Yearly Archives: 2008

Tokyo’s funky jazzers zip into this one, with with their trademark infectious energy and the music they call ‘Death Jazz’. They can cut the groove down as well as, demonstrated on the delightful ‘Darkside’ or ‘Sorrow’ but my personal favourite is the suitably wild ‘Mingus Fan Club’. Excellent.

Graham Radley

Australia’s own Ashley Anderson, aka Katalyst returns with his second album. "What’s Happening" is a old school hip hop inspired affair with elements of classic soul. Katalyst has recruited some of the most cutting edge rappers and singers from around the globe and blesses everyone with head nodding soulful beats to work with. Steve Spacek, whose voice may remind you of Billy Paul recreates some 70’s soul on "How Bout’ Us". The slept on Diverse from Chicago shows off his superb flow and word play over the piano laden track "Dedicated". "May Have Been James Brown" is a heavy hitting break beat track with well placed turntable cutting and scratching that gives a nod to the formative years of hip hop. With other notable appearances by Ru C.L, yungun and Stephanie McKay, Katalyst captures the spirit of hip hop’s past and brings it up to date with slick production and loads of funky beats to make it feel fresh and new. Definitely worth checking out.

Reg Dancy

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I recently had the pleasure of witnessing the enchanting Elizabeth Shepherd at The Vancouver Jazz Festival performing some of the tracks from her new album ‘Parkdale’, named after the Toronto neighbourhood in which she resides. This, her sophomore album however expands the trio to a quartet or quintet on certain tracks and is produced by Ben Lamdin (Nostalgia 77). Elizabeth describes her style as groove based jazz which is particularly evident on the funky ‘Long As You’re Living’, ‘Just One Song’ and the title track, the Latinesque ‘Con Alma’ and the dancer ‘Mirror Living’. The standouts for me though are the mellower cuts ‘Shining Tear Of The Sun’, ‘Next Time Around’ and ‘Higher Ground’ (no not Stevie’s) which showcase Elizabeth’s voice and song writing abilities beautifully.

Andy Allen

Although I’ve always admired Paul Weller’s music and of course his impeccable dress sense his releases are not usually found within these pages. Of course soul music has always been an influence on him but on ’22 Dreams’ he explores a vast array of styles resulting in a dream like sequence of flashing random thoughts which somehow flow in natural progression. The tracks which will appeal to readers of these pages however are his tribute to Alice Coltrane ‘Song For Alice’, an orchestrated deep jazz instrumental you’d swear was a long lost gem from the woman herself, ‘Cold Moments’ which combines acoustic pop-folk with a heavy dose of soul sway, the folk meets East End barrow boy sounding ‘Black River’ and ‘God’ with spoken word from Aziz Ibrahim having a talk with The Mighty One Above in heartfelt working class bloke kind of way. It’s out there but that’s the way I like it!

Andy Allen

Originally released in 1979 jazz trombonist Gregory Charles Royal’s super rare ‘Dream Come True‘ finally gets a reissue. The in-demand up-tempo waltz ‘Dancer’ did make an appearance over ten years ago on the dubious looking compilation ‘A Good Example Of What It Is’ on Higher Learning Records but it’s great to have it again on a quality pressing. The said track is nothing short of exquisite and definitely the standout here, but not to be overlooked is the funky title track and the melancholy ‘For You’ on which Gregory provides some fragile vocals.

Andy Allen

Record collector extraordinaire Jonny Trunk launches his new Jonny label (subsidiary to Trunk) in fine style with a reissue of this “rare as rocking horse shit” album. Originally released in 1968 as a private pressing in limited quantities it was the work of a young composer (only 17 years old at the time) Jonathan Klein who married Hebrew song and prayer with New York modern jazz. With players of the caliber of Herbie Hancock, Thad Jones, Ron Carter, Jerome Richardson and Grady Tate this makes for a glorious listening experience. From the opening intro ‘Blessing Over The Candles’ which comes on like the dawning of a bright new day, through intoxicating moments like ‘Sanctification’, the bossa flavoured ‘Kiddush’ to the concluding ‘Final Amen’ this music is truly a blessing to behold.

Andy Allen

Following his releases on Black Jazz Records Doug Carn converted to Islam and took the name Abdul Rahim Ibrahim. Originally released in 1977 on Tablighi Records, the super rare ‘Al Raman! Cry Of The Floridian Tropic Son’ sees him fuse Islamic influenced spiritual jazz with Californian sweet soul. The result is breathtaking with immaculate cuts such as the lilting ‘Casbah’, the joyful ‘Tropic Sons’, the brooding ‘Al Rahman!’ and the Blaxploitation flavoured ‘The Watcher’.

Andy Allen

Nick Van Gelder, former Jamiroquai drummer and key mover and shaker during London’s Acid Jazz heyday, clearly knows a thing or two about making soulful, funky records. Which is why I can’t help but feel a little disappointed upon listening to ‘Choose Music’ (especially given that it’s released through BBE, a consistently brilliant label). The songs are written, produced and, for the most part, played by Van Gelder himself, with vocals from Akwaaba People’s Mazen, and the style is an unashamedly straightforward brand of ‘soulful’, jazzy house music. Many people will undoubtedly love this record – fans of the likes of Reel People, in particular – but to me it is underwhelming and unmemorable. It’s destined to be successful as a piece of inoffensive, background bar Muzak, but a man of Van Gelder’s talent surely has more to give.

Tom Breslin

There’s little of note to be said about The Ipanemas that hasn’t already been said before. Essentially, all you really need to know is that, having formed in the 1950s, their experience and pedigree is unrivalled within Brazilian music and that there are no finer proponents of the afro-bossa nova sound (that they so lovingly pioneered and perfected) alive today. This, their fifth album, is quite simply wonderful. There is no gimmicky concept or technological trickery, just sublime, timeless music.

Tom Breslin

Hailed as the number one soul producer of Russia, Valique lives up his reputation by delivering a collection of soaring post disco dance tracks. Valique lays down the rhythm throughout with funky bass lines and lively percussions. This is evident on tracks like “Wine Or Vinegar” which features nice string and horn arrangements. “Scream For Daddy”, is laced with clever keyboard riffs. All but two songs here are instrumentals but those are highlights as well. “Where’s The Love” features Fanny Franklin of the funk band Orgone and “Out Of My Head” featuring Sofi Ocran are equally satisfying. Valique has already provided quality deep house and jungle tracks in the past. With R.A.W., he proves that he’s adept at creating quality dance music as well.

Reg Dancy

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This New Zealand based group returns with their fourth album, and quite possibly their best. That’s saying a lot considering they already have one gold album and two double platinum albums to their credit. With Solid Ground the growth of this soul funk dub step band is evidenced by the precision like live instrumentation that is heard through the entire disk. On “Love Is A Radiation“, Baranaby Weir’s smooth vocals add warmth to this traditional reggae track. With “Make A Move”, the band adds a little funk, along with some nice horn arrangements as well. There’s also a nice dub remix for this track as a bonus. Overall, “Solid Ground” provides plenty of soulful, funky, reggae flavored gems and The Black Seeds prove that they can play any of these styles very well. This is another enjoyable record by a talented group that continues to get better.

Reg Dancy

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With all the albums that Monday Michiru has dropped over the past ten years, it’s a crime she hasn’t received the acclaim she rightly deserves. “Nexus” is the fourth lp she has released through Artistshare and purchased through her website. Without the restrictions of the majors, she is free to create a record that capitalizes on her classically jazz influenced background while infusing an array of diverse dance and rhythms. To label her sound as acid jazz isn’t accurate when you have first rate musicians like Adam Rodgers on guitar and Kyoto Jazz Massive to give the music a fuller sound. The track “Your Eyes”, produced by Soulfeenix is a funky uptempo tune that features some nice Fender Rhodes playing beneath the sweet horn arrangements. “Sands Of Time” is an uplifting soulful club flavored track. “Candy” is a nice midtempo track that finds Adam Rodgers on acoustic guitar surrounding Monday’s voice with warm colorful melodies. I’ve only touched on a few but,  the truth is,  this a strong record throughout. If you own any of Monday Michiru’s records then this will make a nice addition to some of her strongest material (Optimista, 4 Seasons, Routes). If you’re new to her then purchasing this wonderful record would be a great place to start to familiarize yourself with such a talented artist.

Reg Dancy

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After releasing several entertaining ep’s for Tru Thoughts, Jonathan James, aka Hint has finally dropped his second full length disc “Driven For Distraction”. While “Portakabin Fever” was a chilled out downtempo affair, “Driven” is full of instrumental clubs tracks and soulful delights. One of those delights is the opening track “Keep On Your Shirt On” featuring the soulful voice of Laura Vane. This upbeat track is a great introduction to the diversity of Hint’s talents. “Afro Love Forest” is an intoxicating melodic uptempo jam that features underrated label mate Kinny. Aside from the stellar vocal performances, “Driven” contains an assortment of club bangin’ instrumental joints like “Mutes And Drops”, a funky piano driven jam. The disc wraps up on a high note with the hit “The Tremmuh”, a funky broken beat track that made its way onto many dj’s playlists ever since it premiered as an ep back in 2005. In a short period of time, Hint has compiled an array of compositions that should catapult his status as one of the most talented producers on the rise.

Reg Dancy

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Promising release from one of the Afro Celt founders with N’Faly Kouyate taking centre stage on kora and balafon, his Belgian based band has members from France, Belgium, Angola and  Cameroun. It’s a bit rough round the edges in places but N’Faly’s charisma shines through driving the band forwards.

Graham Radley

18 tracks which bring a whole wealth and diversity of Japanese music to life but often take it off into unexpected directions which we like a lot. my picks would have to be Oki Dub Ainu Band’s ‘East Of Kunashri’ and Shibusashirazu’s ‘Akkan’, oh and make sure you listen to Takeharu Kunimoto & The Last Frontier’s ‘Appalchian Shamisen. Superb.

Graham Radley