Pop & Rock News

"Abbiamo tutti un blues da piangere" is Italian jazz-rock/fusion heroes Perigeo's second album: it goes on a slow but steady evolution over a solid rock basis, moving from the originary jazz component to a growing fusion side, with an increasingly dominant search of melody. A must for any Jazz and Progressive rock lovers!

* Kebko Music is Tokyo-based Akiko Kiyama's independent music label focusing on releasing avant-garde music which is not bounded by any specific genres but embraces the whole range of techno, experimental music, field- & live-recordings and classical music. The label owner established her name by Richie Hawtin featuring her track in his well-known DE9 Transitions mix in 2005. Since then, her music style has gradually changed to explore the edge of electronic music. The core of the label is based on small handcrafted editions of cassette tapes. It aims to give a chance for all of artists and listeners to explore their musical experience and creativity.

* Akiko Kiyama was born in Tokyo, Japan. Since her youth, she was surrounded by classic music education and had been playing piano for 20 years. Her music career has started since 2004 since her debut EP "Dimension" on Sud Electronic(London) which got great supports from renowned DJ & Musicians like Mad Mike, Richie Hawtin , Sven Vath, Ricardo Villalobos. And in November 2005, her track " Like Ancient" has been licensed by M-NUS records ,and is appeared on DE9 Transitions by Richie Hawtin. In 2007, She moved to Berlin to follow through with her commitment to dance music and to develop her style further. She also released several singles on reputable labels such as Contexterrior, Lick My Deck, etc and her first album "7years" came out on District of Corruption under Kompakt. Since then she has been playing in Europe, North & South America and Japan widely, including her main acts at Fabric London and Panorama bar Berlin.

* This is Akiko Kiyama's 4th full-length album, stemming from two years of exploration outside her established dance floor inclinations, boiling down her sound to its essential organic grooves, intricate harmonies and eery atmospheres. The nature of her organic grooves lies within inter-sound gaps, carefully crafted to lead the listener through time distortions and into an hypnotic solitary world where music is breathed, not played. A sound imprinted of a definitely human character and vigor, yet sometimes ambiguous, fleeting, and capricious. From her peculiar sense of harmony and rhythm, and a meticulous minimal approach to composition, emerges rich lyrical lines forming a unique musical universe that few has had the chance to hear yet.

Jimi Tenor has compiled a selection of afro jazz tracks that he has written and performed over the years with musicians Icelandic drummer, Helgi Svavar Helgason, Helsinki based guitarist/bassist and journalist Ilkka Mattila, legendary drummer Tony Allen, Cuban & Berlin based trumpeter Daniel Allen Oberto, Ethiopian/Finnish & Helsinki based percussionist Abdissa 'Mamba' Assefa (Itetune), Nigerian/German & Berlin based percussionist Akinola Famson, Helsinki based percussionist Mongo Aaltonen, American & Paris based spoken word artist/singer & painter Allonymous, Helsinki based flügelhornist Tero Lindberg, Finnish & Berlin based guitarist Kalle Kalima, Polish & Berlin based bassist Patrick Frankowski, British trombonist Hilary Jeffery and Ghanaian/German & Berlin based drummer Ekow Alabi Savage. Jimi Tenor, born Lassi Osmo Tapio Lehto in Lahti, Finland, who has been releasing recorded music for 30 years, plays several instruments as is his usual practice. He is credited for playing on the upcoming release Saxentric; acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, background vocals, bass kalimba, drums, drum programming, electric guitar, electric piano, flute, Hammond organ, Korg MS-20, Korg PolySix, Log-o-phone, Moog, organ, percussion, Photophone, plastic bongos, programming, shaker, synthesizers, tambourine, tenor saxophone, vocals and Walton organ.

Having already played on a film soundtrack with Miles Davis on Luis Malle's 'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud', Barney Wilen -- still barely in his 20s - got the opportunity to compose the score for another French film that used jazz as a background, 'Un Témoin Dans La Ville'. Judging by the present album the result is most convincing; one couldn't hope for a better marriage, so perfect is the way the music suits the image and vice versa.
The soundtrack is coupled on the B side with the more freely jazzy studio album 'Jazz Sur Seine', which teams Wilen with three-fourths of the original Modern Jazz Quartet (with Milt Jackson on piano only, of all things, Percy Heath on bass, and Clarke), plus the Latin percussion of Gana M'Bow.
Wilen gets more of a chance to stretch out and reveal his swinging, warm tenor tone; Jackson is quite competent as a comping accompanist and in fairly fluent, right-handed bop flurries.

This selection is drawn from Billie Holiday's recordings of the mid-1950s. Her voice possessed a unique presence, a sound that seems lit up by a resilient vitality. Producer Norman Granz set Holiday among the small jazz combos that suited her talents best, groups that included some of the finest soloists of her generation, such as trumpeter Harry Sweets' Edison and saxophonists Benny Carter and Ben Webster. Granz also supplied ideal rhythm sections, with pianist Jimmy Rowles and guitarists Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessel making appearances here. There's more room to stretch out than was available on the early Columbia and Commodore recordings, and the results are relaxed and profound treatments of some great songs.

The French-born Edgar Varèse (1883-1965), believed music to be both an art and a science. His pioneering use of electronic instruments like the theremin, along with his theory of 'organized sound' has earned him the impressive title of 'Father of Electronic Music'. Varèse spent the early twenties as a starving composer in NYC, writing works like the percussionless 'Octandre' and 'Intégrales', his first piece to use the term 'spatial music'. Upon returning to Paris in 1928, he composed the celebrated 'Ionisation', the first piece ever written for an entirely percussion ensemble (13 percussionist playing 40 instruments). His 1936 piece, 'Density 21.5', written for solo flute for the premiere of George Barrère's new platinum flute, is one of the great masterpieces for unaccompanied flute. It is also one of the only compositions written by Varèse during this decade. His next major work, 'Déserts', was in fact not written until 1950. It was the first piece ever written for magnetic tape and orchestra and was meant to be the soundtrack to a film which would juxtapose images of actual deserts with images from past wars (the great 'deserts' of civilization).

Masahiko Satoh's fourth album is a duet with German pianist and composer Wolfgang Dauner. Dauner is one of very early European avant-garde jazz pianists, and he recorded the first free jazz album in Germany back in 1964. Dauner played with Eberhard Weber and Jean-Luc Ponty, and in the late 60s, he experimented with choral music. Being a passionate innovator and experimenter, in 1970 he discovered electronic devices and started using them in his music. He experimented with ring-modulated Hohner clavinets and pianos and recorded several albums for ECM. During his Japanese tour in spring 1971, he met one of the most advanced Japanese pianists of that time, Masahiko Satoh.

The five compositions on this album were recorded in Tokyo in March 1971, but were not released until that autumn. It's interesting that a few months later, Masahiko Satoh will record and release his best known, and in some sense, legendary album ' Amalgamation' - an eclectic mix of musical genres and sounds, which was probably influenced by his earlier collaboration with Dauner.

'Pianology', released soon after 'Amalgamation', wasn't as strong in comparison, and stayed in its shade for decades. 'Pianology' is a collection of free form classical and jazz piano duo improvs, spiced with ring modulator sounds. Quite bland in its compositions, this album's main value is its revolutionary (for the time) use of electronic devices in jazz, which is only interesting in a technical way, rather than musical, at least on this release.

LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

The acoustic debut album Udopeia created by the band Pilots On Dope was issued by the Verve label in June 2014. The sound has its roots in Brazil's broad-ranging musical traditions, including bossa, samba and Afro Brazil, and evoking the golden age of the sixties. Consequently, the album went on to serve as the starting point for well-known mixers from the Pilots On Dope milieu.

Taking this development to a second stage, Udopeia - The Remixes is aimed at an audience accustomed to electronic beats but also with an interest in musical reflexes and retro influences. The new remix album cleverly covers this musical spectrum, from exotic Latin sounds through to contemporary electronic remix culture.

The Vienna Electronic movement, popular in the nineties, was a counterpart to the Nu Jazz movement which was emerging in Germany at the same time, and itself strongly influenced by offshoots of Acid Jazz. During the epoch-making close of the long-lasting Acid Jazz trend, a series of producers became established in Germany and England, drawing on elements of Latin, Brazil, easy listening, jazz and soul, and creating a veritable boom which went on to influence and inspire producers in Italy and France. Their Austrian equivalent was certainly the Vienna Electronic movement which triggered a literal downbeat cult, creating a distinctive genre with its striking funk riffs. Sampling, a by-product of Hip Hop, was certainly a key element in the resounding success of Kruder & Dorfmeister, the pioneers of Vienna Electronic.
Despite the reduced tempo, this trend would conquer the dancefloor, generating its own identity and a musical code - light and raunchy, underpinned with an atmospheric soundscape, and overlaid with a pulsing rhythm in the heartbeat of flickering sound densities. The remix project brings together a wide range of producers who made history with Vienna Electronic, in particular past master Richard Dorfmeister and artists from his G-Stone label including Stereotyp, Makossa & Megablast and Gümix. They are joined by fellow remixers such as Shanti Roots and the Pilots Gerald Tomez (Vienna Scientists) and Gerhard Gigler (DJ Bunani). The newcomers Shantisan, Ksawa and Corrado Bucci from Brescia bring with them promising credentials and refreshing contributions.

Formed in 1971 by future MAGMA keyboardist, Jean-Pol Asseline, with musicians from the jazz and jazz-rock fields, this unique LP from Rhesus O will probably find a place between SOFT MACHINE albums in your record collection!

Brian Auger, the London born keyboard genius & musical pioneer, lauded and loved by everybody from Herbie Hancock to Mose Allison, from the Brand New Heavies to The Beastie Boys, whose tracks have been sampled by Mos Def, Common, Air and Kid Loco, and his original compositions covered by Sarah Vaughan, Richard 'Groove' Holmes and he is the proud recipient of a US Congressional Award For Services to Jazz!

Since the 2015 release of volume one of Back To The Beginning - The Brian Auger Vinyl Anthology, it's fair to say that a whole new audience of fans and taste makers have joined the massed ranks of music lovers who were already aware of this great mans incredible, pioneering music and career that now spans over 50 years. After more sell out tours of the US, UK and Europe in the last 12 months, magazine features and an epic, 2 hour interview with Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music - more people than over now grasp what a genre busting, pioneering artist Brian is.

This second volume brings together not only remastered classics from Brian's' career, but also super rare, and previously unreleased tracks - specially selected for the vinyl version - the finger snapping, dance floor focused material for DJs & collectors who want their grooves pressed on wax!

Check out his blistering jazz piano tracks from the early 60's including Poinciana and Work Song, the barely known, late 60's Hammond organ & big band versions of jazz standards Moanin', Sister Sadie, and the incredibly gritty version byThe Trinity of Jimmy McGriffs' MG Blues, and the Big John Patton penned Funky Mama!

As well as Oblivion Express perennials such as Straight Ahead, Inner City Blues and Happiness Is Just Around The Bend (Brians original composition, made famous by Cuba Gooding Seniors The Main Ingredient) there is also the cosmic, soul-jazz instrumental Light On The Path, from Brians' 1973 genre busting Closer To It album - pressed onto vinyl for the first time in decades.

You will also be swept away by Ella, the rare track Brian wrote and dedicated to his wife of nearly 50 years - and you will no doubt be up on your feet when checking out brand new, previously unreleased live version of Freedom Jazz Dance, featuring original Oblivion Express vocalist Alex Ligertwood - recorded on 2015's epic and triumphant European tour and released here for the very first time.

Back To The Beginning..Again is a fantastic collection that demonstrates why Brian Auger is considered legendary.

Dorothy Ashby may not be the first jazz harpist (Caspar Reardon) or the first female jazz harpist (Adele Girard), but her good feeling for time and ability to construct melodic, guitar-like lines, mark her as the most accomplished modern jazz harpist (...)

Accompanying her was another Detroit girl, Terry Pollard. Terry's main instrument is the piano and she is one of the best in the country, bar none. She is also a pretty fair country vibraharpist and in this set, Miss Pollard plays vibes exclusively. With them is still another Detroiter, Herman Wright, who like Miss Pollard has worked with Terry Gibbs and Yusef Lateef, and who also served as Miss Ashby's regular bassist(...) Completing the quartet is Jimmy Cobb, drummer for the Miles Davis group. During the proceedings, Cobb travels between brushes and sticks without upsetting the equilibrium of this essentially quiet set.

There is a wide range of material presented here, from blues like Benny Goodman's title number, Soft Winds, and Miss Ashby's With Strings Attached, to movie themes such as Laura, Wild Is the Wind and The Guns of Navarone. Then there are works by such superior writers of standards as Kurt Weill (My Ship), Gershwin (The Man I Love and Love Is Here to Stay)

For his second album, Two Solo Pieces, Jon Gibson forgoes the dense, multi-layered timbres of Visitations in favor of simple textures and tone. While Two Solo Pieces serves up further evidence of Gibson's centrality to American minimalism - witness its inclusion in Alan Licht's famed Minimal Top Ten list - this profoundly intimate record also reveals the beauty of enclosed spaces and infinite harmonic vistas.

As its unadorned title suggests, Two Solo Pieces consists of a pair of side-long tracks featuring the composer alone. While "Cycles," an iridescent improvisation on organ, achieves a downright eerie sense of expansiveness, Gibson's captivating alto flute on "Untitled" draws the listener inside the instrument itself.

The photo on the album's back cover - a seated Gibson surrounded by cascading rows of organ pipes and the vaulted ceiling in Manhattan's Peace Church - offers a striking visual complement to these gorgeous recordings.

Originally released in 1977 on Philip Glass' Chatham Square imprint, this first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Anthony Moore, Roberto Cacciapaglia and Terry Riley.

LIMITED EDITION OF 500 COPIES

In 1962, Orson Welles brought to the big screen THE TRIAL what he called his greatest film. Filmed in a beautiful black and white, written by Welles and with the incredible performance of Anthony Perkins, Romy Schneider and Jeanne Moreau. The Trial' captures very well the Kafkaesque feeling of the novel. The film is a paranoic nightmare interrupted here and there by moments of typical Welles humor. One of the elements that contributes greatly to the atmosphere of the film is the soundtrack of Jean Ledrut that makes use of both original parts and adaptations by Tomaso Albinoni (Adagio in G minor). This soundtrack makes extensive use of adaptations of Albinoni music as well as some original tracks very atmospheric. There are also some jazzy tracks (played by the great jazz pianist as well as composer Martial Solal) that fit beautifully.

The Miles Davis Quintet, in 1956, were maybe the best and most accomplished young group in jazz. And the quartet of albums that they recorded on 2 days that year (Cookin', Steamin', Relaxin', and this title, Workin') are some of the most famous and timeless jazz recordings in history. They recorded this heavily over the course of 2 days to satisfy contractual obligations, but you wouldn't know it by hearing the recordings. Davis, Coltrane, Garland, Chambers, and Jones are a seamless and incredibly cohesive group, playing off each other perfectly, and it's somewhat shocking to know that they only existed in this particular incarnation for less than 3 years.

The ozric's 1989 first true album reissued on double heavyweight vinyl for first time. One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival scene, the Ozrics layer ambient and ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips, incredible rave grooves and psychedelic progressive rock.

For over 30 years, the Ozrics have experienced the vicissitudes of the rock and roll life. The band has flourished through a number of line-up changes, spawned several side projects, created their own record label, scored a hit record and sold over a million albums world-wide. And yet, the basic motivation behind the band's existence has never wavered. Their signature blend of hippy aesthetics and raver electronics with spiraling guitars, textured waves of keyboard and midi samplers, and super-groovy bass and drum rhythms connects fans of progressive rock, psychedelia and DJ culture.

'Pungent Effulgent', the Ozric's first 'official' album after self-releasing material on cassettes, is the first produced to label standards and retains their explorative style based on improvisations whilst performing live. The vinyl features a bonus live performance of the 19 minute roller "Ayervedism" originally taken from the Ozric's self-made cassettes sold at gigs and festivals. The band's early influences from peers such as Hawkwind, Gong and Pink Floyd are evident in this transformative release.

Stunning jazz soundtrack for the 1967 movie based on the Italian cult comic series Satanik.

A great blend of 60s mood and Italian jazz composed by the dynamic duo Roberto Pregadio and Romano Mussolini for the 1965 movie based on the mega cult Italian comic hero KRIMINAL.

first issue of anywhere of this 1977 recording from Rome - continuation of Strut and Art Yard's Sun Ra release programme following successful compilations by Marshall Allen (2014) and Gilles Peterson (2015) - official reissue mastered from first generation reel to reel tapes - LP features photos by H.L. Lindenmaier, sleeve notes by the Arkestra's Knoel Scott and new cover design featuring work by Lewis Heriz

Strong "loft jazz" from an upcoming Finnish trio recorded at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival. Composer/drummer Sami Nummela leads his fellow musicians, trumpeter Tomi Nikku and bassist Joonas Tuuri into deep yet melodic soundscapes on the 7 tracks included here. The group draws inspiration from the travels of their invited adventurer hero J. Bowman, whose expedits are documented on the liner notes taking the form of a journal. The intimate surroundings of a Helsinki cafe, an impromptu recording place, gives the set a strong feeling, not unlike that of the 1970s NYC loft jazz scene. The music sounds free at heart, yet is very melodic at the same time, and the young band excel in finding just what it takes to make a good composition swing.

Released as clear and black vinyl versions, comes with a free download.

Airplay: Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE, Bassoradio Helsinki, Radio Helsinki, Deutschlandradio Kultur

Strong "loft jazz" from an upcoming Finnish trio recorded at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival. Composer/drummer Sami Nummela leads his fellow musicians, trumpeter Tomi Nikku and bassist Joonas Tuuri into deep yet melodic soundscapes on the 7 tracks included here. The group draws inspiration from the travels of their invited adventurer hero J. Bowman, whose expedits are documented on the liner notes taking the form of a journal. The intimate surroundings of a Helsinki cafe, an impromptu recording place, gives the set a strong feeling, not unlike that of the 1970s NYC loft jazz scene. The music sounds free at heart, yet is very melodic at the same time, and the young band excel in finding just what it takes to make a good composition swing.

Released as clear and black vinyl versions, comes with a free download.

Airplay: Finnish National Broadcasting Company YLE, Bassoradio Helsinki, Radio Helsinki, Deutschlandradio Kultur

Reuniting the best session musicians Japan had to offer to make an album that would evoke the atmospheres of South Pacific islands, the kind of places Japanese people spend their vacations in. Pacific (1978) is a treat to the ears, its theme of the southern Pacific ocean and its warm cerulean waters relax its listeners with a fusion of city pop, soft jazz, and that good old 1970's funk while remaining surprisingly fully instrumental throughout all contributions from artists Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita. A true cult LP and an inspiration for a lot of, so called, vaporware' music.

Recorded at Helsinki's We Jazz Festival, the new LP "Origami" by the Jaska Lukkarinen Trio offer a solid glimpse of the remarkable creative power of one of the best working groups in the vibrant Finnish scene. Drummer Jaska Lukkarinen (of Dalindèo), sax man Jussi Kannaste and bassist Antti Lötjönen (of The Five Corners Quintet) play jazz which relies on the strong dynamic of the group. They swing at times, turn inwards for some deep meditative passaged on occasion, and find their own personal way within the music. Think pianoless small groups in the vein of some of Jimmy Giuffre's best work, for example, and you're in the right mindset.

On this LP, the Jaska Lukkarinen Trio capture the essence of their music and the innovation in the moment which is at the very core of all great jazz music. They tackle the music of a close collaborator Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen (of Dalindèo and Ricky-Tick Big band), and deliver a which set brimming with fresh musical ideas, and this music has appeal well outside of the hard core jazz crowd. This music is approachable yet deep with layers at the same time. Recorded on analogue equipment, the set echoes a the classic sonic palette of live jazz recordings, while offering music which looks ahead at all times. The LP release includes an article about the project + a digital download with the bonus track, "Beauty Passing By".

(A) A1. Black Coffee
(B) A2. I've Got You Under My Skin
(C) A3. Easy Living
(D) A4. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
(E) A5. It Ain't Necessarily So
(F) A6. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
(G) B1. A Woman Alone With The Blues
(H) B2. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(I) B3. When The World Was Young
(J) B4. Love Me Or Leave Me
(K) B5. You're My Thrill
(L) B6. There's A Small Hotel

Sérgio Mendes & Bossa Rio's Você Ainda Não Ouviu Nada! (1964) is a true milestone in the evolution of Brazilian instrumental music post-bossa nova. Infinitely sophisticated, but still full of swing, Bossa Rio (Tiao Neto, bass, Edison Machado, batteries, Edson Maciel, Raul de Souza and Hector Costita, metals) deal here with the reinvention of bossa classics and original songs
180g vinyl.

A psychedelic jazz monster from stone cold Estonia' - Frank Raines, Funk Night Recs

Jazzbeatjäätis really reminds me of Hancock's Mwandashi or Sextant era with Bennie Maupin.' - Alain Mion, Cortex

Forerunners of underground Estonian jazz-funk since 2013, Estrada Orchestra is a 5 pieces band based in Tallinn. Loosely defined genre borders situate the group of master improvisers into equal parts psychedelic grooves and avant-garde. Although names like Herbie Hancock and Mulatu Astatke pop into mind, the list of kindred spirits of Estrada is far and beyond to find.

Established producer and bass player Misha Panfilov brings his expertise in film music, deep funk and Eastern Bloc obscurities, while Volodja Brodsky smooths things out with fusion influences behind the Clavinet and Rhodes. Both composers are equally obsessed with all that's jazz. Flutist Ilja Gussarov, the solist and shaman of the bunch, orchestrates the crowd into a tribe with a vibe that shines in a live setting. Sashko Petrov on tenor sax and percussion adds the slick soul of a vagabonder to the recipe. Madis Katkosilt of provides a solid backbone with heavy beats and just the right amount of crunch on the drums.

After their self-named début album flew off the shelves in 2015, Estrada Orchestra puts out their 2nd LP Jazzbeatjäätis in 2017 via French imprint Stereophonk. Having gigged in Tallinn Music Week, Positivus and numerous festivals in Estonia the jam band is ready to take on the international stage with support from the likes of Shawn Lee, Greg Foat and Alain Mion.

Originally released in 1959, Chega de Saudade is the debut album from João Gilberto and is often credited as the first bossa nova album
180g vinyl