Pop & Rock News

Getting stuck into the new year with a fresh, contemporary jazz attitude, Rocafort Records are proud to present the Kumadé EP from exciting Swiss-French quartet KUMA, led by keyboardist Matthieu Llodra and saxophonist Arthur Donnot.

Confidence, rhythmicality and solidity are the first impressions that hit you from this tight outfit of young but highly experienced musicians. After nine years of holding down a 10-night residency at the prestigious Cully Jazz Festival, Llodra and Donnot have honed down their skills in front of a live audience making tension, pacing and release their speciality in compositional strategy. Grooves and moods are created with just the right amount of rise and fall, push and pull, melodic catches and improvisational wanderings.

The EP is well balanced out with two spaciously laconic, ethereal tracks - Alfama and The Core - that could easily belong on some ECM-inspired soundscape, juxtaposed with Kumadé and I.G.A.T.F. that pack a fuller punch, fat and chunky in all the right places, hinting at a 1970s style George Duke at his funky-fusion best.

Despite a whiff of nostalgic reference, rest assured that the KUMA timbre is fresh and exploratory, as innovative and curious as any protagonist from the current UK jazz explosion. Keep an ear out for these young Jedi masters, all of them at the top of their game. More assured, impressive releases are due out this year.

Matthieu Llodra – Fender Rhodes

Arthur Donnot – Sax

Fabien Iannone - Bass

Maxence Sibille – Drums

Zacharie Ksyk – Trumpet (guest on Kumadé").

Scottish trumpeter Malcolm Strachan is a founder member of top UK funk/jazz-funk band The Haggis Horns as well as being one of the busiest session musicians in the UK today. In a professional career spanning 20 years, he's recorded with the likes of Mark Ronson, Amy WineHouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Jesse Glynne, The Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band, Black Honey, The New Mastersounds and Blue Note saxophone legend Lou Donaldson. Now he's finally releasing his first solo album, aptly titled "About Time", on Haggis Records and he's going back to his original roots... Jazz.

The album is a collection of original compositions, all written and arranged by Malcolm, which are firmly rooted in the classic acoustic modern jazz style typified by the great 60's and 70's recordings on the legendary Blue Note Records label. A nice variation of themes and tempos feature throughout the album. From full-on latin vibes to beautiful ballads, soul jazz grooves to cinematic soundtrack flavours, all woven together by a great group of experienced musicians.

Malcolm's core quartet is himself on trumpet/flugelhorn, fellow Haggis Horns members George Cooper (piano) and Erroll Rollins (drums), plus Courtny Tomas on double bass. Featured guests are Atholl Ransome on tenor sax (The Haggis Horns), Rob Mitchell on baritone sax (Abstract Orchestra) and Danny Barley on Trombone. Strings are courtesy of Richard Curran and the percussionist is one of the finest session players in Europe, Karl Vanden Bossche (Incognito, Robert Palmer, Joss Stone, The Gorillaz, Sade, Blur - He and Malcolm met while touring with Mark Ronson)

Malcolm's love of jazz comes from his parents. Aged 7, his jazz musician father gave him a trumpet. From then on, jazz was his life. His musical education came via music teachers, youth jazz orchestras and jazz summer schools but mostly from his dad's record collection listening to Art Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie records and learning to improvise and solo by ear. At 18, he enrolled at Leeds College of Music and quickly immersed himself in the city's vibrant acid jazz, funk and soul scene and from making his recording debut in 1999 with The New Mastersounds, jazz was his musical passion but took a back seat to funk/soul/pop which were the day job. Until now.

Jazz is back. The wait is over. It really is "About Time" for Malcolm Strachan.

Christophe Chassol is reshuffling the deck. After making his name worldwide with three magnificent ultrascore compositions (Nola Che?rie in 2011, Indiamore in 2013 and Big Sun in 2015), working with Solange and Frank Ocean, and playing the most prestigious halls, he's taking his quest to arrange reality even further with Ludi, his new project that includes an album, film and show. It's play - an all-important word in music - that underscores this impressive, masterful construction freely inspired by Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game. Everything is part of the melody: a playground or basketball players in the suburbs, an arcade in Tokyo, a roller coaster, singer Crystal Kay and rapper Kohh. Solo musicians were filmed in rehearsal, like flautist Jocelyn Mienniel and the composer's partner, drummer Mathieu Edward, who managed to reprise on stage

Chassol drew from the great German author's utopic book, where music, mathematics, aesthetics and spirituality intermingle, to create a passionate work produced by Bertrand Burgalat's label Tricatel that once again justifies his special place in the musical landscape.

With Ludi, Chassol directs his own round of Hermann Hesse's game, taking on the title of Magister Ludi, master of The Glass Bead Game. With this double album, Chassol realises his ambition: to compose unprecedented music that fills us with joy and prompts reflection.

GoGo Penguin present Ocean in a Drop (music for film), a 5 track EP drawing from music originally written for their original live score to Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi. Expect music that moves from fragile beauty to powerful themes that offer both a stand-alone snapshot of the trio’s world and echoes of the images that inspired the music.

More Trouble is a collection of bonus tracks and alternate takes from Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man sessions taken from the Trouble Man: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition. These track will be on vinyl for the first time.

“Live In Europe Vol.1” is the second Altsax production. These live recordings capture a series of the artist and his quartet’s performances throughout Europe in 1975. These gigs reflect Howard’s peculiar musical identity on the Free Jazz scene of that era. An uncanny and heavy atmosphere unifies the different compositions which are constructed with improvisations on disturbing repetitions.

Noah Howard(as),Takashi Kako (p), Kent Carter (b), Muhammad Ali (dr), Oliver Johnson (dr)

45 years after its original release, Sconsolato is proud to annonce an official reissue of “Live In Europe Vol.1” limited to 300 remastered vinyl copies.

Thundercat drops his new album ‘It Is What It Is’ on Brainfeeder
Records.
 The record, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features
musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B,
Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington,
BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox.
 A unique voice transcending style and genre: “This album is about
love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,” says
Thundercat.
 Thundercat has previously worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar,
Pharrell, N.E.R.D., Erykah Badu, Childish Gambino, Mac Miller,
Anderson .Paak, Little Simz, BADBADNOTGOOD, Moses Sumney,
Kamasi Washington and many more.
 For fans of Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Flying Lotus, Kamasi
Washington, BADBADNOTGOOD.
 Album photography by Eddie Alcazar.
 CD in softpack.
 Deluxe 140g picture disc LP housed in a 6mm spined gatefold sleeve
with gold foil detail and OBI strip. Includes digital download code.
 Deluxe 140g pink clear vinyl LP housed in a 6mm spined gatefold
sleeve with gold foil detail and OBI strip. Includes digital download
code.
 Red 140g vinyl LP housed in a 3mm spined sleeve with OBI strip.
Includes digital download code.
 Thundercat will play his biggest UK shows to date in April.

Das dritte Web Web Album „Worshippers“ ist das reichste und vielleicht beste Web Web Album bisher. Es zeugt von Reife, und ist die logische Fortsetzung der beiden Vorgänger. In gewisser Weise ist es auf Web Webs Reise durch Afro- und Spiritual Jazz - ein Konzeptalbum.

„Worshippers“: Die Anbeter, die Verehrer. Web Web verehrt und verneigt sich vor den Großen des Jazz, und ihrer spirituellen Musik. Ganz im Zeichen des Namens entstand nach und nach tiefgründige Musik, mit Leidenschaft und einer Vision.

Es entstanden Stücke wie „The Upper“, „Paranormal Question“ oder der Mehrteiler „Free A.M.“, die allesamt komplexere Strukturen, vielschichtigere Formen und Arrangements aufweisen als die beiden Vorgänger-Alben „Oracle“ und „Dance Of The Demons“.

Einhergehend mit der Suche nach neuen Klängen und neuen Klangwelten entstand der Wunsch nach einem erweiterten Klangkörper, der über das herkömmliche Instrumentarium von WEB WEB hinausgeht:
Hinzu kam ein Musiker, mit dem man die komplexen Arrangements und die prägnanten, mantrischen Rhythmen umsetzen konnte: der Geiger und Bratschist Stefan Pintev. Der gebürtige Bulgare, der bereits mit Legenden wie Ray Charles oder Astrud Gilberto spielte, konnte mit seinem dunklen Timbre auf seiner Geige der Musik eine zusätzliche Tiefe und eine mystische Farbe geben. In Stücken wie „Mystic Flowers“ oder „Inner Revolution“ entfacht sich auf brillante Art sein gesamtes Klangspektrum, ebenso sein erzählerisches und mehrschichtiges Spiel.

Inmitten des Produktionsprozesses dieses Albums entstand die Idee, die wunderbare Stimme von Joy Denalane mit in die Musik einfließen zu lassen, da Denalane und Di Gioia zeitgleich auch an ihrem Soloalbum arbeiteten. Infiziert von den neuen Web Web-Klängen wollte Joy Denalane ein Teil dieses Albums werden.

Joy Denalane performed auf dem Album meist nicht so, wie man es von ihr kennt, sprich: in Song-Formen und Song-Strukturen, sondern sie singt vielmehr in freier, improvisatorischer Manier, setzt ihre Stimme als Instrument ein, geht in einen Dialog mit Tony Lakatos wundersamen Improvisationen (wie in „What You Give“), oder experimentiert mit befremdlich wirkenden (und verfremdeten) Gesangstiraden bei „Free A.M. (Part 1), die ihre sensationelle Improvisationskunst - ähnlich der frühen Dee Dee Bridgewater - zeigt.

"A Western Circular" is Will Archer’s debut under his new nom-de-plume, following early EP's- and an Album under the now-retired Slime moniker. Within ‘A Western Circular’ lies an exciting- and varied crew of guest artists including MF DOOM,Samuel T. Herring (Future Islands), Sudan Archives & Laura Groves, all contributing vocals to his rich, dexterous compositions!

An Album that’s been in the works for the past half-decade, ‘A Western Circular’ is a bold, reflective piece that directly relates to Archer’s personal experiences of life and death, centred on one particular week where they breathed with equal intensity. Ostensibly, it’s a poignant reflection on the duality of the human condition.

After releasing two records with the quintet Fazer, German guitarist Paul Brändle presents his solo debut on Squama Recordings.
Paul's minimalist compositions move in slow-motion between Straight Ahead Jazz, Folk, and Blues, only subtly disclosing their musical origins.
The album was recorded in Vienna during the annual 'Hundstage', a period in the summer during which the whole city succumbs to the sweltering heat. Short on oxygen, but not on ideas, Paul created 9 tracks of soothing excellence that are worth calming down for.

If you collect vintage 70's soul-jazz vinyl, there is a good chance that you already own a record that features the amazing vocal talents of Dee Dee Bridgewater. Whether it be Roy Ayers, Norman Connors, Billy Parker or Carlos Garnett - Dee Dee is the glue that fuses these artists together. Although best known for her jazz work, Dee Dee has had a wonderfully rich and varied career encompassing soul, musicals, gospel, and underground disco from the 70's to the present day. She is still active as a vocalist, composer, and producer and remains one of our favourite vocalists at Mr Bongo HQ. We take things back to the early years of Dee Dee's career with her debut album 'Afro Blue'. Recorded in Tokyo in 1974, the album was released exclusively in Japan via two different Japanese labels (Trio Records in 1974 and All Art in 1985 respectively). Each release had unique cover art and we have opted to present the album in its original 1974 form.

'Afro Blue' features an exquisite collaboration of American and Japanese musicians, such as Cecil & Ron Bridgewater, Motohiko Hino and producer Takao Ishizuka. The result is a sublime deep soul-jazz masterpiece with timeless versions of 'People Make The World Go Round', 'Love From The Sun', and 'Afro Blue'. It is arguably one of the finest albums in its genre. This record has long been a sought-after item for DJs and collectors alike, so we are delighted to finally make this wonderful music from an understated great available to all.

Recorded in 1964 at the Federal studio in Jamaica, this elegant yet unique previously unreleased album is said to be the origin of the Jamaican Mento meets 4 Beat Jazz sound.

This brilliant album is one of the most important Jamaican Jazz recordings that Ernest Ranglin has ever made. Everything in this album starts with the traditional Caribbean Jazz classics and then develops into 4 Beat Jazz. Produced by the Godfather of Jamaican music, Ken Khouri, this album really deserves its title. You may want to add this next to the Guitar In Ernest album (DSRLP501) in your collection.

Full length by Abdul, delivering on ever-changing consumer demand. Tax Free did it again.

BBE Music presents the sixth release in its acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series: ‘Stop Over’ by Hideto Sasaki - Toshiyuki Sekine Quartet +1. Released at the height of the electric fusion era, ‘Stop Over’ is an all-acoustic hard bop killer, sounding like the Jazz Messengers on speed. When it was originally issued on the private Smile label in 1976, only 100 copies were pressed, making ‘Stop Over’ one of the most sought after and rare LPs in the J Jazz canon.

Trumpeter Hideto Sasaki tears it up as if he’s Kenny Dorham on a classic late 50s Blue Note session. He also provides the breakneck title track to the album, the one stunning original that sits next to solid covers including Bobby Hutcherson’s modal classic ‘Little B’s Poem’ and Denny Zeitlin’s ‘Carole’s Garden’. Pianist Toshiyuki Sekine is also on top form with his deft touch and fluid keyboard runs, playing Horace Silver to Sasaki’s Dorham. If you dig that late 50s/early 60s breathless hard bop sound, you’ll love this. Licensed and released with the approval of Toshiyuki Sekine himself, ‘Stop Over’ will be available for download and streaming, as a CD and double vinyl LP, the first vinyl reissue of this amazing album since originally slipping out to family and friends in 1976.

With a deluxe packaging and translated sleeve notes, there will also be new notes and an interview with Toshiyuki Sekine. The BBE J Jazz Masterclass Series is personally curated by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden and is dedicated to presenting the very finest in Japanese modern jazz. The series features rare material presented in the highest quality reproductions of the original releases, fully licensed and authorised.

A limited edition 7” release by Roy Ayers – taken for the first time from the Change up the groove LP.

DYNAMITE CUTS give you a super fresh loud 45 cuts of these wonderful jazz and funk dancer First time on 45, don’t miss out x500 only.

A) “Fikisha” (to help some one arrive) another monster from the Roy ayers Ubiquity camp, vibe tastic - BANGER!!!!
B) Boogie back (breaks and samples, Djs tools) deep vibes groove, classic

The third installment of the Baast album series "Trident" sees the band heading into the direction of electronic soundscapes, delving deeper into soundtrack and ambient textures more so than previous albums "Dimension" and "Bazaar".
R. Scott Dibble and the inimitable DJ Johnny Basil remain at the helm with a round of uber talented guest artists who've contributed in the past along with some new players, heavy on talent but even more so on the vibe that's captured in the recordings.

First vinyl reissue of this fantastic 1981 album by Marcos Valle, one of the essential artists of Brazilian music.

Recorded in Brazil after spending the late 70s in the US, Marcos Valle brought together his innate talent and diverse influences on this irresistible record bursting with groove. Among a selection of top musicians, the line-up features Sivuca, Chicago's Peter Cetera, Robson Jorge and Azymuth's Jose Roberto Bertrami. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl. A Record Store Day release.

After the success of his first EP 'The World of Eshu Dina' last year, trumpeter Yelfris Valdés debuts his new project 'For the Ones…'

Released on October 4th via newly formed Música Macondo Records.

For this record Yelfris employs an adventurous and experimental shift in his composition, drawing on his classical training and love of jazz whilst at the same time delving further into the world of electronica, gaining inspiration from artists like Jon Hassell, Bonobo and Aphex Twin resulting something truly unique:

"For this album, I worked deeply and meticulously to find a more layered sound including a trance feeling with grounded rhythms"

Yelfris has deliberately connected with his Yoruba religion and its shamanic chants, subtly infusing those deeply personal elements with electronica and live instrumentation creating a beautiful pulsating soundscape. In purposefully mutating the acoustic sound of his trumpet he adds depth without losing his power and tenderness.

'As a Santero my beliefs in the Orishas from the Yoruba religión have helped me to improve my faith in the gift of life and the things that really matter to me: family, spreading of positive energy and actions, and the Truth, as ultimately this is what we need to grow. Only a few of us have been given this knowledge and as a Cuban musician living abroad I feel it is my duty to spread this message and expand it in a new direction, connecting with a wider range of musical styles.'

The album opens with 'Canto Congo' an acapella that pays homage to his Central African origins.

The lead single 'Aceleyo Aña' refers in Yoruba to the 'Deity of drums', a beautiful up-lifting hypnotic piece setting the tone for the rest of the album.

Yelfris teams up with Moroccan Guembri Master Simo Lagnawi on Gnawa influenced 'Maktub' and incredible voice of Senegalese singer Modou Toure in a highly spiritual call to his forbears on 'Ancestry'.

The rhythm section has all the Latin and African influences of traditional Cuban music but fused with the complex harmonies and electronics, it develops into an unexpected place becoming the new Yelfris Valdés stamp on contemporary music.

The meaning behind 'For the Ones..' is exactly that: 'this music is for anybody who wants to experience this new journey, for those that don't put limits to creativity and empowerment.'

"After a long career (20 years) and touring with some of the biggest music icons, I can say that my voice is way bigger and richer now. This album is a mixture of my Cuban heritage, my travels and my life in London. If I was still living in Cuba or anywhere else, I could have never made an album like this and that is My Truth. I live in London but I am Cuban."

The artwork is an original creation of Spanish artist Fran Rodríguez, who said:

"This design is strongly inspired by altered states of consciousness, by mystic and transcendental experiences that you can achieve in many ways: through music, meditation, love, psychedelic substances, etc. The design represents that exact moment when you cross over to another level. The enlightenment, the transcendence".

'I'm New Here' sees proto-rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron still looking forward, still challenging conventions and expectations, with his first album in 13 years.
Without doubt one of the most important voices in 20th century music, Gil Scott-Heron's unfailingly sharp and ironic eye spared neither Black Power phonies or scheming presidents. In 1971 he laid out the blueprint for the whole rap genre with his slinky anthem 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' while, throughout a career spanning five decades, his deep, soulful voice spoke of nukes, Reaganomics or apartheid, always from deep inside the tradition.
I'm New Here' sees Gil Scott-Heron sounding as vital as ever; a record that reveals something unexpected at every turn; one that sees Scott-Heron pushing, probing and testing the boundaries just as he always has. Alongside his 'I'm New Here' collaborator - producer and XL Recordings head Richard Russell - Scott-Heron has made an album that eschews the cosy arrangements and retrospective leanings one might expect from an artist over forty years into their career.
o Available on CD and special edition double 180gsm Audiophile vinyl, which includes two prints housed in a rigid-bound gatefold sleeve.

"I'm always looking for ways to be surprised," says composer and multi instrumentalist Jeff Parker as he explains the process, and the thinking, behind his new album Suite for Max Brown, released via a new partnership between International Anthem and Nonesuch Records.

"If I sit down at the piano or with my guitar, with staff paper and a pencil, I'm eventually going to fall into writing patterns, into things I already know. So, when I make music, that's what I'm trying to get away from-the things that I know." Despite its musical departures, in presentation Suite for Max Brown is an informal companion piece to The New Breed, Parker's debut release on International Anthem, which was honored as one of the "Best Albums of 2016" by New York Times, Observer, and Los Angeles Times.

"I made The New Breed based off these old sample-based compositions and mixed them with improvising," Parker says. "That's in a nutshell how I make a lot of my music; it's a combination of sampling, editing, retriggering audio, and recording it, moving it around and trying to make it into something cohesive... With Max Brown, it's evolved." Though Parker collaborates with a coterie of musicians under the group name The New Breed, theirs is by no means a conventional "band" relationship.

Parker is very much a solo artist on Suite for Max Brown. His accompanists are often working alone with Parker, reacting to what Parker has provided them, and then Parker uses those individual parts to layer and assemble into his final tracks. The process may be relatively solitary and cerebral, but the results feel like in-the-moment jams-warm-hearted, human, alive. Suite for Max Brown brims with personality, boasting the rhythmic flow of hip hop and the soulful swing of jazz.

This is an exact repro reissue of an early Allen Toussaint record, originally released in 1958 and one of his earliest solo recordings. Compelling and soulful New Orleans R&B, featuring the songs "Whirlaway," "Up The Creek," "Happy Times," "Nowhere To Go" and "Nashua."

After the huge success of the first two albums At Last! and The Second Time Around, Etta James in 1962 suddenly became THE Queen of soul music and this record, originally released on Argo Records, shored up her fame, paving the way to her ascent to stardom.

"Recorded on June 24 1958 at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, NJ, these sessions (except for the bonus, 'Once In A While' ) feature original compositions by Wilbur Harden (best known for his work with Yusef Lateef and John Coltrane) and hard-bop trombonist Curtis Fuller (best known for his work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and appearance on the classic Blue Trane album).The 32-year-old John Coltrane had only just recorded Blue Train a year earlier and it is interesting to hear his style beginning to stretch out, as he makes his musical transition from strict hard bop to the groundbreaking style that would become legendary the following year on Giant Steps, making Coltrane one of the biggest names in jazz."

One the most beautiful and essential albums of all times. The 1959 Miles Davis's masterpiece is one of those rare pieces of art beyond ages and genres. A must have for any musically sensitive human being on earth. Miles Davis - trumpet, John Coltrane - tenor sax, Cannonball Adderley - alto sax, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly - piano, Paul Chambers - bass, Jimmy Cobb - drums.

Sam Cooke, inventor and true King of Soul, recorded Night Beat in 1963, an album that was more bluesy and moodier than we had seen before from Cooke. Night Beat is an album that approaches the music at a slow pace but is never lazy. It is easy-going without losing its keen sensibilities.

Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange is the meeting point of improvisation and dance music.

Headed up by drummer Ziggy Zeitgeist, a staple of the Australian music scene, most prominently touring and recording with Melbourne Nu-Soul/ future-jazz collective ‘30/70’. Ziggy’s music has already been championed across the breadth of the jazz and dance world, with support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Kamaal Williams, Byron the Aquarius and Alexander Nut just to name a few.

Growing up in Australia, with no real club culture in sight, Ziggy’s formative years were at the ‘bush doof’ - an outback rave where speakers were driven to remote lands and dance music would blast from the wee hours in the morning to the wee hours at night. This is what Ziggy describes as the playground of Australian Electronic Music.

“This is our culture of electronic music. It’s about exploring the spectrum of consciousness and a connection with ourselves, one another and the land.”

Z*F*E*X is the synthesis of dance music in human form. A live band experience humanising the extended DJ set. Heavily influenced by club culture and transcendent psychedelic experiences - Z*F*E*X is a continuous odyssey of sound, where synths intertwine with flutes, jazz drums are played with the raw energy of classic broken beat records, and natures call and response is mimicked in musical form.

From the bubbling, syncopated, exuberance of opening track “Candy Flip”, through to the hypnotic, twilight introspection of “Still Swag” (wherein the band are joined by label founder Jitwam), the LP provides a mesmerising, continually evolving sonic landscape. The driving, bossanova-infused percussion of ”Rendezvous” and “Mas O Menos”, meet the insatiable, rhythmic currents of “Logan's Run” and “River Run Deep,” allowing the band to show the full extent of their impeccable musicianship across the album.

“Music is the method of tapping to the eternal source.. the moment, the sacred place we break out of these divisions of the mind and we realise the oneness that abounds us.”

Utilising the spirit of live improvisation, Z*F*E*X reaches to the furthest echelon’s of the human mind to create dance music with a cosmic pocket. Recorded in Melbourne with Lewis Moody on keys, Erica Tucceri on woodwinds, Matthew Hayes on bass, and Javier Fredes on percussion - the recording sessions were an exploration into sound... an exploration into the zeitgeist... jazz music that isn’t jazz, electronic dance music that isn’t electronic.

Big Gigantic is saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken, due to release their new studio album ‘Free Your Mind’ via Counter Records.

The Boulder, Colorado-based duo make a triumphant return with their first studio album in three years. ‘Free Your Mind’ emphasizes uplifting, expansive soul vocals that truly engage their fans through themes of self-love, gratitude and manifesting your dreams.

The 13-track album features artists like Pell, Felly, TOBi,
Jennifer Hartswick, Louis Futon and The Funk Hunters, to name
a few. In true Big Gigantic fashion, the album spans a variety of genres, offering up playful electronic pop to modern jazz fusion compositions. For fans of Louis The Child, ODESZA, Rudimental, Sigma, Jonas Blue, Sigala.

180g coloured (yellow and white marbled) vinyl double LP in 350gsm gatefold sleeve with 180gsm printed innersleeves. Big Gigantic are well-known for their epic live show, playing major festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, ACL, Ultra, Outside Lands, Hangout, HARD, Governors Ball, Electric Forest and more.

Big Gigantic have sold out their own headlining festival, Rowdytown, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre (10K+ tickets) every year since 2012.
They have an extensive sync history, including placements with Google, HBO, ESPN, Macbook Pro, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, AirBNB and The Bachelor.

“A celebration of sound.” - Billboard

Classic 1998 debut album from the drummer best known for his work with Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell and Wayne Shorter.
The first of four Fellowship albums to date on Blue Note. Recorded and mixed at The Teatro, Oxnard, California. Produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson and U2. Featuring Melvin Butler (soprano and tenor sax), Myron Walden (alto sax), Jon Cowherd (keys), Dave Easley (pedal steel), Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and Christopher Thomas (bass).
The album showcases seven slow-burning Blade originals, plus Cowherd’s powerful ‘Lifeline’.

This 28 track soundtrack was lovingly curated by the director Stanley Nelson and pairs with short excerts from the film itself. Features recordings/performances across labels and Davis' musical evolution. From early Charlie Parker collaborations, the 1949 Capitol sessions, seminal 1950's Columbia material, tracks form 'Miles Ahead', the ever popular 'Kind Of Blue' alongside 'Sketches Of Spain' and the iconic 'Bitches Brew' material. Also includes new/previously unreleased material. Marketing activity across all media outlets. (CD was released February 21st).