John Coltrane – Both Directions At Once : The Lost Album [6749301]

July 15, 2018July 13, 2018 hipodromealbum, impulse records, jazz, john coltraneLeave a comment

On March 6, 1963, Coltrane and his Classic Quartet—including double bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones, and pianist McCoy Tyner—entered Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey and recorded a session that was lost for decades after its master tape was destroyed by Impulse Records to cut down on storage space. The seven tracks making up this album survived as a copy Coltrane gave to his wife. The standard issue of the album includes one recording of each track and expanded deluxe editions include multiple takes, including several of the title track from Impressions. The source tape was formerly in the possession of Coltrane’s first wife Juanita Naima. Van Gelder made a separate copy of Coltrane’s sessions for the saxophonist to listen at home. After the Guernsey’s auction house announced plans to sell Coltrane related artefacts in 2005, the record company intervened to prevent the sale of the tapes and acquired them. Coltrane’s son Ravi and studio executive Ken Druker assembled the final album with liner notes written by Sonny Rollins.

Magic In Threes – Return Of [KU050]

July 7, 2018July 5, 2018 hipodromealbum, funk, g.e.d. soul records, jazz, king underground, magic in threes, psychedelic, re-release, reissueLeave a comment

Originally released in 2015 on cassette by G.E.D. Soul Records. Now for the first time on 12″ LP vinyl on King Underground. The album is a collection of delightfully smoked out, library inspired instrumentals. Following in the footsteps of their highly enjoyable 2011 debut. ”Return Of” combines many shades of many moods into a tight record that finds a nice balance between strange hype arrangements and super chill ”couch-lock” inducing slow jams. It embarks on a cinematic soul journey from the opening note, through the interlude, straight to the closing credits.

Kamal Keila – Muslims & Christians [HABIBI008]

July 7, 2018August 30, 2023 hipodromeafrican, album, arabic, funk, habibi funk, jazz, kamal keila, outernationalLeave a comment

Songs about the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and the fate of war orphans, backed by grooves equally taking influence from Arabic sounds, American funk as well as neighboring Ethiopia. Habibi Funk serves up an album of previously unreleased material by veteran performer Kamal Keila. The music contained on the album comes from two reel-to-reel tapes of session recordings made by Keila and his band for Sudanese radio in 1992, though many of the songs and arrangements date back to the 1970s. During his ’70s peak, Keila was often described locally as “Sudan’s answer to James Brown or Fela Kuti”. Although the influence of both is present on both tracks, you’ll also hear Sudanese blues, fifties-style R&B, hazy funk influenced by the Ethiopian music scene and sweet, horn-heavy, breakbeat-powered sing-alongs.

Kyriakos Sfetsas – Greek Fusion Orchestra Vol. 1 [TBLP022]

July 7, 2018October 4, 2018 hipodromealbum, greek fusion orchestra, jazz, kyriakos sfetsas, teranga beatLeave a comment

Sfetsas formed Greek Fusion Orchestra in 1976, in order to accomplish an ambition dating back to his 1960’s Avant-garde period in Paris: to create a piece of work that would expand the boundaries of Greek traditional music. The result is a Progressive-Jazz Fusion masterpiece comprising complex and intriguing compositions, and performed by Athens’ best musicians of the day. The recordings on this album, forming only a small part of his overall body of work with GFO, are previously unreleased. The music was recorded Stereo on Reel Tape and with high standards for the time, with the current mastering process highlighting even more the quality of the recordings. The result is a truly impressive and pure audiophile album.

Ernie Hawks & The Soul Investigators – Cold Turkey Time [TR723]

June 16, 2018June 15, 2018 hipodromeernie hawks, erno haukkala, funk, jazz, soul, the soul investigators, timmion recordsLeave a comment

“Cold Turkey Time” from Ernie Hawks’ debut album gets a single treatment here arriving back to back with the 45 only track “Tracking Down”. The latter should make the b-boys move even if heard in the relaxing steams of a Turkish bath, where its breezy melodies eventually point at.

Stefano Torossi & Giovanni Tommaso ‎– Echoing America [SP130-45]

May 27, 2018May 25, 2018 hipodromecometa edizioni musicali, funk, giovanni tommaso, jazz, psychedelic, stefano torossiLeave a comment

A record that definitely lives up to its title – an obscure Italian sound library session that blends instrumental touches that evoke an America at the start of the 70s with some of the hipper, deeper currents you’d expect from the team of Stefano Torossi and Giovanni Tomasso. There’s plenty of expected sound library funk in the mix here in a way that makes for one of the most unique sound library sessions we’ve ever heard.

Michal Turtle – Return To Jeka [MFM029]

May 13, 2018August 30, 2023 hipodromeafrican, album, experimental, jazz, michal turtle, music from memory, outernationalLeave a comment

Msic From Memory took a deep dive into the archives of obscure British multi-instrumentalist Mike Turtle, resurfacing with a fine double-album of largely previously unheard cuts. Two years on they’ve taken another stroll through Turtle’s well-stocked vault, resulting in another essential collection of quirky cuts. Check, for example, the psychedelic patchwork “Reincarnation”, where backwards drums do battle with exotic Indian samples, or the delay-laden, lo-fi synth-pop pulse of “Uiko’s Return to Jeka”, which boasts strange spoken word vocals from Turtle and South African style juju guitar solos. You’ll find these kinds of imaginative experiments throughout; tracks that really shouldn’t work, but instead entertain, excite and inspire in equal measure.

Palm Unit – Hommage A Jef Gilson [SSJ03LP]

May 13, 2018May 10, 2018 hipodromealbum, jazz, jef gilson, palm unit, super sonic jazzLeave a comment

Back in the day, French pianist, composer and all-round jazz superstar Jean-François Quiévreux, a.k.a. Jef Gilson, was up there alongside the likes of peers John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, and Sun Ra. In a fitting homage to the decades worth of sublime music, and his sad passing away in 2012, French quarter Palm Unit have released a lively, honest tribute, upbeat and contemporary re-interpretative vision of his legacy.

Nu Guinea – Nuova Napoli [NG01]

April 29, 2018September 22, 2026 hipodromealbum, disco, funk, jazz, lucio aquilina, massimo di lena, ng records, nu genea, nu guineaLeave a comment

After touring the world looking for sounds suitable for their vibrations, Nu Guinea decided to go back to square one, Napoli, where Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina were born and raised. They watched their city from a distance reconstructing its energy from their studio in Berlin, calibrating the synths on the meridian of Vesuvius, the volcano that has always protected and threatened Napoli. ‘Nuova Napoli’ is the result of a long musical research that has become a historical investigation on the sound that shaped Napoli during the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting from the contamination of genres (disco, jazz-funk, African rhythms) which ended up in Nu Guinea’s DNA. In this album the synthesizers fill the spaces between the past and the future, tightening in a single body acoustic instruments, electronics and voices in Neapolitan dialect. It is the first time that the duo has worked with such a large group of musicians, some of whom are exponents of the contemporary Neapolitan scene.

Jimi Tenor – Quantum Connection [PH45015]

April 29, 2018April 27, 2018 hipodromefunk, jazz, jimi tenor, philophon recordsLeave a comment

Jimi Tenor is a multi-instrumentalist and music master in general. ‘Quantum Connection’ is Jimi’s contribution to the recent Kraut-Life craze of the Berlin underground. Kraut-Life is the brand-new hybrid of Ghanaian Highlife and German – here extended to Northern Europe, as Finnish kitchen is also kraut-based – romantic melancholy. A heavy and driving Highlife beat, screaming psychedelic sound-fragments and a sung desire for a subatomic love affair makes the song another undoubted original by Jimi.

VA – Esterno Notte Jazz [FLIES031]

April 28, 2018April 26, 2018 hipodromeamedeo tommasi, armando trovajoli, compilation, four flies records, funk, jazz, piero piccioni, piero umiliani, robby poitevin, romano mussolini, silvano d’auriaLeave a comment

A volume entirely dedicated to the jazz atmospheres of the Italian movies from the ‘60s, including genres such as noir, melò, giallo, dark comedy and crazy ‘musicarelli’. With a great variety of styles and moods, jazz represented the perfect soundtrack for the Italian “nouvelle vague” season: an element of great innovation that radically disrupted the way traditional scores were conceived. No longer entrusted to cumbersome orchestras but light combos, with a fresh and dynamic sound. This record is the result of a research that focused on the soundtrack archive of RCA Italy and consists of songs that have remained unpublished until today. It demonstrates how Italian jazz benefitted from its relationship with the film industry, which provided a fertile ground to experiment and create to great musicians such as Piero Umiliani, Romano Mussolini, Amedeo Tommasi, Robby Poitevin, Piero Piccioni or Armando Trovajoli.

VA – Esterno Notte Volume 2 [FLIES030]

April 28, 2018April 26, 2018 hipodromealessandro alessandroni, compilation, Ferrio, four flies records, funk, jazz, piero piccioni, sandro brugnolini, silvano d’auria, soundtrackLeave a comment

A new stunning chapter of the Esterno series, dedicated to the rediscovery of rare and unreleased soundtracks and library music from Italy. While the previous volumes consisted of unreleased material from the mythical RCA Italy archive, the research has been extended thanks to some new mysterious sources, unveiling some of best kept secrets from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The result is a deep journey into the secret history of Italian Library music, dedicated to sounds that were designed for a cityscape pervaded with action, car-chases, and hightension scenes set in smoky nightclubs. Jazz-funk, deep breaks, prog and psych flavors from some of the most hip names from the Italian scene: Alessandro Alessandroni, Piero Piccioni, Carlo Pes and I Marc 4, Sandro Brugnolini. This all-star cast is completed by Silvano D’Auria, here with another terrifying unreleased track after the shocking ‘Sortilegio’, presented for the first time in volume UNO.

Hal Singer & Jef Gilson – Soul Of Africa [SSJ02LP]

April 28, 2018April 27, 2018 hipodromealbum, hal singer, jazz, jef gilson, re-release, reissue, super sonic jazzLeave a comment

Reissue of the sought after birth act of the Afro- / Jazz-Parisian scene that fascinated so many musicians and music fans throughout the 70s and 80s. Comes in a heavyweight tip-on sleeve.

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra – On Jupiter [ARTYARD444COSMO]

April 28, 2018November 5, 2020 hipodromeart yard records, jazz, re-release, reissue, sun ra, sun ra arkestraLeave a comment

A mixture of live recording and studio post-production, ‘On Jupiter’ sounds unique to any other album Sun Ra made. The Arkestra reflects a disco pulse right back on itself, and delivers one of the most cohesive albums of their career. The title track is a masterpiece of gentle atonal harmony, while ‘UFO’ pushes along at a cracking disco-ish pace with fierce brass and spacey dub effects. This a timeless Ra classic.

Tsvia Abarbanel – Eastern Soul [FTN008]

April 1, 2018March 12, 2020 hipodromefortuna records, funk, israeli, jazz, tsvia abarbanelLeave a comment

Fortuna Records brings some soulful Middle Eastern jazz cuts by Yemenite-Jazz legend Tsvia Abarbanel. This is one of the first ever attempt at combining traditional Yemenite compositions with funk and jazz.

The Sorcerers & The Yorkshire Film And Television Orchestra – In Pursuit Of Shai Hulud [ATA007]

April 1, 2018July 26, 2019 hipodromeata records, ethiopian, jazz, the sorcerers, the yorkshire film and television orchestraLeave a comment

Leeds soul and funk label ATA Records announce the new single from The Sorcerers. This single is a driving Ethiojazz track aimed squarely at the dancefloor, backed by the Yorkshire Film & Television’s original recording of “The Anderson Spectrum”. Taking influences from Ethiopiques Ethiojazz as well as the soundtracks to the European horror films of the 60s and 70s, The Sorcerers seamlessly blend these disparate elements into one cohesive package.

Tommy Stewart / Bridge – Mukatsuku Presents First Time On 45 Classics Volume 2 [MUKAT057]

April 1, 2018March 29, 2018 hipodromebridge, funk, jazz, mukatsuku records, soul, tommy stewartLeave a comment

Seems strange that Tommy Stewart’s seminal rare groove funk anthem ‘Bump And Hustle Music’ has never had a 45 release but Mukatsuku has set out to re address this issue with volume 2 of their First Time On A 45 Classics series. On the flipside we find the sublime version of Stella ‘ from Bridge via the originally unreleased album ‘Crying For Love’ recorded in Boulder, Colorado in 1981. First Experience reissued that album in 1999 but this is the first time ‘Stella’ written by Paul Tillman Smith has been made available as a 45.

Ernie Hawks & The Soul Investigators – Scorpio Man [TRLP12005]

March 25, 2018March 22, 2018 hipodromealbum, ernie hawks, erno haukkala, funk, jazz, soul, the soul investigators, timmion recordsLeave a comment

A new colossal star rises in the twilight of funky soul jazz as Ernie Hawks aka Erno Haukkala releases his debut album ”Scorpio Man” on Timmion Records. The impressive trombonist/flutist, is known to hold no punches, when performing live in the ranks of The Soul Investigators. Here he delivers a fierce selection of S.O.U.L. and Cymande flavored instrumentals that also bring to mind some of the finest sample-fodder library music. The album’s name, ”Scorpio Man” might come from the stinging and slightly intimidating style Hawks handles the trombone slide, known to pierce the hearts and souls of the ladies in the front row during his live performances. On this album, Ernie rides to battle equipped only with the flute, but this does not mean we will be exposed to some smooth jazz snooze fest. Rather Ernie handles his instrument with muscular rawness at times and moody ambiance at others, sliding with ease into any groove that the extended Soul Investigators band lays down. ”Scorpio Man” is no one trick pony, and the listener will be shifted around from the exhilarating psych funk of ”Scorpio Walk” all the way to the airy moods of ”Street of Tears”. Take a chance with the Scorpio Man, his sting will give you a funky high much better than what they sell in the streets.

Sun Ra – Of Abstract Dreams [STRUT166]

March 25, 2018March 22, 2018 hipodromealbum, art yard records, jazz, strut records, sun raLeave a comment

Strut and Art Yard present another exclusive from the vast catalogue of cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra: a previously unreleased radio session most likely recorded at the WXPN FM radio studios in Philadelphia, 1974-5. This newly discovered session features a new version of Ra’s earlier ‘Island In The Sun’, a romping, raucous rendition of ‘Unmask The Batman’ and the first studio recording of ‘I’ll Wait For You’ There is no bass player on the sessions and Ra’s left hand beats out a rhythmic bass pattern on the piano. All tracks are remastered directly from the original tapes. The album package features a newly commissioned painting by legendary Bristol urban artist Guy Denning and new sleeve notes by Paul Griffiths. Recently discovered in the Sun Ra archive, the recording forms part of a series of sessions that Ra and the Arkestra recorded for WXPN-FM between 1974 and 1980.

Mukatsuku presents Kirk Degiorgio / As One / Butti 49 – Jazz Classics Volume 4 [MUKAT056]

March 11, 2018March 8, 2018 hipodromeas one, butti 49, island records, jazz, kirk degiorgio, mukatsuku records, nik westonLeave a comment

In the late 1990’s label manager Nik Weston was working for Island Records and in particular the label imprint Island Blue set up by Ross Allen. It was here that he first heard the timeless jazz version masterpiece of Amalia from Kirk Degiorgio’s As One. The track featured on a promo CD but never made it to a commercial release for Island Blue and was later featured on the full length album release for San Francisco label Ubiquity Records a few years later in 2001. ‘Amalia’ is a sultry jazz classic featuring gorgeous keys from Jamie Odell aka Jimpster. As relevant today as it ever was when initially made and here presented as a single in it’s own right for the very first time. On the flipside another track that never made it to single in this version was the unique jazzual ‘Spiritual Rotations’ by Butti 49 from Norway. Nik had later worked with Butti 49 whilst working for Exceptional Records for the Habit album in 2004 but ‘Spiritual Rotations’ itself initially featured as an exclusively album only track for Future Sounds Of Jazz Volume 8 in 2001 for German label Compost.