Kuma - Honey & Groat

When Betty Davis presented Sly Stone's funky hippies to her dear Miles, when Herbie Hancock discovered the Fender Rhodes and the Moog synthesiser, when the CTI/Kudu label came up with the smooth jazz of Grover Washington or Bob James, when Gilles Peterson and the acid-jazz period revived the links that unite the various facets of African-American music, on each of these occasions opinion was divided between orthodoxy and hedonism. How do you reconcile "serious" music and simple pleasure? Ever since jazz took its bop and free turn, each generation solved this eternal equation in its own way.

Trained in the theoretical rigours of classical music and jazz, experts on their instruments, and brought up on hip-hop culture, techno and house club scenes, Matthieu Llodra and Arthur Donnot - composers of KUMA – love to challenge their musical boundaries. With the help of multi-talented sound engineer Valentin Liechti, they intentionally turned away from the live sound towards a more controlled production style, both in terms of the writing and the recording.

Maxence Sibille’s drums and Fabien Iannone’s bass, in all sobriety, display a range of sounds and grooves blurring the perception between playing and programming, acoustic and electronic.

Themes turn into loops, in a jazz form of writing that metabolised the sampling culture. Just like the musicians in the ‘70s and ‘80s who melted Afro-american art music with pop trends, Llodra and Donnot belong to this generation that naturally reinvents a kind of smooth jazz from the XXIst century.

The elegant harmonies of a brass section (‘Trois Petits Beussekeu’, ‘Feux-gris’), Léo Chambet’s warm voice (‘Der Küss) and Cyril Moulas' mesmerising guitar (‘Tardigrada’) make this somewhat restrained yet generous album complete.

Listening to ‘Honey & Groat’, sweetness and elegance are evident from the start. The themes come and they go, not like a rendez-vous, these collective checkmarks that classical jazz imposes on the ego of the soloists, rather like the hooks on instrumental electro tracks. An anchor for the listener, a chorus, between ostinato and ritornello, a motif transformed to fit the moment.

Natural Lateral - Tapestry Of Life

Social Joy Records presents Natural Lateral's new album "Tapestry of life", a superb excursion in fusion jazz with a wonderful blend of electronics and subtle elements of spiritual jazz.

Undeniably on the rise after the success of their first album, ‘Cogito Ergo Jam’, which received support from the British Jazz scene and was featured on Gilles Peterson’s BBC 6 music show, the North-London based collective goes a step further this time by carefully crafting a new release of a tapestry of music stemming from rich jam sessions at the Lazy Robot Studio and representing the band's phenomenal musical canvas.

Echoing jazz legends like Azymuth, Roy Ayers, Alice Coltrane and Miles Davis by paying tribute to those who paved the way but always searching for new musical territories, this six-track LP is moving, thought-provoking and engaging. It is a musical quest where each band member searches for meaning through rhythm and sound - giving a new life to jazz music and dropping the full spectrum of a vibrant tapestry of life into the listener's ears.

The release moves through elements of vintage, yet also involves sophisticated sound production fusing jazz with modern dance and world music sensibilities. ‘Rendez-rio’ is a feel-good summer track of Bossa. The superb Rhodes keys adds a Samba cadence to the track where one feels easily transported into a musical dream landscape – offering a "rendez-vous" in Rio de Janeiro.

‘Tom's Tumbao’ channels the spirit of Latin jazz via the lens of Calle 54/New York City featuring Natural Lateral’s beloved friend and flautist/saxophonist Chip Wickham and the well-known drummer David Mrakpor (Blue Lab Beats). The keys and flutes in the track add a vibrant dialogue of music, creating a back and forth conversation of lush and deep melodies. Both solos are accompanied by horn arrangements from Eoin Grace which sets this James Bond-esque theme to an intense level of energy.

‘Hoodi's Notes’ takes the release to deeper levels by guiding us into a musical, spiritual journey completely improvised on the spot and catching somewhat "a moment of magic". Listen closely, and you'll hear the sax and keys whispering subtle melodies of mystical languages, like a cosmic wind blowing through the earth and flowing beyond and above. Fans of the likes of Blue Note will find this track particularly appealing.

The B side kicks off with 'Locked Up', something purely improvised and recorded during the lockdown period, which shows the funkier side of the band's vision of music. The Roy Ayers-inspired vibraphone melody and lush synths drive the song's mood into funky astral territories - always landing back into the earth on a Herbie-esque slap bass - this is jazz funk at its best! It is also a testament to music having the capacity to rescue us during troubling times.

‘Konuş…Konuşma (Speak… Don’t Speak)’ is a psychedelic trip through ambient jazz, combining more rockier subtleties with a Turkish spoken word vocal. The piece fuses electronic and ethnic elements.

The album finishes with ‘Amber's Garden’; almost a follow on from their debut album 'Days with Amber', a beautiful tribute to the mother of Aziz Mustafa (AKA Tom Funk), the leader of the band. It is a transcendental piece of music featuring sax and flute by Tamar Osborn (Collocutor)

The band's work ethic is based on a sense of freedom in the studio filled with live jam sessions where it's all about "catching a moment" and letting the inspiration flow. They say:

"We just want to feel a sense of freedom and connection through playing. In the studio, it's the music which connects us all, and we just want to allow that process to unfold". 

Sababa 5 - Sababa 5 | Debut LP

Sababa 5 finally deliver their long-promised, and self-titled album of original instrumentals, built around the band’s distinct mix of Middle Eastern psych, funk and disco groove.

Sababa 5’s knack for intricate grooves and catchy melodies have led to a series of acclaimed singles, from fresh takes on classic melodies to vocal collaborations, championed by BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews, and Gideon Coe in the UK, and Radio Nova and FIP, in France, whilst they gradually found their own contemporary sound, creating original music together that could stand up on its own across a whole album.

Across these eight songs, the group blends the Afro disco, reggae, jazz, funk and a plethora of Middle Eastern traditions, whilst traveling time and space, drawing a musical, cultural and geographical line from Somalia to Iran, via Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Turkey, from the late 70s & early 80s to today. Thus Sababa 5 create a unique psychedelic groove that builds on the approach that the likes of the Daptones have taken to working independently, writing, producing and recording original music, with their own modern take on 70s soul and funk.

Stand outs include 'Malca' (a girl’s name that means “queen”). Built around broken synth lines, a languid East Africa meets Anadolu psych groove and vintage organ licks, the instrumental peaks a transformative chord change, shooting it into the stratosphere.

The carnivalesque 'Lizarb' (“Brazil” backwards), raises the tempo and temperature. The piece kicks off with a guitar-led call-and-response before a synth-led melody lifts everything to another level. Topped off before the end by a beautiful wah-wah meets psychedelic Mizrahi style guitar solo over a pulsating drum and groove line, demanding a physical response.

'Habedil' (“the idiot” in Hebrew), is named for the innocent, child-like synths that lead off towards the start, whilst the bass and guitar riff repetitively, crafting an irresistible groove before dovetailing into an epic disco synth vamp.

With this, their debut, self-titled album, Sababa 5 are ready to take a seat among the most exciting and original instrumental-based groups across the globe, with an exciting and distinct approach to groove, sound and melody.

Surya Botofasina - Everyone's Children

The phenomenal debut album by extraordinary keyboardist and composer Surya Botofasina. Surya was taught in the tradition of Alice Coltrane, by Swamini Turiyasangitananda herself, on her Ashram in California where he grew up. Produced by and co-performed with Carlos Niño in Los Angeles, this is a unique, deep listening masterpiece of spiritual jazz and meditative sounds from a progressive Sonic Artist devoted to: "OneLove. Family. Music.”

Everyone’s Children is the stunning debut album of spiritual avant-garde music from keyboardist, composer Surya Botofasina, out on Spiritmuse Records. The record combines deep jazz excursions with expansive synth passages and intimate piano turns to create a hypnotic, meditative and devotionally expressive suite that soothes, enriches and uplifts the soul.

Botofasina’s upbringing at the Sai Anantam Ashram in the Southern Californian hills involved daily bhajans (traditional Hindu devotional songs) led by legendary jazz harpist and pianist Alice Coltrane. Her musical and religious teachings continue to have a profound effect on the keyboardist, whose career has since gone on to take in acting stints in the TV series Vinyl and Boardwalk Empire alongside a diverse range of musical collaborations with the likes of Reggie Workman, Joey Bada$$, Gangstarr’s GURU, Amel Larrieux, N’Dea Davenport, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. His work as the Music Director of the Sai Anantam Ashram Singers has seen him tour internationally honouring Swamini Turiyasangitananda Alice Coltrane’s devotional music. “The way I play the piano is not the way my friends play the piano” he says. “It forced me to find the place I truly dwell in - the place between the hip hop and jazz, but based in meditative and long form expressions of my spirit.”

Botofasina’s renown has enabled him to enlist a supremely talented, cross generational group of musicians for the project including major LA mainstays such as multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Carlos Niño - who also produced the album - jazz singer Dwight Trible, and indie folk vocalist Mia Doi Todd. Brilliantly gifted guitarist Nate Mercereau, saxophonist Pablo Calogero, and drummer Efa Etoroma Jr., round out the guest collaborators alongside Botofasina’s mother, the harpist Radha Botofasina, a key musical disciple of Alice Coltrane’s during her Ashram years and a hugely formative influence on the keyboardist.

Ten years in consideration, the album’s genesis lay in Botofasina and Niño’s long-running creative partnership. The pair first linked up through Niño’s Build An Ark jazz ensemble, by the recommendation of Atwood-Ferguson, in 2011 and - after Niño suggested recording a Surya lead project, the idea began to solidify with a series of collaborative concerts in 2018 (still on-going,) that engendered a deep musical bond. Recorded by Jesse Peterson in 3 joyous sessions last year in Glendale, California, the results are grounded in the ashram music that Botofasina grew up with and present his own unique jazz-influenced take on devotional sounds.

That vision achieves heady form in the shape of album opener Surya Meditation, an epic twenty-seven-minute duet with Niño built around Botofasina’s assorted keyboard textures. Synths hum hypnotically, softly patter like raindrops or drift by like clouds on a hazy summer’s day. Niño’s subtle percussive accompaniment offers a gentle sense of otherworldliness throughout a contemplative, meditative and stunningly beautiful piece that offers feelings akin to floating gently across water. “I knew when it was happening that it would be the focal point, the opus, the centre of this project” says Niño of the recording.

The solo piano piece I Love Dew, Sophie melds jazz and classical keyboard notes in warm-toned clusters before the ecstatic spiritual jazz excursion Beloved California Temple opens things out into a group setting. Here, Botofasina’s hypnotic piano motifs and Niño’s expressive percussion are joined by Pablo Calogero’s breathy saxophone lines, before Dwight Trible’s dramatic wordless vocals bring things to a rapturous climax to the accompaniment of Efa Etoroma Jr.’s crashing drum crescendos, with the harmonic brilliance of Nate Mercereau’s guitar synth fortifying the whole.

The title track Everyone's Children follows. Featuring Mia Doi Todd - whose pregnancy at the time of the recording inspired its name - the track blends her dream-like singing with the buzzing swoop and swirl of a synthesizer - a recognizable throwback to the Sai Anantam Ashram devotional sound - alongside gentle piano runs. Begun in reflective mode, Sun Of Keshava’s synthesizer textures build in warmth towards a denouement of radiant keyboard notes that recall the beauty of a summer sunrise.

Nick Marks | "Cinematic Chromatics, Vol. I"

New York artist Nick Marks drops his debut EP, Cinematic Chromatics, Vol. I, on September 22nd 2023.

The release includes three singles already released this year: Ride The Dragon, Dorongo and Paradiso. Completing Vol. I will be a two-part track titled Prelude/Arc of Light. Marks has been rapidly gaining attention for his genre bending cinematic jazztronica, in which he marries two disparate paradigms of his artistry: that of the concert music/film scoring world, and the underground scenes in which jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul and electronica cross-pollinate.

Cinematic Chromatics Vol. I will be the first in a three volume series, broadly fitting umbrella of ‘new era jazz’. The trilogy gracefully moves between various aural ‘mood-boards’ and showcases Marks’ musical universe, which has been described as “a twisted jazz fusion of orchestrated funk bruk electronica - dare I say, of Herbie Hancock proportions” (Gerry Bayly, You And The Music)

Vol. I draws on Marks’ expansive vision for melding jazz and electronica within expansive through-composed forms and a symphonic/cinematic aesthetic. Vol. II follows the cinematic aesthetic and traverses boundaries into the neo-soul/hip-hop worlds with hints of Drum’n’Bass. Vol. III meets somewhere in the middle. While most tracks are instrumental, story-telling and connecting with listeners is at the core of each tune.

The Cinematic Chromatics trilogy is born out of a love and passion for bringing together elements that satisfy the ear, move the body and connect to the heart. It speaks to the complex layers that intertwine in life. For Marks, writing music is a journey in how to best make sense of living among contradictions in our everyday life.

Completing Vol. I is the new track Prelude/Arc of Light. This ‘curtain-raiser’ is an homage to Marks’ impressionist classical influences, presenting the principles of this music in a modern ‘jazztronica’ context. Imagine Claude Debussy being commissioned to write the opening for an artist on the Brainfeeder label. The 21-piece string orchestra + 1 Bassoonist (performed by the Budapest Art Orchestra) establish a main theme that gets drawn upon and revisited throughout the second half of the track. This builds into a steady crescendo before getting ‘smashed’ by the piano, synth bass and drums that come in abruptly.

The cover art of the Cinematic Chromatics series is the perfect visual representation of Marks’ artistry and vision. French artist Camille “Quetzilla” Rousset hand-painted an abstract mural of layered instruments and bright colours. Listeners have eclectic tastes, passions, vibes and moods, and for Marks, speaking to these differences (both musically and visually) was central to the creation of this work.

Nick says about the EP: “Bringing together my worlds in concert/film music with jazz, neo-soul and electronica was an organic process borne out of years of studying, performing, being part of both Melbourne and New York’s dynamic scenes, and writing for film or instrumental projects. I always had the idea of opening my first big release with a statement of intent, a ‘curtain raiser’ with gravitas. Something to set the tone for the listener, and show I take their attention and willingness to listen seriously. I always wanted to cohesively morph between my different worlds and experiences in a seamless, dynamic, and tasteful way that listeners can enjoy and relate to. In doing so, I hope this EP provides a soundtrack that inspires listeners to follow their dreams, especially if it’s in an area where they’ve never seen it be done before, or people tell them it can’t be done”.

Marks has already received glowing responses to his releases this year. Debut single RIDE THE DRAGON received support from Huey Morgan on BBC6, Ruth Fisher on JazzFM and Tina Edwards on Worldwide FM. His second single DORONGO received support from Bandcamp Weekly and Jazzwise Magazine,  who described the track as “Flying Lotus and Jacob Collier combining to write the latest Blade Runner soundtrack, supervised by Thundercat, recorded by the Metropole Orkest”. Single number three, PARADISO, was selected for Spotify Editorial Playlist “FRESH FINDS JAZZ”. The music videos to all three tracks have had a combined total of more 250,000 views on YouTube. As a teaser for the future Vols. II and III (coming in 2024), Marks’ released ‘Between Gigs’, a lo-fi jazzy beats ‘aural aperitif’.

Nicholas Brust | "Daybreak"

Heralded as one of the premiere saxophonists of his generation, Boston-based Nicholas Brust has established his voice, both as an instrumentalist and a composer, in the world of modern instrumental music. He has found his niche as a bandleader and composer, taking advantage of the numerous textures and combinations available in small-group improvised music, evident on his new recording, Daybreak, featuring Brust with guitarist Lage Lund, pianist Julia Chen, bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Gary Kerkezou. 

Daybreak is the follow up recording to Brust’s debut full-length album, Frozen in Time, released on Fresh Sound in 2020. The album has received international critical acclaim from All About Jazz, Jazz Journal UK, Modern Jazz Today, Rootstime Music, and the Jazz Quad, among many others. Marc Philiips of Part-Time Audophile exclaimed, “It’s as if one of your favorite movie stars from long ago suddenly started telling you about all the secrets of the universe.” 

Nicholas Brust has a crystalline sound, imbued with a life force, vitality and exuberance that is addictive. As Dan Bilawsky stated in All About Jazz, "this leader's skills and solid intuition move beyond his writing and performing, as his personnel choices also reflect excellent taste." Indeed, his band is in lockstep with him throughout every tune on Daybreak, making for an elevated listening experience. Brust and his music sound at once completely familiar and brand new; in the tradition, while breaking new ground. He is influenced by the likes of Pat Metheny, Brian Blade, George Coleman, Robert Glasper, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kenny Garrett, and Roy Hargrove, among others, and he seems to have taken the best qualities of these stalwarts and forged them into his own elements. “Not only does Brust impress with his versatile playing, but he reveals a flair for composition that sufficiently nods to tradition without the usual predictable patterns, finding a nice balance with more modern jazz sensibilities. He delivers a colorful well-conceived debut that already has us anticipating his next recording,” said Jim Hines in Making A Scene.

About the music on Daybreak with Nicholas Brust:

“Absence of You,” is about the necessary development of artistic independence and its accompanying isolation. “It is both crucial and challenging for artists to balance the isolation of practicing with time spent with others.”

“Diamonds and Clubs,” is a continuation of a suite that Brust started with “Hearts and Spades,” released on, Frozen in Time. “Both pieces begin with a bowed bass introduction, and this one reminds me of a glimmering diamond.”

“Mind’s Eye”: This composition, “plays with similar melodies in two different keys, as though one is being remembered slightly differently than the original.”

“For Wisdom” is a tribute to Roy Hargrove and the inspiration his music and presence on the NYC jazz scene had on Brust as a musician.

“To Carry the Torch” reflects on the, “complex circumstances and responsibilities each generation inherits from the previous one, and the care we take when we ourselves pass them along.”

“Suspense in Blue” is Brust honoring the importance of the blues. “It has connected just about every genre of music (and subgenres of jazz) for generations and continues to be relevant today.”

"Daybreak,” the title track, was the guiding force for the album’s concept. The melody, encompassing two octaves, was inspired by the possibilities of a new day. “You can hear the sun coming out with a burst of energy, followed by the day’s first shadows. It’s ultimately about making the most of the opportunities that each day brings us. On a more personal note, It is about things coming anew, from the birth of my son to the reemergence of live music in a post-Covid world.”

“In This Moment”: “Spending time with loved ones has only become more precious as I’ve gotten older, and the birth of my son this past year sharpened that feeling. This song is meant to encapsulate the feeling of the fleeting, priceless time spent with the ones you love.”

“The Tempest”: Brust’s attempt to capture the structure of a storm in song - the foreboding, the destruction, and the peace of the aftermath.

“Ballad of a Sea Porpoise”: “The piano and guitar combination, without saxophone, reminds me of being underwater. Writing this song, I wanted the listener to imagine living their whole life submerged.”

“A Midsummer Night” is a contrafact written over the changes of “You Stepped Out of a Dream” by Nacio Herb Brown and is also a reference to Shakespeare. “The rhythms of the melody are meant to reference Shakespeare’s twisting, turning plots.”

Brust has performed with numerous highly acclaimed musicians, including Gilad Hekselman, The Peter Silver Big Band (sharing the stage with Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Owens, Steve Wilson and others), guitarist Ben Eunson, Kristina Koller (appearing in her Quintet at the 2020 NYC Winter Jazz Fest), and many others. The saxophonist/composer is currently on faculty at New England Conservatory, in addition to maintaining his own private studio.

Nicholas released an EP of original music entitled Brooklyn Folk Songs in January 2015, which, “showcases a set of original compositions that infuse sturdy melodies with a rich, contemporary harmonic palette...like the borough for which it’s named - encompasses a variety of moods along with its own unique accent” (David Kastin). Since then Brust has continued to showcase his compositional and improvisational talents both on his previous recording Frozen In Time (Fresh Sound, 2020), and in a series of videos that can be found on his YouTube channel. Brust has a Master of Music in jazz performance from New England Conservatory as well as a Bachelor of Music in jazz studies and music education from the Eastman School of Music.

Pianist Lisa Hilton Returns with "Coincidental Moment," feat. Igmar Thomas, Luques Curtis & Rudy Royston

"I love the way jazz tugs at our emotions in a way no other music can: it can calmly seduce your soul or prompt you to dance," states the award-winning composer and acclaimed pianist Lisa Hilton in the liner notes for her latest release, Coincidental Moment (Ruby Slippers Productions 1029), out December 1, 2023. “The music here reflects the cool energies and history of jazz, but definitely sounds like today.”

The nine original compositions and two cover tunes are laced throughout with rich blue tones augmented by modal flights all shimmering and swinging with Hilton's expressive touch on the piano. Coincidental Moment gracefully shares the spotlight with quartet mates Igmar Thomas on trumpet, Luques Curtis on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums and percussion.

Royston's drum mastery is evident throughout the album, but his delightful and catchy bongo rhythms are also featured on tracks Jagged Lil' Blues and Blue Tropics. Jazz traditionalists will enjoy the retro vibes of Happily Go Luckily and Anxiety Society with their cool grooves and snappy trumpet improvisations by Thomas. The entire quartet shines on the evocative Spanish-tinged Enigmatic Adventure and infuse Everyday Anthem with a stirring gospel energy.

The inclusion of the iconic Miles Davis/Bill Evans track Blue In Green shows the breadth of this band – Thomas's moody muted tones, contrasting but blending with Hilton's fluid piano, are underscored by Curtis's deep bass timbre and Royston's delicate touch on cymbals. An interesting choice was the inclusion of West Coast, written by singer/composer Lana Del Rey: the quartet easily turns this pop track into a darker and very expressive experience. Curtis is a vital contributor throughout, especially on the trio track Multiple Perspectives, which blends jazz rhythms and classical interludes with agility. Hilton's skill in composing intimate ballads is apparent on the title track - performed as a trio – and on Uncommon Poetry, which closes the album as an eloquent solo piano piece.

Saturated with lush harmonic ideas and brimming with textures and emotions, the album Coincidental Moment is jazz just right for any moment.

The music of Lisa Hilton draws on classic American jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, and Count Basie, as well as blues heroes Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. She is a prolific composer who records and performs with many of today's jazz luminaries. Her 27 albums sit regularly at the top of the Jazz Week and other radio/streaming charts for the last two decades, drawing millions of plays on streaming services and appearing regularly as an Amazon #1 New Jazz Release. Hilton has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Smithsonian Institution, UCLA's Royce Theatre, San Francisco Jazz, and Chicago's historic Green Mill. Hilton is also the creator and co-author of the popular children's book If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today (Price Stern Sloan), which she co-wrote with her sister, Sandra L. Kirkpatrick. The book was recently updated and published as a digital version by the same name. 

The Lisa Hilton Quartet 2024 Tour Dates:

• March  6, 2024 Raitt Recital Hall 7:30 pm at Pepperdine University, Malibu CA
• March  7, 2024 SF Jazz 7 pm and 8:30 pm, San Francisco, CA
• March 12, 2024 The Jazz Showcase 6:00 pm, Chicago, IL
• March 13, 2024 Weinberg Center for the Arts/New Spire Arts 7:30 pm, Frederick MD
• March 14, 2024 Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall 8 pm, NYC, NY
• March 15, 2024 Jazz Upstairs at Miller Symphony Hall, 7:30 & 9:30 pm, Allentown PA

Record Kicks VA Rare 20th Anniv Boxset Out Now

2023 is a special year for Record Kicks: the Milan-based independent label turns 20 years old. In order to celebrate this great achievement, Record Kicks is proud to announce the release of a limited edition “Rare Box Set”, out Today and containing 20 tracks on 10 “rare” 45 vinyl that retrace the story of these past 20 years of Record Kicks. The boxset is limited to 500 copies worldwide and it is also available in digital format. The artwork by Japanese artist Ruminz is an homage to Afro-American culture. Of the 20 tracks on the “Rare Boxset”, 11 tracks are previously unreleased on 45 vinyl, while 9 are reissues of mega in-demand gems. 

Among the tracks released for the first time on 45, you’ll find label’s Funk & Soul heavyweights such as “Easy To Come Home” by Sydney funk maestros Dojo Cuts, “Your Love is Mine” by British funk band The New Mastersounds feat. Corinne Bailey Rae and remixed by Nostalgia 77, “50 Foot Woman” by Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, “Soul Connection” by The Diplomats of Solid Sound and “Soul of My Life” by The Tibbs. For the first time on 45 vinyl, there are also two singles from the masters of Cinematic funk Calibro 35: “Stainless Steel” from their legendary album “Traitors” and “Ungwana Bay Launch Complex” from “S.P.A.C.E.”, The Diasonics with “Andromeda”, taken from their debut album “Origin Of Forms”, and Whatitdo Archive Group’s “Blood Chief” from the band’s album “The Black Stone Affair”.

On the reissue’s front, among the rare tracks that by popular demand finally see the light again on 45 vinyl we find: the afrofunk cover of The Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” by Baby Charles, JB’s classic “Soul Power” by Kokolo remixed by Lack Of Afro, The Bluebeaters with “Catch That Teardrop” and “Toxic (One Drop Version)” singles, northern soul floorshaker “I’m a Good Woman” by Hannah Williams & The Tastemakers and deep funk stormer “I’m Not Your Regular Woman” by Marta Ren & The Groovelvets.

Set up in 2003, side by side with similar imprints like Daptone, Big Crown or Colemine Records and under its motto "The explosive sound from Today's scene", Milan based independent record label and music publishing Record Kicks has proudly been representing the contemporary funk & soul scene from day one. Its catalogue has been source of inspiration to many Rap superstars that sampled Record Kicks releases during the years. Starting with Jay-Z, thanks to whom the label received a Grammy nomination in 2017 for his use of Hannah Williams & The Affirmations' "Late Nights And Heartbreak" as backdrop for his "4:44" album title-track, and proceeding with Dr Dre, who sampled “I consigliori” by Calibro 35 on the track “One Shot One Kill feat Snoop Dogg” on his famed “Compton” album, and Tyler the Creator, who sampled Hannah Williams on his single “Ziplog”.

 Many are the albums that made the label’s history in the past twenty years. Beginning with “Late Nights and Heartbreak” (2016) and “50 Foot Woman” (2019) from British “soul hurricane” Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, and continuing with “Traitors” (2013), “S.P.A.C.E.” (2015) and “Decade” (2018) from Calibro 35, which brought the Milan band the reputation of masters of the "cinematic funk" scene. Other essential RK albums are “Soul Run”  (2017) and “The Gumption” (2019) from Canadian R&B artist Tanika Charles, thanks to which she received two nominations at the Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammys) and competed with The Weeknd for best R&B/Soul album of the year. Key self-titled debut albums were “Baby Charles” from 2008, which was praised by Pitchfork and Mojo Magazine together with Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators “Keep Reaching Up” on Timmion Records as the albums that defined the new European funk scene of the 2000s and which will be reissued next March 17th and “The Diplomats Of Solid Sound feat. The Diplomettes” from 2009, which featured in the soundtrack of Hollywood blockbuster movie “50/50” with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and which now counts over 30 million plays on Spotify. Equally important releases are “Return Of The Iron Monkey” (2008) by Steve White’s (Style Council) and Damon Minchella’s (Ocean Colour Scene) “Trio Valore” soul jazz project, “Take From Me” (2012) by Australian funkateers Dojo Cuts, “Tribute To My Soul Sisters” (2017) by James Brown’s original soul diva Martha High with Osaka Monaurail or the 12 volumes of the iconic “SoulShaker” and “Let’s Boogaloo” compilations.

Bassist Christopher Hale's "Ritual Diamonds" feat. Minyoung Woo

Ritual Diamonds, the latest release from award-winning bassist-composer Christopher Hale, reimagines Korean ritual drumming and contemporary jazz, creating music that is mysterious, complex and beautiful. Built within an intricate rhythmic world, the music is adorned with stirring melodies, virtuosic improvisation and epic, emotional scope. Joining Hale is Korean drumming innovator Minyoung Woo and some of Australia’s finest jazz artists: Jamie Oehlers (saxophones), Andrea Keller (Rhodes and piano), Theo Carbo (guitars) and Simon Barker (drums); with special guests Chloe Kim (cymbals, percussion) and Nadje Noordhuis (trumpet). 

After a chance backstage encounter at a Korean festival in 2012, Hale and Woo quickly bonded over a fascination with rhythm. “We connected immediately,” recalls Hale, “Minyoung shared with me her deep knowledge of shaman ritual drumming styles and traditional rhythms. I shared with her the rhythms of my communities in Australia: the flamenco cycles of my background and the mathematical rhythm codes of [influential Australian percussionist] Greg Sheehan – our friendship grew, and in restaurants, bars, on buses, we had fun with rhythm.” More than just learning each other’s patterns or repertoire, the pair were sharing how their rhythms worked, revealing common musical ground deep beneath the surface differences of their respective styles. The connections between Korean ritual drumming, flamenco drama and playful rhythmic puzzles suggested a new common language for rhythm, unique to their friendship.

Growing up playing flamenco and Afro-Cuban music, Hale has long looked beneath the surface of his influences to create original music which avoids imitation or appropriation. In Woo’s Korean rhythm, Hale sensed qualities that resonated with his experience. Over the next ten years, he returned regularly to Korea, undertaking long-term study into the inner workings of Korean rhythm. “My goal was never to perform Korean music,” says Hale, “but to commit to learning how these amazing rhythm traditions worked, to better understand Minyoung and her community, and expand my musical world. Then, when Minyoung and I started playing together, it was more than just a ‘fusion’ of styles. We found musical common ground in the deep structures of each other’s rhythm, and from that place built something new together.”

Hale translated some of the pair’s shared rhythmic ideas into new compositions, creating unique settings for Woo to harness her powerful, virtuosic drumming style on the changgo (the Korean hourglass-shaped double-headed drum). “The process was inspiring,” Woo explains, “we tried different ideas through continuous exchange over a long time and tried to melt each of our strong personalities into a single music.” While traditional and contemporary Korean forms inspire the music, the rhythms and concepts of this album are brand new. “I was confident that what’s already within me could be slightly ‘twisted’ in order to make these varied and fun rhythms,” says Woo. 

Christopher Hale has been called “one of the most unique and respected musicians in Australia” (Glam Adelaide), an “unconventional virtuoso of the bass guitar” (The Age), “Australian jazz heavyweight and a brilliant, groundbreaking composer” (Rhythms Magazine).

People of Earth’s Self-Titled Debut Album

Since first exploding onto New York’s cutting-edge Latin and tropical music scene, People of Earth has become one of the city’s most exciting emerging bands. The 13-member collective is filled with some of the highest caliber musicians the city has to offer, whose combined credits include GRAMMY® wins, jazz masters Paquito d’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, and Miguel Zenon, Broadway shows, and classical phenoms Danil Trifonov and Yuja Wang, to name but a few.

Members of People of Earth, or P.o.E. as they are often monikered, hail from seven countries, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Greece, Canada, Haiti, Switzerland and the United States. The ensemble has built up a strong following in its home city, delivering a spicy blend of styles and rhythms from the Caribbean and beyond at residencies at Rockwood Music Hall, DROM and The Django.  

With their powerhouse lineup of congas, timbales, drum-set, electric bass, piano, synthesizer, two trumpets, two trombones, and three singers, P.o.E. uses their original sound and groove to cast a wide net that ensnares and engages veteran salsa dancers and neophytes alike. The band’s repertoire consists of original compositions as well as original arrangements of select standards, and P.o.E’s singers effortlessly switch from Spanish to English to Portuguese as they perform what they’ve coined “A.T.M.” or American Timba Music, a style with deep roots in Cuban timba (many of the band members have played with the top timba bands in Cuba), but with an unmistakable flavor brewed in the musical and cultural melting pot of sound only possible in a city as diverse as New York. No matter where you’re from or what language you speak People of Earth will get you up on your feet and in the groove or die trying. 

Despite their short time together as a band, P.o.E. has already performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Disney Hall in L.A., Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and at Carnegie Hall Citywide. In 2021, P.o.E. partnered with phenom conductor Teddy Abrams to commission MacArthur Genius Fellow Dafnis Prieto to compose a concerto for the band and string orchestra. With the help of a New Music USA creator grant as well as workshop residencies at Kaufman Music Center and San Fransisco Conservatory, the band pushed the project to reach resounding success, performing Prieto’s Tentacíon with the Louisville Orchestra, New World Symphony in Miami, and Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon as well as a 40-minute theatrical children’s adaption performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Since day one, People of Earth has made education a cornerstone of their mission. P.o.E. has performed children’s concerts for 92Y, World Cafe Live, Louisville Orchestra, and Britt Festival, and has visited schools throughout New York City in partnership with the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. In 2019, P.o.E. performed for 4,000 summer campers at the Mann Center in Philadelphia (their most energetic audience to date). P.o.E. has presented lectures and residencies at University of Pennsylvania, San Francisco Conservatory, and Queensborough College. 

People of Earth’s self-titled debut album offers nine tracks that capture the unique blend of influences, explorations, and experimentations that has defined the band’s sound thus far. Cuban cowbell rhythms ebb and flow next to neo-soul synth patches while swirling piano montunos collide with kick-snare downbeat funk rhythms. The album consists of seven original compositions by band members Victor Pablo, Gabriel Globus-Hoenich, Ivan Llanes, Joana Obieta and Ayamey Bell (who has since departed the band), as well as two arrangements; Djavan’s “Te Devoro” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo” from West Side Story, both arranged by Globus-Hoenich. Lauded Bahian singer Marcos Costa, formerly of Ilê Aiyê, is a special guest on “Te Devoro,” while virtuoso British trumpeter Bryan Davis joins for “Mambo” fun.               

The album burns from the first moment to the last, beginning with Pablo’s “Chiki,” a timba-songo style song that has been the band’s set-opener for good reason; it hooks you in from the start and pulls you on your feet. The following track, “Shoulda Known Better,” is a Globus-Hoenich/Bell examination of seduction set to hard-core Cuban timba rhythms with lyrics completely in English. Singer Llanes is featured on his composition “La Mejor Mujer,” which offers a welcomed cool-down to the hard hitting energy of the previous number. Pablo’s haunting lament, “Piloto,” follows sung by Bell and features guest plena musicians recorded in Puerto Rico.  

Later in the album we hear Obieta’s “Wolf Mother,” another English song, this time mixing elements of soul, hip-hop and rock with traditional danzón and bolero. All three singers are featured on Pablo’s “Un Ratito,” equal parts electro-rumba-rap and hip shaking timba. Bell closes out the album with Globus-Hoenich’s "La Coda," a timba burner filled with tongue and cheek musical metaphors and double meanings about the relentless search for love, with a coro that professes: “Te doy mi clave pa seducirte, mi piano pa’ descargar, y los metales para la boda, te coje en la coda”- I give you my claves to seduce you, my piano to jam, the brass for the wedding, I’ll get you in the end. 

P.o.E began laying these tracks down in 2019 and continued recording remotely from across the country and world during the COVID pandemic. The resulting nine tracks are a powerful collective statement of creativity, ambition, talent, and unrelenting desire to open minds and move behinds. Salsero or not, Spanish speaker or not, make no mistake: People of Earth has landed and is here to stay.

Isaiah J. Thompson’s 'The Power of the Spirit'

Rising star jazz pianist Isaiah J. Thompson has been making waves in the jazz scene with his unique sound and virtuosic playing. With a deep respect for the jazz tradition and a forward-thinking approach to improvisation, Thompson has established himself as one of the most exciting young musicians of his generation. He has been hailed as “a young musician and composer with a mature touch and rare combination of talent, creativity, humility and honesty” by NPR. 

Thompson has performed with an array of jazz legends including Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Steve Turre, John Pizzarelli, and Buster Williams. Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director says, “I first encountered Isaiah when he was a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra nearly a decade ago. Since then, I've had the privilege to watch his artistry develop, both at the Juilliard School and on the stages of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Isaiah is a versatile, soulful musician with such a singular voice and strong intention in his playing that I know he is destined to do great things.”

Captured in front of a rapturous audience at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy’s Club, The Power of the Spirit finds Thompson’s seasoned quartet delivering a locked-in performance of their repertoire. On full display are the pianist's stunning dexterity and soulful original material; combining crisp technicality with a gospel-inflected sound, Thompson nods to forebears like Bobby Timmons, Phineas Newborn Jr., and Cedar Walton while blazing a trail of his own.

Thompson has already dropped two singles from the album to critical acclaim. The first single “The IT Department” is a play on Thompson’s initials, but also a tribute to his father. Thompson states, “I don’t come from a particularly musical family, but they have always supported me. When someone would ask my parents if they had been involved in my musical education, my father would respond by saying, ‘music is his department.’” The song landed Thompson on the cover of Tidal’s “Rising Jazz” playlist. The second release from the upcoming album "Tales of the Elephant and the Butterfly" has all of the makings of a classic recording. 

You've heard and seen his NPR Tiny Desk concert, his Jazz Night in America’s Youngblood series episode, and his special guest appearance on the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's Handful of Keys. With the release of The Power of the Spirit, Isaiah showcases his undeniable talent and passion for jazz, solidifying why he is poised to become one of the most important voices in the genre for years to come.

Sexmob | "The Hard Way"

For over a quarter-century, the visionary quartet Sexmob has exploded all preconceived notions of what an instrumental jazz band can be. In many cases — on the albums Dime Grind Palace, Din of Inequity, Solid Sender and Sex Mob Does Bond — they've done so with producer Scotty Hard at the board. On The Hard Way, Sexmob's remarkable new recording for 2023, the music skews decisively electronic, as Hard's beats and soundscapes provide slide trumpeter and founder Steven Bernstein, saxophonist Briggan Krauss, bassist Tony Scherr and acoustic/electric drummer Kenny Wollesen all the stimulus they need for further composition and fearless reinvention.

Scotty Hard has worked extensively in genres including jazz, experimental music and cutting-edge hip-hop (Harriet Tubman, Ka, Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd, Preservation, Mach-Hommy, more), and those aesthetic convergences inform much of the music on The Hard Way. "Steven really loved my last album," Hard says, "and I suggested we do something entirely different. A process record. We've already done the four musicians (sometimes more) in a room thing, so let's do something totally unique and collaborative." While Hard was very hands-on with all previous Sexmob albums, this would take it to a whole other level.

The album is being released by the Chicago-based Corbett vs. Dempsey — no ordinary record label, but an art gallery that curates albums and books. Creative music has always been a feature of the gallery’s activities (in addition to its record label, CvsD represents Peter Brötzmann and the estate of Sun Ra).

"I was introduced to [co-directors] John Corbett and Jim Dempsey at Hal Willner's Nino Rota show in New York," Bernstein recalls. "When I went on their site I saw albums by Hal, Don Cherry, Van Dyke Parks, Lester Bowie, Sun Ra and many more, and I realized that this was the home for The Hard Way. It's what I call 'a gift from Hal.' I keep getting them." (Willner died of Covid in 2020.)

"Scotty and I realized," Bernstein adds, "that since this is not really a 'record label' but an art gallery, let's treat this album like an art piece." One of the gallery's favorite artists, Corey Escoto, created the album cover art, continuing a long tradition of next-level visuals for the band. "We start the album with the longest piece, 'Fletcher Henderson,'" Bernstein explains, "which began as an almost eight-minute through-composed electronic piece by Scotty that I composed melodies and harmony on top of. This process was used for the entire album: Scotty would send me loops, beats or electronic pieces and I would write compositions over them."

Acclaimed pianist/composer Vijay Iyer guests on "You Can Take a Myth," sprinkling stark sustained treble tones and abstract harmonies on top of fat processed bass (played by Hard) as the composition unfolds. John Medeski (of Medeski Martin & Wood) underlays organ chords and blues phraseology to perfection on "Banacek" and works atmospheric magic with mellotron, counterposing Hard's evocative balafon samples, on "Club Pythagorean," one of two tracks included on the bonus 12-inch 45rpm EP. (The other, "Dominion," was created with DJ Olive.)

With each offering, and certainly with The Hard Way and its rich electro-acoustic groove canvas, Bernstein and crew evince a modernizing impulse but also an equally strong foundation in the roots of jazz and American song. Their immersion in a wide range of contemporary music is consistent with Bernstein's own chameleonic experience alongside Lou Reed, Levon Helm, Hal Willner, Sam Rivers, Bernie Worrell, Henry Butler, U2, Little Feat and a host of other legends (all of it feeding the pan-genre worldview of Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, heard to stunning effect on its four-volume 2022 opus Community Music). Funky, bluesy, with a tattered dissonance conjured up by Krauss' throaty saxophone tone, the distinctive wail of Bernstein's rare horn and the swagger of Scherr and Wollesen's rhythm section grind, Sexmob continues to chart new paths in 21st -century creative music.

Brandon Seabrook's brutalovechamp

Guitarist and banjoist Brandon Seabrook is known for pushing his music past the far reaches of the extreme. Welding together elements from punk, jazz, pop, and metal, Seabrook revels in abrasive textures, paint-peeling virtuosity, and angularity so severe as to draw blood at the touch. But his Pyroclastic Records debut,brutalovechamp, is a different beast entirely. No less bold or bracing than his more confrontational work, the album trades the corrosive for the lyrical, venturing into areas of beauty and deeply personal emotion with the same intrepid spirit of exploration that Seabrook’s music has always thrived upon.

Released this past year, brutalovechamp features Seabrook’s stunning and malleable octet Epic Proportions, which includes percussionist and vocalist Nava Dunkelman, cellist Marika Hughes, bassists Eivind Opsvik and Henry Fraser, electronic musician and vocalist Chuck Bettis, John McCowen on clarinets and recorders, and Sam Ospovat on drums, vibraphone and percussion. The unique ensemble evolved from the sextet Die Trommel Fatale, which released its self-titled album in 2017. “I wanted to push myself to grow as a composer,” Seabrook explains. “This band is a perfect outlet to do that with. All of these musicians can really do anything, which enables a lot of experimentation.”

The group and the music emerged from a period of what Seabrook refers to as “drastic flux” in both his personal and artistic lives. As he writes in the liner notes, “I felt the need to find meaning in that chaos. To mirror, amplify, and transform that state, this sound word intentionally disregards any familiar chronology or form… I imagined a sound realm that would reflect more life, less process. The result is intimate and vast.”

 As that description suggests, the music of brutalovechamp reveals a more mature and vulnerable composer, but never one that is comfortable with playing things safe. These eight selections may not come wrapped in the barbed wire and broken glass surfaces that characterize Seabrook’s past efforts, but they are rife with unexpected juxtapositions and labyrinthine structures. The music is vividly echoed by the repurposed metal sculptures of artist John Chamberlain that grace the album booklet, brutal steel and corroded colors shaped into fluid and vibrant curves.

Seabrook’s departure is evident from the outset, as the title track opens with a tender melody on recorder and mandolin, lending a Medieval feel that would sound appropriate accompanying a treatise on courtly love. The piece blossoms into a stark chamber piece with the entrance of cello and bass, gradually building in tension and complexity throughout. As in the case in most of these pieces, improvisation is limited, with the musicians adding accents and filigrees to the composition’s tapestry rather than embarking on full-fledged solos. “brutalovechamp” does break down into a spotlight for Dunkelman’s percussion, a richly textured excursion as dense with space as the remainder of the track is with sound.

Launching with a dramatic two-chord fanfare, “I Wanna Be Chlorophylled” is a two-part suite that reimagines serialism in a rock and roll context – intricate polyphony with the blunt force of the Ramones. 12-tone counterpoint is passed among the band, mutating by the end into a serrated drone. Fraser is given the feature here, bowing his bass so low that it seems more felt than heard at times, followed by a knotty Seabrook solo. The second half is even more sparse, rinsing the piece away with monolithic tones and white noise. 

Gongs and mandolin introduce “The Perils of Self-Betterment” with a manic serenity, the agitated tune drawing on Seabrook’s experience playing with Klezmer and Eastern European folk ensembles, ending with the guttural flight of McCowen’s contrabass clarinet. Resonant chimes bring the proceedings to an arresting halt for the pendulum swing of “From Lucid to Ludicrous,” gradually accruing from preternatural stillness to absorbing atmospherics. With Bettis’ anarchic vocal turn, “Gutbucket Asylum” is an eruption of free playing that harkens back to Seabrook’s more acerbic music.

The gossamer scrape of “Libidinal Bouquets” is centered around Seabrook’s bowed banjo, an uncanny sound somewhere between violin and grinding metal, all cohering into a piece of taut clockwork minimalism. The composer’s rubbery guitar tones introduce “Compassion Montage,” a shimmering an mysterious piece highlighted by the operatic animalism of Dunkelman’s and Bettis’ soaring vocals.

“A lot of the music that I listen to embraces lyricism and space in so many ways,” explains Seabrook. “Everything from Mahler to Bob Dylan to Joni Mitchell. My music was always about shock and density and physicality, very mercurial with a lot of jump cutting. With brutalovechamp I wanted to slow things down and open things up.”

The results are a stunning success, bringing the vigor and aggressive eclecticism of Seabrook’s past work to a more heartfelt and harmonically exploratory work. It’s a bold leap forward that doesn’t abandon his brutalist past so much as uncover unexpected depths at its emotional core.

Brandon Seabrook is a New York City-based guitarist and banjoist. His music fuses a wide range of practices and traditions: punk rock, jazz, pop, and metal. As a guitarist his work feeds off tactile sensations; rapid tremolo picking, contorted clusters, and extreme physicality. His ensemble music leans on a wide range of variance: jump cuts, chance, improvisation, humor, and tight segues. He has led a diverse range of groups including Seabrook Power Plant, Die Trommel Fatale, Epic Proportions, and the Brandon Seabrook Trio with Cooper-Moore and Gerald Cleaver.

Greg Foat & Gigi Masin | "Dolphin"

Utilizing “an electric piano, sounds from my digital library and an old iPad2” (Masin) and “grand piano, vibraphone and lots of vintage synthesizers” (Foat), the former’s melancholy melodies meet the latter’s laid back, slo-mo grooves, which pour out like honey. Herbert’s huge unfurling basslines, and taught Pistorius-style fretless are paired with Boyd’s sturdy but swinging drums, whilst warm synths create pastel-colour clouds, through which emerge smokey keys, flute, and piano.

Both artist’s signature styles are here, but blended with such smooth liquidity that the pairing seems like the most natural no-brainer ever. What might seem less obvious though, or at least more of a surprise, is that Gigi – someone synonymous with sun-drenched electronica – has proper jazz chops:

“Through my record collection, which is full of jazz, to my friendship with Kenny Wheeler, and chats with Paula Bley, I would say I’m definitely a jazz man of sorts. I love many genres and have a desire to explore my musicality; a desire to create melodies, moods and atmospheres flows from me, spilling right over genre lines.”

With a basis in draft compositions by Masin, these were then embellished and developed by Foat’s trio, and were followed by a back-and-forth exchange of improvised ideas, all of which was produced by Greg, who sculpted the finished article. The record is predominantly a group effort, but due to Foat’s sensitive handling, certain points were left largely unadorned, sans rhythm section, letting Masin’s essence take centre stage.

“The live music played by myself, Moses and Tom on real instruments, blended organically with the digitally created music by Gigi. To me there’s no overarching theme to the album, other than I love Gigi’s music and wanted us to record together. The oil painting featured on the album cover – also called ‘Dolphin’ – is by my cousin Niul, and provided a broad inspiration for the feel of the record”, comments Foat.

“I think above all it’s a tribute to the joy of playing together and creating something beautiful and exciting. It’s a sincere hymn to life and humanity, and as with all my records, is a personal exploration and translation of life moments”, comments Gigi conversely. “I was sure that Greg's extreme musical ability would respect and give further light to the ideas I proposed. I find it really unique, listening to the record now; it’s not easy to distinguish where my contribution ends and where his begins. It’s a beautiful fusion because it was so natural”.

San Francisco singer-songwriter E.G. PHILLIPS presents jazzed-up 'It Ain't Good to Be in Love With You'

San Francisco-based artist E.G. Phillips presents the single 'It Ain't Good to Be in Love With You', a jazzy affair that showcases the Tom Waits meets Nick Cave-esque facets of his confessional songwriting. This is the first taste of Phillips' forthcoming  'Outlaw The Dead' EP, which was mixed by Chris McGrew and Billboard-charting producer Jaimeson Durr (Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Hope Sandoval).

A tech refugee who comes from a country called the Midwest, Phillips ultimately found warmer pastures on the West coast. Originally from Chicago suburbs and having also lived in East Central Illinois and Minnesota, his musical journeys have grown more adventurous since relocating to the Bay Area at the turn of the century, especially since venturing out on the open mic scene in San Francisco -- finding a musical home of sorts at Bazaar Cafe.  

With the steadfast backing of his band Ducks With Pants, Phillips blends lyric-driven compositions with his own special blend of whimsy and cinematic imagery, offering a wry take in dealing with the longings of the heart and the madness of existence.  

"A few years ago, San Francisco found itself under a veil of orange apocalyptic skies, something the East Coast recently experienced as well. The weirdness of that experience was what got this song started and as I was writing the first verse the phrase "the last words that I heard from your lips'' was just one of those things that seems to come out of nowhere, but immediately feels right and tells you were the song needs to go, with an implicit question that needs to be answered before it's over," says E.G. Phillips.

"Although it leads with a slyly and subversively distorted guitar, with its soulful B3 organ, lushly stacked horns, and a seering tenor sax solo that really “digs in", this track feels like a throwback to the big band era. No points will be awarded for guessing the 1960s sitcom from which I cribbed the chords for the chorus."

Call this jazz-infused progressive folk or jazzy confessionals - call it what you will, but there are certain flavours here that can's be mistaken for anyone else, influenced by Duke Ellington and the jazz greats as much as Bob Dylan and even The Kinks with a touch of satirist Tom Lehrer in the mix.  

Produced by Chris McGrew, the forthcoming EP was recorded in Studio C of Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco (AKA Wally’s HydeOut). In this very room of the former Wally Heider Studios, numerous legendary artists (Herbie Hancock, Santana, Grateful Dead, Green Day, Dead Kennedys) recorded some of their most legendary sides.

Grammy-Winning Singer Judith Hill Releases New Single “Runaway Train”

GRAMMY-winning soul singer and songwriter Judith Hill proudly announces the release of her new single “Runaway Train,” out today, Sept. 15 via Regime Music Group.

“Runaway Train” speaks to the reflections of an artist finally taking time to look into the rearview mirror of her life’s path – the culmination of a passionate and unyielding pursuit of her music career above all else. The song’s chorus and stunning vocal performance captures the highs and lows of a woman in the music industry, owning the dedication she’s given to her craft over the past two decades while hinting at the personal sacrifices she’s made for it. 

Hill reveals the tough life decisions that “Runaway Train” alludes to: life on the road in lieu of domestic partnerships, career over family, music above all – and ultimately acceptance of the path she’s chosen.

She explains, “I am at a crossroads in my life of constantly choosing music and making decisions that are in support of what I'm doing as a musician and as an artist. So it comes with sacrifice and consequences.”

Regardless, Hill revels in the strength and beauty of the high-stakes life of creative pursuits and putting it all on the line to harness the power of now.

“Right now, this moment where I am at my age, singing the songs I am singing to the people that I'm singing it to, with the people on stage with me – that moment is so special, it'll never happen again. And those are the moments that make history leave an imprint on people's lives. It’s a transformative experience. At this point in the game, I have become a runaway train. The brakes have pulled out and this is not going to stop. We have invested way too much of my life, too much skin in the game, and I have put all of my investment in this. So there's no turning back.”

Hill’s already prolific career calls back to collaborations with icons such as Michael Jackson and Prince. She was selected to duet with the late Michael Jackson on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" during his This Is It concerts in London. After his sudden passing in June 2009, Hill sang lead on a number at Jackson's memorial service, putting her on the worldwide map in an instant. Her rise to fame is explored in “20 Feet from Stardom,” the documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman, where her performances garnered a 2015 GRAMMY Award for Best Music Film. Her work with Prince began after he discovered her on Revolt TV, where she spoke aloud her wish to work with him and he summoned her to his famous Paisley Park compound shortly after. Together they recorded her debut full-length solo album Back in Time, a promising project that the dearly departed genius both produced and played on.

Despite the high-profile collaborations, Hill used her 2021 studio album Baby, I’m Hollywood as a declaration to reclaim her story and personify Hollywood as a woman who’s a survivor. In a candid interview feature with SPIN, she stated, “When you find yourself in the crossfires of huge monuments (like Prince) you become a prisoner of your own story. It’s a weird feeling. Everybody else can go ‘This is my story’ and they’re free to tell it, but with me I really feel like I’m struggling to maneuver through a world that was taken from me. I’m now starting to find my way with it and starting to define my liberation. This album is the first step. I’m just now owning my story.” American Songwriter praised Hill’s journey, affirming that the album, “feels like a manifesto of sorts, embracing Hill’s struggles and blessings concurrently.”

Today’s release of “Runaway Train” precludes Hill’s upcoming performance at the Seventh Annual Crossroads Guitar Festival, taking place Sept. 23-24 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. A coveted event of performances and impromptu collaborations from the world’s most renowned guitar players, the festival is curated by Eric Clapton – who featured Hill in his July 2023 single “How Could We Know.”

After Crossroads, Hill, who is renowned for her powerhouse live performances, is set to headline a short series of California concerts: four shows in three nights at Yoshi’s in Oakland Sept. 26-28, followed by a showcase at Venice West in Venice Sept. 29. The following month she embarks on a month-long European fall tour across France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Czechia in support of the new music. Hill returns stateside in November to close out the year in Atlantic City, New Jersey as a special guest for Chicago & Friends Nov. 17-18 to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the legendary rock band’s debut album Chicago Transit Authority.

Judith Hill 2023 Tour Dates

Sept. 26-28: Oakland, CA - Yoshi's

• Sept. 29: Venice, CA - Venice West
• Oct 12: Nîmes, France - Nîmes Métropole Jazz Festival
• Oct. 13: Aubange, Belgium - Centre Culturel d'Athus
• Oct. 14: Nancy, France - Nancy Jazz Pulsations
• Oct. 15: Verdun, France - Cathedral de Verdun
• Oct. 16: Zülpich, Germany - Live Proberaum
• Oct. 18: Hengelo, Netherlands - Cafe De Cactus
• Oct. 19: Arnhem, Netherlands - Musis & Stadstheater
• Oct. 21: Prerov, Czechia - Czechoslovak Jazz Festival
• Oct. 22: Bremen, Germany - Metropol Theater Bremen
• Oct. 24: Augsburg, Germany - Spectrum Club
• Oct. 25: Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal
• Oct. 26: Nurnberg, Germany - Der Hirsch
• Oct. 28: Fiesch, Switzerland - Inch Club
• Nov. 1: Stuttgart, Germany - Bix
• Nov. 2: Milan, Italy - Blue Note Milano
• Nov. 4: Rome, Italy - Roma Jazz Festival
• Nov. 5: Bologna, Italy - Bravo Caffe
• Nov. 7: Zoetermeer, Netherlands - Poppodium Boerderij
• Nov. 8: Marcq-en-Barouel, France - Theatre Charcto
• Nov. 10: Aulnay Sous Bois, France - Le Nouveau Cap
• Nov. 12: Landerneau, France - L'atelier Culturel
• Nov. 14: Dreux, France - Theatre de Dreux
• Nov. 17-18: Atlantic City, NJ - Chicago & Friends

Koma Saxo - Watten Koma (single)

Berlin-based Swedish bassist and producer Petter Eldh returns with a new Koma Saxo album ‘Post Koma’, out on We Jazz Records, 10 November.

The title Post Koma aptly describes the vibe of this one: The Koma Saxo sound continues its evolution, morphing into a holistic vision of jazz now and soon, where live instrumentation and repurposed sampling lose their boundaries.

Over the course of its three iterations (self-titled debut in 2019, LIVE in 2020, Koma West in 2022) Koma Saxo has sounded at times "liquid" and postproduced, at times raw and direct, at times acoustic and at other times oddly electronic (even while still being made with acoustic instruments). Post Koma is a culmination of this sonic study by Eldh, resulting in a music vision that never second-guesses throwing tasty hooks and everlasting melodies out the window after a mere bite of them. But fear not: there are even more new ideas just around the corner.

Eldh's compositions and ideas merge together in a way that just flows. There are quality musicians in the mix, including Koma Saxo live band members Sofia Jernberg, Jonas Kullhammar, Otis Sandsjö, Mikko Innanen, Maciej Obara and Christian Lillinger, but that's like saying that a cake includes flour and sugar. This music is not about playing, it's essentially about how the music is and how it takes its shape, so you quickly lose track of who did what, and that's all in the benefit of encountering this music as an entity that is constantly challenging itself while moving forward. The musicians are valued contributors, and an integral part of what's here, but this is far from traditional jazz playing where a band sits in a room playing takes after takes of compositions on sheet.

That being said, this is jazz to the fullest. That is, music that understands its past but always moves forward, and is never afraid of taking risks. Petter Eldh uses jazz as a starting point, not the end goal. This gives his music edge and mobility beyond what can be contained on one album. In a way, an album, then, becomes a snapshot of a creative process in constant flux and evolution.

'Watten Koma' is the first single taken from the album.

Roberto Vally | "Last Flight Home"

For a journeyman musician like bassist Roberto Vally, who has been touring for 44 years, there’s nothing like that last flight home as the sun sets at the end of a concert tour. And for Vally, that trip home could be anywhere in the world his family resides: from West Africa to Norway, from France to his Los Angeles residence. The destination really doesn’t matter. What does is re-uniting with loved ones. Vally’s new Woodward Avenue Records single, “Last Flight Home,” which began collecting playlist adds on Monday (September 11), captures the evocative emotional journey through warm melody, rich harmony and a robust groove.

Vally’s traveling companions on “Last Flight Home” are his cowriters: two-time Grammy nominated pianist David Benoit and Jeff Carruthers (Paul Brown, Boney James, Dave Koz). The bass player produced the track that features his pliable and lyrical bass lines along with scatted vocalizations. The flight team is bolstered by lush tenor sax embellishments added to the chorus by Billboard chart-topping tenor saxophonist Jeff Ryan and a nimble acoustic piano solo from Benoit, a seminal contemporary jazz artist who has a long history of collaborating with Vally. Another frequent collaborator, two-time Grammy winner Paul Brown mixed the track.

“Really everyone who plays on this track, I have extensive history of not only recording with them but having shared many chart successes together. The newest would be my labelmate, Jeff Ryan, and I just love the way he plays and knew that Jeff would bring something special to ‘Last Flight Home.’ And he did just that. I have many fond memories of playing and recording with David (Benoit). He wrote his part for this song, which really helped bring the entire thing to life,” said Vally, who will flank Benoit during the piano man’s famed “A Charlie Brown Christmas Tour” this coming holiday season.  

Brooklyn-born Vally was classically trained in the bass and music theory. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (made famous in “Fame”) and The Juilliard School briefly during and after high school. His versatile repertoire spanning classical, jazz, Latin, funk, rock, hip-hop, pop, reggae and soul music was developed and honed through international touring during which he accompanied an array of jazz, R&B and pop greats. After being invited to join Spyro Gyra when he was just 27 years old, Vally then toured the globe with Michael Franks. From there, he served long tenures as musical director for Diane Shuur and Randy Crawford and spent 29 years playing in Bobby Caldwell’s band. Vally has played recording dates with George Benson, Al Jarreau, Patti Austin, Jeffrey Osborne, Boney James, and many others. 

More than a premier sideman and a first-call session player, Vally started writing songs for members of the contemporary jazz royalty who are his contemporaries. He’s penned Billboard number one hits for Brown, Bob James, Kirk Whalum and Richard Elliot. He’s also written tunes for Larry Carlton, Boney James, Rick Braun, Euge Groove, Carol Albert, Marion Meadows and Najee.

 

GEORGE - Letter To George

Letters to George (OOYH 018), released January 27, 2023, is the debut recording of drummer, composer, and bandleader-extraordinaire John Hollenbeck and his brand new band GEORGE, featuring Anna Webber, Aurora Nealand, and Chiquita Magic. Pre-GEORGE Hollenbeck had two main creative outlets for his composing and drumming (both still active to varying degrees): The Claudia Quintet, his long-standing band featuring Chris Speed, Drew Gress, Matt Moran, and Red Wierenga, has been redefining jazz for the last 25 years. And the GRAMMY-nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, a 19-piece big band assembled in 2005, whose lineup reads as a who’s-who of modern creative jazz (notable members are Theo Bleckmann, Matt Mitchell, Patricia Brennan, Tony Malaby, Anna Webber, to name just a few). So a new band, and the first one in 17-years, is kind of a big deal for Hollenbeck, and for jazz fans across the world. On a personal note, this is a very special album for me (Adam Hopkins) to have as part of the OOYH Records catalog. John has been a bit of a mentor to me since subbing for Drew Gress in the Claudia Quintet on a 2017 tour, when I saw firsthand what an incredible band leader he is, as well as his complete devotion to this music. I can say without hesitation that there is not a single element of this recording, or this new band, that does not receive the utmost attention to detail or careful consideration from John.

Hollenbeck formed GEORGE with three specific musicians in mind, all whom he admired and wanted to play with, but none of who knew each other well before they remotely recorded PROOF OF CONCEPT in March 2021. This track was essentially a test to see how the band sounded, and how they worked together (spoiler: it worked). The recording session for Letters to George took place in Montreal in January of 2022. It was the first time the quartet even set foot in the same room, and they immediately coalesced into what was very obviously going to be John Hollenbeck’s next trailblazing band. All four members of GEORGE are skilled improvisers without a doubt, but they come together from three different corners of the music world; Hollenbeck and Webber are very much a part of the same orbit from the Brooklyn creative music scene (they are the only two members of GEORGE with a prior musical history), Nealand is at the forefront of the revival of New Orleans Traditional Jazz, and Chiquita Magic’s solo releases are described as futuristic pop using microtonal synths, voice, and drum machines. The fruits of this exceptional combination of musicians proves Hollenbeck to be part of an esteemed lineage of jazz bandleaders, think Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis, who write for specific musical personalities to express their singular vision. To me, GEORGE draws more than a few parallels to the second great Miles Davis Quintet

(Claudia being the “first”). The sum is greater than the parts, but the parts (all bandleaders in their own right) each have a unique voice that shines brightly as part of the ensemble, and GEORGE is overflowing with the distinct musical personalities of each of its four members.

That all being said, calling GEORGE a jazz band misses the mark a bit. For starters, if you see GEORGE perform live you’ll notice that no one is reading music, a very conscious decision by Hollenbeck. On that, he says “The idea when I was writing was that [the compositions] could be taught without needing any notation, which greatly affects all different parts of the pieces. I know some people in the band don’t really even know what time signature [each piece] is written in. They have their own relationship to the music. So, that’s kinda cool. I love that.” When I saw GEORGE in Richmond on their first tour in March 2022, they presented the music very much as a rock band would, but with twists and turns touching on synth-pop, full-on extended jazz solos, super tight synth-bass/drum grooves, and anything else that might be a part of any one band member’s distinctive background. Is it jazz? Sure, but it is a whole lot of other things as well. What is important is that this music is new, it is futuristic, it will make you think but also make you dance, and it is a band that we can only hope will be making music together for the next 17-25 years. Letters to George is just the beginning for GEORGE.

Peripheral Vision – We’ve Got Nothing

Peripheral Vision is one of the most exciting and innovative jazz quartets on the international jazz scene. Based in Toronto, Canada, the group is co-lead by long-time musical collaborators guitarist Don Scott and bassist Michael Herring. They have assembled a synergistic musical unit designed to push the boundaries of jazz while engaging the listener with a grooving, toe-tapping immediacy. Their distinctive musical voice bridges tradition and innovation, with deeply felt influences ranging from jazz, rock, classical, and improv, with a focus on dynamic group interaction.

We’ve Got Nothing is Peripheral Vision’s 2nd live album, and 6th full length release. It is a thrilling celebration of the band’s 15 years together, and marks the first time in their long creative history that Scott and Herring have co-written music together. The project was conceived during the pandemic as a way to create collaboratively; thankfully, pandemic restrictions were lifted in time for them to work together in person. They were eventually able to debut their new music at the return of their long-running monthly series at The Tranzac, one of Toronto’s most important creative music hubs. The concert series was recorded over the course of four months between January to April 2023 by Peripheral Vision’s long-time co-producer/mad scientist Jean Martin (Barnyard Records). The album is a collection of the band’s finest performances from the series, with each piece accompanied by live video filmed and edited by Good Job Hi Five (the creative team of Brittany Farhat & Matt Fong).

Once again, Peripheral Vision has mined the intricacies of their collective neuroses for inspiration. We’ve Got Nothing is about the constantly pressing search for new sources of creativity – especially on the heels of the disruption of the pandemic. Scott and Herring drew on a range of influences for the record: Comedian Stewart Lee’s musings on lost creativity and his deft (and hilarious) incorporation of his anxiety into his routine; the influential bassist Dave Holland’s thoughts on achieving balance in life; and most importantly, the band’s 15 year history of playing and traveling together. The original working title for this project was Telling Tales Out Of School, a phrase they often use in their “Comedy Vehicle” (aka their tour van) while encouraging a policy of “Full Disclosure,” which may, on occasion, require invoking the “Cone Of Silence.”