jazz

VA – Groove Of ESSR: Funk Disco Jazz From Soviet Estonia 1974-1988 [FER003]

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The groovier side of Iron Curtain is uncovered by Funk Embassy Records. Recorded between 1974-1988, the compilers have unearthed funk, disco, soul, jazz, instrumentals, library music and covers from the Estonian Radio archives. This is the sound of ESSR (Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic) as heard at music halls, radio, TV shows and cafeterias along with underground parties and semilegal jazz clubs. The selection ranges from folk-funk, psychedelic soul, dancefloor certified disco, Isaac Hayes reminiscent blues-funk, contemplative jazz-funk, Piero Umiliani-esque library music, funk-rock, in-your-face b-boy break to a flute-led master piece by Uno Naissoo – one of the founders of the Estonian jazz scene who organized the notorious Tallinn Jazz Festivals (1949-1967).

vinyl / CD

VA – Groove Of ESSR: Funk Disco Jazz From Soviet Estonia 1974-1988 [FER003]

Aldorande – Aldorande [FVR152LP]

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Ready for an adventure running parallel to their lives in common units, the quartet boarded a starship to set off on an astral expedition. The mission began perfectly, according to plan. From the very first measures, the travellers were released from the Earth’s gravity. Very quickly, their home planet appeared tiny and distant, before disappearing completely. Comets and novae lit the way through the fathomless depths of interstellar space. Their preliminary, in-depth studies of seventies jazz-funk were a great source of inspiration. Very early on, they knew that this sonic esthetic would allow them to travel even farther, navigating only with organic instruments and no digital backing or enhancements. Commander Virgile Raffaëlli’s bass lines guided their journey, offering a calm, yet vibrant foundation for the smoother phases and turning up the power to bring them through turbulence and meteor showers safe and sound. Like a compass, the bass indicated the direction and traced a groove that the loyal, valued crew could follow as their travels continued. Mathieu Edouard’s drums solidly locked down the rhythm to avoid any sudden jolts, working in tandem with Erwan Loeffel’s jet-propelled percussion. On the keyboards, Florian Pellissier drew harmonies and riffs from the synthesizers and electric pianos to oil the machinery and lighten the load when the ensemble needed to rise a few feet. The crew’s almost telepathic cohesion was key to their success, allowing them to express interior emotions with just a few notes.

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Aldorande – Aldorande [FVR152LP]

Manu Dibango – African Voodoo [HC63]

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Fantastic and rare album by Manu Dibango, the Afro Soul Maestro. These files were recorded in 1971 at Pathé-Marconi studio (Boulogne Billancourt) for professional sound illustration intended for the cinema, television and advertising. The jazzman experimenting with all genres was then beginning to convert solely to what soon to be called “Rare Groove” somewhere between Soul, Jazz and Afro-Funk, with a hint of Latin clave. In 2019, these tunes have not aged and the sound can be considered as “Huge” by many crate-diggers. These recordings were not supposed to reach the club or radio audience, it was more free sessions, a moment during they can open their imagination and test their “Afro something”, like Manu Dibango call it. Theses recording sessions included the best of the french soul scene at this time, Yvan Julien (Trumpet), Slim Pezin (Guitar), Jacques Bolognesi (Trombone), Lucien Dobat (Drums), Emile Boza (Percussions, Manfred (Bass) and the conductor himself at the vibraphone, marimba, saxophone, organ. This album is a wonderful return to the future and should satisfy the need of the Afro-Soul
aficionados.

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Manu Dibango – African Voodoo [HC63]

Kyriakos Sfetsas – Greek Fusion Orchestra Vol. 2 [TBLP023]

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Teranga Beat presents Vol.2 of Kyriakos Sfetsas’ 1976 ”Greek Fusion Orchestra” project. Sfetsas’ vision behind the formation of GFO, was to create a piece of work that would expand the boundaries of Greek traditional music. The result was a Progressive-Jazz Fusion masterpiece comprising complex and intriguing compositions, performed by Athens’ best musicians of the day. Following the success of Vol.1, Vol.2 is still reflective of his ambition of bringing together progressive jazz and traditional music, but it does so in a different manner. Although the element of traditional music remains present, it does not provide the compositional foundation for the songs (e.g. most pieces are no longer based exclusively on traditional musical forms). More jazzy and more complex than Vol.1, Vol.2 has a darker feeling, presenting Sfetsas not only as a musical experimentalist, but also as a demanding and distinctive composer, who truly puts his musicians through the test.

vinyl / CD

Kyriakos Sfetsas – Greek Fusion Orchestra Vol. 2 [TBLP023]

Medline & Stéphane Carricondo – A Quest Called Tribe [MBLP05]

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“A Quest Called Tribe” begins with a series of portraits drawn by Stéphane Carricondo in 2017 dedicated to Hip-Hop legends. As close partner in art Medline proposed to create a soundtrack for them, and first interpreting ATCQ’s classics with elements of the past, present and future. The best way to materialize this multidimensional tribute was obviously a vinyl. And it’s the one we unveil today. On the visual side, ATCQ’s portraits are composing the front cover and, assembled into a great scene, are printed on a colorful A2 poster. Stéphane Carricondo’s natural lines are highlighting each member’s soul map. The alchemy of the dark ink on emptiness gives to them an impressive sparkle of life. On the musical side, the classic themes are transformed into a polymorphic fusion, were jazz, funk and soul from the original sample sources converse with Tribe’s characteristic beats. Medline added a hint of his magic, unique rhythms, improvisations, arrangements, original orchestration and inspired melodies. The album is an ode to the band that marked both artist’s life and mind. A cultural print and school of sound that designed Hip-Hop foundations. With a blooming expression Medline and Stéphane Carricondo are going to the roots of ATCQ in a quest for the tribe.

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Medline & Stéphane Carricondo – A Quest Called Tribe [MBLP05]

Dennis Young – Primitive Substance [AOTNLP026]

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Dennis Young is best known as the marimba player and percussionist for Liquid Liquid. After Liquid Liquid disbanded in 1985 he continued to record electronic music. He composes his own music, which combines influences from rock, jazz, dance, electronic and world music while incorporating unique rhythms and colorful musical textures. The “Primitive Substance” album’s timeframe ends in the year 2004 and the recordings have a jazz feel to it, yet still had dance music elements mixed in.

vinyl / CD

Dennis Young – Primitive Substance [AOTNLP026]

John Cameron – Jazzrock [BEWITH059LP]

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‘Jazzrock’ is an aggressive, percussion-heavy album with an energy that leaves jaws on the floor, killer funk breaks from 1972 by the mighty John Cameron. Breaks and beats for days with electric piano, bass loops, and pounding percussion. Funky jazz with a deep, tough, soundtrack feel.

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John Cameron – Jazzrock [BEWITH059LP]

Alan Parker / John Cameron – Afro Rock [BEWITH058LP]

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‘Afro Rock’ was recorded at Morgan Studios by John Cameron and Alan Parker in London in 1973 as a collection of stripped-down African rhythms, virtuoso jazz instrumentation, fuzzed up wah wah guitars and spaced out library breaks. The percussion is effortlessly funky, and those flutes so melodic, it’s as if the LP was crafted with the beat lovers of the future firmly in mind. As Cameron himself described it in Unusual Sounds, this is “heavy duty drum-and-bass salsa music”.

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Alan Parker / John Cameron – Afro Rock [BEWITH058LP]

Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza – Niente [ROMA111LP]

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Founded in Rome in 1964, ‘Il Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza’ was a collective of noted and noteworthy composers who challenged the very structure and performance of music itself. Today the most celebrated of its members is the renowned film composer Ennio Morricone but each contributor has an intriguing history in Italian music. Drawing on Jazz, Serialism, Musique Concrete and other extended techniques, the group performed on many of Morricone’s experimental soundtracks of the 1970s including, A Quiet Place In The Country and Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura). The collective improvised live (according to strict exercises) and in the studio (recording for RCA, Deutsche Grammaphon, General Music and others). In 1970 ‘Il Gruppo’ (as ‘The Group’) recorded The Feed-back (for RCA Italy), an insane amalgam of avant-improvisation and motorik Krautrock-influenced beats that understandably has become one of the most collectable ‘Library Music’ related LPs ever issued. In 1971 ‘Il Gruppo’ returned to the studio to record a sequel. This is that record. For reasons unknown Niente was never originally issued but one listen will convince that not only is it the sequel to one of the most sought after LPs of all time, but it is also by far its superior. Brain melting jams collide with unhinged intensity in a hothouse of Italian avant-improv. You have been warned.

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Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza – Niente [ROMA111LP]

Terkel Nørgaard – With Ralph Alessi [WJLP12]

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Danish drummer Terkel Nørgaard presents his trio consisting of some of the key players in the Copenhagen scene and American star trumpeter Ralph Alessi on the lineup. Not merely a ”feature”, Alessi and the Danes form a coherent band unit capable of producing memorable and highly inspired contemporary jazz which links to the Nordic tradition of dynamic sound ranging from delicate minimalism to powerful avantgarde eruptions. The album Terkel Nørgaard ”With Ralph Alessi” is released by Helsinki’s We Jazz Records. On the new album, the Danish trio plus Alessi achieve something that can always be regarded a remarkable feat. They deliver a highly inspired set of music which links the album onto the ever-evolving lineage of jazz music, and at the same time introduce a new band capable of stunning the listener in the here and now.

vinyl / CD

Terkel Nørgaard – With Ralph Alessi [WJLP12]

Eko Kuango – Eko Kuango [LVLP-1702]

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Belgium based composer, poet and multi-instrumentalist Denis Mpunga formed Eko Kuango in the early ’80s. A unique fusion of African rhythms, jazz, subtle synth arrangements with an eastern flavour; they managed to introduce a strong sense of poetry – both musically and lyrically. The band garnered a reasonable following from numerous concerts played during their career, but remained little known except by a few music aficionados around the globe. Eko Kuango only released 4 tracks in the form of an EP in 1986, the band recorded one year later a studio album with the help of renowned sound engineer Arnould Massart which until now remained totally unreleased. Now with a newfound interest in their work, Libreville Records offers in this edition both the 4 tracks from the original EP and the tracks from the session of the ‘lost’ album.

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Eko Kuango – Eko Kuango [LVLP-1702]

Fabriano Fuzion – Cosmik Sindinka [BM1805]

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Since childhood Serge Fabriano bathed in music, between his native Guadeloupe and Paris where he grew up. He attended the music conservatory, learnt how to play bass, played with many musicians and was ultimately angling for a career as a music teacher. During the mid-70’s, he alternated between teaching classes and live gigs, and performed in Germany with a funk band comprised of ex-GIs from the US Army. From 1978 onwards, Serge Fabriano devoted more time to music. He became a musician’s musician, doing studio recordings with rock bands and he also played with members of the Caribbean diaspora. Later the group Fabriano Fuzion was born. The band brought together some of the Caribbean’s most inspired musicians: Martinican-born Mario Canonge on the piano, Alain-Jean Marie on the synth, Labor brothers on saxophones, Claude Vamur on the drums, singer/percussionists Marie-Reine Lamoureux and Marie-Céline Lafontaine, Roger Raspail, Sully Cally and Hector Ficadière on Ka percussions. It is precisely the Gwo Ka – this ancestral “root” music deeply embedded in the heart of the Guadeloupe musician – which constitutes the rhythmic backbone of this first opus. The Gwo Ka, the jazz, the poetry and the spiritual vibe are gathered here to form a splendid album; one of the true masterpieces to emerge from the French West Indies.

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Fabriano Fuzion – Cosmik Sindinka [BM1805]

The Mandatory Eight – Soul Fanfare #3 [ATA014]

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From the opening drum pick up of ”Soul Fanfare #3” it is clear that The Mandatory Eight are here to make you move. With proud horn lines reminiscent of something that you might find in the Stax vaults, Soul Fanfare definitely takes it’s lead from backing bands such as the Barkays and the funkier side of Booker T and the MGs. One can imagine that this was definitely a set opener for the group, guaranteed to put foot to floor. Guitar and bass have a care free movement and feel, conjuring up tones of late 60’s summer soul hits. The B-side ”Turn It Out” has a darker, moodier feel to the previous side. Still a dance floor filling groove, the band take a direction more similar to below the radar funk outfits such as Amnesty or LA carnival. Biting minor horn lines set the tone backed by a bubbling bed of congas, rhythm guitar, unruly bass and drums which don’t dip below boiling for the duration. ”Turn It Out” features a manzarek-esque farfisa organ solo which sets the sonic tone of a band without funds but with plenty of soul in the bank. Both sides will reflect well for different moods on the same dance floor.

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The Mandatory Eight – Soul Fanfare #3 [ATA014]

Lloyd Miller – A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz [JMANLP028]

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Jazzman presents the definitive anthology of pioneering ethno-musicologist, mystical adventurer and real life jazz guru Dr Lloyd Miller. This album tells the fascinating life story of one man and his journey through Europe and the Middle East, living off nothing but his wits, talent and an open-minded attitude towards music and jazz. Master of dozens of languages and hundreds of instruments, Miller has spent fifty years immersed in the music of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Featuring recordings taken from incredibly rare privately pressed albums, live sessions in Europe, and previously unreleased material, A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz tells the story of his extraordinary personal journey from the West Coast to the Far East. Played on a plethora of exotic instruments from around the world, Miller’s music is a unique blend of jazz with the modal and spiritual sounds of traditional Asian and Middle Eastern music. Spiritual jazz, Eastern jazz – direct from the source! Available on deluxe heavyweight vinyl and compact disc with digitally remastered sound, previously unreleased material, exhaustive historical liner notes and unseen archive photos.

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Lloyd Miller – A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz [JMANLP028]

Alessandro Alessandroni – Background Disco [FLIESDJ03]

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Just say ‘Background Disco’ and you’re quickly reminded of the super-groovy sound that pervaded certain sequences of 1970’s Italian films, generally set in discos or clubs with a strong presence of music. Soul, disco, and funk tracks playing in the background, between a dance on the floor and a glass of J&B at the counter, that were supposed not to overcome the dialogues. Two of these jewels, signed by Alessandroni for the sexy comedy Frittata all’italiana (1976, Alfonso Brescia), are proposed in a new edit designed for the dancefloor.

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Alessandro Alessandroni – Background Disco [FLIESDJ03]

Sarah Tandy – Infection in the Sentence [JRF0017]

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A unique voice within the new UK jazz generation, ‘Infection in the Sentence’ is shaped by London’s thriving and diverse live music scene. On ‘Infection in the Sentence’, Sarah Tandy’s technical virtuosity showcases a fearless approach to her own individual brand of piano-led jazz. ”The music developed gradually through many years playing on London’s underground music scene… In the album I’m seeking to find a continuum between the jazz music which I grew up listening to, and the multi-faceted, genre-melting sounds of present day London”, she says.

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Sarah Tandy – Infection in the Sentence [JRF0017]

VA – Spiritual Jazz 9: Blue Notes Parts 1 & 2 [JMANCD103]

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The Blue Note record label needs little introduction. Musically, graphically and sonically iconic, the label created and defined the golden age of modern jazz on record. Founded in 1939 by German émigré Alfred Lion, the label’s roster of artists is a litany of giants – Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock and many more. With peerless musicians in the grooves, the legendary Rudy Van Gelder behind the boards, and graphic design genius Reid Miles creating emblematic artwork for every release, Blue Note – ‘the Cadillac of the jazz lines’ – was outstanding in every way. Volume 8 of Jazzman’s Spiritual Jazz series takes a close look at the deeper side of Blue Note – from the experimental avant-garde explored by younger musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson and Pete La Roca, to the exciting new developments in modal sounds put forward by stalwarts Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Duke Pearson. The music we have selected shows how musicians working with the label responded to a period of dramatic social and sonic change, charting the route toward the esoteric and spiritualised sounds that would dominate the deepest jazz of the 1970s. As ever, Blue Note had lit the path, and this new Spiritual Jazz collection shows that the progressive and underground jazz sound of the 1960s was not only the preserve of obscure artists and private pressings. Blue spirits and heavy sounds on Blue Note – the finest in jazz since 1939, brought to you by Jazzman.

CD / part 1 / part 2

VA – Spiritual Jazz 9: Blue Notes Parts 1 & 2 [JMANCD103]

Infinite Spirit Music – Live Without Fear [JMANLP102]

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The 27th reissue in Jazzman’s ongoing “Holy Grail Series” comes courtesy of Infinite Spirit Music, an undeniably obscure, one-off project helmed by pianist, producer and arranger Soji Ade. “Live Without Fear” was recorded in 1979 and tops the “wants list” of many spiritual jazz collectors. This time round, the album – which originally ran to an hour over two sides of one LP – has been expanded to a double-album in order to guarantee greater sound quality. It sounds fantastic, and it’s hard not to fall in love with the heady bongos, rich double bass and snaking saxophone of “Children’s Song”, the gentle warmth of “Rasta” and the Afro-fired, tribalistic free-jazz experiments of “Ritual” and “Father Spirit, Mother Love”.

vinyl / CD

Infinite Spirit Music – Live Without Fear [JMANLP102]

OK:KO – Syrtti [WJLP11]

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OK:KO is a fresh quartet from Helsinki led by drummer Okko Saastamoinen. The band’s spiritual and searching sound is characterized by their highly personal musical language and genuine teamwork, honed by continuous touring in between the band’s 2017 debut and their second album “Syrtti”, released on Helsinki’s We Jazz Records. The OK:KO band sound has its origins on the spiritual pool of jazz, historically speaking, but the band brings forth a strong personal musical statement thanks to Okko Saastamoinen’s memorable compositions and each musician’s ability to bring their own vocabulary into the common musical language. Already a live favourite on the local scene, on “Syrtti” OK:KO shows that it’s not a band of mere promise any longer – they deliver in the here and now.

vinyl / CD

OK:KO – Syrtti [WJLP11]

Lucky Brown / The S.g.’s – Sweet Tea (With My Sweetie) [TR1046]

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“Sweet Tea (With My Sweetie)” was originally destined for inclusion on Lucky Brown & The SG’s 2018 album “Mesquite Suite”, but for one reason or another ended up getting cut. Happily, Tramp Tapes has decided to make it available as a 7-inch single instead. As with previous Brown excursions, the title track sounds like it was recorded sometime in the late 1960s, with authentically fuzzy production, punchy horns, Meters style Hammond licks and sweet, eyes-closed guitar riffs riding a loose but punchy funk-soul groove. “More Sweet Tea” sees the assembled band offer up a jazzier, solo-heavy instrumental revision of the title track that’s even dustier and heavier than the A-side.

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Lucky Brown / The S.g.’s – Sweet Tea (With My Sweetie) [TR1046]