NEW RELEASES: JIM VINER’S INCREDIBLE B3 BAND - COMANGO!; SONNY SHARROCK – ASK THE AGES; MASAHIRO SHIMBA / BILL LASWELL - DUBOPERA

JIM VINER’S INCREDIBLE B3 BAND - COMANGO!

Sweet Hammond grooves from a combo led by drummer Jim Viner – a player you may know from the Diplomats Of Solid Sound, some of whom join Jim on the set! As you'd guess from the group's name, the record's awash in sounds from the legendary B3 – shimmering organ lines that are somewhere between deep funk and soul jazz – served up in an all-instrumental mode that lets the Hammond have plenty of "voice" throughout! The vibe is somewhere between 60s Stax and Prestige Records – with a feel that's similar to early work from Sugarman Three – and titles include "Comango", "Forty Twenty", "Azucar Blanco", "Smokey Johnson", "Cutlass Supreme", "Chicken Tickin", "Borracho No No", and "California Don".  Dusty Groove

SONNY SHARROCK – ASK THE AGES  

Ask The Ages - The classic definer. Guitarist Sonny Sharrock wasn't just ahead of his time, like a freight train roaring through a darkened station, not just hours but weeks ahead of schedule. Channeling the energy and spirit of John Coltrane...with the support of two undisputed icons of free jazz and the avant-garde, legendary Coltrane-drummer Elvin Jones and saxophonist Pharoah Sanders with Charnett Moffett on bass. Absolutely an exploration of the stratosphere and beyond. Enhanced and re-mastered from the original. Produced by Bill Laswell - who upon emerging from the downtown NYC scene as a producer and bassist to be reckoned with, made it one of his first priorities to find Sharrock who he first heard at age fourteen...Ask The Ages.

MASAHIRO SHIMBA / BILL LASWELL - DUBOPERA

A unique fusion of classic opera mixed with contemporary dub set in a progressive, futuristic, rhythmic environment. Masahiro Shimba is a leading Japanese opera singer, based in Milano and Tokyo. The tenor is the first Japanese artist to receive the "Maria Callas Award" from the International Maria Callas Foundation. He is highly evaluated by the Italian classical/opera world, has performed as a soloist at the Royal Opera Canada, Teramo City Theater, Lincoln Center (NY), Dal Verme Theater (Milano), Verdi Conservatory Puccini Hall (Milano), St. Paul's Outside the Walls (Vatican City/Rome) with Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini conducted by Daniele Agiman and more.