Archive for the Jazz Category
Moses Boyd “Displaced Diaspora” (Exodus)
Moses Boyd is at the forefront of the new British jazz scene having worked and recorded with like of Gilles Peterson, Four Tet, Sons Of Kemet, Zara McFarlane and more. Moses has established himself as one of the leaders in bringing the worlds of jazz and electronic music together. This […]
Pierre Favre Trio “Santana” (Be!)
This is a vibrant and exciting album, a lively document of early free music. Drummer Pierre Favre was interested in space and jagged rhythms at the time, with Irene Schweizer adding creative lyricism and Peter Kowald’s fat bass lines pulsing through the complex music. This is the first album in […]
John Coltrane “1963: New Directions” (Impulse!)
5LP Boxset. DEAR LORD!! The release of John Coltrane’s Both Directions At Once provided new insight into what was already thought to be the storied jazz saxophonist’s breakthrough year as a composer. This new 5xLP boxset further magnifies Trane’s genius by compiling all his Impulse! recordings from 1963 (that we know of) in one package. Includes (1) Both […]
Various Artists “Antilles Mechant Bateau” (Born Bad)
Born Bad Records present Antilles Mechant Bateau, a compilation of percussion-based music from Guadeloupe. More properly, the subject of this collection is musicians drumming on percussion as a way of asserting their creolized identity. Songs that tell, in veiled terms, a different reality from that what which mainlanders were fed. Special […]
Os Catedraticos “Ataque” (Far Out)
180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. Far Out Recordings presents a reissue of Eumir Deodato’s Ataque, originally released in 1965. One of Brazil’s most prolific artists, Deodato has racked up 16 platinum albums, won a Grammy (and been nominated for two more), and sold over 250 million records in the USA alone. […]
Evan Parker “Snake Decides” (Otoroku)
Otoroku presents a reissue of Evan Parker’s The Snake Decides, originally released in 1986. One of the final Incus releases and one that was written up in The Penguin Guide to Jazz as an essential document of modern music, Otoroku releases it as a first ever vinyl re-issue. Featuring four solos recorded in 1986 […]
Peter Brotzmann & Heather Leigh “Sparrow” (Trost)
Comes in a heavy, ’60s style tip-on cover. Sparrow Nights is the first studio album from the furious duo of pedal steel player Heather Leigh and saxophone legend Peter Brötzmann. Their collaboration has quickly gained a well-earned reputation for their cutting-edge music and frenetic but sensuous playing. Recorded and mastered in Vienna by Martin Siewert. Features […]
Henri Texier “Amir” (JMS)
Like his double bass, Henri Texier is a pillar, a landmark in jazz and music in general. After an early career at the end of the 1960s, along with American bebop giants such as Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon and Kenny Clarke, Henri Texier stands out for his originality […]
Henri Texier “Varech” (JMS)
Like his double bass, Henri Texier is a pillar, a landmark in jazz and music in general. After an early career at the end of the 1960s, along with American bebop giants such as Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon and Kenny Clarke, Henri Texier stands out for his originality […]
Beverly Glenn-Copeland “Beverly Copeland” (Majik Bus Entertainment)
Beverly Glenn-Copeland was born in Philadelphia USA but this jazz folk album was recorded in Canada for the CBC in-house label and only released to CBC radio stations. Stand out tracks include the amazing ‘Don’t Despair’ and ‘Good Morning Blues’, both written by Copeland, and a psych jazz reprise of the first track ‘Don’t Despair’. Incredibly […]
Emile Normand Sextet “Emile Normand” (Majik Bus Entertainment)
This soul meets spiritual jazz album by vibes and marimba master Emile Normand is a super rare treat. Never released commercially until now, the LP features super covers of Yusef Lateef, Horace Silver and Jorge Ben. Recorded in 1968 only for internal use on CBC radio stations this grail for jazz collectors […]
Weldon Irvine “Cosmic Vortex (Justice Divine)” (Pure Pleasure)
After two visionary LPs for his own tiny Nodlew label, Weldon Irvine signed to RCAfor Cosmic Vortex (Justice Divine), exploring the deeply spiritual and political terrain of his previous efforts on the kind of grand musical scale that major-label funding accommodates. This is a big, bold record by any measure, with […]
Mansur Brown “Shiroi” (Black Focus)
It’s not often we mention Jimi Hendrix and Trap music in the same sentence. Or Brixton and George Benson. In this case Mansur Brown embodies all of these. An integral part of the groundbreaking Yussef Kamaal album, he now releases his debut album on Black Focus Records. As Thundercat claims […]
Pellegrino “Zodyaco” (Early Sounds)
Pellegrino presents his new project “Zodyaco”. Inspired by the ancient mythology of the stars and their deep influence on the sea life, the record is the result of nocturnal jams in the wake of the Italian jazz-funk tradition, exotic fusion and Mediterranean mysticism. A tribute to the stars and their […]
Joseph Shabason “Anne” (Western)
Anne, the second album By Toronto saxophonist and composer Joseph Shabason, is a tonal essay on degenerative illness. Delicately and compassionately woven with interviews of Shabason’s mother from whom the album takes its name, Anne finds its creator navigating a labyrinth of subtle and tragic emotions arising from his mother’s […]
Tommy Guerrero “Road to Knowhere” (Too Good)
This album is inspired by bits and pieces of Ethio-Jazz , Afrobeat , Highlife Spiritual Jazz and dusty funk 45’s. It’s where I’m at now and what has kept this mortal vehicle fueled. I tend to take different paths each musical outing but this one is for the long haul, […]
Various Artists “Unusual Sounds” (Anthology)
In the heyday of low-budget television and scrappy genre filmmaking, producers who needed a soundtrack for their commercial entertainments could reach for a selection of library music: LPs of stock recordings whose contents fit any mood required. Though at the time, the use of such records was mostly a cost-cutting […]
Stroer Duo “Fluchtweg Madagaskar” (Dark Entries)
Hans P. and Ernst Ströer are the Ströer Bros. Based close to Munich, Bavaria, they work as composers, arrangers, musicians, producers and authors, traveling between many different musical worlds. Hans plays bass, guitars and piano, Ernst plays all kinds of drums and percussion. The two of them descended from the […]
Thought Gang “Thought Gang” (Sacred Bones)
By the time Twin Peaks’ second season had aired and Fire Walk With Mehad just began principle production, Thought Gang had been born. The esoteric jazz side-project of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti evolved from the seeds of Twin Peaks’ trademark slow cool jazz and blossomed into more experimental pastures: horizonless vistas of acid-soaked free-jazz, […]
Keith Mansfield & John Cameron “Voices in Harmony” (Be With)
Voices In Harmony was released in 1973 as “a selection of contemporary pop titles featuring voices, brass and rhythm”. We choose to describe this collection of works by Keith Mansfield and John Cameron as “a string-laced, harmony-drenched KPMclassic”. From the bright, lilting harmonies of “Liquid Sunshine” to the melting flutes of […]
Nick Ingman “Distinctive Themes/Race To Achievement” (Be With)
Released in 1976, Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement is legendary arranger Nick Ingman exploring the two distinct ideas of “impressive themes varying in style from ‘Basie to Elgar’” and “a study in the pressure and rewards of achievement”. Distinctive Themes is a veritable indulgence of variously-tempoed, full orchestra, big […]
Francis Coppieters “Piano Viberations” (Be With)
Piano Viberations’ “small group jazz featuring piano and vibes with rhythm” makes for a gorgeous Francis Coppieters showcase, surely one of Belgium’s best-kept musical secrets. Released in 1975, and arguably the most low-key of the KPM and Themes records we’re re-issuing, this is easily our current favourite. “The Open Highway” is the […]
Brian Bennett & Alan Hawkshaw “Synthesis” (Be With)
The “vivid contemporary sounds for a fresh visual image” make up the now canonized Synthesis from Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett. These two greats go deeper than usual on this collection, and the end result is a synth concept record of sorts. Released in 1974, it’s an essential companion piece […]
Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw & David Snell “Big Business” (Be With)
The two sides of 1973’s Big Business / Wind of Change are mainly the work of the great Keith Mansfield but there’s a killer cameo each from Alan Hawkshaw and David Snell to help deliver “a thematic suite, diverse in mood, applicable to dramatic and environmental situations”. A Be With […]