ts), and the late great Hammiet Bluiett (bs) working together as a cohesive unit, even welcoming the vocal talents of the legendary Eddie Jefferson at one point. These five tracks, spread over 48 minutes, are packed with so much groove, they could kill a grown man. Don’t miss this iconic album, available on vinyl only from P-vine Records.

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Roy Porter Sound Machine

LP+7" | 1975 | JP | Reissue (P-Vine)

51,99 €*

LP+7" | 1971 | JP | Reissue (P-Vine)

Release: 1975 / JP – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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He wasn’t satisfied simply being a bebop legend!

After spending the 40s and 50s playing with jazz pioneers such as Charlie ‘Yardbird’ Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and a young Eric Dolphy. After spending much of the 1960s silent, Roy Porter returned triumphantly with the release of ‘Jessica’ in 1971. Four years later, he followed that up with “Inner Feelings”. Listeners back then had to wait four years for the sequel, but you don’t have to wait at all!

The seven-man band, with its powerful horns and phat grooves, is no doubt worthy of the name ‘Sound Machine’ Praise has been sung of this record in and among rare groove circles for over three decades, with mere rumors of original copies being enough to cause collectors to begin salivating. Album opener, “Party Time”, begins with an almost mechanical drum break - a groove so tight, you just might think Roy Porter is a metronome. Jpegmafia certainly thought so, sampling the drum beat on “Free the Frail”. Fans of classic hip-hop may also recognize “Panama”, not just for its beautiful melody and iconic groove, but from DJ SPINNA’s hit-song “rock”. The re-recorded version of “Jessica” adds vocals and a touch of melancholy to the jazz-funk classic. It’s still danceable, but it might also make you stop and think for a second. Album closer, “Out on the Town Tonight”, takes the funk one step further, with an even larger horn section, and fiery solos. Yet throughout the whole album, the drumming remains steadily funky, a reminder that Roy Porter sits at the heart of the Sound Machine.

With the LP reissued on clear blue vinyl for the first time ever, this record has never looked this good! Combined with a 7” record containing a re-edit by the legendary DJ Muro, and the nearly impossible to find vocal version of “Panama”, this reissue is no doubt going to be legendary! Don’t miss this iconic album, reissued for the first time on clear blue vinyl with a 7” record, available only from P-vine Records!

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Roy Porter Sound Machine

Jessica Deluxe Edition

51,99 €*

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Release: 1971 / JP – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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He wasn’t satisfied simply being a bebop legend!

Roy Porter spent the 40s and 50s playing with jazz pioneers such as Charlie ‘Yardbird’ Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and a young Eric Dolphy, quickly becoming a sought-out drummer in the blossoming bebop scene before disappearing from the music industry. After spending much of the 1960s silent, Roy Porter returned triumphantly with the release of ‘Jessica’ in 1971.

There’s no doubt that his early work in the bebop scene would alter the shape of jazz to come, but it’s his work with Roy Porter Sound Machine where you can really hear the iconic drummer let loose. Recorded at the age of 50, Roy Porter is no longer content to sit back and let others take the spotlight, and his drumming has all the fervent energy of a young drummer who just moved to New York. The title track and album opener, “Jessica” (supposedly written for his girlfriend at the time) quickly became a jazz-funk classic, making appearances on ‘Inner Feelings’ (1975) and ‘Generations’(1994). Throughout the album, Porter shows his incredible talent, whether it’s the downtempo cool swing of “Hip City”, the almost maniacal drum solo on “Drums for Daryl”, or the Jobim-inspired Afro-cuban “Ooh-La-La”. It seems implausible that this was Porter’s first recorded material in over a decade, and one of his first albums as a leader, but it is. With original pressings going for over a thousand dollars on the second-hand market, there’s no doubt that this record is worth its weight in gold.

With the LP reissued on clear yellow vinyl for the first time ever, this record has never looked this good! Combined with a 7” record containing a vocal version of “Jessica”, and a remix by the one and only Kenny Dope, this reissue has “Deluxe” written all over it. Don’t miss this legendary album, reissued for the first time on clear yellow vinyl with a 7” record, available only from P-vine Records!

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Ryo Kawasaki

Juice

CD | 1976 | UK | Original (Mr Bongo)

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Classic jazz-funk fusion from the late, great Japanese guitarist Ryo Kawasaki. Recorded in New York, and originally released in 1976, 'Juice' presents Ryo at the height of his powers.

Born in Japan in 1947, Ryo had a long and stellar career recording and releasing music up until his passing on 13 April 2020, in Tallinn, Estonia. Ryo is one of the pioneers of the jazz fusion genre, with the Japanese jazz fusion / funk sound becoming extremely influential within the 80s UK club scene and amongst its DJs. His track 'Trinkets & Things' became a bonafide underground classic. In the US he worked with some of the greats of jazz, such as Elvin Jones, Chico Hamilton and Bobbi Humphrey, to name but a few. A forward-thinking and ever-evolving musician, Ryo collaborated with the Roland Corporation and Korg on the 'guitar synthesizer' and later wrote music software for computers. Later in life he relocated to Estonia and worked there, as well as Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic states.

'Juice' has become a much-loved album for crate diggers and jazz-funk enthusiasts, with its tracks frequently being sampled and re-imagined in hip-hop. The smokey, beat-down, spiritual funk jam 'Bamboo Child' has been flipped by Diamond D, Puff Daddy, and Kool G Rap. The album was released in 1976 on RCA Records and features the musicians' drummer Jimmy Young, rhythm guitarist Hugh McCracken, and bassist Stu Woods amongst other luminaries. A solid album throughout that incorporates a heavy dose of tripped-out synths alongside the emerging disco sound of the time. Tracks such as the opener ‘Raisins’, with its drum beat intro and bubbling bass-line, rivals The Headhunters at their finest. A superb album from an underground legend.

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Ryo Kawasaki

Juice

14,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Mad About)

Release: 1976 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Sam Sanders & Visions

The Gift Of Love

Jujus / Alchemy Of The Blues Vinyl Me, Please Edition

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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MAD About Records is honored to present the official reissue of the legendary LP by Sam Sanders & Visions for the first time worldwide “The Gift of Love.” Highly recommended 80s Detroit Spiritual Jazz Masterpiece. Classic Detroit Jazz in the Tribe Records, Strata East jazz vein.

Official Reissue under exclusive license by Viola Vaughn

Although most of the sessions with Sanders from the 60s or 70s are either nowhere to be found or still unreleased, 'The Gift of Love' - perhaps the only release of Sanders as a leader during his lifetime and privately pressed by what I presume to be his own label That African Lady - offers a document of this Detroit great's music with his band Visions. Fellow Strata musician Kenny Cox, even sits in on keys on a few tracks. Sam Sanders, a unique saxophonist whose approach to music made him a legend in Detroit Jazz. While sometimes likened to John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, or Joe Henderson, Sanders had an unmistakably unique style. His group, Sam Sanders and Visions - for many years with bassist Ed Pickens and drummer Jimmy Allen, was known for extremely aggressive post-bebop jazz bordering on the Avant-Garde. Sanders was also active as an educator and concert producer. He was an instructor at the Detroit Metro Arts complex and at Oakland University. He was instrumental in creating the Detroit Jazz Center - an open jazz school and concert venue presenting artists such as Jackie MacLean, Donald Byrd, and Woody Shaw, with local artists Kenn Cox, Marcus Belgrave, Roy Brooks, Charles Boles, and Danny Spencer, among many others. Sanders began playing while attending Northeastern High School in the 50s with fellow classmates Alice Coltrane, Kenn Cox, and Bennie Maupin. He later attended the Teal music school and studied privately with Detroit Jazz Legend: Yusef Lateef. During his career, Sanders performed with various artists, including: Milt Jackson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Stitt, Pharoah Sanders. Before forming Visions, Sanders and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave fronted a band with pianist Harold McKinney called the Creative Profile. Belgrave and Sanders would continue to perform together, often with Sander's big band, the Pioneer Orchestra. During the last decades of his life, Sanders traveled often to Senegal and eventually settled there with his wife, Viola Vaughn.

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Sarah Webster Fabio

LP | 1976 | US | Reissue (Vinyl Me, Please)

33,99 €*

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Cortizona)

Release: 1976 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Why you'll love it...
All of Sarah’s albums were created after a near-death experience, which brought an urgency to her wanting to leave a legacy, and made her four-albums-in-five-years output understandable. The tediousness of her recovery ended up replenishing her artistic spirit, leaving her with a thirst for life. She collaborated with intensity. She knew her four albums on Folkways would translate her poems from the page to a permanent, lasting expression. She picked from her body of work the poems that would take her further than written text could ever promise.

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Schntzl

Holiday

Scott Hamilton Is A Good Wind Who Is Blowing Us No Ill

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Get ready for schntzl 2.0

On their 3rd album Casper Van De Velde and Hendrik Lasure, the two SpongeBobs of Belgian jazz, enter Cortizona and take you on board of their newly discovered musical spectrum: Rollercoastin' between extreme emotions Casper and Hendrik slide through 90's Euro-optimism on synths, frantic drum rolls, lost piano sounds and sample wizardry: blending Spanish guitars, voices of singing ladies, slow mo clarinets and the patterns of a percussion robot.

'Holiday' is the result of a residency in Ravenna, Italy in October in 2021 where musique concrète, replica sounds and frenetic hyperpop textures sneaked into the musical world of schntzl. Sculpting a world of friction, hypodermic joyful changes, sad euphoria and good old plain fun.

Riyl: Matmos in a jazz mood, free vibin PC Music, Enya on XTC, improvising Valentina Magaletti, moody Sophie, BadBadNotGood going GoodGoodNotBad and other excellent music.

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Scott Hamilton

LP | 1978 | JP | Reissue (Concord Jazz)

18,74 €* 24,99 € -25%

Supreme Love: A Journey Through Coltrane

Release: 1978 / JP – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: VG+, Cover: VG+

1978 reissue.

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Sean Khan

3LP | 2022 | UK | Original (BBE Music)

42,99 €*

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Raw Tapes)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Trailblazing UK jazz renegade, saxophonist Sean Khan delivers his scintillating new album ‘Supreme Love: a Journey Through Coltrane’ on BBE Music. “Who is John Coltrane for me?” asks Khan. “He is man, legend, myth, storyteller, sage and atmosphere. My road and journey has been a rocky one, and like most on this journey, I have carved a path full of mistakes and triumphs. However, throughout my life Coltrane’s music has been a constant.” Weaving together disparate strands of the UK music scene (jazz, dance, broken beat and electronic) together onto one record, Supreme Love is presented in three parts: autobiography, homage and encyclopaedia. A pioneer of the Broken Beat movement early in the new millennium, working with Omar, Bugz in the Attic and 4hero among others, Khan enlisted the input of two old friends, Kaidi Tatham and Daz I Kue, who each contribute a future-minded yet reverential sense of originality to the album. Also featured on Supreme Love are two legends of UK jazz, Peter King and Jim Mullen, both of whom bring a rich and palpable sense of history to the project. Guitarist Jim Mullen has played with Brian Auger, toured with the Average White Band and recorded with Terry Callier over his long career. Mullen was also a regular fixture at Ronnie Scott’s, as was saxophonist Peter King, who actually performed at the club’s opening night, as well as working with two of Coltrane’s favourite drummers, Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones. Sadly Peter King’s contribution to ‘Supreme Love’ would be his last recording session, and he passed away in August 2020. Also featured among a talented and diverse group of performers on the album is Cinematic Orchestra front-woman Heidi Vogel, who adds her distinctive, soulful voice to Khan’s, and Coltrane’s, heartfelt lyrics. “I have always been a strange prisoner to my ambition” says Sean “and most of my recordings bear testimony to this, with this record being the next part of that evolution. I made a conscious effort to represent all of Coltrane's main artistic periods from hard bop (with Miles Davis), to sheets of sound (Giant Steps, Moments Notice), spiritual jazz (Love Supreme) and finally his last, most experimental and cosmic period (Interstellar Space). I have never heard a record that attempts to reflect all of the great man’s epochs in this way and use the recording artist’s autobiography (my own) as a conduit to these ends, and so here I am, for better or for worse.”

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Sefi Zisling

Beyond The Things I Know

Wondrous Feelings Of Ages Long Gone

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Trumpeter/ Composer Sefi Zisling incorporates Afro-Jazz with Psychedelic Funk in this new solo project. Sefi is known as the top trumpeter of Tel Aviv's Jazz & Funk scene. While still attending high school, Sefi performed with various funk and groove acts, laying the foundations for many more musical encounters and fruitful collaborations with other members of the ever-growing Tel Aviv music scene. Sefi performed with bands such as The Ramirez Brothers, Kutiman Orchestra, Funknstein, Gili Yalo, and many more. Today, after fifteen years of recording and performing all over the world alongside almost everyone within the Israeli music scene, Sefi is taking a step forward to release his debut solo album.
'Beyond The Things I Know' has been supported and broadcasted by Giles Peterson on his BBC Radio 6 Music Show, by Toshio Matsuraa on Tokyo Moon Radio and many other radio shows around the world. This is another release from 'Time Grove Selections', the unique series under the Raw Tapes Records umbrella, in which top local musicians are hand-picked to produce solo albums. The album itself is a result of a brief encounter that led to a close friendship between Sefi Zisling and multi-instrumentalist/producer, Rejoicer. The music was created in a three-day studio encounter and ranges from Afro-Jazz to spaced-out beats with influences of Spiritual Jazz, African music and Psychedelic Funk, all led by the trumpet. Inspirational album from the realm of incredibly good music.

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Settima Tacca

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Hidden Harmony Recordings )

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Rune Grammofon)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance, Classical Music

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what an interesting time to be alive full of hardship and love

let’s take it easy on ourselves but let us not forget to solidify our spirits with earthly challenges in the name of a better future here’s a vinyl edition of an album i recorded in 2021 with a few extras that have been added quite recently for the sake of making it into a full LP (thanks to the initiative of Hhr) i have recorded the whole thing at my home studio with an upright piano, two of my favorite polyphonic analog synths - korg polysix and roland juno 60, and a greco stratocaster, that i have bought accidentally because i understand nothing about guitars. the main material for this album was composed around 2017, when entering my mid-twenties and trying to overcome the disenchantments of some crucial personal realms of human life.

as for the later added instrumentals (1,4,9,10) i have kept the sonic consistency intact but with way more hopeful spirits during the process. despite this ambivalent intervention from the future, this work feels even more complete to me now.

have a nice trip.

and let every lacking soul on this planet find peace and love within the nearest time attainable. let us all make an effort.

settima tacca

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Sex Magick Wizards

Your Bliss My Joy

The Golden Fang Limited Golden Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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As Is The Common Circumstance For So Many New Groups Forming In Norway This Century, Sex Magick Wizards Met At The Norwegian Academy Of Music In Oslo Where They Studied Jazz And Improvisation. They Released Their Promising Debut Album "Eroto Comatose Lucidity" In 2019 Through A Small, Local Label Based In Northern Norway, Where Leader And Guitarist Viktor Bomstad Was Born. Viktor Bomstad (28) Was Raised On A Diet Of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath And Jimi Hendrix Before Being Introduced To DJango Reinhardt, A Turning Point In His Life. After Several Years Of Cultivating A More Traditional Jazz Direction He Became Engulfed In The Possibilities Of Free Jazz. He Later Returned To His Local Roots, Including A Deep Dive Into Traditional Joik. Sigrid Aftret (29) Is An Exciting Sax Player Known For Her Strong Musical Presence And Open Approach To Improvisation. She's Been Making Waves On Oslo's Fertile And Ever Growing Improv Scene, Performing Solo And In Various Constellations And Band Projects. Henrik Sandstad Dalen (27) Is Firmly Grounded In Jazz And Improvisation And Is Always Looking To Stretch The Limits By Challenging Himself As Well As The Listener. He's A Tireless Source Of Any Musical Ideas That Will Develop The Band As A Living Organism. Ingvald André Vassbo (25) Is A Very Active And In Demand Young Drummer. He Took Over The Sticks After Axel Skalstad (Krokofant), Who Played On Their Debut. Raised On Progressive Rock And Jazz From A Young Age, He Has Ample Experience With Both Heavy Metal As Well As Improvisation. He's Also A Member Of Kanaan And Juno, And Played In Hedvig Mollestad's "Maternity Beat" Project With Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Opener "Qliphoth Chokehold" Immediately Sets The Tone With A Frantic, Slightly Angular Yet Controlled Burst Of Energy, Propelled By Drummer Vassbo. "Exaltation", Written By Aftret, Nods To Early 70s Swedish Folkish Prog, While The Concluding Title Track Brings To Mind Their Mighty Stablemates Fire! All In All, The New Album Is A More Varied And Dynamic Affair And C...

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Shake Stew

2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Traumton)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | US | Original (Leaving)

Sharada Shashidhar

Soft Echoes

22,99 €*

Special Sound Series Volume 1

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-15

Los Angeles-based vocalist, composer, and producer Sharada Shashidhar has a deep awareness of the cosmos. There’s a distinct tug-of-war in her music, an understanding that scanning the heavens to answer existential queries isn’t quite enough; there are internal depths to plumb as well. Shashidhar’s first album, 2020’s Rahu, found her voice billowing out of smoky, post-beat-scene soundscapes, meditating on the collective unconscious and the energy exchange between all living things. Her newest work, Soft Echoes (out September 27th on Leaving Records), is a bold step forward, eschewing her previous work’s hip-hop tilt for expansive compositions that blend jazz and Indian classical influences into a swirling, spiritual whole.

Though she has an extensive resume as a collaborator in LA’s experimental jazz scene, notching work with the likes of Carlos Niño, Zeroh, and the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Soft Echoes marks Shashidhar’s first outing as a bandleader.

Gathering an ensemble thatincludes Anna Butterson bass, Julian Rodriguezon keys, Devin Danielson saxophone, and Timothy Anguloon drums, Shashidhar sought to create a band that ostensibly functioned asan extension of herself. Her primary goals in writing these songs were to “let [her] body do whatit wanted to do,” to trust her intuition, and “play without judgment.” Through that process, making Soft Echoes became a practice of presence and exploration, a chance to unlearn rigidstructures and rediscover the joy of creating for oneself. Recording took place over three brief, distinct sessions at Altamira Soundin Alhambra, California.

She describesthe album as having “two poles,” illustrated by the whimsical, buoyant opener “Soft Echoes” and the darker, more anxiety-ridden closer, “New Echoes.” The songs in betweenmay come from different emotional spaces, but “it’s all really reflective,” she explains. The album can play like a loop, with Shashidhar entering a portal “into the endlessness” during “NewEchoes,” only to be transported back to the beginning, full of gratitude and pondering “howstrange it is to be alive.” ”

She describesthe album as having “two poles,” illustrated by the whimsical, buoyant opener “Soft Echoes” and the darker, more anxiety-ridden closer, “New Echoes.” The songs in betweenmay come from different emotional spaces, but “it’s all really reflective,” she explains. The album can play like a loop, with Shashidhar entering a portal “into the endlessness” during “New Echoes,” only to be transported back to the beginning, full of gratitude and pondering “howstrange it is to be alive.”

On Soft Echoes, Shashidhar leads us on a journey through her mind,traversing its peaks and canyons in search of greater connection. “I want to take people places,”she says, pausing thoughtfully. “I can’t always guarantee that they’re good places, [but] hopefully you’ll feel something.”

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Shigeo Sekito

LP | 1975 | EU | Reissue (Holy Basil)

LP | 1960 | EU | Reissue (Jazz Workshop)

Release: 1975 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Considered by many one of the most gifted and outstanding players in the Electone community thanks to his fresh, energetic, rhythmic and sometimes humorous style of playing, from 1975 to 1977 Shigeo Sekitō released a four-LP album set titled Special Sound Series for the iconic Nippon Columbia. On the first chapter of this series, Sekitō revisits, in his own colourful style, compositions such as "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" by Stevie Wonder, "Oh, My Love" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, "Andalucia" by Ernesto Lecuona, alongside some of his own composition such as "My Sweet Girl" and the title track "Catch In Alice", creating a blend of easylistening jazz with funk and soul influences. Long out of press, we are very proud to bring this "brilliant electone" album back on vinyl under exclusive license from Nippon Columbia.

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Shirley Horn

Embers And Ashes

Siegried Kessler / Gus Nemeth / Stu Martin

Release: 1960 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Originally issued as Stere-O-Craft #16
Subsequently reissued by Hi-Life Records as HLS 55

The Shirley Horn Trio
Shirley Horn (piano & vocals), Joe Benjamin (bass), Herb Lovelle (drums).
Lewis Packer, bass, and Harry Saunders, drums, replace Benjamin and Lovelle on "Day by Day"
Recorded in New York City, 1960

Back-liner notes written by Mort Fega
Jazz Unlimited, WEVD, New York City
Recording produced by Buddy Smith

180 Gram Newly Remastered Vinyl Reissue of the original Stere-O-Craft #16 Limited edition in Solid carton sleeve

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Solaire

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Candid)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Paris, 1965. Pianist François Tusqueslaid the foundation stone of French-style free jazz with his first, soberly titled, album “Free Jazz”. Also in the team were several future key names of the French scene, (Michel Portal, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin, Charles SaudraisandFrançoisJeanneau) all of whom honed their skills at the beginning of the decade in JefGilson’s groups, althoughhe was none too fond of the turbulent new face of jazz at the time.Ten years later, Jef Gilsonhad obviously changed his tune, as the label Palmthat he had created in 1973 was now the launch pad for what would become the cream of French and international avant-garde jazz. This would notably be the case for François Jeanneauand “Une Bien Curieuse Planète”. His first album as leader (after brieflyerring into pop with Triangle) was recorded in 1975, a few months after “Watch Devil Go” by his old friend Jacques Thollot, and with more or less the same casting: Jeanneau on sax of course, Jenny-Clarkon bass and percussions, Lubatreplacing Tholloton drums and Michel Grailler(plucked out of Magma) was called in as a reinforcement for his completely ‘out of space*’ synthetiser sounds. Thus began a strange trip to a very strange planet, at the border of experimental jazz and swinging avant-garde.From 1960 to nowadays, from Georges Arvanitasto Laetitia Shériff, from Manu Dibangoto “Mama” Béa Tékielski, everyone has wanted to play with François Jeanneauat some point. There is a good reason for this. The saxophonist is a formidable improviser, but alsoa solid composer, as he demonstrates on this record with, for example, the monumental “Droit d’Asile”, the spooky “Theme For An Unknown Island” or the Coltranesque “Mr J.C. For Ever”. Over half a century later, the planet seems far more familiar to us. And François Jeanneau is always on the front line for a guided tour. Jérôme « Kalcha » Simonneau.

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Simon Moullier

Elements Of Light

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Fresh Sound New Talent)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A Singular Blend of Dynamic Post-Pop & Electronic Production
Featuring The Vibraphonist’s Remarkable Quartet
Special Guests Gerald Clayton and Marquis Hill
Named One Of Downbeat's 25 For The Future

“His music is fresh, it speaks to everyone. Never heard anyone play vibes like that before.” -Herbie Hancock

“Best vibes player I’ve heard...” -Quincy Jones

In discussing Elements of Light, his fifth album as a leader, the vibraphonist-composer Simon Moullier often returns to a specific term: unfolding.

“This is an important word — the unfolding of a song,” says Moullier, who was born in France and lives in New York. “It’s something I’m very attached to, and something I’m always working on.” As he explains, many of his essential influences —Wayne Shorter, Milton Nascimento, Toninho Horta, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Ravel, — have been masterful unfolders in their writing. Moullier admires the movement and design in their music and harmony, the way one section of a tune leads into the next, everything flowing in a natural, beautiful, inviting way. Even the most serious intellectual musical concepts are rendered with a directness, a simplicity that can captivate a general audience. “For me, no matter how complex an idea can get,” he says, “clarity is always key.”

That’s a mature, evolved outlook for a millennial jazz musician to embrace, and it’s shared among Moullier’s youthful quartet featuring pianist Lex Korten, bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Jongkuk “JK” Kim. What’s more, these musicians of astonishing technical facility interact with the selflessness and good taste that Moullier’s song-focused music requires; to say it another way, they use their virtuosity to make the bandleader’s compositions sound as human and affecting as possible — never to preen.

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Simon Moullier

Inception

12" | 2024 | EU | Original (Stroom)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In his music, Simon Moullier makes an enticing proposition: what if the language of horn player —from Coltrane to Bird to Clifford Brown— could be transmuted for the vibraphone?

“If I could, I think I would have chosen a horn,” he has said. “I chose the vibraphone because I was a percussionist, and it was a more immediate way for me to get to what I was hearing.”

Moullier began developing this rapprochement when he picked up the vibraphone as a teenager. It’s on full display in his previous album, 2023’s Isla, which features pianist Lex Korten, bassist Alexander Claffy, and drummer Jongkuk Kim.

Inception —Moullier’s second trio record, following 2021’s Countdown— marks an extension of this language. Accompanied by bassist Luca Alemanno and returning drummer Jongkuk Kim, Moullier performs a gently rolling yet urgent program of standards. The material is drawn from some of the most masterful composers of the 20th century: Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Charles Mingus, Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Michel Legrand.

The seed for this trio was sown in 2017, when Moullier attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance in Los Angeles. While performing with his quintet at the now defunct Blue Whale, Moullier decided to perform a blues as a three-piece. “We really dug the trio thing,” he says. “We went back and started developing that concept.” Inception kicks off with Silver’s “Ecaroh”—“Horace” backward. “His harmony is very dark,” Moullier says. “I’ve always liked that character of music.”

Following “Ecaroh” is Tyner’s “Inception,” the title track of the magnificent pianist's 1962 debut album —itself a trio date. “It was a great fit,” Moullier says. “Not only for the arrangement and the style, but the register of where the vibraphone sits with the bass.” “Desafinado” reflects Moullier’s profound appreciation for Brazilian music; at some point, he’s eyeing an album of all Brazilian music. As for Mingus’s “Peggy’s Blue Skylight,” Moullier imbued it with an Oscar Peterson-style arrangement.

As for “Lush Life,” “Doing a solo recording is a challenge I’ve always wanted to meet in a studio context,” he says; he had in mind the solo piano language of Bud Powell or Art Tatum. Moullier’s take on Davis’ blues “Pfrancing” recalls his trio’s genesis in the form. ‘Lost” is a tribute to its author, the late Shorter. “It’s such a deep world to dive into,” Moullier says. “There’s so much mystery and beauty, and so many stories.” “You Must Believe in Spring” reflects Moullier’s French roots. The album closes out with a lone Moullier original —“RC,” or “rhythm changes.”

“It was very challenging for me to record an uptempo in the studio,” Moullier says. But Inception is a series of “little challenges.” “We wanted to develop the trio sound and expand on the possibilities” he adds —whether that regards his instrument, arrangements, or tempo. But mainly, “We’re just having a lot of fun playing together!”

In that sense, Inception is a bridge to untold future realms. But on its own merits, it’s a realm worth lingering in.

—Morgan Enos

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Sissi Rada

Aporia

7" | 2024 | US | Original (Devin's 7s)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Classical Music

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LTD to 400 copies

Sissi Rada's humble manifestations of the miracle of life, the troubles of love, the thoughts that span through a human mind while performing simple tasks, educated by her love and natural inclination to poetry, read like small vignettes, or marginalia notes on a diary that is of constant flux.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Sissi alone, in her Athens’ home, using a spartan but powerful instrumentation of harp, a Prophet synthesizer, and first and foremost her intimate and enchanting voice, ‘ Aporia’ stands out with its simplicity and familiarity, like a page out of a diary, shared with a blush and a witty smile."

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Skeletons

Mulatu / Positive Force

So Much Soul Players (Chris Read & Rob Barron)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"…I’m a big fan of Benedic Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77)… Massively talented as a composer, arranger, songwriter, producer, and guitarist across hella genres who’s been quite prolific since he started releasing stuff in 2004. Seriously, check out his catalog- pretty sure that there’s something for everyone there, and also check out the Impossible Ark (his amazing contemporary jazz label) as well. One of my favorite projects of his is a 2010 LP called Skeletons—Smile. From the Bandcamp page of that album: 'These musicians never stood in the studio together, they just passed through my house or left some scraps of sound behind after sessions we were working on.' The project started life as material recorded for a library music company, playing into the hands of 'the current vogue for a certain style of African jazz', as Lamdin puts it, in a refreshing bout of honesty. Apparently Lamdin got so absorbed in this process of musical forgery a whole LP emerged, and if the producer wasn't so darned honest, you might never know that this wasn't the work of a genuine, and wholly exciting spiritual jazz troupe. 'Mulatu' was another dream 7 of mine. (yes, I know they all are, but)… It’s just so good; and while I own the Smile LP I just really wanted this record to exist and have it in my collection. It’s a slow burner that take cues from Mulatu Astatke but flipping them a bit and making them even groovier, funkier, and heavier. Dig it. The flip side is 'Positive Force,' an uptempo original composition perfect for backyard barbecues. I was on the fence about what to put on the flip as I like the whole album, but this track is a fan favorite and contrasts nicely with the A side in my opinion."—Devin Limited run of 500 copies.

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Happy Hammond

7" | 2021 | UK | Original (Dinked)

12,99 €*

Pajko, Fire In The Forest On The Mountain

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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Sokratis Votskos Quartet

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Fair Weather Friends)

37,99 €*

LP | 2009 | Reissue (Celson And Music)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A few words for the album Moment’s Aeternity: a 12/8 composition celebrating the raw power of the “moment”, marked by whirling improvised moments between drums, bass clarinet and Harris P’s Armenian duduk.

Pajko, fire in the forest on the mountain: in Sokratis own words: “I have a really vivid memory as a child. I was staring at the Djena mountain from my window in Archangellos which sits on the Pajko mountain. A little beam of light shone far in the horizon; it was a fire that in my little eyes looked as if the giants of Almopia were trying to communicate with each other using phryktoria (a way of contacting through fire in Ancient Greece).”

Footprints of some Giant Steps: While the classic compositions of two true Jazz Giants- Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane- are certainly different, they do both connect in a mystical way. Rearranged in 5/8 combining half of each melody and half of each one’s chord progression, keeping the form of the piece for improvisation, still in 5.

Oson Zeis Fainou (Seikilo’s Epitaph): found in a tomb stone in the Northeast of Greece, this is the only melody saved from the ancient times. It is accompanied by lyrics contemplating the meaning of life: Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ. ‘’While you live, shine don’t feel blue for anything because our life is short and time demands an end.’’

Here is to Oghene K: ’’Hey man, where is the groove?’’, he would say, just to trigger another wave of inspiration for Sokratis. Oghene was a true force of nature, a well of kindness, a masterful artist that left this world too early. This one is for him.

Balkan Riff (for Milcho Leviev): Milcho Leviev (1936-2019), was a long-time friend and collaborator and a true inspiration for expression, creativity and colorfulness. Expressing the deep sentiments evoked by the Balkan sound and history, this is a sorrowful dialogue between bass clarinet and contrabass.

Spirits of Djena: one of the most esoteric and personal moments of the album. Composed and recorded during the challenging times of the COVID-era, you can hear the baritone and tenor saxophone firmly grounded on a crispy, hypnotizing contrabass groove.

Sokratis Votskos Quartet Kostas Anastasiadis / Giorgos Klountzos - Chrysidis: Drums Leandros Pasias: Piano Vaggelis Vrachnos: Contrabass Sokratis Votskos: Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet and Compositions

Sokratis Votskos is a jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, educator, and bandleader from Greece. Deeply invested in unearthing the folk sounds and heritage music of Greece and Eastern Europe, he weaves these into modern jazz compositions though the use of melodies, polyrhythms, and his reedy, timeless tone. He leads the Sokratis Votskos Quartet, he is one half of Kolida Babo and member of the Reggetiko Project. A highly regarded sideman and ensemble player, he has worked extensively with renowned jazz musicians with several highly acclaimed releases (MiC, Jazzman, Walt Disney and now Fair Weather Friends Records).

He has performed his music in numerous venues and festivals worldwide from Vinterjazz in Copenhagen, to the EFG London Jazz Festival where he performed at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s alongside Greg Foat.

He is also an archaeoacoustics researcher and enthusiast, having completed his Master studies on the field of ancient ritualistic caves of Greece research.

Leandros Pasias was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. At age 10 was introduced to piano, continuing his studies at the Modern Conservatory of Thessaloniki and later at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the department of jazz piano.Ηe holds a classical harmony diploma and a BA at the Department of Music Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2020 he received jazz improvisation lessons from Aaron Parks.

With a series of appearances in multiple international jazz festivals, Leandros has collaborated with a wide range of musicians from Nicolas Masson and James Wylie to Marina Osk, Ivo Papasov and Haris Lambrakis, among others.

A member of the Yako Trio, he released “OdesSea” on Fair Weather Friends Records (2021).

Vangelis Vrachnos was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1989. While he started playing the bass at the age of 12, alongside his brother, his studies would commence a few years later. Introduced to double bass at the age of 23, he undertook jazz double bass studies at the Codarts Αcademy of Rotterdam. He has participated in several festivals such as the Technopolis and Odessa international jazz festivals. Since returning to his hometown, in 2015, he has been a founding member of Mordana and Yako Trio and has collaborated with a series of musicians like James Wyllie, Sokrates Votskos and Dimitis Agelakis, among others.

Kostas Anastasiadis is a tireless researcher, that has been diligently studying Tradition and its evolution, creating a fresh amalgam of sound moods. His mature improvisational virtuosity highlights a uniquely individual artistic expression and was recognized with the ̈Unique Individual Stylist" award by the PIT (Percussion Institute of Technology) in Los Angeles, California. He has been associated with various ensembles that have garnered significant interest in the global music scene. As an educator, he is the founder of "The Harmony of Rhythm" musical method, which aims to explore and establish the elements that constitute the concept of rhythm.

Giorgos Klountzos-Chrysidis was born in Thessaloniki in 1991. Following studies at the Modern Conservatory of Thessaloniki, he moved to France and the Conservatoire de Nice. With performances at well-known festivals like Nice Jazz Festival, Nuits du Sud and Jazz à Vienne, he had the opportunity to meet the American drummer Leon Parker, who encouraged him to move to Paris, where he spent the next two years under his tutoring and guidance.

In 2016, came a defining moment in his career as he traveled to New York for the first time. He participated in the quartet of saxophonist Diego Rivera for a series of performances and attended lessons by Rodney Whitaker and Randy "Uncle G" Gelispie at Michigan's State University.

Collaborations include Xavier Davis, Ricky Ford, Nicolas Masson, Diego Rivera, Craig Bailey, Baptiste Herbin, Marc Abrams, Pantelis Stoikos, Antonis Anissegos, David Lynch, Ziad Rajab and Ivo Papasov, among others

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Sonny Rollins

Saxophone Colossus

Sonny Stitt With Hank Jones Trio

Release: 2009 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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* Originally released in 1957 * Pressed on Black Vinyl * Rollins's breakthrough record / One of the pivotal recordings in bringing about the widespread acceptance of Sonny Rollins as a major figure, Saxophone Colossus inspired critics to write scholarly analyses and fans to revel in the hard-swinging invention, humor, and tender-strength balladry. Up to this album, while most musicians recognized Rollins as one of the new influential forces in the jazz of the ’50s, most critics were carping at Rollins or damning him with faint praise. St. Thomas, a traditional West Indian melody which Mal Waldron remembered as The Carnival, was recorded by many artists after Sonny introduced it here, and it remains a jazz standard today. The contributions of Tommy Flanagan’s elegant swing, Doug Watkins’s steady lift, and Max Roach’s most musical accompaniment and soloing(hear Blue Seven) make this a landmark album.

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Good Life

LP | 1980 | JP | Original (Trio)

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (De W.E.R.F.)

Release: 1980 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: VG+, Cover: Near Mint

With insert. Tiny wear. Vinyl is close to NM.

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Sophie Tassignon

Khyal

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Soul Supreme)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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German jazz singer with Belgian roots Sophie Tassignon has built up a solid reputation in Germany. She has a whole series of well-received records to her credit, which not only showcase her musical versatility but also demonstrate what an incredible vocalist and composer she is. Sophie is a musical chameleon, constantly seeking to challenge and renew herself.

When the refugee crisis erupted and millions of Syrian refugees flocked to continental Europe in search of a better life and safety, it resulted in a lot of fear and opposition from the European population. The perception on refugees is often very negative and creates divisions on the political field.

When a shelter was started up two blocks from Sophie's home in Berlin, she decided to help and take care of some refugees. To get a better understanding on the culture and stories of those people and to bridge with our culture, she decided to study Arabic. Meanwhile, we are more than five years on, and not only is she proficient in Arabic, but she has also gained a better understanding of the culture and customs of the Arab community. Friendships for life were formed. She decided to incorporate Arabic into her own musical language - jazz - fusing two worlds. From this was born the project and the eponymous record "Khyal. The word refers to the imagination and is literally translated as "remembering and/or longing for something from the (distant) past." With this project, Sophie especially wants to encourage tolerance and acceptance towards people regardless of their cultural background or religion and show how intercultural interaction can lead to very beautiful and artistic results.artwork &

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Soul Supreme

Poetic Justice

29,99 €*

Southern University Jazz Ensemble

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The music of Soul Supreme moves, grooves, throbs, and hits more than ever before. But the colorful sonic palette of Poetic Justice actually sprouted from a dark place: an ongoing battle with an independent label to reclaim his master rights—even today, "Industry Rule #4080" is still in full effect.

So copping this record doesn't only support his cause—it's also well worth it for the listener. Poetic Justice features Soul Supreme's biggest line-up of guest musicians to date: including drummer J-Zone, bass player Glenn Gaddum Jr., Gallowstreet's Jeroen Verberne, and Radiohop's Johnny Biner and Euan Jenkins. With Soul Supreme himself on his trusted set-up and a newly added Clavinet, his melting pot of jazz-funk, hip-hop grooves, soulful cuts, and library funk sounds richer than ever before.

"I have decided to create a positive outlet for what is a very negative event in my life," he writes in the announcement of Poetic Justice. "I wrote music that reflected how I feel going through this process. No matter what the legal battle results in—I know I have made something beautiful and honest from this terrible experience. At least for myself but hopefully for others to enjoy it as well."

Rest assured, Poetic Justice is a record to fully enjoy; from the first heartfelt notes on "Intro (Pullin' Back The Curtain)" to the last thumping drum hits of "I Rest My Case."

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Goes To Africa With Love

2LP | 2023 | US | Original (Now-Again)

33,99 €*

Southern University Jazz Ensemble

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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First ever commercial releases of New Orleans’ legend Alvin Batiste’s Spiritual Jazz albums created with the college band he instructed and led in Baton Rouge - Goes To Africa With Love and Live at The 1971 American College Jazz Festival Originally given away as souvenirs at Southern University, these albums contains deep Batiste originals and are some of the most sought after albums of Americas 70s jazz underground. Each album contains extensive booklet detailing Batiste’s life and his time spent honing and recording this remarkable band of young students. Goes To Africa With Love was mixed from the original multi-track tapes and is now presented as a 2xLP with never-before-released instrumentals. That one of the great Spiritual Jazz albums of the era could be found in duplicate New Orleans thrift store in the 1980s goes a long way in illustrating the lack of acclaim this special and overlooked album maintained, even in a city where the Batiste name is musical royalty. The Southern University albums Alvin Batiste offered the world were novelies, not worthy of serious consideration, a moment captured, but not necessarily worthy of being collected or preserved by anyone not immediately involved in its creation. That changes now. With the release of the two Southern University albums, Now-Again continues a conversation begun with the late Kashmere Stage Band director Conrad O. Johnson and the issue of his high school students’ music as Texas Thunder Soul, and the continued belief that beautiful music created by youth - even under the most adverse circumstances - can always inspire us.

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Live At The 1971 American College Jazz Festival

LP | 2023 | Original (Now-Again)

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Blue Hour)

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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First ever commercial releases of New Orleans’ legend Alvin Batiste’s Spiritual Jazz albums created with the college band he instructed and led in Baton Rouge - Goes To Africa With Love and Live at The 1971 American College Jazz Festival Originally given away as souvenirs at Southern University, these albums contains deep Batiste originals and, on Live, are paired with excellent John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard covers. They are some of the most sought after albums of Americas 70s jazz underground. Each album contains extensive booklet detailing Batiste’s life and his time spent honing and recording this remarkable band of young students. That one of the great Spiritual Jazz albums of the era could be found in duplicate New Orleans thrift store in the 1980s goes a long way in illustrating the lack of acclaim this special and overlooked album maintained, even in a city where the Batiste name is musical royalty. The Southern University albums Alvin Batiste offered the world were novelies, not worthy of serious consideration, a moment captured, but not necessarily worthy of being collected or preserved by anyone not immediately involved in its creation. That changes now. With the release of the two Southern University albums, Now-Again continues a conversation begun with the late Kashmere Stage Band director Conrad O. Johnson and the issue of his high school students’ music as Texas Thunder Soul, and the continued belief that beautiful music created by youth - even under the most adverse circumstances - can always inspire us.

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Spekki Webu

Tenzan

13,99 €*

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (La Matta)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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For the next Blue Hour Music chapter, a special friend of the label’s family is stepping in. Hailing from the city of Delft, Dutch composer Spekki Webu delivers ‘Tenzan’, a forceful 4-track EP which might be the producer’s most ambitious project to date. Spawned from a place of personal reflection, Tenzan is the result of the ongoing cycle of life that has been influencing Webu since his early years. This philosophy was heightened after a fascination for mountains and a series of dreams about enlightenment on top of a sacred hill. These dreams later became reality after witnessing a ‘Tenzan’ (translated as ‘heavenly mountain’) during a trip in the Japanese wilderness. The cycle of life as represented by the heavenly mountain formed the spiritual direction to complete the narrative for this long-running Blue Hour project - as the leaves fell into place a new cycle began. Aligned in force and vigor, the A-side takes off with ‘Okada’, a grooving tension builder led by ominous melodies that drift off into the depths of the forests. Entering a state of empyrean elevation, ‘Horizon’ is a dub-induced peak-time roller of monumental grandeur. On the B side, the gears shift as ‘Solaris’ unveils a contemporary reinterpretation of 90s acid trance, fusing psyche-warping panned drones and minimalistic drum programming set to make blood pressures rise. Coming full circle, ‘Eion’ delivers euphoric salvation with a pulsating bassline guided by dreamy, repetitive soundscapes that reach for atmospheric heights. Vertigo-induced and wisdom-fueled, Spekki Webu opens the portal to the next cycle of sonic exploration marking the 25th release on Blue Hour Music.

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Stani Labonia

Amarsi

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Ikaros Music)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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La Matta Records proudly presents the First Official Reissue of the unique LP made by Stani Labonia, an Italian Soul-Funk masterpiece originally released in 1978 on Vincenzo Micocci's It/RCA label. This rare album recorded in Naples, finally comes out after more than 40 years, carefully restored from the original tape. Among the talented musicians who worked in the recording of this album we can find names as Jenny Sorrenti of “Saint Just”, Gaio Chiocchio founding member of “Pierrot Lunaire”, Enzo Avitabile and Gianni Guarracino, former “Città Frontale” but most importantly this LP boasts the courtesy arrangement of Pino Daniele in: La Prossima Donna. Labonia, whose real name is Stanislao Smiraglia, is from Bolzano but lived most of his life in Naples, collaborating with the main musicians of that city. He cou ld be compared with the best of the Italian scene, with strong funk and Latin influences. So this is a rare italian gem to anyone interested in Latin Jazz-Funk & Soul. Fully remastered and available as LP and in all digital stores.

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Stavros Lantsias Quartet

My Ennio Morricone

40,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Soundtracks

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Tattoo - The Unreleased Music From The 1975 John Samson Documentary

Steve Jolliffe

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Trunk)

20,99 €*

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Ascensionale)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Incredible jazz / prog / folk score to groundbreaking tattoo film by maverick filmmaker. Unreleased until now, so don't go saying it's a reissue because it isn't, but I'm sure some people will because they always do.

John Samson (1946 - 2004) was a truly great documentary maker. He must be as I've been obsessed with his work for many years. Educated first at Glasgow School Of Art (circa 1963) and then finally in the art of film making at The National Film And Television School in Beaconsfield - he headed there in its opening year of 1971 having made a short film that got him a scholarship.

It was at the Nfts that Samson met Mike Wallington, who was to become his right hand man and eventual producer; together as a quite brilliant team they made a handful of inspiring, entertaining and hugely prescient films about important, overlooked, unseen and marginal fringes in society.

Tattoo (1975) Exploring the rather clandestine world of tattooing in the UK. Dressing For Pleasure (1977) Exploring the rather clandestine world of festish in the UK. Brittania (1979) A film about railway enthusiasts and a steam train restoration. Arrows (1979) The life of dart player Eric Bristow. Drag Ball (1981) An unreleased film about the annual Porchester Hall Drag Ball. The Skin Horse (1983) Bafta winning film about The Outsiders Club, a dating agency for disabled people.

The subject matter in all films was always unusual for the time, and Samson managed to navigate his way with compassion, interest and subtlety, immersing himself in the chosen scene and producing moving, fascinating and sometimes darkly amusing situations. His documentaries also do not rely on traditional voiceovers, with stories, facts and narrative threads being dictated by the subjects.

I've tried for a long time to find the music for a couple of his early films (there was actually an original 7” for Arrows) - so far this is the only unreleased soundtrack I have found. This one was written by Steve

Jolliffe, who met Samson at the Nfts. Joliffe was the resident composer and had a room at the college complex where he could work on scores for the fledgling film makers. Jolliffe was and still is a multi-instrumentalist and prolific composer who had met Edgar Froese at the Berlin Konservatorium in the late 1960s and played in an early incarnation of Tangerine Dream. He toured with blues rock outfit Steamhammer, before hanging out at the Nfts, making this recording (and many others) and eventually rejoining Tangerine Dream in the late 1970s. Jolliffe still writes, records and releases today and once i had made contact with him we traced the original Tattoo master tape to a box at his brother's house. Musically it's charming, slightly folky, a touch baroque, there's a whiff of prog too, and it perfectly suited this early documentary about the art and desire of tattoos. I only wish it was longer. But the film is only 16 minutes long. Seek it out if you can. Try and find all the Samson films, they really are a joy.

As well as featuring intimate footage of tattooed people, the film also includes a rare and very early interview with Alan Oversby (better known as Mr Sebastian), a seminal character in the development of tattoos and body modifications worldwide - it was he who eventually was to tattoo and pierce Genesis P-Orridge.

The images for this vinyl release were all found in Mike Wallington's Tattoo documentary research folder from 1974, and were photos sent in to Mike and John by people who wanted to feature in the film. Most answered an advert in Time Out, and others included people from my home town of Aldershot where tattooist Bill Skuse and his wife, Rusty (the most tattooed woman in Britain at the time, and featured in the film) were based. His parlour was situated at the back of the arcade where we all used to lose all our pocket money in the slot machines.

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Steve Kuhn

39,99 €*

The Straight Horn Of Steve Lacy

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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It’s among the hardest of Kuhn’s albums to find so this reissue is most welcome. Luxuriate in the glow of Kuhn’s Fender Rhodes and the pliant funky bass of Ron Carter; immerse yourself in the percussive interplay of Moreira and Cobham, a pairing that has rarely sounded so good. This is such an exquisite album; you will lose yourself in its delicate power and find yourself coming back to it again and again.

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Steve Lacy

LP | 1962 | US | Reissue (Candid)

30,99 €*

Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants

Release: 1962 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The “straight horn” referred to in the title of this superb album from 1961 is the soprano saxophone, and Lacy is recognized as one of the greatest to ever play the instrument, ranking alongside John Coltrane and Sidney Bechet. Because of the difficulty involved in mastering it’s pitch challenges, very few jazzmen concentrated on it. Lacy is widely considered the first “modern” musician to specialize on the instrument. Lacy had long and prolific career and a fascinating style trajectory. At sixteen he began playing Dixieland with the likes of Pee Wee Russell. In the mid 1950’s he played free jazz with Cecil Taylor, and appeared with his groundbreaking quartet at the 1957 New Port Jazz Festival. He made a notable appearance on the 1959 Gil Evens, Great Jazz Standards album. Along the way, Lacy became obsessed with the music of Thelonious Monk, working with him several times including the 1963 Big Band and Quartet in Concert album, and devoted much of this life’s work to the interpretation of Monk’s materiel

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Stevie Wonder

2LP | 1979 | JP | Original (Motown)

10,99 €*

Pop Music Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1979 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance, Pop

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Used Vinyl

Medium: G+, Cover: VG

Embossed cover has slight wear, With insert. Japanese pressing, OBI is missing. Records need proper cleaning (foxing), probably a good VG afterwards

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Structure

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Sommor)

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Cool library-styled French album from 1970. Psychedelic, proggy jazz-funk with Brazilian/Bossa touches! Groovy flute by Bernard Wystraëte plus heavy bass, drums (by André Ceccarelli), violin, occasional fuzz-wah guitar and Urszula Dudziak-like scat vocals. In 1970, the AFA label asked flautist Bernard Wystraëte to register a “pop” album after the worldwide impact of progressive bands like Aphrodite’s Child and Jethro Tull. Bernard recruited some of his friends who were professional musicians and Structure was born. He wrote a collection of songs influenced by progressive rock, jazz and Brazilian music. The “Pop Music” album was recorded live in the studio to give a “live show” feel. It was released later that year housed in a superb psychedelic sleeve. The band even toured across France and several countries at the same time that Bernard and other Structure members started backing famous French singer Marie Laforêt live. After the good reception given to the album, another label asked Bernard to record a Structure 45. “Dilatation” / “Scale” was released under a new line-up. Both tracks of this 45 are included as bonus tracks on the Digital Download version and the CD.

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Sun Ra & His Arkestra

Jazz In Silhouette

2LP (Cosmic Myth)

54,99 €*

Monorails And Satellites Volumes 1-3

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Remastered with extra tracks - extra disc also includes Sound Sun Pleasure LP. Features the original space nymph cover art, which only appeared in cropped and washedout reproductions on an early 60s version. Cosmic Myth Records is dedicated to issuing remastered and fully authorized out of print titles from Sun Ra's independent Saturn Records catalog. Sun Ra's Jazz in Silhouette was enshrined in the Penguin Jazz Guide's "Core Collection" as an album that "will someday be recognized as one of the most important post-war jazz records." Jazz in Silhouette is the quintessential record of Sun Ra's late 1950s Chicago period. Recorded and issued in 1959, it marks a coda for the bandleader's bebop/hard-bop stage, as his interstellar traveller persona began to transform the band (and the music). It also charts the future, showcasing the brilliant tenor sax stylings of John Gilmore, and introduces the iconic playing of Arkestra mainstays Marshall Allen, Pat Patrick, and Ronnie Boykins. Many of the early works on these recordings would remain staples in Arkestra set lists for the rest of Sun Ra's life. This expanded edition includes the complete, contemporaneous Sound Sun Pleasure, rare stereo mixes, and bonus tracks.

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Sun Ra

3LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Cosmic Myth)

44,99 €*

Singles Volume 1: Definite 45s Collection 1952-1961

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"I have always thought orchestra. I play that way, even when playing the piano." — Sun Ra

Monorails and Satellites were two volumes of solo piano works recorded by Sun Ra in 1966. Volume 1 was issued on his Saturn label in 1968, volume 2 the following year. They were the first commercial LPs of the artist's solo keyboard excursions. Vol. 1 featured seven idiosyncratic Sun Ra originals and one standard delivered in Sunny's singular manner. Vol. 2 consists entirely of original compositions. A tape of a third, unreleased volume was discovered posthumously by Michael D. Anderson of the Sun Ra Music Archive. Released here for the first time, it consists of five originals and four standards, and was recorded in stereo.

Despite Sun Ra's obsession with the future, Monorails and Satellites is something of a nostalgia trip. As a youth in Birmingham, Alabama, the man who became Sun Ra—Herman Poole Blount—spent hours at the Forbes Piano Company, amusing himself (as well as staff and customers) at the showroom keyboards. He practiced standards, emulated his piano heroes, played the latest pop songs, and improvised. The idyllic reveries which the teen experienced in those formative years were no doubt recaptured during the Monorails sessions.

The playing here speaks less of a style, and more of a collection of statements. Some of the tunes, with their odd juxtapositions of mood, could be mistaken for silent film scores. Perhaps they were audio notebooks, a way to generate ideas which could be developed with the band ("I think orchestra"). Regardless of any secondary (and admittedly speculative) intent, they serve as compelling standalone works. The fingering reflects Sun Ra's encyclopedic knowledge of piano history as his passages veer from stride to swing, from barrelhouse to post-bop, from march to Cecil Taylor-esque free flights, with a bit of soothing "candelabra" swank thrown in. Sunny's attack is mercurial, his themes unpredictable. His hands can be primitive or playful, then abruptly turn sensitive and elegant. As with the whole of Sun Ra's recorded legacy, you get everything but consistency and predictability.

The listener also experiences something rare in the Sun Ra recorded omniverse: intimacy. His albums, generally populated by the rotating Arkestral cast, are raucous affairs. With the Monorails sessions, we eavesdrop on private moments: the artist, alone with his piano. These are brief audio snapshots of what was surely a substantial part of Sun Ra's life, infinitesimal surviving scraps of 100,000 hours similarly spent, most lost to posterity.

The 2-CD and 3-LP packages of this set include an essay by three-time Down Beat Artist of the Year VIJAY IYER, along with a historical chronicle by jazz authority BEN YOUNG.

– I.C.

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Sun Ra

3LP | 2016 | EU | Original (Strut)

3LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Strut)

Release: 2016 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The immense output of Sun Ra and his many backing bands, coupled with the limited production of many of his releases has long defied dedicated collectors. Parallel to a vast list of LP releases, Sun Ra released numerous 45 RPM singles; one-off meteorites from his prolific cosmic journey. Working closely with Sun Ra LLC and Art Yard Records, it is with great pride that Strut presents a definitive collection of the rare singles released by Sun Ra across his illustrious career, spanning 1952 to 1991.

Released prolifically during the 1950s and more sporadically thereafter, primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s trace the development of Sun Ra’s forward-thinking “Space-Bop” and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which remains unlike anything else from the period. As with his LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. Some have only been discovered in physical form in recent years; some were planned and penciled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as one-off magazine singles and posthumous releases.

‘Singles: The Definitive 45 Collection’ will be released in two volumes on vinyl across two release dates. All formats feature fully remastered tracks, rare photos, poster artwork, extensive sleeve notes by Francis Gooding, an interview with Saturn Records founder Alton Abraham by John Corbett and detailed track by track and session notes by Paul Griffiths.

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Sun Ra

Singles Volume 2

Night Lands Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Following 2016’s definitive collection of singles released by Sun Ra from across his illustrious career, Strut present the second volume of the vinyl edition on 3LP format which focus on Ra’s later 1962-1991 period.
Released sporadically during the three decades and primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s offer one-off missives from Ra’s prolific cosmic journey, tracing the development of his forward-thinking “Space-Bop” and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which remains unlike anything else from the period. As with the first volume vinyl editions, the collection is hugely varied, ranging from Ra’s spoken word recitations and some of his R&B recordings to alternative versions of Arkestra staples like ‘Love In Outer Space’, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Rocket No. 9’. The singles are also unpredictable vehicles for Ra’s music, combining different tracks from different sessions and occasionally making available music which was recorded many years beforehand.
As Francis Gooding describes them, “they are answers to questions that albums won’t answer, and questions that can’t be asked or answered elsewhere.”
As with Ra’s LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. On the volume 2 vinyl editions, we feature tracks that have only ever been seen via a small handful of copies including ‘Love In Outer Space’ b/w ‘Mayan Temple’ and ‘The Blue One’ b/w ‘Orbitration In Blue’; some were planned and pencilled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as limited one-off magazine singles including Ra’s very last single release, the reflective ‘I Am The Instrument’.
Sleeve note writers Chris Trent and Paul Griffiths brilliantly illustrate the role of the single within Ra’s career and break down each release with detailed track by track notes. Working with Sun Ra LLC and Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, Strut has also assembled the best possible master sources for each track.
‘Singles’ Vol. 2 features fully remastered tracks, rare photos, original 45 artwork,
Chris Trent sleeve notes and detailed track by track and session notes by Paul Griffiths.

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Sunda Arc

2LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Gondwana)

36,99 €*

Nothing's Wrong In Paradise

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Sunda Arc are brothers Nick Smart and Jordan Smart, best known as two-thirds of jazz-influenced minimalists Mammal Hands, and on the 18thNovember, they are set to release their sophomore album 'Night Lands' via Gondwana Records, home to such artists as GoGo Penguin, Portico Quartet, Hania Rani and Forgiveness.

Releasing their debut EP 'Flicker' in 2018, Sunda Arc have performed live at AB Brussels, Blue Dot Festival, The Roundhouse, Jazz Café, Reworks Festival, the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Hall, Manchester with GoGo Penguin. Their debut album 'Tides', released in 2020, received high praise from numerous tastemaker media including DJ magazine who described their music as "sounding like John Hopkins' long-lost sibling".

Sunda Arc channels Nick and Jordan's love of electronic and dance music, without losing any of their deep musicality. Drawing on techno, electronica, neo-classical and post-rock influences, Sunda Arc compose and perform using both electronic and acoustic instruments, including analogue synthesisers, home-made software patches, piano, saxophones and bass clarinet – all finessed and channelled through their own unique creative strategies. Integrating electronic elements and experimentation with the expressiveness and energy of acoustic instruments and live performance, Sunda Arc's music is expansive and compelling. "We wanted 'Night Lands' to be an exciting listen, deliberately keeping some elements under control and having other elements of the tracks feeling like they were on the edge of tipping over into being pretty chaotic. There was also the idea of generally keeping the drums and bass pretty heavy sounding when they kick in, imaging how they would sound over a big system and then holding back and focusing on melody and texture when they weren't needed."

From the warm, melodic textures of 'Distant Siren' and 'Beacons' to the ethereal rumblings of 'Endless Fields' and 'Night Lands', Sunda Arc immerse and engulf the listener, expanding simple melodies into bold rhythmic patterns, allowing the acoustic sounds to submerge with the electronic for maximum emotional and dramatic effect. A common theme for 'Night Lands', the duo's enthusiasm to incorporate digital and analogue sounds seamlessly and blur the line between the two, results in a sound world that has both the warmth of analogue sounds and the cold, crispness of digital. "We wanted to manipulate acoustic instruments to make them sound more like samples or older recordings at points, like with the Turkish Ney flute on 'Neon Forest' that we pitch shifted and saturated to sound more like we'd sampled an old 70s recording."

Elsewhere, 'Static Waves' and 'Forgotten Dream' use familiar and foreign sounds with an emphasis on tone and atmosphere to create a soundscape that feels like home and alien at the same time. ""We were trying to make sure the ambient moments felt really alive on this record, like a living, breathing sound world, trying to avoid things sounding too placid. We wanted them to feel just as engaging as the tracks with heavy beats so were always looking at ways to inject as much life and character into them as we could, often recording things to tape and using real tape delays to add a bit of character and fuzzy warmth to things and combining that with more cold, clinical elements."

At times, Sunda Arc create a harsh, brutal world allowing the sound to manipulate the listener's emotional response to each track. "We were talking about dystopian themes a fair bit when we were writing the tunes and I think being in London during the lockdown definitely had an impact on our mindset at the time. The two radio samples on 'Neon Forest' and 'Static Waves' are both just random stations we found on fm radio and recorded some short sections but I both were talking about Covid related stuff. We definitely didn't feel like making a celebratory or joyful record at that point, it was much more of an introspective and moody set of tracks we were focusing on and I guess the feeling of missing being able to go out or see friends and family played a part in this."

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Sunstroke

LP | 1985 | EU | Reissue (Libreville)

All News Is Good News Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1985 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Sunstroke were Ben Bollaert and Etienne Delaruye, both were obsessed with the burgeoning possibilities of electronic music it made sense that they collaborate in the studio. The resulting experiments culminated in the 1985 release of Nothing's Wrong in Paradise. The record was conceived as a soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist - a sophisticated meeting of post-Berlin-school dreaming, Yen-records hi-tech calm and Impressionist Café music ennui. What makes it most compelling though, is that even while it conjures a seemingly perfect world, something around the edges lets you know that all might not be as it seems. Maybe there is nothing wrong in paradise. Or maybe that’s just wallpapering over the cracks. The rough edges and regret of everyday life cannot help but intrude. Once you have spent some time with it, the whole record starts to seem bathed in a dim half-light, suggesting utopia glimpsed through a smudged lens. Just like the ethereal space in their music Sunstroke only existed for a moment, a second LP was planned but never materialised, briefly they created a paradise and pointed out its temporary nature, all at the same time. Remastered from the Master tapes. Tip-on sleeve. 600 copies.

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Surprise Chef

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

20,99 €*

Daylight Savings Black Vinyl Edition

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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Surprise Chef

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

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

Impasto / Prussian Blue

15,99 €*

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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Magnolia / Tulip Green Vinyl Edition

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

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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LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Piano Piano)

Natura Morta

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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LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Piano Piano)

Wabi Sabi

Sylvin Marc / Del Rabenja

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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Madagascar Now

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Takesi Inomata & Sound Limited

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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Innocent Canon Black Vinyl Edition

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic Orient Series)

Takesi Inomata & Sound Limited

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Original masters licensed by King Records Japan. Includes OBI and insert. 'Innocent Canon' is one of the hopelessly obscure Japanese underground albums that few people know about. It is a kind of unreleased delirious groovadelic soundtrack played by an acid-soaked Japanese big band with powerful drumming, heavy jazz fumes and delirious organ/guitar lines and luminary narration.Inomata was a well-known jazz musician at the time, but like many of his contemporaries, he went off the deep end with psychedelic music between 1970-1972. Upon the release of the record in 1970 there was a great debate among Japanese journalists who tried to catalog a genre to the record. The attempt was in vain. They couldn't figure out what it was. Rock? Jazz? They had to accept that you couldn't always label everything. Takesi Inomata & Sound Limited produce music that has nothing to do with stereotypical genres; they play to bring to life an expression of modern sensibility. The title of the album, "Innocent Canon," is particularly intriguing to analyze in relation to this concept of the fluidity of music. The same can be said of Kano Tenmei, a talented photographer and DJ, who participated in the sessions with the role of a narrator who improvises aloud, and it doesn't matter if you don't understand everything he says; what matters is being able to fit into this complex emotional quest. Sound Limited consists of 10 members, but this number varies often; Inomata always leaves the door open to anyone who wants to join the band founded on a very loose philosophy. The recording process took only 24 hours. Inomata eventually declared, "we managed to create something exciting and interesting (in such a short time)." The album opens with an acidic "Introduction," played with organ, guitar, bass and drums. It is followed by "Funeral," a flute-dominated track over an organ carpet; it is dedicated to Janis Joplin. In a triumph of brass riffs, guitar, sax and drums solos, Kano Tenmei screams "No, No..." in "Rebellion"; a psychedelic funk shake over 7 minutes long. "Toy" is reminiscent of samba, with prominent horns and an electric piano solo. "Melancholy" follows a sick guitar riff over a cha-cha rhythm, with piccolo, sax and organ solos. This is followed by the long "Lonesome" introduced by sitar. The beginning and end of the song are breathtaking, as is the schizophrenic middle section. Closing is the short "Return," a folk ballad with acoustic guitar, whistles, piano and recorders. It is fair to say that this improvisational session produced outstanding results. The artwork is original features some very strange erotic sketches.

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Innocent Canon HHV Exclusive White Vinyl Edition

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic Orient Series)

LP | 2014 | UK | Reissue (First Word)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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HHV Exclusive edition on white wax, limited to 80 copies worldwide.

Original masters licensed by King Records Japan. Includes OBI and insert. 'Innocent Canon' is one of the hopelessly obscure Japanese underground albums that few people know about. It is a kind of unreleased delirious groovadelic soundtrack played by an acid-soaked Japanese big band with powerful drumming, heavy jazz fumes and delirious organ/guitar lines and luminary narration.Inomata was a well-known jazz musician at the time, but like many of his contemporaries, he went off the deep end with psychedelic music between 1970-1972. Upon the release of the record in 1970 there was a great debate among Japanese journalists who tried to catalog a genre to the record. The attempt was in vain. They couldn't figure out what it was. Rock? Jazz? They had to accept that you couldn't always label everything. Takesi Inomata & Sound Limited produce music that has nothing to do with stereotypical genres; they play to bring to life an expression of modern sensibility. The title of the album, "Innocent Canon," is particularly intriguing to analyze in relation to this concept of the fluidity of music. The same can be said of Kano Tenmei, a talented photographer and DJ, who participated in the sessions with the role of a narrator who improvises aloud, and it doesn't matter if you don't understand everything he says; what matters is being able to fit into this complex emotional quest. Sound Limited consists of 10 members, but this number varies often; Inomata always leaves the door open to anyone who wants to join the band founded on a very loose philosophy. The recording process took only 24 hours. Inomata eventually declared, "we managed to create something exciting and interesting (in such a short time)." The album opens with an acidic "Introduction," played with organ, guitar, bass and drums. It is followed by "Funeral," a flute-dominated track over an organ carpet; it is dedicated to Janis Joplin. In a triumph of brass riffs, guitar, sax and drums solos, Kano Tenmei screams "No, No..." in "Rebellion"; a psychedelic funk shake over 7 minutes long. "Toy" is reminiscent of samba, with prominent horns and an electric piano solo. "Melancholy" follows a sick guitar riff over a cha-cha rhythm, with piccolo, sax and organ solos. This is followed by the long "Lonesome" introduced by sitar. The beginning and end of the song are breathtaking, as is the schizophrenic middle section. Closing is the short "Return," a folk ballad with acoustic guitar, whistles, piano and recorders. It is fair to say that this improvisational session produced outstanding results. The artwork is original features some very strange erotic sketches.

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Takuya Kuroda

Rising Son

36,99 €*

We Will Be Wherever The Fires Are Lit

Release: 2014 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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First Word Records is incredibly proud to bring you an exclusive vinyl-only re-issue of Takuya Kuroda's highly-sought after album 'Rising Son'.

'Rising Son' was first released on the seminal Blue Note Records imprint 10 years ago in 2014, with Takuya being the first Japanese artist to sign to the label. The record received widespread critical acclaim, hitting No.1 on Japan's jazz charts at the time, with original copies now fetching hundreds of pounds on Discogs and the like. There has long been high demand for a re-press of this album, and we're very pleased to say it's finally here, a decade on.

The re-issue is to be released via London-based Worldwide Award-winning label First Word Records, who coincidentally celebrate their 20th year running in 2024. First Word released Takuya's highly-revered previous two albums, 'Fly Moon Die Soon' (2020) and 'Midnight Crisp' (2022).

For those that don't know, Takuya Kuroda is a Kobe-born, Brooklyn-based trumpeter and musician, who was also a longtime player for Akoya Afrobeat as well as DJ Premier's Badder band. Initially playing on the Japanese circuit with his trombonist brother, Takuya went on to relocate to New York City, where he has largely remained to this day, becoming a prominent player in the jazz scene there.

The original album featured several Roy Ayers covers, including the all-time classic 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine', and this 2024 pressing also includes a brand new remix of the track from keys player & producer, Joe Armon-Jones. Joe is hugely-acclaimed in his own right as a solo artist, as well as his recent collaborations with Mala (who has a track named after him on this very project, as Takuya was influenced heavily by his 2012 Brownswood album 'Mala in Cuba'), and as an integral member of the legendary Ezra Collective, winners of the 2023 Mercury Music Prize in the UK.

Flitting between the genres of jazz fusion, soul, r&b, hip hop and afrobeat, the album was predominantly produced by a previous Takuya collaborator, vocalist José James, while also featuring phenomenal accompaniment from Nate Smith (drums), Solomon Dorsey (bass), Corey King (trombone) and Kris Bowers (keys).

In the words of José James, "no one sounds like Takuya. His tone, warmth and most of all his storytelling have inspired me for years. His writing is soulful, modern, and effortlessly bridges the gap between jazz and soul, and between history and tomorrow."

Previous reviews and accolades for Takuya's third album 'Rising Son' include AllMusic's Best of 2014, NPR Music, Jazz Weekly, Leo Weekly, All About Jazz, Icon, Relix, Pop Matters, Jay Z's Life + Times, Wbgo, Upscale, The Revivalist, East Bay Express and The Jazz Line, to name just a few.

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Tashi Dorji

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Drag City)

We Will Be Wherever The Fires Are Lit

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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We Will Be Wherever The Fires Are Lit, a sort of sequel to Tashi"s first DC release Stateless, takes the torch and storms forward, with ten improvised acoustic guitar anthems. These musical thoughts are torn from the fabric of Tashi"s life and music. "Strumming in opposition to the towers" (as he puts it) is part of an existence that is always political, even in its most abstract iterations - a truth laid bare in these deep, raw performances.

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Tashi Dorji

Tape | 2024 | US | Original (Drag City)

19,99 €*

Suteki Na Ongaku Feat. Tomoko Okamura / Odo Latin (Takeshi Nakatsuka Remix)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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we will be wherever the fires are lit, a sort of sequel to Tashi"s first DC release Stateless, takes the torch and storms forward, with ten improvised acoustic guitar anthems. These musical thoughts are torn from the fabric of Tashi"s life and music. "Strumming in opposition to the towers" (as he puts it) is part of an existence that is always political, even in its most abstract iterations - a truth laid bare in these deep, raw performances.

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Tawoyame Orquesta

7" | 2023 | JP | Original (Urban Discos)

13,64 €* 20,99 € -35%

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Hot Mule)

Release: 2023 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Tawoyame Orquesta celebrates their 15th Anniversary with new 7inch release from their new project! The guest remixer features Takeshi Nakatsuka. The band's signature song "Suteki na Ongaku", which was included on their first album, is newly sung by the leader Tomoko Okamura on the original track from 10 years ago!! The flip side features a remix track for the first time. "odo Latin" from the latest full-length album, "Shukuen Fifteen" (urdc82) is remixed by Takeshi Nakatsuka, a wizard of live sound. The remix is a swingin' and breakin' floor-ready tune!!

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Teddy Lasry

Funky Ghost 1975-1987

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (22a)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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French multi-instrumentalist Teddy Lasry's story is noteworthy not just in regards to the music he released, but in the ways that he approached the craft of composing and experimenting with sounds and sonics. Always intrigued with the capabilities of instruments, their groove and their feel, it was very much his family’s influence that helped to fuel these life long affections. As a performer in a parisien cabaret, Teddy’s father Jacques would mingle with giants like Serge Gainsbourg and Charlie Chaplin (impressed by his ability to improvise, Chaplin wanted him to become his accompanist, but the pianist politely refused). Jacques and his wife (Teddy’s mother Yvonne), would later become members of the innovative experimental group Les Structures Sonores, and surround their children’s lives with sounds. Electronic music was still in its infancy and Les Structures Sonores, with their resonators that produced long, mysterious tones, were deemed ‘cosmic’. It was the era of the launching of the first Russian Sputnik and every time a radio or television station wanted music for their science fiction programs, they turned to one of their compositions. Showing a natural ability with multi instrumentalism, Teddy was rewarded with a spot in the band, allowing him to really explore unconventional methods of composition. Following a brief stint with Ariane Mnouchkine's avant-garde Théâtre du Soleil after graduating school, Teddy joined the pioneering prog band Magma, with whom he would record three groundbreaking records during the early 1970s (According to former member Laurent Thibault, their album Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh and its sound were strong influences on David Bowie during the recording of Low and Iggy Pop’s The Idiot at Hérouville). Despite the successes with these projects, Teddy was constantly searching for new ways of expressing himself through music, leading him into the beginnings of a solo career that would last the better part of three decades. Teddy’s transition into his solo career came with contrasting fortunes, in that he was now becoming a music to image composer but with the unfortunate realisation that his eyesight was gradually worsening (due to being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at an early age). Nonetheless, his solo career would begin in 1975, and for the rest of the decade his sound would become increasingly mired in electrified Funk-Fusion and its endless sonic possibilities. The resulting music would serve to highlight Teddy’s love affair with the possibilities found within tireless instrumentation, with the flute and particularly synthesisers becoming a mini-obession of his (he once spent a 7,000 Francs loan, which was meant to be spent on fixing his roof, on synths). To this day Teddy continues to record and experiment with music, a passion which in many ways has never left his side, even at the age of 75. His career was one that was fuelled by innate curiosity and an intrinsic desire to discover new methods of expressionism, be it through the realms of Jazz-Funk, ambient electronics, Swing music or indeed through the medium of instrumentation itself. On this compilation, we look to encapsulate the essence of his innovative sound, and from start to finish a sense of his ingenious approach to composing structure and mood is made abundantly clear. The funk-jazz fusion style that embodied the majority of his 70s work is on full display here, with the vibrant flute driven "Los Angeles", the Miles Davis inspired "Blue Theme", the progressive and driving "Chamonix", and the deeply intricate "Krazy Kat", along with one of his finest 80s slow jams, "Funky Ghost". Two cuts off the ‘Back To Amazonia’ album are also featured (Teddy’s last album including his Prophet T8, Yamaha DX7 and Oberheim drum machines). "Raising Sun in Bali" and the title piece both emphasise an ever present passion for synthesisers. "Birds of Space", a standout track off the e=mc2 album, closes the comp, and is a fitting way to end this journey. Pulled together in close collaboration with Teddy and his family, this collection of songs looks to introduce new listeners to his work and we are proud to present this limited and carefully remastered compilation on vinyl, including extensive liner notes.

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Tenderlonious

You Know I Care

32,99 €*

Blue Skies Blue Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Saxophonist, composer, producer and 22a label boss Tenderlonious enters fresh album territory with, "You Know I Care". Having released several solo projects, numerous collaborations and a series of LP"s, EP"s and singles with his band Ruby Rushton that centred on original compositions, he wanted to take a moment to focus his energy on exploring the classic jazz material that has inspired him over the years. Players like Jackie McLean, Duke Pearson, Clifford Jordan and Wayne Shorter have all played significant roles in Tenderlonious" life and provide a constant source of inspiration for his development as a musician and composer. "You Know I Care" is a tribute to those musicians and for this reason a landmark album - his first recording that purely delves into the American jazz songbook.

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Teresa Bright

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Aloha Got Soul)

31,99 €*

12" | 2017 | EU | Original (Betino's)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In 2005, acclaimed Hawaiian singer Teresa Bright —whose recording debut, Catching A Wave, was reissued by Aloha Got Soul in 2020 — recorded a jazz-tinted album with pianist/engineer Kit Ebersbach. The project brought to to life Bright's favorite standard songs alongside tunes that feel expressly written for her sultry voice. The singer's original composition, “Sp-r-ing”, fits right at home in the collection. These recordings patiently sat on Ebersbach’s hard drive for 15 years until 2020, when Aloha Got Soul released the album digitally. The vinyl is scheduled for release on February 25, 2022.

In December 2020, Bright received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts. The award came following a lifelong career spanning more than a dozen albums, numbers Na Hoku Hanohano awards, countless songwriting, arranging, and producing credits, domestic and international concert performances, plus a long list of Hawaiian language translations for peers near and far. In anticipation of the awards ceremony, Ebersbach approach Aloha Got Soul with the suggestion to finally release Blue Skies, the 2005 jazz record they'd cut with studio veterans Dean Taba, Noel Okimoto, Rocky Holmes, Casey Olsen, and Sam Ahia, Jr. Together with the help of Bright's partner, Derrick C.M. Llanos, we released 'Blue Skies' digitally in December 2020.

“Iʻm so glad we waited,' said Ebersbach of the digital release in 2020. 'There can be no better moment to do this than on this very day, commemorating her lifetime of making beautiful music.”

Ags-057 is a wonderful addition to the catalog of beautiful sounds that Bright has been singing since the beginning of her career, from Catching A Wave through today.

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The Big Hustle

Afrorever

12,99 €*

LP | 1969 | FR | Original (Liberty)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Betino's Records proudly presents its third release: an EP by the very sharp collective The Big Hustle. The band founded in 2014 by bass player and composer Sébastien Levanneur, brings together 70's old school funk with the hippest actual sound with influences spanning from Steely Dan to Snarky Puppy, from Mandrill to Lettuce and from Herbie Hancock (Manchild era) to Soulive. With mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, and percussions added to it, The Big Hustle’s music has a very large variety of sound landscapes. Still, the music never loses the groove and always stays close to the funk.
The A side opens with "Afrorever", a tribute to African culture and music. The guest of honor on this song is legendary Malian musician Cheick Tidiane Seck, longtime partner of Salif Keita, and collaborator of Joe Zawinul, Carlos Santana and Damon Albarn to name a few. After Cheick’s introduction, the songs jumps into a typical afrobeat vibe featuring a tight and powerful horn section, suddenly breaks into an electro funk groove and ends in a furious percussive party.
Second track on the A side is "Faure is the Magic Number". It is dedicated to Thomas Faure (co-composer of the track) and François Faure (both featured on this song on tenor sax and keyboards respectively). This piece displays the band’s ability to blend jazz-funk groove with a heavy hip-hop beat. Kind of DJ Premier meets Steely Dan.
The B side starts with "Afrorever (Sun's Up Mix)". Through this mix, one can acknowledge instantly Olivier Portal's touch. From the very first chords, he conveys us into his realm blending warm and melancholy keyboards with an old school deep-house rhythm pattern.
The fourth track is called “1, 2, 1, 2”. It is a purely improvised moment in the studio while the band was sound checking before recording with special guest rapper Raashan Ahmad. Nicolas Gueguen had the good idea to press the R button and what you hear is basically what happened afterwards.
Enjoy!

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The Carnival

Carnival

10,99 €*

Time Out 180g Vinyl Edition

Release: 1969 / FR – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: VG, Cover: VG

Lamination lifts. Seamsplit on Top. Record is close to VG+.

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The Dave Brubeck Quartet

LP | 1959 | EU | Reissue (Dol)

15,99 €*

The Sojourner 2024 Repress

Release: 1959 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Dave Brubeck's defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history, the first to consciously explore time signatures outside of the standard 4/4 beat or 3/4 waltz time. It was a risky move -- Brubeck's record company wasn't keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz's rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics. Buoyed by a hit single in altoist Paul Desmond's ubiquitous "Take Five," Time Out became an unexpectedly huge success, and still ranks as one of the most popular jazz albums ever. That's a testament to Brubeck and Desmond's abilities as composers, because Time Out is full of challenges both subtle and overt -- it's just that they're not jarring. Brubeck's classic "Blue Rondo à la Turk" blends jazz with classical form and Turkish folk rhythms, while "Take Five," despite its overexposure, really is a masterpiece; listen to how well Desmond's solo phrasing fits the 5/4 meter, and how much Joe Morello's drum solo bends time without getting lost. The other selections are richly melodic as well, and even when the meters are even, the group sets up shifting polyrhythmic counterpoints that nod to African and Eastern musics. Some have come to disdain Time Out as its become increasingly synonymous with upscale coffeehouse ambience, but as someone once said of Shakespeare, it's really very good in spite of the people who like it. It doesn't just sound sophisticated -- it really is sophisticated music, which lends itself to cerebral appreciation, yet never stops swinging. Countless other musicians built on its pioneering experiments, yet it's amazingly accessible for all its advanced thinking, a rare feat in any art form. This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection. - allmusic.com

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The Ensemble Al-Salaam

LP | 2024 | JP | Original (P-Vine)

The Flame (Robert Mitchell, Neil Charles, Mark Sanders)

Release: 2024 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Originally released in 1974 on pioneering jazz label Strata-East, ‘The Sojourner’ by the incredible Ensemble al-Salaam would become one of the label’s most sought-after records. A highlight of the spiritual jazz movement, the record sees a band at the height of their powers, perfectly in sync as they express their spirituality through one ethereal groove after another. Album opener “Music is Nothing But a Prayer” sets the tone for the album, as gentle piano arpeggios, warm flute improvisations, and spacy guitar combine with the haunting vocals of Beatrice Parker to create a sonic atmosphere which seems to wash over you with every passing beat. The song picks up as a repeating bass riff emerges, with blaring saxophone improvisations contrasting with Parker’s clear vocals - yet nothing ever clashes. In comparison to the enveloping avant-jazz of “Music is Nothing But a Prayer”, “Malika” takes inspiration from late-career Coltrane, with sheets of sound-esque saxophone solos set to breakneck rhythms. “Peace (Salaam)” sees the group return to warm spiritual tones, complimenting a beautiful melody to bring the album to a close.

For years, the only way to get your hands on this record was to spend your entire life savings, or pray that you stumbled upon it at a yard sale. With our previous two pressings selling out almost immediately, we knew we had to give this legendary record a third pressing. P-vine is proud to be repressing this phenomenal album for the third time, now with a new and improved obi-strip!

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Towards The Flame Vol. 1

LP | 2023 | US | Original (577)

29,99 €*

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Leaving)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"A heartfelt thank you to the beautiful audience that came out on the 10th Feb 2022 to Cafe Oto (London) to make this such an enjoyable show. We came as a blank page, one that had been scrunched up for the years of this horrific pandemic. Upon it all we had written was ‘we must play!’. And so to finally seeing the light of day—as we tentatively unfolded this venture into life—in what we (I hope not prematurely) believe was a slow emergence into a new ‘normal’ (sadly to soon be overshadowed by warfare in Europe joining too many conflicts all around the world, and containing the same imbalances in society as the old normal). This was a pure performance circumstance. A debut performing together in this format, we have played in different projects over the years—but this particular trio is literally being born on this recording. Mark and Neil are internationally known as masters in multiple fields involving improvisation. Their creativity and interactivity here is both incendiary and inspirational. The album title ‘Towards The Flame’—came from my studies with Andy Wasserman. His mentioning a quote from McCoy Tyner—that playing with Coltrane was akin to ‘stepping into the flames’—every night. A place that is pure spirit, complete commitment to totally connect and the disappearance of the self. We love this and hold every wisdom as a vital guide in times that are ever more threatening to pull us apart. In honour of the incredible shoulders upon which we stand and remain inspired—this band is named The Flame. This is the first set of two. We hope you enjoy!" —Robert Mitchell (May 2022)

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The Growth Eternal

Parasail 18

22,49 €* 29,99 € -25%

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Haggis)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Growth Eternal is Tulsa-native Byron Crenshaw - descendant of Black Wall Street pioneers. Currently residing in Los Angeles, the jazz bassist, vocodorist, producer/songwriter/composer, artist and activist presents PARASAiL-18 - the debut full-length album. Byron explains his new album: "PARASAiL-18 was a 4 year process, and this process has made me as much as I've made it. What is this album all about?My escape in all its different forms:Hope, drugs, sex, desire, daydreaming, nightwalking, burial, fire, and fun. The Parasail represents our momentary relief from the weight of the world. The “18” represents the point in my life where I needed to escape most. The lowercase “i” represents ego dissolution and yielding to things as they are. The end of our escape."

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The Jazz Defenders

King Phoenix

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Haggis)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Bristol's jazz daddies The Jazz Defenders drop their second album for Haggis Records (home of UK funk kings The Haggis Horns), in March 2022 and it's a real departure from their debut release "Scheming" (released in 2020). Whereas that album was a homage to the late 1950s/early 1960s classic jazz style known as hard bop, this release moves into new territory with hip-hop/jazz, cinema soundtrack flavours, Latin rhythms and soul-jazz all upfront in the mix. Three taster singles from the album released in mid/late 2021 and march 2022, "The Big Man/Love's Vestige, "Live Slow" (featuring US rapper Herbal T), and "Perfectly Imperfect" (feat Doc Brown) received great radio support from the likes of Craig Charles (bbc 6 Music), Helen Mayhew (Jazz FM), Jamie Cullum (bbc Radio 2), Ashley Beedle (Worldwide FM), Colin Curtis (Worldwide FM) amongst many others, all loving the Jazz Defenders' musical fusion of retro meets modern.
The classic sound that has inspired the band this time is very much from the mid-late 1960s era and the merging of soul and funk beats with jazz solos/improvisation. Tracks like "Wagger Jaunt" and "Munch" nod to the piano and organ-led soul-jazz of artists like Ramsey Lewis, Herbie Hancock, Reuben Wilson, and Jimmy Smith. Meanwhile "Saudade" and "Love's Vestige" feature Brazilian bossa rhythms but with some added film soundtrack overtones. Speaking of movie soundtracks, "The Oracle'' is a pure homage to the classic cinematic compositions of maestros like John Barry(James Bond, The Ipcress File) or Lalo Schifrin (Mission Impossible, Bullitt) right down to the very impressive string arrangement, beautifully scored and orchestrated by band leader George Cooper.
A big departure from the previous album comes via the two hip-hop/jazz tracks, both of which feature guest MCs. "Live Slow" has US rapper Herbal T blessing the mic over an uptempo soul-jazz number whilst "Perfectly Imperfect" features London MC/actor Doc Brown rapping on a nice and slow 90's style head-nodding hip-hop groove. Both compositions show George Cooper's love for old-school boom-bap hip-hop (by the way, he also plays keys with renowned UK hip-hop big band Abstract Orchestra). For classic jazz lovers who dug the first album, there are two pure jazz tracks that join the dots between that debut release and this sophomore one - "Twilight" and "From The Ashes" - with plenty of vibrant solos for the discerning listener.
"King Phoenix" is a statement in itself from The Jazz Defenders. After 2 years of music being destroyed by the pandemic and many musicians inactive, the band has risen from the ashes with new vigour, energy and vision to try something new and not just repeat past musical glories. A band that sticks to the same script every release might just end up having a short shelf life but the Jazz Defenders are planning on being around for a long time.

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The Jazz Defenders

Memory In Motion

31,99 €*

It's A Trip Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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UK jazz ensemble The Jazz Defenders release their third album "Memory In Motion" in April on Haggis Records (home of The Haggis Horns and Malcolm Strachan). The Bristol jazz boppers deliver another quality release of original material that takes in their usual diverse mix of influences and genres, from timeless acoustic jazz referencing the classic sounds of Blue Note Records, to a more contemporary fusion where jazz meets soul, funk and hip-hop.
Although they love to mix things up, their roots are in the classic acoustic jazz quintet sound of the late 1950s/early 1960s, back when hard bop and modal jazz ruled. They have already explored this musical path well on their previous albums but they still deliver a couple of classic inspired jazz cuts here. "Chasing Fantasies" and "Fuffle Kerfuffle" both give the band some space to cut loose on solos over swing jazz beats that will keep their original jazz audience happy. The latter bubbles away with a jazz shuffle beat that would make drum legend Art Blakey smile.
"Meanderthal" and "Snakebite Playfight" bring soul to this jazz party. Exactly like jazz legends Lee Morgan/Herbie Hancock/Freddie Hubbard etc did back in the early-mid 1960s. The first is a feel-good, toe-tapping gem that's heavy on the backbeat and short and snappy on the solos, the exact reasons that made it the perfect opening single from the album. "Snakebite Playfight" comes with a jaunty New Orleans shuffle before transforming into a heavy psychedelic soul jazz burner, flipping back with ease to the Nola shuffle for the Mardi Gras meets bebop piano solo by band leader George Cooper.
"Rolling On A High" is a hip-hop/jazz banger that sees the band continue their collaborations with UK rapper Doc Brown, a perfect combination that began on their second album "King Phoenix''. This time, the Doc spits some old-school block party-style bars over a bouncy uptempo funky beat with the band cooking up some soul stew behind him. Definitely dancefloor material.
Another uptempo jam is the heavy jazz fusion jam "Net Zero". It kicks off with some live broken beat kit playing and piano/bass staccato vamping before taking off into Headhunters territory on the solos, sounding both contemporary and classic at the same time. This is The Jazz Defenders at their fiercest and toughest and delivering a track that will have jazz dancers worldwide in an utter frenzy.
It's not all uptempo numbers or dancefloor-oriented compositions on this album. Two tracks take the musical dynamics right down to give a temporary break from the high-energy numbers. "Take A Minute" has a rolling double bass line locked into the groove while the horns play a lazy and laid-back theme with vibes embellishment, sounding like some trippy independent film soundtrack. Another recurring musical reference point for this band over the years.
The album finishes on a poignant and introspective note with a beautiful piano and double bass feature for George Cooper and bassist Will Harris. It's called "Enigma", it was recorded live in Paris and it closes the album on a peaceful note evoking the music and playing of Bill Evans. The perfect way to close this brilliant third album from The Jazz Defenders.
With Memory In Motion, pianist George Cooper and his band undoubtedly pay great homage to a golden era of jazz music that they love, but also elaborate on this influence with a wealth of modern musical experience, to create their own raw and vibrant compositions. The result is an enthrallingly unique sound that is as danceable as it is listenable.

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The Last Poets

7" | 2023 | UK | Reissue (Dynamite Cuts)

16,99 €*

It's A Trip Lilac Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This incredible trio of poets, were not only musicians but Civil Rights Activists, rising up in the early 1960’s. They formed the group whilst in prison where they began performing the “spoken word” to rhythm and percussion. The last poets where born! None of this prolific music has been issued as a 7” before, great music for all good music lovers

A - “It’s a trip” - Vocal Acid Jazz / dance gem!

Killer Track. Percussive vocals; addictive and funky. Acid jazz club classic. Dare you to keep up. Once you start, you can’t stop dancing. Such vibes. Environmental and racism-alerts messages chorused as early as 1977. You gotta listen to the words. Zeitgeist extraordinaire.

B - “Blessed are those who struggle” - Exclusive 7” cut for this vinyl release. The super funky drums of Mr Bernard Purdie, one of the best drummers in the World, if I may say so myself. Stunning

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The Last Poets

7" | 2023 | UK | Reissue (Dynamite Cuts)

Library Music Series 02 / Oceanography

Release: 2023 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited to 150 copies. This incredible trio of poets, were not only musicians but Civil Rights Activists, rising up in the early 1960’s. They formed the group whilst in prison where they began performing the “spoken word” to rhythm and percussion. The last poets where born! None of this prolific music has been issued as a 7” before, great music for all good music lovers

A - “It’s a trip” - Vocal Acid Jazz / dance gem!

Killer Track. Percussive vocals; addictive and funky. Acid jazz club classic. Dare you to keep up. Once you start, you can’t stop dancing. Such vibes. Environmental and racism-alerts messages chorused as early as 1977. You gotta listen to the words. Zeitgeist extraordinaire.

B - “Blessed are those who struggle” - Exclusive 7” cut for this vinyl release. The super funky drums of Mr Bernard Purdie, one of the best drummers in the World, if I may say so myself. Stunning

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The New Library Sound

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (2 Headed Deer)

The Octopus Project & The Flaming Lips

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Soundtracks

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"Oceanography " is the second volume, produced by german music artist Chris Stüllenberg aka "The New Library Sound" and deals with the topics of marine exploration, diving and many other underwater adventures. The New Library Sound features vast usage of analogue modular synthesis and combines it with instrumentation like keys, mallets, chimes, different percussions and sampling.This recording is highly influenced by Jacques Cousteau's features „The Silent World & World Without Sun“, The Adventures of Tintin and Wes Anderson's „Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou“. It pays respect to classical music albums on the subject of water, like Sven Libaek's „Inner Space“, Walt Rockman's „Under Water“ or Les Baxter's „Jewels Of The Sea".

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Butterfly In The Sky Record Store Day 2024 Rainbow Colored Vinyl Edition

2LP | 2024 | US | Original (Earth Libraries)

39,59 €* 43,99 € -10%

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Deepmatter / Root)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Prepare to embark on a nostalgic voyage through the cosmos of your childhood as the mesmerizing soundtrack for the documentary Butterfly in the Sky is unveiled. Centered on the cherished television show Reading Rainbow, this sonic masterpiece is nothing short of a reverie. Brought to life by the innovative sounds of The Octopus Project, every track is a musical journey that intertwines the spirit of knowledge-seeking with whimsical undertones. And as an exceptional treat, The Flaming Lips lend their iconic sound to reimagine the beloved Reading Rainbow theme song, delivering an interpretation that's both fresh and reminiscent of days gone by. But the magic isn’t just confined to the music. The soundtrack itself is a work of art, designed with collectors and aficionados in mind. Open the double LP to reveal a breathtaking butterfly gatefold popup, a visual spectacle that captures the essence of flight and imagination. Beneath the needle, the rainbow splatter vinyl evokes memories of afternoons spent chasing rainbows and stories alike. Beyond the vinyl, the intricacy continues. Unveil layers of craftsmanship through thoughtful inserts, precision die-cuts, gleaming foils, and the unique belly belt. Each element has been meticulously curated, creating not just a listening experience, but a tactile and visual odyssey. The Butterfly in the Sky soundtrack is more than just a collection of music; it’s a tribute to the power of reading, the magic of discovery, and the timeless appeal of Reading Rainbow. Secure your copy and let your imagination take flight once more.

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The Offline

La Couleur De La Mer

La Couleur De La Mer HHV Exclusive Smoked Clear & Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Following his debut EP ‘En clair-obscur’ and a series of singles earlier this year cementing his place as a rising name in the world of cinematic soul & funk, Hamburg’s finest cinematic soul artist ‘The Offline’ announces his debut album 'La couleur de la mer'.

Reminiscent of film scores from the 60s and 70s, The Offline worked with co-producer Tim Liztenberger to channel the influence of film composers such as Francois de Roubaix and Brian Bennet, creating his own soundtrack on ‘La couleur de la mer’. Inducing images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the sea's edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of an imaginary hero, the record is a masterfully composed sonic journey. Experimenting with themes and atypical song structures, the music moves from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism. It incorporates psychedelic spaciness, retro soul and hip-hop sensibilities informed by The Offline’s extensive record collection and crate-digger status.

“Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by the soundtracks from the 60s and 70s, and I always wanted to make an album in the film score direction. I wrote about 30 demos, kicked half of it and stuck to the ones that felt right in the dramaturgical structure of the ‘movie'. Interestingly the main theme was set early on while writing the album, which made the writing process much easier.”

Aptly named, ‘Thème de la couleur de la mer’ opens proceedings, establishing the core motifs of the record. Haunting flutes and xylophones lead the way into Khruangbin-esque guitar lines, which sit against a hip-hop canvas that returns on boom-bap head boppers like ‘Quelque chose reste’. Retro soul revival takes precedence on deep cuts like ‘Un bout de chemin’, with wah-gated guitars interacting with emotive cello lines and symphonic string & horn sections.

The Offline came to life when composer and photographer Felix Müller travelled the Atlantic coastline in the south of France with his analogue camera, capturing beach life on film. After coming back to Hamburg, he started writing songs as the sonic counterpart to the analogue visuals. His Debut EP ‘En Clair-Obscur’ includes five tracks that capture the essence of his journey and the feeling of a cool summer soundtrack.

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The Offline

LP | 2023 | UK | Reissue (Deepmatter / Root)

LP | 1984 | US | Original (Pablo Live)

Release: 2023 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited edition of 300 copies, exclusively available at HHV!

Following his debut EP ‘En clair-obscur’ and a series of singles earlier this year cementing his place as a rising name in the world of cinematic soul & funk, Hamburg’s finest cinematic soul artist ‘The Offline’ announces his debut album 'La couleur de la mer'.

Reminiscent of film scores from the 60s and 70s, The Offline worked with co-producer Tim Liztenberger to channel the influence of film composers such as Francois de Roubaix and Brian Bennet, creating his own soundtrack on ‘La couleur de la mer’. Inducing images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the sea's edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of an imaginary hero, the record is a masterfully composed sonic journey. Experimenting with themes and atypical song structures, the music moves from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism. It incorporates psychedelic spaciness, retro soul and hip-hop sensibilities informed by The Offline’s extensive record collection and crate-digger status.

“Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by the soundtracks from the 60s and 70s, and I always wanted to make an album in the film score direction. I wrote about 30 demos, kicked half of it and stuck to the ones that felt right in the dramaturgical structure of the ‘movie'. Interestingly the main theme was set early on while writing the album, which made the writing process much easier.”

Aptly named, ‘Thème de la couleur de la mer’ opens proceedings, establishing the core motifs of the record. Haunting flutes and xylophones lead the way into Khruangbin-esque guitar lines, which sit against a hip-hop canvas that returns on boom-bap head boppers like ‘Quelque chose reste’. Retro soul revival takes precedence on deep cuts like ‘Un bout de chemin’, with wah-gated guitars interacting with emotive cello lines and symphonic string & horn sections.

The Offline came to life when composer and photographer Felix Müller travelled the Atlantic coastline in the south of France with his analogue camera, capturing beach life on film. After coming back to Hamburg, he started writing songs as the sonic counterpart to the analogue visuals. His Debut EP ‘En Clair-Obscur’ includes five tracks that capture the essence of his journey and the feeling of a cool summer soundtrack.

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The Oscar Peterson Trio

The Good Life

9,99 €*

Release: 1984 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: VG+, Cover: Near Mint

Absorbed Love

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Born in 1941, Rob Franken played in more than just Dutch jazz-circles. People who worked with him describe him as a slightly introvert, but purely musical sorcerer. He had great influence on the people he worked with, not only the younger, but also the elder, like Toots Thielemans for instance, with whom he toured Europe for several years.
Rob Franken liked to experiment with new instruments, and was the first person in Holland who made good use of the electric Fender Rhodes piano. Sadly, he died too young, at the age of 42.

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Colours & Images

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Don't Stop

The Rob Franken Electrification & Joop Scholten

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Blue Sky Fingers

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Together

The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Jazz, Jazz, Jazz

LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Habibi Funk)

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

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Incredibly unique modernized adaptations of traditional rhythms of the diverse regions of Sudan, recorded in Kuwait 1980. The “holy grail” album from Sudan.
I heard about Seif Abu Bakr and The Scorpions maybe 3-4 years ago. Their album “Jazz, Jazz Jazz” ended up on my radar because of an eBay auction with the bids eventually rising daily up to a staggering 1000$. The music is a unique combination of incredible horn arrangements powerfully performed, a vigorous drummer contributing a funky backbone and Seif's vocals uniting those elements. The results range from instrumental tracks awaking memories of 1970s crime thriller soundtracks to more Sudanese-rooted tracks, a lot of them modernized versions traditional rhythms of the diverse regions of Sudan and even an excursion into Colgolese Soukouss.
I went for my second trip to Sudan in December 2018 and after doing some research on the first trip my local colleagues Larissa and Yassir had managed to reach Amir, The Scorpions band leader and he was happy to meet. We got together with him in a Cafe right at the Nile in Omdurman. It was a happy occasion for everyone. He told us stories about him meeting Jimmy Cliff and Lewis Armstrong when they visited Sudan and how he and his band mates from The Scorpions played extensively in Kuwait, both in club residencies as well as for television. Amir brought tons of incredible photos illustrating not only the bands history but the vivid cultural live in the many music clubs in Khartoum of the 1970s. During this decade up until 1983 the capital was home to a huge number of clubs, bards and concert halls. This scene started to perish after president Nimeiry's turn away from his socialist policies, that he was widely associated with in the first decade of his rule, towards the implementation of Sharia law in 1983. During the first decade of his rule he had actively supported various artists of the Jazz scene, taking some of them on trips throughout Africa. The 1989 coup of Bashir and his generals then caused the final blow to a once thriving scene. Both of these political events within 6 years lead to significant drawbacks for the Sudanese jazz scene resulting into hardly no gig opportunities left and parties and concerts being critically observed. A number of musicians faced prosecution, most of the time for their political views, some left Sudan for good. Music never completely vanished from public life and even the regime kept selected artists close, but for a majority of those bands affiliated to the jazz scene life and making ends became a lot harder. The Scorpions dissolved as a group around the same time.

The re-release was produced with a clean copy of the vinyl version as a source. The original reel tape of the album stayed with Saif Abu Bakr along with another reel with other recordings that were never released. Unfortunately it was lost when Saif Abu Bakr had to flee to Kuwait temporarily during the second gulf war when Iraq raided Kuwait. Both the CD and vinyl version come with extensive booklets with photos, interviews, liner notes. The vinyl version also has a DLL code.

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The Word

Collected Works

The Zenmenn And John Moods

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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Hidden Gem

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Music From Memory)

Thomas Stronen / Time Is A Blind Guide

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Hidden Gem' is the Zenmenn's first full album produced together with songwriter and vocalist John Moods and follows their much-loved debut record, 'Enter The Zenmenn'. Named after a country song that didn't quite make it to the final selection, 'Hidden Gem' is the result of an extended jam session at a friend’s studio, in a field of mystical meadows somewhere south of Hamburg, in which the band would experience a series of inexplicable phenomena.

It was their earlier collaboration on the future classic, 'Homage To A Friend' that kickstarted their idea to team up with John Moods again, and in the late summer of 2021 the band set to work on a full album of material together. Using The Zenmenn's trusted drum kit, good old DX7, an unusual Ukrainian bass and an almost discarded pedal steel guitar, combined with Moods’ uniquely fragile voice, the outcome resulted in six timeless songs. The resulting harmonic sound is, as the band put it, “something like Adult Oriented Rock with a teaspoon of Celtic sentimentalism, a pinch of big city Country wrapped in a late night '70s style jam”.

'Hidden Gem’, much like their previous LP, was recorded without pre-arranged songs or any fixed musical concept. Instead, it captures fleeting moments of creativity and reflects the joint musical sentiments of the band members at the time. “Some artists are amazing at vision and curating, our work-flow is opposite to that. We are pretty messy and all over the place in our creation, as in life. It has its advantages and disadvantages, but hopefully it comes out all right in the end.”

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Lucus

LP | 2018 | EU | Original (ECM)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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It Is What It Is Clear Vinyl Edition

Thundercat

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Brainfeeder)

36,99 €*

It Is What It Is Cream 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)

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)

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

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes

What Kinda Music

16,99 €*

Tomasz & The Individual Beings Dabrowski

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-08

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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Better

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (April)