New Music From: Change – Love 4 Love; Azymuth – Light As A Feather; Ashley Henry – Ashley Henry’s 5ive

Change – Love 4 Love

Wonderful new work from Change – the international soul combo who made some classic cuts back at the start of the 80s – still sounding great all these many years later, but in a slightly different way! The balance between all elements here is fantastic – as the music has all the best parts of the group's earlier music, but also updates the sound a bit – in the way that a combo like Incognito or Brand New Heavies were updating older soul music back in the 90s, by grabbing all the strongest parts of the past, and fusing them into a fresh lean groove. The songs are upbeat, positive, and full of the kind of catchy hooks that Change always did so well – and titles include "Friends", "Make Me Go Cray", "How Will We", "Too Late", "Living Monday", "Love 4 Love", "All My Life", and "Hit Or Miss". Also includes some remix versions of older tracks – "Searching (Figo Sound version)", "Oh What A Feeling (Figo Sound version)", "You'll Always Be A Part Of Me (Figo Sound version)", and "It's A Girl's Affair (Figo Sound version)". ~ Dusty Groove

Azymuth – Light As A Feather (180 gram vinyl)

One of Azymuth's best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There's a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group's previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well – one that still keeps the edge of the early years, yet helps the group reach out with a wonderfully warm sound! Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic "Jazz Carnival", a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus "Light As A Feather", "Avenida Das Manguerias", "This Exists", "Partido Alto", "Dona Olimpia", "Amazonia", and "Young Embrace". (Limited repress of 500 copies. Remixed and remastered version with download code.) ~ Dusty Groove

Ashley Henry – Ashley Henry’s 5ive

This might be the first we've ever heard from pianist Ashley Henry – but given the quality of the set, we imagine that we might be listening to his music for many years to come! Henry's got this wonderful conception of rhythm – as if he's sometimes racing ahead of the bass and drums, and grabbing up all these handfuls of notes – scattering them quickly in these broad waves of soulful colors, while the bass of Sam Vicary and drums of Sam Gardner swing in and keep things moving forward! There's a sense of freshness to this album that reminds us of the time we first heard the music of Robert Glasper many years back – even though Henry is a completely different stylist – as you'll hear on titles that include "Deja Vu", "Altruism", "Deimos", "St Anne's", and "Monk's Dream".  ~ Dusty Groove