Category Archives: Reviews

Good to hear that sweet voice again, 10 new tracks all written and produced by Ijahman and recorded at Anchor & Channel One in Jamaica. The laidback style picks up from the classic albums of the late 70s (Hail I Hymn and Are We has Warrior) again spreading the word on Rastafarianism and humanity in general. Check out ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Witness’. Superb – highly recommended.

Graham Radley

11 top selling tracks from across the years, which includes Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger, Youssou N’Dour with Neneh Cherry, Jimmy Cliff, Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango, Gipsy Kings and Mongo Santamaria. You’ll know them all, this neatly packages them up ready for you to sing and dance away to.

Graham Radley

My mind told me ‘re-issue’, my mind expected to hear a bright, sharp sounding album full of 60’s and 70’s discoloured and poorly recorded batch of MPB… how wrong it was. I popped the album into the player and sat back wondering why I had overlooked this artist and how Far Out were to play such a significant roll in my musical life.

WOW! – the first track made way for an abundance of wonderful Brasilian music.. so I decided to then read the sleeve notes. Simply said this album is the way Far Out Recordings allowed Antonio Adolfo a means to record brand new music in the style he was best known for in a modern day studio. A fresh clear beautiful sound was the product and the release. I love this album and “Luizao” is just one of the outstanding pieces on here. Great music.

Steve Williams

Spanning a most significant period in jazz, Trilok’s fusion with the likes of Don Cherry, Pharaoh Sanders, Jan Garbarek and John McLaughlin are just some of the amazing musicians he has worked with and presented in this milestone release.

Trilok’s Tabla work on this release does not highlight his excellence but rather shows how he compliments other musicians creating a soundscape of jazz rather than indo-jazz as found with other musicians. For those of you unfamiliar with his work this would make for a great window into his world. Other recommended releases by Trilok are 1990’s ‘Living Magic’, ‘African Fantasy’ from 2000 and my particular fave ‘Miles_Gurtu’ from 2004. Either way you play it, there is some great music with this man behind it and in front – go explore the world that is Trilok Gurtu.

Steve Williams

Expansion’s latest offering draws together a host of in-demand modern soul tracks. Compiled by Geoff Bingham it features tracks which only appeared as bonus cuts on the Japanese editions of artists’ albums, promo only remixes plus previously unreleased material. Although much of what’s on offer here is a little smooth for my current tastes there are some fine moments, particularly on the more organic tracks such as the beautifully orchestrated ‘For Goodness Sake’ from K. Fox, Jack Herrera’s dreamy ‘For You’, the DJ Spinna remix of Donnie’s Cloud 9 and what’s described as a rare remix of ‘Sweet Misery’ by the angel voiced Amel Larrieux. Also present is the superb feel good dancer ‘No Matter What I’ll Do’ from Donald McCollum.

Andy Allen

Compiled by Philadelphia’s DJ Junior ‘Excursions’ shines the spot light on some of the hottest broken-soul tracks of recent times. It opens with DJ Day’s gorgeous ‘A Place To Go’ before touching down on gems such as ‘Talking Me Down’ (Domu Remix) by The Rebirth, Electric Conversation’s ‘Dancing’, ‘You Don’t Know’ by Part Time Heroes & Monday Michiru, Black Pocket’s (Steve Spacek) ‘Thank You And Credits’, ‘Rise’ from Kamara featuring Deborah Jordan and ending with Malena Perez’ ‘What Do I Do’. Also included are some tasty moments which were previously un-issued or only available as down loads. Of which I’m pleased to see the stunning cuts ‘Blue Skies from OK_MA featuring Nanar Vorperian and Donn’s ‘All The Beauty’ plus Jonny Miller’s killer broken-beat excursion ‘Starz’ included.

Andy Allen

Under the guise of Black Jazz Consortium Fred Peterkin comes with an outstanding debut set. Although there are subtle jazz influences ‘RE:Actions Of Light’ is a journey into deep house. Heavy beats are built upon with layers of percussion, swirling synths, and occasional vocal snippets to create a heady and atmospheric listening experience. ‘Blessings’ and ‘More Love Please pt.1’ really hit the spot but pay particular attention to the broken rhythms of ‘Seeing The Way Through’ which should reach anthem status at the likes of Liquid Fusion and Co Op.

Andy Allen

Cro-Magnon’s ‘Great Triangle’ continues the cosmic disco vibe established on their self titled debut album but touches on other elements along the way to create a far stronger set throughout. The fusion/boogie gems such as ‘La Fusion’ and ‘New Horizon’, the down-tempo ‘Eclipse’ with its rock steady bass line, the Acid House influenced ‘Take Me Higher’ and the Balearic ‘Keep Me Satisfied’ all sound good to these ears. Even better though is the monster jazz-funk workout ‘Chase After The Storm’ which features Soil & Pimp Sessions’ Tabu Zombie and Motoharu on trumpet and sax respectively. Think Lonnie Liston Smith’s ‘Expansions’ and you won’t be far off the mark!

Andy Allen

The title means water is life and when you’re desert nomads then the significance is all the greater. Third album, with Justin Adams on production duties again and it’s a don’t mess with what doesn’t need fixing philosophy, allowing the music to roll along, drawing you in, evoking the spirit of the desert and using the blues to provide the shading to the landscape. They even managed to get onto the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage which was brilliant especially when you consider the vast numbers of artists there (witness Africa Express as one very special example) who the BBC ignored. Excellent.

Graham Radley

Recorded when she was 16 (18 now) Sonya draws here influences from much older music forms especially acoustic blues, folk and jazz. These twelve self penned tracks make this a notable debut which has drawn a lot of comparisons to Norah Jones although I’m not sure that’s altogether valid as her style is probably more widely influenced than that, so think classic songwriters from Joni Mitchell to Van Morrison. You’re going to be hearing a lot more about and from Sonya Kitchell.

Graham Radley

A new label born from the wonderful Ether this is as you might guess a highly varied compilation demonstrating some of the influences the great man soaks up. Good to hear the Massive Attack remix of Nusrat again, they also appear with their own ‘Teardrop’ . There’s a couple of Nitin’s own tracks (Fragile Wind and a Zero ID remix of ‘Songbird) among 14 tracks in total all ending with Bob Dylan & ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. Nice mixture.

Graham Radley

Mostly centred around USA, Cuba and Puerto Rico (although Iceland is represented!) we get ten great tracks, here’s a few of those names: Machito with Cannonball Adderley, Poncho Sanchez, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Hilton Ruiz and my favourite here-The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmierir Project with the 8mins 51 secs of joy that is ‘Guajira Dubois’. Tasty.

Graham Radley

His previous four CDs have been recorded with his full band but for this one he’s taken a more laid back approach to the blues with gospel and soul influences mixed in and recorded with friends and fellow musicians he has met on the road. Amongst the guests are Lucky Oceans from ‘Asleep At The Wheel’ who plays some superb pedal steel on three tracks while Ray Wylie Hubbard delivers some great slide guitar on ‘I Can’t Wait.’ The full line up is Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges (bass guitar); Ian Moss (guitar); Ray Wylie Hubbard (slide guitar); Lucky Oceans (pedal steel guitar); Clayton Doley (Hammond b-3 organ); Robin Clayton (bass guitar); Declan Kelly (hand claps); Pat Manske (percussion).

Graham Radley

Good collection for this ‘dance of the Orient,’ things crack off with Hossam Ramzy’s percussion driven ‘Aziza’ among 15 tracks with my picks being the Cairo Orchestra with ‘Ghannli Shwayyi, Shwayii’ and Harem with ‘Solo’. Good collection which will suits fans and newcomers alike.

Graham Radley

Return of the gypsy Queen with her first recording for 8 years and she does not disappoint. This remarkable woman who has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and who has adopted (with Stevo her late husband and the person who discovered her) 47 Roma orphans comes into her own on slower tracks like Javera Cumingan where she tells of the lament of an abandoned girl or the CD closer ‘Tut ka Pajravan’ – ‘I’ll get my own back’ . A true star.

Graham Radley