Jazz / Soul / Funk
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I hope that everyone who listens to this album will be able to feel a little happiness.
The above sentence was written by Nujabes himself as an introduction to the album "modal soul" on tribe at the time of its release. He did not dare to mention the contents of the songs on the album, but rather expressed his own wishes in his comments on the album, hoping that people would actually listen to the album and empathize with the songs.
Nujabes has been expressing various thoughts and feelings through the world of sound, and their second album is finally released on 2LP.
This is a soundtrack created by haruka nakamura for THE NORTH FACE Sphere in response to a request for "one album for each of spring, summer, fall, and winter.
This project, entitled "Light years," is a project to produce four albums over the course of one year.
"My career has been a lesson in patience," says Annahstasia, having cultivated her musical language between blazes of intimacy and independence across different lives, locations, and iterations, loves lost and gained, expectations evaded and recreated. The rising troubadour's proximity to love — for and from others, in society at large, and deeply within herself — guides the spirit of her soulful, poetic folk songcraft. Love is the elemental constant, alongside her distinctly resonant voice, shading the singer-songwriter's music since her earliest self-taught recordings, back when a 17-year-old Annahstasia Enuke was discovered and propelled into the pressures of an industry that nearly stifled her greatest strengths. Artistic resilience, gratitude, and dedication to process have yielded Tether, Annahstasia's full-length debut on art-forward indie label drink sum wtr, a collection of beaming torch songs, orchestral hymns, and astral anthems that feel lived-in, drawn from the human experience and the spectrum of love.
Annahstasia assembled the pieces of Tether slowly and with deep intention; she's carried these songs with her on the road, sang them for friends and strangers, and evolved them over time alongside her personal revelations. "The song is written, and then I have to live with it and see if I really believe what I'm saying," she explains. She brought material to sessions at the storied Valentine Studios in Los Angeles, joined by producers Jason Lader (ANOHNI and the Johnsons, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey), Andrew Lappin (Cassandra Jenkins, L'Rain, Luna Li), Aaron Liao (Liv.e, Moses Sumney, Raveena) and a range of accomplished musicians, including featured guests aja monet and Obongjayar. The recording became instinctual, done only in live takes to capture the feeling of the room, the community of the music. The sequencing was just as essential; she arrived at a flow with shifting energies and poignant arcs. The instrumentation swells, at times understated and others supremely lush, and through each arrangement, Annahstasia's voice rings true, open-hearted, and free. "I've come into the power of my voice as a medium," she says. "As a tool of expression, I am able to shape the emotional space around me."
Lyrically, Annahstasia embraces the nuance of poetry, inviting listeners to engage in words laced with meaning, whether ruminations on romance or social constructs. She sees the opener "Be Kind" more as a poem than a song, "a reflection upon the beauty of the mundane and the grandeur of everyday life…a reminder to myself and others to be kind to each other." The track's minimalist atmosphere picks up where 2024's Surface Tension EP left off, with her vocals left bare and up-front, exploring the capacity of her gift with newfound latitude as strums, strings, and keys enter the frame.
The palette expands for "Villian," welcoming drums, brass, and horns into a sweeping nod to healing. "We are all made of both shadow and light. From some angle, we have all been the villain of the story," she adds, suggesting that often, the only way to move on is through understanding that "we are all trying our best, negotiating survival." At its triumphant peak, above gospel-like shouts, she delivers the reprise with a smile: "Take it / Take it back / This dull knife of memory / I still hear your voice inside my head / Says that I'm the villain of the story."
Album centerpiece "Slow" emerges from a chance connection with London-based Nigerian musician Steven Umoh, aka Obongjayar. After exchanging DMs, Obongjayar came to one of her shows, and the two artists talked for hours afterward; "he was like a lost brother," she says. Later, they wrote and demoed the track in the living room of her Airbnb in London, where they huddled around a single ribbon microphone. "I'm just playing the guitar, and our eyes are locked; it was very sensual and intense." Emboldened by one another, their voices orbit and coalesce, trading verses on the signals the universe sends us ("I heard it on the wind / To go slow"), harmonizing the last stanzas ("What's the worst that can happen / If we just let it happen"). Without proper album plans at the time, the song sat for a while; then, in another cosmic chance, Obongjayar happened to be in town during the Tether sessions. Annahstasia reflects, "It was a beautiful experience to have us all in the room. The artistry, the moment, a real acceptance of African art where these two Nigerian musicians are coming together and making something very tender and pretty outside genre expectations."
Later, Annahstasia finds a kindred spirit in aja monet, the NY-based surrealist blues poet and her new labelmate, who lends stunning prose and voice to "All is. Will Be. As it Was." Given only the prompt of "open air," monet wrote the lines on the ride to the studio. Together with Annahstasia on guitar and Ashley Fulton on piano, they captured the piece in its purest form as if bottling a breeze.
Annahstasia described the EP prelude to this culminating set as a "romantic war," and the artist truly thrives amidst and after drama. She taps into a punk sensibility for "Silk and Velvet" — "I'd say it's punk in the sense that it is really dry, really stark and selectively dissonant." A clashing of cello and piano mirror pointed lyrics about "living with the hypocrisy of having revolutionary ideologies but consumerist tendencies." The tension comes full circle on "Believer," a song she's been trying to get right for years, now finally recorded in the right place with the right people. Nearly every instrument on Tether returns in full force; towering percussion, jagged guitar lines, and howling singers encircle Annahstasia at the mic as she enters a fantasy of rock stardom. "I love how in making a record, you get to make a film and pick which direction to take it. Now I have this version that I blast in my headphones, play air guitar, and pretend I'm performing it for 100,000 people." The sheer power of Tether is the result of patience, and it's not hard to picture such a dream realized in good time.
Durand Jones & The Indications are in bloom.
After more than a decade of music-making, the trio have blossomed as a unit and are basking in their successes. On their aptly titled new album, Flowers, The Indications unfurl their true colors — embracing all their roots and influences, maturation and confidence, and share them with the world. "We spent the last 10 years building this house and now we’re living in it,” says Blake Rhein.
Flowers reflects DJI's growth and conviction: It's grown and sexy, fit for cruising and kissing, and delights in the softer side of soul and disco. "All of these songs touch on such mature topics, things that we never got to sing about before," says Durand Jones. "We are all in our 30s, have all been through ups and downs in our personal lives and professional lives, and flowers are a sign of maturity, growth, spring, productivity."
On lead single “Been So Long”, the Indications (Durand Jones – vocals, Aaron Frazer – drums/vocals, Blake Rhein – guitar) sing in unison: “It’s been so long/since we’ve been gone/it’s good to be back together.” It’s a song that contemplates the universal experience of returning to your hometown, alongside their experience of creating Flowers– a personal homecoming.
Since forming in 2012, the road has taken The Indications from those origins at Indiana University, Bloomington to the global stage, playing shows throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. West Coast shows — where DJI has a strong following among the lowrider and vintage soul enthusiasts — consistently sell out. In March 2025, they will support Lenny Kravitz in arenas around Europe on his Blue Electric Light tour.
It has also seen the release of their three thoughtful, harmonic albums: Durand Jones & The Indications (2016), American Love Call (2019) and Private Space (2021). All brought international acclaim, a dedicated following and hundreds of millions of streams. This without a platinum feature or viral hit that upped the ante; when fans show up, and they do in droves, it’s for this band and the magic they make.
For as far as Durand Jones and The Indications have come, Flowers grew from the desire to return to their roots in a Bloomington basement, a space where they first found camaraderie in gritty funk and Southern soul that would inspire their self-titled debut.
As on that 2016 release (which was recorded on a Tascam four-track tape machine), The Indications prioritized collaboration while creating Flowers. Much of the self-produced album was written together at Rhein's Chicago studio, and many tracks are based on one-take demos — proof that vibes were particularly high, each member pulling from their refined tool kits with ease. Notes Frazer: "We took the spirit of play that started the project, and added in the wisdom and lessons that we've acquired through the years."
"When I think of Flowers, I think of this sense of naturalness. There's a lot of courage in showing the human side of making music," adds Rhein. "We spent the most energy playing to each other’s strengths and learning how to support each other. Being able to make art from an intuitive level takes a lot of confidence, not second guessing yourself, not asking if it's going to be well received."
Jones says Flowers is the result of significant personal transformation. "I had spent the last year and a half laying everything out that I felt insecure about — I felt insecure about my sexuality, growing up poor; about a myriad of things. I laid all of that out on the table and it made me such a stronger person, to the point that I got back to the Indications and I was way more sure of myself."
Pulling sonically and spiritually from each of the group's previous releases and solo work — Jones released his debut album, Wait Til I Get Over, in 2023; Frazer followed with his sophomore effort, Into The Blue, in 2024; and Rhein writes and releases as Patchwork Inc. — Flowers is the next stage of DJI's inspired soulful discography. DJI are not only accepting their flowers, but indulging in their sweet and sexy fragrance.
Close on the dancefloor, backseat of the car, behind-closed-doors vibes permeate Flowers. The bass-thumping fantasy getaway of "Paradise" channels the likes of Sade, Stevie Wonder and Minnie Ripperton, while Frazer's trademark falsetto guides listeners to an end-of-night dancefloor on single "Flower Moon."
"I feel like I can tap into myself in more of a personal way than I could back with American Love Call," Jones says of "Really Wanna Be With You," a string-laden, private press disco-inspired track written about an ex Jones believed to be a soulmate. "I love how triumphant and glorious that arrangement sounds; you dance through the heartache, you dance through the pain, and you keep it moving."
While Durand Jones and the Indications may be in bloom, their flowers are perennial. "We still find so much joy in doing this, that we can still be exploring new avenues," Frazer says. "We're so blessed to have such a wide range of influence and musical minds that have such a good grip on the things that they love, and the ability to synthesize those influences and bring them to a group setting. So we'll continue to do what we're doing for many years to come."
Described by the Wall Street Journal as “one of modern music’s most compelling vocalists,” New York-born and Tamil Nadu-raised singer and multi-instrumentalist ganavya shares an ambitious new album, "Daughter of a Temple", via LEITER. The album follows her performance at SAULT’s acclaimed live debut in London in 2023, where, according to The Guardian, her “voice had a delicate emotive heft that could turn stoics into sobbing wrecks.” Her first single for LEITER, "draw something beautiful," was released earlier this year in July.
For "Daughter of a Temple", ganavya invited over 30 artists from various disciplines to a ritual gathering in Houston. Consequently, the album features numerous contributors, including renowned musicians such as esperanza spalding, Vijay Iyer, Shabaka Hutchings, Immanuel Wilkins, and Peter Sellars. The results—an innovative and deeply moving blend of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music—were initially recorded by Ryan Renteria and then further edited and mixed by Nils Frahm at LEITER's studio in Berlin in 2024.
06:55 Hatsuhinode
02:39 Agora
03:57 Ostinato
04:59 Hibari
06:55 Maya
04:40 Shizuku
04:07 Niwa
08:04 Tio
Pianist Masako Ohta and trumpet player Matthias Lindermayr are back on Squama with 'Nozomi', the follow-up to their 2022 debut 'MMMMH'. The Japanese title, which translates to ‘hope’, felt fitting, as the album was conceived during a time of personal loss for Ohta, during and after which music proved itself as a beacon of hope. The music on Nozomi unfolds gently, with Lindermayr’s airy tone and lyrical playing being wrapped in Ohta’s chordal backing that moves from tender to tense and back over the course of the album. While most tunes were written by Lindermayr, the only exception being an interpretation of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Hibari’, the arrangements are largely improvised, letting the duo’s intuition guide the course and build the form. Solemn slowness has become a signature trait of the Munich-based duo and it makes listening to their new record a healing retreat from the frantic chatter of the present.
It's here!
Hiroshi Suzuki's CAT.
Recorded at Nippon-Columbia Daiichi Studio, on Oct 8-10, 1975.
Trombone: Hiroshi Suzuki.
Keyboards: Hiromasa Suzuki.
Bass: Kunimitsu Inaba.
Drums: Akira Ishikawa.
Saxophone: Takeru Muraoka.
The legendary jazz-funk masterpiece fully reissued on We Release Jazz.
Digipack CD.
With liner notes.
Super smooth, extra funky, indeniable grooves, this is the real deal!
- This is a solo performance by SG, recorded May 19, 2019, in the Waiting Hall of Union Station in Los Angeles.
- Instruments used include alto saxophone with an early version of his poly-sax effect, along with a Suzuki Waraku III synthesizer.
- In "Cosmic Love", at 04:27, you can hear the train announcer reading the preface to the book When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops? by George Carlin: "I'm an outsider by choice, but not truly. It's the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out. I'd rather be in, in a good system. That's where my discontent comes from: being forced to choose to stay outside. My advice: Just keep movin' straight ahead. Every now and then you find yourself in a different place."
- Moments before going on stage SG asked if the train announcer would read this at any point during his set over the intercom system, and somehow they agreed. No one knew when they would read it, so it is easy to miss.
- "Miss U Sonny" is dedicated to the memory of Sonny Abegaze.
On Wednesday June 21, 2023 LA-via-Rio composer Fabiano do Nascimento had organized - with Leaving Records and an ensemble of contemporaries in the local scene - a one-night-only seated concert at a historic venue in Northeast Los Angeles. Do Nascimento and his band set out to perform a curated selection of original music and other favorites from cherished composers.
Behold Solstice Concert - the raw recording of what went down that evening - straight from the board, solstice vibes glistening, full band synchronized, audience stoked. Although unintended to be a full-length album release subsequent to the performance, the tape was indeed rolling however unknown to the band on stage and those in attendance.
On Wednesday June 21, 2023 LA-via-Rio composer Fabiano do Nascimento had organized - with Leaving Records and an ensemble of contemporaries in the local scene - a one-night-only seated concert at a historic venue in Northeast Los Angeles. Do Nascimento and his band set out to perform a curated selection of original music and other favorites from cherished composers.
Behold Solstice Concert - the raw recording of what went down that evening - straight from the board, solstice vibes glistening, full band synchronized, audience stoked. Although unintended to be a full-length album release subsequent to the performance, the tape was indeed rolling however unknown to the band on stage and those in attendance.
