Pop & Rock News

Strange Valleys, the 2018 full-length from Starving Daughters, is a progression as well as a shift in sound from the LA band's already-stellar previous releases.

Make no doubt about it that the sound of Progressive Rock and Psychedelia still play a big role here but there's certainly a greater influence from Library Music on the new LP.

The Starving Daughters Vinyl Impressions blog, led by Chris Tillotson of the band, shared the music of Chris's collection of which many were Library LP's.
These records seemed to have seeped into the mind, body, and souls of the whole band on this Strange Valleys LP.
Everything from the instrumentation, the attention to melody, to the track-length shows the large appreciation they have for Library music.

That being said, this moog-heavy, psychedelic-prog-funk, California-themed record is certainly unique and adventurous.
Winding through the exotic roads of Strange Valleys is certainly a trip well worth taking over and over again.

First re-press since its original release. When The Skatalites splintered after Don Drummond's arrest for murder, McCook led The Supersonics for Duke Reid in the rocksteady and early reggae years, before becoming the pre-eminent horns arranger of the roots era. Having already fallen under the spell of John Coltrane's free jazz, Tommy had found a deeper meditational mood in the percussive rhythms of Count Ossie's Rastafarian drummers, and he brought this spiritual dimension into the militant rockers sound of the late 1970s.

McCook recorded extensively for Bunny Lee, and 'Super Star Disco Rockers', released in 1977, is a strong showcase for his meditational style of playing. The track 'Lamb's Bread Herb', a reworked version of Yabby You's 'Death Trap' with an overdubbed 'steppers' drum pattern, is a mystical highlight.

Bunny Lee: When Tommy join up with Bobby Ellis on trumpet, that is when he develop what we call his 'far east' sound. And especially when he play flute like on 'Death Trap' it give it that 'far east' sound. Or sometimes Tommy play clarinet for a different flavour. But mostly he play the tenor sax with that deeper, lower tone, like on 'Tommy's Rocking Vibration' - hear that big horn there!'

Other tracks include two cuts of Frankie Jones tunes, ('African Jumpers' and 'The Night Rose Of Sherron', both popular cuts with Fatman's sound system) and instrumental versions of Johnny Clarke and Cornell Campbell songs. Several tunes feature the higher alto sax of Lennox Brown alongside Tommy's tenor, and two tracks actually feature Lennox Brown alone.

'Super Star Disco Rockers', originally released on Dynamic Sounds' Weed Beat label, was overdubbed and mixed at King Tubby's Studio, where Bunny would line up the horns players in a spirit of healthy competition.

Featuring, among others: Sly & Robbie, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Tony Chin, Ansell Collins, Ossie Hibbert, Bobby Ellis & Lennox Brown.

'Sassy' Sarah Vaughan was a singer whose respect from fellow artistes was as great as her popularity with fans.
No less a personage than Frank Sinatra once said, with tongue firmly in famous cheek, that 'Sassy is so good that when I listen to her I want to cut my wrists with a dull razor.' Vaughan certainly had the smoothest voice of her generation. She could swoop from the highest of notes down to the depths and could easily have trained as an opera singer.

A true funk-soul masterpiece. Sampled by Madlib, Homeboy Sandman, Ghostface Killah, Black Milk, Roc Marciano, 9th Wonder, and more.

Beautiful, golden-era soul written by Leon Sylvers III, produced by Jerry Butler and Keg Johnson.

The Sylvers were a family from Los Angeles who were very successful during the 70's and into the early 80's, with chart hits - deep into pop-disco territory - including 'Boogie Fever', 'Hot Line' and 'High School Dance'. This is the group's second album, from 1973, and is one of their strongest.

Opening with the awesome mid-tempo 'We Can Make It If We Try' the record moves through funk, boogie and deep soul moods, finishing on a hazy, acapella version of The Beatles 'Yesterday'.

Official reissue in replica of original artwork.

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

In this stunning LP, Carmen McRae pays homage to her friend and idol, Billie Holiday.

With her strong alto, huge range, and ability to change moods, McRae varies her sound throughout, sometimes sounding deliberately gravelly, then switching to softly sweet and romantic, matching the timbre of the instruments accompanying her. She alternates her tempo from slow and dramatic to lively, jazzy, flirty, or intimate. Always, she and the musicians accompanying her are in perfect sync, both in interpreting the lyrics and improvising with the melodies.

Every song is a winner. "Them There Eyes," begins with McRae singing off-rhythm, accompanied by a simple bass (Bob Cranshaw) and drums (Walter Perkins) before the sax (Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis) enters. "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart," is the happiest, with McRae hitting some surprising high notes. "Miss Brown to You," swings in a loose, flirty manner, and "I Cried for You" features McRae sounding like a muted trumpet and wailing. "Lover Man" is wonderfully bluesy, with a toe-tapping rhythm and improvisation, while "A Little Moonlight," with great piano (Norman Simmons), sax (Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis) and trumpet (Nat Adderley) solos, is wild and impassioned.

"Yesterdays," my favorite, begins as a slow, harshly melancholy song with sensitive piano background, then suddenly pauses slightly in the middle, and shifts to a faster, jazzier, more rhythmic line in which McRae is up and down and all over the scale. "Strange Fruit," one of Holiday's signature songs, is finely articulated, and McRae's phrasing and ironically sweet tones give even more emphasis to the horrifying lyrics as Mundell Lowe's guitar provides the mournful accompaniment. "God Bless the Child," written by Holiday, is slow and intimate, and as McRae phrases the story, her wailing adds poignancy to the lyrics.

Blessed with a voice and style that naturally adapts to any kind of jazz, along with the ability to articulate lyrics with perfect enunciation and phrasing, McRae is the consummate musician here. Singing some of Billie Holiday's best songs, and accompanied by world class artists with whom she is totally in sync, McRae in this LP is as good as it gets.
By Mary Whipple

Hailing from Indianapolis, Caesar Frazier (spelled 'Ceasar' from time to time) was a funky soul-jazz organist who recorded several albums for the Eastbound/Westbound label family during the '70s. In addition to recording on his own, Frazier also played keyboards in Marvin Gaye's backing band.

Collaborations with contemporaries were numerous and to this day Frazier's legacy is still alive through samples & remixes from outfits such as 'Gang Starr' and 'Arrested Development'.

In 1972 Frazier cut his first album 'Hail Ceasar', which featured musicians commonly associated with the Prestige label's jazz-funk outings -- Melvin Sparks (guitar), Houston Person (tenor), and Idris
Muhammad (drums). Those names alone should give you a clear idea what's going down on this album: slick wa wa guitar lines, the crisp ultra bumpin' conga rhythms, Idris's slick funk beats, screaming sax solos and last but not least Caesar's trademark Hammond organ sound.

Next to his own material you can also find a few cover tunes on here (by Quincy Jones, Isaac Hayes, Bob Porter (responsible for many superb jazz productions for Prestige and Atlantic) and to top it all off, recording duties were handled by Rudy Van Gelder (known for recording Miles Davis in the early 1950's and the countless work he did for Blue Note, Prestige, Verve .. and many others). This record is a delight for anyone who likes that 1970s organ groove sound and is right up there with some of the best of the Soul Jazz coming out of the early seventies. Hail Ceasar! Is a monster album that could

Originally released in 1972 on Eastbound Records, super rare and fetching large sums on the collectors market, now finally back available as a limited deluxe vinyl edition featuring the original artwork by Tom Curry.

Sterns Edits is a new collaboration between legendary African & Brazilian label and distributor Sterns Music and London producer and label owner Ben Gomori.

Sterns Music began life as pop-up style record shop housed in the back room of an electrical shop near Warren Street and grew to become the second biggest distributor of music from Africa outside of the continent itself. Over the years they released and distributed hundreds of artists, including household names like Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Oumou Dioubate and Orchestre Baobab, building a comprehensive catalogue of music from across the region that spans some six decades. Now located inside a former bank vault underneath Warren Street station, they continue to work with a plethora of African labels, in some cases transferring master tapes to make them available digitally for the first time.

Gomori stumbled across this treasure trove of material when he discovered contemporary Gambian-born, Danish-residing singer and kora player Dawd Jobarteh's propulsive 'Sama Kebbalu' and decided he wanted to create an edit of it for his sets. He decided to see if he could license the track to make for an official release on his label Monologues Records, but soon recognised the bigger opportunity: "I was blown away when I met Robert from Sterns for the first time and he took me down into his vault. Original master reels stuffed into banana boxes, decades of vinyl, cassette tape and CD releases... history everywhere you looked. After exploring their vast catalogue and talking to Robert more, I felt like something could be done to bring some of their music and history into a new context and introduce it to new generations in the process."

Each Sterns Edits release will see Gomori - who has created dozens of much-loved edits of the likes of Marvin Gaye, Leonard Cohen, Sampha and DJ Shadow over the years - rework two tracks from the vast Sterns catalogue, melding these various styles of African music with his own house grooves to make for dancefloor ready weapons.

The intricate kora playing of Dawda Jobarteh makes for a mesmeric trip on this debut release, with 'Sama Kebbalu' ('tomorrow's elders') given a peak-time workout that makes fine use of the rousing, chanted chorus and rolling rhythm, and 'Bright Sky Over Monrovia' cut into a dub that focuses on the stunning finger-picking and passes it through heady delays.(A) A1. Sama Kebbalu (Ben Gomori's Lead By Example Edit)

The mid-1980s were a pivotal period for Don Cherry. Much of his energies had been devoted to co-op projects like Codona and Old and New Dreams and he also helped jumpstart the Leaders. The time being ripe to form his own ensemble, Cherry created Nu, a quintet with saxophonist/flutist Carlos Ward, bassist Mark Helias, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and drummer Ed Blackwell. Live at the Bracknell Jazz Festival, 1986 confirms Nu to be an ensemble that vigorously and cogently articulated the various aspects of the multi-instrumentalist's multicultural aesthetic. This exceptional concert recording fills a significant gap in Cherry's discography.
(from liner notes by Bill Shoemaker, taken from JAZZ TIMES)

Limited edition of 500 copies.

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

For a label that wasn't around long, Strata East achieved the same sort of label recognition that Impulse! or Blue Note managed to build. In other words, you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on the label, even if you didn't know the names on the outside of the cover.

"Don't Look Back" is an album led by American saxophonist Harold Vick recorded in 1974 and released in the wake of Harold Vick's recovery from a heart attack, which may partially explain the passion with which he approaches his playing throughout.

One of the best-ever Strata East sessions! The album's a masterfully conceived session by reed player Harold Vick - best known to the world as the funky tenorist from albums by John Patton and Jack McDuff in the 60s, but emerging here as an incredibly sensitive soul jazz player, capable of turning out some incredibly sophisticated and emotional compositions. Vick produced and wrote all the material on the album. A treasure all the way through. (Dusty Groove, Inc.)

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

This jazz recording is considered as the 'magnum opus' of master "drummer extraordinaire'', composer, arranger, producer, and leader Norman Connor's in a career that has spanned 4 decades. This recording is what many will consider the debut of the legendary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater who has since gone on to a brilliant career. Connor's put together an all-star group with Herbie Hancock and Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano and Fender Rhodes, Dr. Eddie Henderson on trumpet/flugelhorn, Carlos Garnett on tenor/soprano saxes, Gary Bartz on alto/soprano saxes, Buster Williams on bass, drummer/vocalist Bill Summers and Kenneth Nash on percussion, and effective, crucial cameos by master flautist Hubert Laws. On the song, "Love From the Sun'", Connors added Nathan Rubin on violin and Terry Adams on cello.

The 'best of the best' begins with the exotic theme of Hancock's "Revelation", doubled wordlessly and beautifully by Ms. Bridgewater over Williams bouncing ostinato bass pattern with flights of fancy from Hubert Laws on flute, and superb, luminous solos from Henderson's exotic trumpet, Garnett on soprano, and Hancock on Fender Rhodes. Garnett's "Carlos II" is another great composition with remarkable solos. Connors' own "Drums Around The Worlds'" is influenced by African and latin rhythms with emotional vocals from Summers and a drum-only section that builds in intensity. One of the high points of the album is Dee Dee Bridgewater's awesome, glorious vocalizing on Richard Clay's lovely "Love From The Sun", in one of the greatest performances in her career, arranged by Gumbs. Elmer Gibson's "Kumakucha" (The Sun Has Risen) is a blazing display of uptempo musicianship by Connor's driving drums, the propulsive congas of Summers and Nash, and exciting solos from Bartz, Henderson on trumpet, and Hancock's furious piano solo. The set ends with a marvelous "Holy Waters" composed and arranged by Garnett in a scorching performance by Bridgewater on vocals, Garnett unleashing one of the greatest solos in his storied career, followed by Gumbs' astute solo.

My Highest Recommendation.

By John Braswell

MARA is the debutalbum of Munich-based jazz group FAZER. The young musicians combine African and Latin rhythms with dubby basslines and melancholic melodies. The unusual lineup with two drummers (Simon Popp, Sebastian Wolfgruber), bass (Martin Brugger), guitar (Paul Brändle) and trumpet (Matthias Lindermayr) leaves an open space for unfettered improvisation. Through the concept of repetition and finely measured dynamics, Fazer create a drawing energy that can be felt directly at their live shows and has been captured perfecty on this record.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- 6MM SLEEVE
- INCLUDES TWO PRINTED INNER SLEEVES
- 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION FEATURING NEW LIVE VERSIONS OF IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM' AND MANY MORE HITS

Joe Jackson is an English musician, singer-songwriter who scored a major hit in 1979 with his first release Is She Really Going Out With Him'.

Live 1980/86 is a double live LP which was recorded during the 1980 Beat Crazy tour, the 1982-83 Night and Day Tour, the 1984 Body and Soul tour and the 1986 Big World tour. These performances took place in Manchester, Utrecht, Sydney, Melbourne, Vancouver and Tokyo. During the four tours Jackson goes through different periods in his songwriter's career, each time using a new backing band. Live 1980/86 charted in the United Kingdom, USA, The Netherlands, Australia and contains the live acoustic and a cappella versions of Is She Really Going Out With Him', It's Different For Girls', Steppin' Out' and features new interpretations of classic hits from Joe Jackson's vast repertoire.

The Live 1980/86 double album, original released in 1988, celebrates it's 30th Anniversary in 2018 and the 180 gram records are housed in two printed inner sleeves.

Our latest examination of Esoteric, Modal & Progressive Jazz of the 20th Century has taken us to Japan. The liberating force of jazz has been created and felt all around the world, but few nations on earth embraced the jazz message with the passion and intensity of Japan. From the dawn of the jazz age to the present day, Japanese audiences have been renowned tastemakers, enthusiasts and champions of the music - in the 1980s, Japan was the biggest per capita market in the world for jazz records, and it has even been said that Japanese jazz fans kept the jazz record industry alive through the lean years of the 1970s, when the music fell from commercial favour in the land of its birth.

But while the jazz aficionados of Japan are celebrated as sophisticated fans and consumers of the music, comparatively little is known outside Japan of the remarkable and abundant music produced by generations of Japanese jazz musicians. Numerous Japanese jazzers have found enormous success on the international stage - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sadao Watanabe, Teramasu Hino, and many others are household names among jazz listeners all over the world, and with good reason. But if such global figures are put aside, the stunning heritage of Japanese jazz remains poorly understood outside Japan. As a result, the work of many celebrated Japanese jazumen has remained largely unknown to international audiences, and the extraordinary scope and depth of Japanese jazz has not been widely recognised.

Compiled for the Spiritual Jazz series in collaboration with the celebrated collector and DJ Yusuke Ogawa (Deep Jazz Reality, Tokyo), this 2CD/twin set of double LPs aims to correct that omission by uncovering the uniquely deep sound of esoteric, modal and progressive jazz from Japan - music of the heart, soul and Japanese spirit!

Each 2LP set comes complete with OBI strip and thick, textured sleeve. Our extensive liner notes extend onto printed inners, and are in both Japanese and English.

"Hi again!

It's been a couple years, but I've put together a new record, this time with my neighbor Stu and a few other friends. Stu's been tuning the piano Linda and I were using for our Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books recordings, and I've always enjoyed the test scales and vignettes he would run through checking his work.

I floated the idea to collaborate on a sort of 70s/80s ECM kinda vibe, and soon started bringing my laptop and a couple microphones over to his house to collect his improvisations and have him add to pieces I had started. Other friends from the neighborhood dropped by to add parts here and there as well.

The recordings were made primarily in the summers of 2016 & 2017 (with a break in-between to mourn the triumph of neo-fascism as well as the passing of beloved pets). Ultimately I tried to follow the feel of those summer nights and the tranquility they offered. Open air or at least open windows, drifting along, you know"

-KF, Spring 2018.

Aqueduct Ensemble is a collaboration between Ohio based artist Keith Freund - who has previously released music as part of both Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books - and his neighbour Stu, who is a piano tuner and professional pianist. Their debut album together, "Improvisations On An Apricot" is the second release from label Last Resort, and follows G.S Schray's "Gabriel" (2017) - the sleeves for which were both designed by Keith, who does does all the art direction for the label. Beginning life in 2013 as an NTS radio show of the same name, Last Resort is run by Tom Cathcart from his home in London.

Dharma as they were simply known, at the time when they were still playing, englobed all the incarnations of the group, trio, quartet (essentially as a live band) and quintet built around the stable core of pianist and bassist Patricio Villarroel and Michel Gladieux. Snoopy's Time is their second album, concentrated on the rhythm section including the ever-faithful Jacques Mahieux on drums, and recorded three months after Mr Robinson, the first album, made as a quintet including Jef Sicard and Gérard Coppéré, both at the time saxophonists with Claude Delcloo's Full Moon Ensemble. It is the most classic album in their discography, marked by the influence on Patricio Villarroel of the electric explorations of Miles Davis' pianists from 1968, that is to say Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul and Keith Jarrett. Indeed, the use of echo, reverb and saturation by Patricio Villarroel is similar to that of his famous counterparts. It would be a year later in France, but with a sound all his own, that Siegfried Kessler would undertake similar experiments playing with Perception, a group similar in spirit to Dharma. Specialists may also evoke Paul Bley, notably on Scorpio and Sweet Earth Flying, or even Richard Beirach with Dave Liebman on Drum Ode, but these albums came out a few years after the innovative Snoopy's Time surprisingly released in 1970. Even amongst all the instrumental funky music of the time it is rare to find such a communicative energy, magnified all the more by the subtle use of effects and an innate sense of groove.

This album was recorded live in Copenhagen on September 8, 1961. Multi-instrumentalist/composer Eric Dolphy, who left a distinct and original imprint on jazz, here plays solo bass clarinet on 'God Bless the Child'. It is generally considered his best
recorded version of the composition. 'Oleo' is more in the hard bop vein and Dolphy's bass clarinet really cooks! Hi-Fly is a
13-minute duet with Dolphy on flute and Chuck Israels on bass. Joined by a supportive Danish rhythm section (pianist Bent Axen, bassist Erik Moseholm and drummer Jorn Elniff), Dolphy is in excellent form throughout.

Recorded live at Studenterföreningen', Copenhagen, Denmark, September 8, 1961

Louis Armstrong's concert at Symphony Hall with his newly-formed All-Stars in 1947 was a major success, featuring the
trumpeter with vocalist/trombonist Jack Teagarden, clarinetist Barney Bigard, pianist Dick Cary, bassist Arvell Shaw, and drummer 'Big' Sid Catlett in particularly inspired form. The program concentrates on such classics as Mahogany Hall Stomp,' Black And Blue,' Muskrat Ramble' and C-Jam Blues.' Highlights include Armstrong's outstanding vocal on Black and Blue,' heated jams on Royal Garden Blues,' Muskrat Ramble,' and High Society,' and Teagarden's playing on Lover Man.' Catlett drives the band, Middleton and Armstrong have a great, funny duet on That's My Desire', and Bigard complements his front-line cohorts. There may be more historically important Armstrong recordings, but there are few that are more exciting.

Nicknamed Bags', the Detroit, Michigan born vibraphonist Milt Jackson was one of the permanent members of the Modern Jazz Quartet and was famous for his blues-heavy improvisations. This release reissues two Jackson 10' LPs. Wizard of the Vibes' combines four tracks he did with the Modern Jazz Quartet (plus Lou Donaldson on alto sax) in 1952 with three tracks done with Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey (1951).
Three Milt Jackson originals are featured, including his signature composition and jazz standard, 'Bags' Groove'.
The self-titled album that forms side B of this release features tracks recorded by the Milt Jackson Quartet (1951) and includes
Thelonious Monk's ''Round About Midnight', as well as five Jackson originals

Superrare spiritual jazz 2-sider which gets a proper re-issue treatmen from Tramp Records. Black Bandit is a fabulous composition backed with the equally great California Dreaming. This "45" is cut at 33rpm due to the long playing time of the A-side which ensures the best sound quality possible. Limited to 250 copies.

"The dazzling symphonic album he always threatened to produce" UNCUT 5/5
"A soulful symphonic masterpiece" ROLLING STONE

Originally released in Japan only on CD in 2002, Plush's Fed lives up to the cult-like adulation it has garnered ever since. A stunning symphony of Bacharach-inspired pop, Toussaint-swing andMelody Nelson-era-Gainsbourg, it's an album bound together by Liam Hayes' maverick genius, an uncompromising Brian Wilson-esque quest for sonic perfection. Positively indulgent in every way, this sumptuous record has long deserved to be treated to a deluxe vinyl edition. Lovingly overseen by Hayes and recent collaborator Pat Sansone (Wilco/The Autumn Defense), it will finally be available on the format it should've always been, this Record Store Day 2018. Remastered and presented as a double LP - cut specially at 45rpm - it comes housed in a beautiful gatefold jacket with expanded artwork throughout.

Its expansive, singular vision infamously took years to realise, involving Earth Wind & Fire's horn arranger (the legendary Tom Tom MMLXXXIV) amongst other elite personnel. Recorded with five different engineers (including Steve Albini and John McEntire), Hayes meticulously extracted every ounce of pop from each note. A long list of renowned studio ringers (including soul drummer Morris Jennings) and Chicago regulars (McEntire, Rizzo, Parker) among many others provide playing of demonstrably professional precision. As such, Hayes' complex, meandering melodies are rendered far more coherent and satisfying than they otherwise might have appeared, bringing his epic, anguished pop to a rarely seen level of perfection and depth. This unstinting dedication to the overarching vision was rewarded handsomely - artistically, at least.

However, as might have been expected, his deluxe approach resulted in a bill too steep for any American or European label to ultimately support. It has since seemed unlikely that it would see the light of day on either side of the Atlantic. Yet we were determined not to allow Hayes' lifetime achievement to go unnoticed or let music fans across the world miss out on one of the finest albums of this century.

A wide-eyed opus of stunning intensity, Fed oozes Hayes' impeccable influences without ever becoming overwhelmed by them. Incredibly, it touches upon Blaxploitation soul, Boz Scaggs-soft-rock, hints of jazz and blues, timeless baroque and skewed pop. In one long minute, the stabbing, soulful "So Blind" moves through five different melodic segments, horns shift easily from haunting backdrop to explosive forefront, smoothly giving way to strings as Hayes' voice casts its bewitching spell. The ambitious soul of "Having It All" has been described as the diffident cousin of Marvin Gaye's "Save The Children" whilst the breezy "Greyhound Bus Station" is pure 70s AM Gold, evoking the easy warmth of Jimmy Webb's beloved Land's End period. The sublime resignation of "No Education", a beautifully slow number that begins, "Never read a book in my life/ But I feel just fine" is post-rock ballad heaven. Arriving towards the end, the title track arrives as a majestic suite, moving from a horn-and-guitar-led instrumental via shifting melodies to Hayes' compelling vocal bursts.

An album of such brilliance, Fed can comfortably sit alongside such staggering statement pieces as David Bowie's Young Americans, Randy Newman's 12 Songs or Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson. Indeed, for all the sprawling elements that went in - lengthy guitar builds, exploding horn sections, solemn strings, female backup chorus - it is a deeply personal and original record. Employing a distinct "more is more" aesthetic, he demonstrates remarkable restraint in producing an album of such intimacy. "My creation has drowned me," he memorably sings on languid opener "Whose Blues", yet he navigates the shifting styles and ideas with enviable ease.

In the Land of Hi-Fi' is one of Sarah's best albums. The songs are terrific, the arrangements dynamic, the orchestra a blast, the recording quality first-rate.
Accompanied by an all-star orchestra arranged by Ernie Wilkins and featuring J.J. Johnson on trombone, Roy Haynes on drums and altoist Cannonball Adderley (who was near the beginning of his career), the great singer is in superior form during these performances, particularly on Soon,' Cherokee,' I'll Never Smile Again,' and An Occasional Man.' She gives brassy, Sassy-fied treatments to be-bop jazz standards such as How High the Moon' and Cherokee'.
This reissue adds four bonus tracks with the Hugo Peretti Orchestra. All tracks were recorded in New York in 1955.

180g are delighted to release "Souvenir", an album by one of the most promising and talented music makers from today's Japanese underground scene: VIDEOTAPEMUSIC.

Videotapemusic is a young music and video producer from Tokyo who uses old Japanese and Asian VHS tapes collected in dusty recycle shops and closed rental video stores as raw material for his sampling work and video production, creating a singular and highly unique musical world that has created waves on the Japanese scene since 2009. Starting out strong with three self-released albums, followed by two albums on Japanese label Kakubarhythm and a collaboration 12" on EM Records, "Souvenir" is now the first Videotapemusic album released outside of Japan, available as a limited 180g heavyweight vinyl LP edition, and in digital format. The LP comes with a download card.

The eight tracks in "Souvenir" also feature the cream of the crop from the current Japanese scene: Beipana on steel guitar, MC.sirafu on steel pan, saxophonists Satomi Endo, Satoru Takeshima and Kaoru Masuda, trumpetistsTaichiro Kawasaki and Makoto Takahashi, DJ Eskimo, guitarist Yuichi Ushioda, percussionist and hand sonic player Hajime Matsushita, keyboardist Yu Arauchi, Videotapemusic on pianica and vocalists Sansuke Yamada, Toshihiko Ikeda and Ryu Tsuruoka. Dive into a world of musical delight and discover today's best music from Japan!

All Songs Produced by VIDEOTAPEMUSIC.

Recording & Mix : VIDEOTAPEMUSIC, Naoya Tokunou.

Mastering : Naoya Tokunou.

About 180g:

180g is a music agency providing vinyl pressing, distribution and licensing services specialised in the Japanese market. Its strong knowledge of the Japanese music scene and industry allows 180g to bring top quality solutions to the various international labels it is working with, for their development in Japan, and to Japanese labels for their development outside of the country. In addition, 180g runs its own record label.

Jazz at The Philharmonic was a concert series produced by the legendary Norman Granz all the way from 1944 to 1983. Billie Holiday performed several times in the 1940s and 50s and was even a member of the touring troupe late in her career. These sides were recorded in 1945 and 1946 with backing from legends like Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young, and Barney Kessel. Recorded at the height of her technical prowess and before her hard living affected her voice, these performances from Los Angeles and New York City are some of the finest live recordings of her career. Absolute essentials from a jazz legend.

See that amazing personnel list All five of those musicians are scheduled to reunite for a special one-time concert on February 20, 2018 at noted London jazz club Pizza Express. To celebrate, ESP-Disk' is reissuing this seminal album of British avant-jazz on vinyl.

British pianist Peter Lemer studied with Jaki Byard, Paul Bley, and Bill Dixon, so his roots in jazz are strong. His lengthy and distinguished career has found him in a wide variety of settings. As an avant-garde jazz pianist, he recorded with Spontaneous Music Ensemble, in the jazz fusion realm, he was a member of Gilgamesh and Paraphernalia, as a progressive rock keyboardist, he played with Gong, Baker Gurvitz Army, the Mike Oldfield Group, Seventh Wave, and In Cahoots. Sideman credits include work with Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, and more.

Surprisingly, Local Colour - his debut recording - is Lemer's only album as a leader. Recorded in London in 1966, before jazz fusion or prog-rock even existed, it belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about the British jazz scene, and not only because of Lemer's talents. Everyone in this quintet went on to notable achievements. This was sax great John Surman's recording debut, he is now arguably the premiere British jazz saxophonist, with a prolific and much- praised discography. Chances to hear the also scintillating sax sound of the more obscure Nisar Ahmad Khan (AKA George Khan) in a jazz context are much rarer, though near the end of 2017 Emanem released an excellent two-disc compilation of concert recordings and prog-rock fans may remember his appearance on Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger than Richard and his work with Cream lyricist Pete Brown and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Drummer Jon (then going by John) Hiseman had already established himself on the British jazz scene by co-founding the New Jazz Orchestra in 1964, two years after the Local Colour session he started Colosseum, one of the most successful British jazz-rock bands, and he even collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musical Cats. Bassist Tony Reeves had had a hit single in 1965 with Sounds Orchestral ("Cast Your Fate to the Wind"), after a brief stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Reeves joined Hiseman in Colosseum, he was also a member of Greenslade and Curved Air in addition to session work with Fairport Convention singer Sandy Denny and guitarist John Martyn. That's a whole lot of talent in the Peter Lemer Quintet! Together, they make a sort of inside/outside jazz that doesn't abandon themes and harmony but is still quite freewheeling when it wants to be.

African Scream Contest 2

A great compilation can open the gate to another world. Who knew that some of the most exciting Afro-funk records of all time were actually made in the small West African country of Benin Once Analog Africa released the first African Scream Contest in 2008, the proof was there for all to hear, gut-busting yelps, lethally well- drilled horn sections and irresistibly insistent rhythms added up to a record that took you into its own space with the same electrifying sureness as any favourite blues or soul or funk or punk sampler you might care to mention.

Ten years on, intrepid crate-digger Samy Ben Redjeb unveils a new treasure- trove of Vodoun-inspired Afrobeat heavy funk crossover greatness. Right from the laceratingly raw guitar fanfare which kicks o Les Sympathics' pile-driving opener, it's clear that African Scream Contest II is going to be every bit as joyous a voyage of discovery as its predecessor. And just as you're trying to get o the canvas after this one-punch knock out, an irresistible Afro-ska romp with a more than subliminal echo of the Batman theme puts you right back there. Ignace De Souza and the Melody Aces' Asaw Fofor" would've been a killer instrumental but once you've factored in the improbably-rich-to-the-point-of-being-Nat-King-Cole-influenced lead vocal, it's a total revelation.

The screaming does not stop there, in fact it's only just beginning. But the

strange thing about African Scream Contest II's celebration of unfettered Beninese creativity is that it would not have been possible without the assistance of a musician who had been trained by the Russian secret services to "search and destroy" enemies of the country's (then) Marxist-Leninist president Mathieu Kerekou.

Already familiar to fans of the first African Scream Contest as a mainstay of ruthlessly disciplined military band Les Volcans de la Capitale, Lokonon André vanished in a cloud of dust at Ben Redjeb's behest with a list of names and some petrol money, only to return a few days later having miraculously tracked down every single name he'd been given. The source of this Afrobeat bounty-hunter's impressive people-finding skills - his training with the KGB - highlights the tension between encroaching authoritarian politics and fearless expressions of personal creative freedom which is the back-story of so much great African music of the 60s and 70s. Happily, in this instance, Lokonon was tracking the artists down to oer them licensing deals, rather than to arrest them.

Where some purveyors of vintage African sounds seem to be strip-mining the

continent's musical heritage with no less rapacious intent than the mining companies and colonial authorities who previously extracted its mineral wealth, Samy Ben Redjeb's determination to track this amazing music to its human sources pays huge karmic dividends.

Like every other Analog Africa release, African Scream Contest II is illuminated by meticulously researched text and eortlessly fashion-forward photography supplied by the artists themselves. Looming large - alongside Lokonon André - in the cast of biopic-worthy characters to emerge from this seductive tropical miasma is visionary space-nerd Bernard Dohounso, who laid the foundations for Benin's vinyl predominance by importing and assembling the turntables that would play the products of his Bond villain-acronymed pressing plant SATEL, a factory that would revolutionise the music industry in the whole region.

The scene documented here couldn't have been born anywhere else but in the Benin Republic , and the prime reason for that is Vodoun. It's one of the world's most complex religions, involving the worship of some 250 divinities, where each divinity has its own specific set of rhythms, and the bands introduced on the African Scream Contest series and other compilations from that country were no less diverse than that army of dierent Gods. At once restless pioneers and masters of the art of modernising their own folklore, the mystic sound of Vodoun was their prime source of inspiration.

One especially irascible Vodoun-adept was Antoine Dougbe, who styled himself The devil's prime minister' while turning ancestral rhythms into satanically alluring modern beats. As Orchestre Poly-Rythmo songwriter Pynasco has observed sagely, Evil is not elsewhere, evil extends into the house'. And African Scream Contest II is a gloriously cinematic road-trip through an undiscovered realm of music lore whose familiarity is every bit as thrilling as its otherness.

Written by Ben Thomson, March 2018

To find Lawkyz, follow the beat. It is here, in this vital part, this lighthouse which guides the route of the other instruments, which it prints in depth the low notes of his four strings. Riveted on the Drums. linking with it a rhythmic pact, ensuring the propulsion of the groove on stage with Erik Truffaz or Guts; on records with UHT °, Anna Kova, or Versus, his hip hop project with full live band. When he puts his fetish instrument, when he lets cool his amp, then wakes up his evil twin: The Waxidermist. One year after his last EP, The Waxidermist comes back to tell his story.

Strut presents the brand new album from cosmic jazz travellers The Pyramids, led by saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, 'An Angel Fell'. I wanted to use folklore, fantasy and drama as a warning bell,' explains Ackamoor. The songs explore global themes that are important to me and to us all: the rise of catastrophic climate change and our lack of concern for our planet, loss of innocence and separation... but positive themes too, the healing power of music, collective action and the simple beauty of nature.' Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, the album was recorded during an intense week at Quatermass studios in London and is one of the deepest, richest works yet from a band reaching their highest creative peak since the early '70s. Some of the many highlights include the poignant title track depicting a fallen angel in purgatory, outrage and grief on the powerful, hard hitting 'Soliloquy For Michael Brown' and the lilting, beautiful album closer, 'Sunset'.

The Pyramids originally came together in 1972 at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio where teachers included renowned pianist, Cecil Taylor. After forming in Paris and embarking on a cultural odyssey' across Africa, the group recorded three independent albums, 'Lalibela' (1973), 'King Of Kings' (1974) and 'Birth / Speed / Merging' (1976) and became renowned for their striking live shows, mixing percussive, spiritual and space-age jazz with performance theatre and dance. After migrating to San Francisco, they disbanded in 1977. 35 years later, the band reunited in 2012 following growing demand for their music from vinyl collectors. German label Disko B released the freeform album 'Otherwordly' and in 2016, they released their first album for Strut, the acclaimed 'We Be All Africans'.

'An Angel Fell' is released on Strut on 11th May 2018 and features full hand-painted artwork by Lewis Heriz.

New concept album by leading cosmic jazz collective exploring global apocalypse, climate change and the healing power of music
Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics - Superb cover painting by Lewis Heriz
Full priority worldwide PR campaign and marketing
Release supported by major European tour dates in May and key Summer festivals

Astro-Black mythology, astro-timeless immortality!

Astro Black has long been known as a cornerstone of the Ra catalog. It is well recorded, features a superb Arkestral lineup, and successfully combines several of the styles in which Sun Ra orbited, from Saturnic jazz to astro-funk. And now it's finally back in the earthly bins! Pressed on colored vinyl, and packaged with new cover art, with liner notes by Robert Campbell (author of The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra), and includes a poster insert of the original album artwork!

Although Astro Black was obviously professionally produced in a recording studio, no one is entirely sure where or when. The jacket of the original release gave the date as May 7, 1972, and the location as El Saturn Studio,' Chicago. There never was such an animal as the El Saturn studio, in Chicago or in any other town. Yet it was routinely cited as the venue for Saturn/Impulse! recordings, no matter how old they were or where they were originally from. Besides, May 1972 was the month that the Arkestrans had to pack up all their belongings and leave the house they had been staying in in Oakland, California, because they gotten on the wrong side of the Black Panthers. The road trip from Oakland back to Philadelphia would have taken some time.

The title track was a vehicle for Arkestral vocalist June Tyson, who had been with the band since 1967 and was in absolute peak form in 1972. Meanwhile, Ronnie Boykins, who had been Sunny's full-time bassist from 1957 through 1968, was a welcome guest on this occasion. It is his ostinato that holds the theme statement together, and his arco that guides and accompanies Sunny on his space wandering, where they are joined by Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet, and by the ecstatically interweaving alto saxes of Marshall Allen and Danny Davis. A trio of wriggling alto (Danny Davis), mini-Moog synthesizers, and high bowed bass develops, with Sunny and Ronnie accompanying Tyson's hushed recapitulation. This is one of the Arkestra's greatest performances.

Pressed on colored vinyl, and packaged with new cover art, with liner notes by Robert Campbell (author of The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra), and includes a poster insert of the original album artwork!

Cymbals has finally landed... and brought a 2nd saucer with it!

Originally recorded for the Impulse! jazz label in '73, Cymbals makes its first legitimate release on vinyl, paired with a second LP of unheard material from the same sessions. Hear Ra's Baroque soundscapes, electrolytic clusters and dithering Moogs catalyze images of monoliths, space stations, computers malfunctioning and galaxies imploding on pristine red and green vinyl with liner notes by known Ra-fficianado Brother Cleve!

Making its debut here, the second LP is culled from a mysterious tape recorded during the same time frame and with many of the same musicians (though no Ronnie Boykins, Ra provides keyboard bass). Could this be one of the unissued Impulse! LPs Quite probable. The tape box only lists the song titles.

Symbols, the 2nd LP, opens with some Space Age Cocktail Music' as only Sun Ra could conjure in his intergalactic lounge. Continuing the Sci-Fi film references, side one could well be post-last call cantina music from a galaxy far, far away. Side two, comprising Ra's keyboards and accompanying drums/percussion, feels like an alternate soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film still playing in theaters in 1973.

The Cymbals / Symbols Sessions New York City 1973 is yet another piece of the puzzle, the Mr. Re of Mr. Ra. On pristine red and green vinyl with liner notes by known Ra-fficianado Brother Cleve!

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. So there you have it... two welcome killer Jazz classics that deserve a revisit for your attention cut on limited 180 gram vinyl for your ears, your turntable and your dancefloor....

* First release from the Berlin based Jazz-O-Tech Records.

* Since its early days Jazz music has always been experimentatal, trying to contaminate, and integrate different cultures, styles and musical philosophies. Along the years, jazz movement expanded and diversified in many different genres and styles. Electronic music has also always been exprimental and the avant-garde of electronic musicians explored new technologies and new styles of music. Today the two musical frontieers meet and the contamination between jazz and electronic music will enrich both musical languages, changing the grooves but keeping the same depth and spirit of the two genres.
* Jazz-o-Tech is born in order to merge tradition with modernity, improvisation and experimentation, and to create a new style: Techno-Jazz. Finally the elegant arrangements and intricated solos of jazz can develop along the modern structures of Techno and Electronica, taking the listeners on an emotional, hypnotic and intense journey, making us think that future is not that far away.* For its debut release the new label, based between Berlin and Milan, is presenting the new representatives of Techno-Jazz. In this 12' vinyl all the artists represent the new concept that Jazz-o-Tech wants to promote. The argentinian sound designer and experimental musician Paine' is presenting a strong but elegant track full of jazz quotes and pulsing with swing. The DN3 trio (DJ and producer Guido Nemola, trumpet player Cesare Dell'Anna and pianist Mauro Tre) in their track "Lee Theme" mixes elegantly original jazz improvisation and a house inspired rythmic section. Berlin based duo Flat Maze (producer Stefano Mori and pianist Uri Gincel) play with techno grooves and with experimental raw and meditative sounds, but they still leave enough room for silence and emotions. Gamapawa are our final act, probably the most Jazz of all, definitely very much focused on experimenting new forms of contamination of Jazz and Electronica. In "Nobossa" DJ and electronic producer Paine Cuadrelli, trumpet player Mario Mariotti, japanese synth player Gak Sato and bass player Walter Prati (with guest appearance by saxophonist Gianni Mimmo) are providing the finest example of a cross over electronic experimental act which leaves the listeners with plenty of musical references and inspiring moments.

Born and raised on the common desire of bass player Mattias Geernaert and drummer Marius Couvreur to groove and dance on the dub vibes.
Kosmo sound saw daylight in late summer of 2016 when these two ghent based musicians found one another. After a few jam sessions and brainstorms they started searching for like minded colleagues and added 4 wonderful masters of sound. Two guitar players (Cyriel Vandenabeele and Edmund Lauret), one keyboard player (Bos Debusscher) and one saxophone player (Ambroos De Schepper).

This band's sound can definitely be described as dub influenced. Making people dance and drift away in groove and trance is what they stand for.
Because of their background in jazz they sometimes add some improvisations.