MUSIC

Feeling like the first shot of sunshine after a long winter, Cousin Kula sound instantly recognisable yet gloriously renewed on their second album ‘Vitamin D’. If their debut album ‘Double Dinners’ was the soundtrack to your heartbreak then this is the sound of falling back in love again. Even the titles of the tracklist - 'Clothes Off', 'Staying With You’, 'Good Feeling' - boldly set the coordinates for this new body of work. From the opening wash of searing synth chords, bouncing bass, wailing guitar lines and flutters of flute, it's abundantly clear this is a feel good album. Label boss Bradley Zero exclaims “I think it’s fair to say that the band have shaken off the collective cobwebs and are ready for a summer of love!”. Singer Elliot Ellison explains “We really wanted this album to be playful and fun, not taking itself too seriously. Be representative of us as a group and the energy we have when just goofing around, for that to be something you feel in the music too. Lyrically it covers many themes but especially steps into “Happy Love Songs”, which feels like a new venture for us”. ‘Vitamin D’ is for the lovers, but also for the dancers. Cousin Kula have expanded their vocabulary but also learnt when to just sit back in the groove. Funk and disco has permeated their psychedelic indie-soul sound and it’s all the better for it. A quintet of virtuosic musicians, flexing when necessary but more often than not stripping it right back and reveling in the pocket. It’s a rare case of perfect thematic and musical synergy. Elliot continues "We explored more instrumentation on this album and stretched previously underused corners of our ability. Will and Elliot play trombone and trumpet on a few tunes, Doug plays flute on the whole album (and strangely, no saxophone!), and there's a whole lot more percussion. It's been fun experimenting with the vocals on this album too, we wanted to really lean into the ‘weird’. Likewise with the vocal harmonies, we wanted to make that feature of our sound even more of a thing on this album, like going a bit more sexy BeeGees on it". Living together, nestled in the sun-drenched hills on the outskirts of Bristol, Cousin Kula released their first full length 'Double Dinners' on Rhythm Section Intl. in 2021. The album received praise from BBC 6 Music, Boiler Room, Clash, Crack, and The Guardian, to name a few, and saw the band tour the UK with Mildlife on top of their own non-stop live escapades. credits

Originally conceived as a tour only exclusive, Bright Sparkling Light was recorded alongside, 2023's expansive beguiling long-player An Ever Changing View and draws on the same trademark blend of jazz, electronica, global and spiritual jazz influences. The original pressing sold-out on Matthew’s EU and UK tour last October and November and so many people got in touch with us here at Gondwana asking how they could get a copy that we decided to make a further 2000 copies available. The title track is a hypnotic meditation built on one of the lushest loops Halsall has ever created and featuring stellar work from Halsall and flautist Matt Cliffe. Newborough Forest is a brisk, uplifting composition celebrating one of Halsall’s favourite landscapes and the wonderous Tide and the Moon paints a sonic picture of late-night waters and deep mindfulness and features some of Matt Cliffe’s most beautiful tenor playing. Like An Ever Changing View, Bright Sparkling Light comes in a package as striking as the music, with handmade fonts designed by Ian Anderson and a beautifully realised embossed artwork that offers a perfect compliment to the LP. Strictly limited and featuring a download code, Bright Sparkling Light will not be re-pressed.

Finnish drummer/Producer Teppo "Teddy Rok" Mäkynen returns with his alias The Stance Brothers. Lauded by the likes of Kenny Dope and Gilles Peterson, Mäkynen's studio creation has been visible on the 7" format during the recent years. Now, Mäkynen is back with a full LP, the project's first in more than 10 years. Duktus is a treasure-trove for everyone into crunchy jazz funk à la Bob James & CTI, but this is no retro exercise. Teddy Rok moves forward in all directions, constantly bringing new elements into his sound, which is more layered and deep than ever before. At the same time, the crunch & the breaks are there when you need them. The basic core of The Stance Brothers is to be solo studio vehicle for Teppo Mäkynen to experiment across a varied instrumentation and musical ideas. After the project's celebrated first album (Ricky-Tick Records, 2007), The Stance Brothers took to the stage as well, creating one of the most beloved live outfits of recent history in the Helsinki scene. Now, after more than 10+ years of time spent in releasing one hard-hitting 7" after the other, The Stance Brothers are back, both on the record and live on stage. Whereas the Stance 7" sides are often dominated by crunchy drums and crystal clear vibraphone melodies, the new album sounds broadens up into a more synth-heavy, "postmodern" realm, taking its space in a form resembling a mixtape. The funk is there, but Mäkynen is sensitive to the fact that an LP is not a 7", and the ideas take their shape accordingly. Guest voices float in and out of the mix, blending in anonymously, true to the low-key spirit of the studio operation. Inspiration: Roy Ayers, Mizell Brothers, Bobby Hutcherson, Cesar Mariano, Patrice Rushen, George Duke, Madlib's Mind Fusion Mixtapes.

In August 2022, Australia-based, French born fourth-world music legend Ariel Kalma was invited to participate in BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction series of special collaborations. The program pairs artists who have not previously worked together to create new music cooperatively. Kalma was quick to suggest working with two musicians whom he had never met – International Anthem recording artists Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, whose critically-acclaimed duo debut 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' had been released just a few months earlier. An invitation was sent to Chiu and Honer, which was received with great enthusiasm, as Chiu had long been a fan of Kalma’s work, even citing him as a major influence on his approach to electronic music composition. The essential structure of the Late Junction collaboration was that the artists would work together to create around twenty minutes of music. They began passing music back and forth, some that Kalma had started, and some that Honer & Chiu had started, with each adding to or editing the track before returning it to the other. The music would only go back and forth a few times before being finalized. After meeting their twenty minute goal for the program (four pieces total), the three musicians were satisfied in what they would present and sent along their work to the producers of Late Junction. However, there was a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t the end of the story. There were several pieces that they had nearly completed but that weren’t sent for inclusion in the radio program, and there were many ideas for refining those pieces that had. With this in mind Kalma, Chiu and Honer agreed that they would continue to work together to try to push the music further. The freshly minted trio felt like there was much more to be said and more work to be done. The Late Junction program was broadcast in September of 2022. Simultaneously, Kalma, Chiu and Honer began expanding upon the music they had started for the purpose of the broadcast, working diligently on the music for several months. After meeting their twenty minute goal for the program (four pieces total), the three musicians were satisfied in what they would present and sent along their work to the producers of Late Junction. However, there was a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t the end of the story. There were several pieces that they had nearly completed but that weren’t sent for inclusion in the radio program, and there were many ideas for refining those pieces that had. With this in mind Kalma, Chiu and Honer agreed that they would continue to work together to try to push the music further. The freshly minted trio felt like there was much more to be said and more work to be done. The Late Junction program was broadcast in September of 2022. Simultaneously, Kalma, Chiu and Honer began expanding upon the music they had started for the purpose of the broadcast, working diligently on the music for several months. Their collective approach to this work was born in improvisation and realized via collage-based editing. The end result brings several distinct musical moments — recorded sometimes decades apart — into conversation with one another, forming new narratives from building blocks of old ones. There are snippets of improvised playing from each musician, edited together with recordings that Kalma had made in the 70s at GRM, and even moments of audio notes — like Kalma explaining his ideas — that would make it into the final mixes. Their collective approach to this work was born in improvisation and realized via collage-based editing. The end result brings several distinct musical moments — recorded sometimes decades apart — into conversation with one another, forming new narratives from building blocks of old ones. There are snippets of improvised playing from each musician, edited together with recordings that Kalma had made in the 70s at GRM, and even moments of audio notes — like Kalma explaining his ideas — that would make it into the final mixes. Ultimately, the collection of music highlights the work of all three musicians, intertwining the contextual immersion heard on Chiu & Honer’s 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' with an intergenerational reverence for (and the undeniable presence of) Kalma’s decades-spanning body of work. It is work that has definitively enshrined him as one of the true, transcendent pioneers and sages of new age and fourth-world music. That reverence is affirmed by the album title chosen by the group — "The Closest Thing to Silence" — which is taken from a quote by Kalma included in a documentary by RVNG Intl (as part of their release of the 2014 compendium/retrospective An Evolutionary Music). Perhaps coincidental, Kalma’s quote was a slight modulation of a legendary ECM Records motto, as he said: “Music is the closest thing to silence.” Ultimately, the collection of music highlights the work of all three musicians, intertwining the contextual immersion heard on Chiu & Honer’s 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' with an intergenerational reverence for (and the undeniable presence of) Kalma’s decades-spanning body of work. It is work that has definitively enshrined him as one of the true, transcendent pioneers and sages of new age and fourth-world music. That reverence is affirmed by the album title chosen by the group — "The Closest Thing to Silence" — which is taken from a quote by Kalma included in a documentary by RVNG Intl (as part of their release of the 2014 compendium/retrospective An Evolutionary Music). Perhaps coincidental, Kalma’s quote was a slight modulation of a legendary ECM Records motto, as he said: “Music is the closest thing to silence.” The Closest Thing To Silence is an album-length collaboration between fourth-world music icon Ariel Kalma and the recording duo Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer, which evolved from a twenty-minute selection pieces they recorded in 2022 for BBC Radio 3’s ‘Late Junction’ program as part of a scheme that places together artists who have never worked together before. Chiu and Honer, who both cite Kalma as a huge influence on their work, beautifully fit into Kalma’s vision.

In August 2022, Australia-based, French born fourth-world music legend Ariel Kalma was invited to participate in BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction series of special collaborations. The program pairs artists who have not previously worked together to create new music cooperatively. Kalma was quick to suggest working with two musicians whom he had never met – International Anthem recording artists Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, whose critically-acclaimed duo debut 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' had been released just a few months earlier. An invitation was sent to Chiu and Honer, which was received with great enthusiasm, as Chiu had long been a fan of Kalma’s work, even citing him as a major influence on his approach to electronic music composition. The essential structure of the Late Junction collaboration was that the artists would work together to create around twenty minutes of music. They began passing music back and forth, some that Kalma had started, and some that Honer & Chiu had started, with each adding to or editing the track before returning it to the other. The music would only go back and forth a few times before being finalized. After meeting their twenty minute goal for the program (four pieces total), the three musicians were satisfied in what they would present and sent along their work to the producers of Late Junction. However, there was a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t the end of the story. There were several pieces that they had nearly completed but that weren’t sent for inclusion in the radio program, and there were many ideas for refining those pieces that had. With this in mind Kalma, Chiu and Honer agreed that they would continue to work together to try to push the music further. The freshly minted trio felt like there was much more to be said and more work to be done. The Late Junction program was broadcast in September of 2022. Simultaneously, Kalma, Chiu and Honer began expanding upon the music they had started for the purpose of the broadcast, working diligently on the music for several months. After meeting their twenty minute goal for the program (four pieces total), the three musicians were satisfied in what they would present and sent along their work to the producers of Late Junction. However, there was a nagging suspicion that this wasn’t the end of the story. There were several pieces that they had nearly completed but that weren’t sent for inclusion in the radio program, and there were many ideas for refining those pieces that had. With this in mind Kalma, Chiu and Honer agreed that they would continue to work together to try to push the music further. The freshly minted trio felt like there was much more to be said and more work to be done. The Late Junction program was broadcast in September of 2022. Simultaneously, Kalma, Chiu and Honer began expanding upon the music they had started for the purpose of the broadcast, working diligently on the music for several months. Their collective approach to this work was born in improvisation and realized via collage-based editing. The end result brings several distinct musical moments — recorded sometimes decades apart — into conversation with one another, forming new narratives from building blocks of old ones. There are snippets of improvised playing from each musician, edited together with recordings that Kalma had made in the 70s at GRM, and even moments of audio notes — like Kalma explaining his ideas — that would make it into the final mixes. Their collective approach to this work was born in improvisation and realized via collage-based editing. The end result brings several distinct musical moments — recorded sometimes decades apart — into conversation with one another, forming new narratives from building blocks of old ones. There are snippets of improvised playing from each musician, edited together with recordings that Kalma had made in the 70s at GRM, and even moments of audio notes — like Kalma explaining his ideas — that would make it into the final mixes. Ultimately, the collection of music highlights the work of all three musicians, intertwining the contextual immersion heard on Chiu & Honer’s 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' with an intergenerational reverence for (and the undeniable presence of) Kalma’s decades-spanning body of work. It is work that has definitively enshrined him as one of the true, transcendent pioneers and sages of new age and fourth-world music. That reverence is affirmed by the album title chosen by the group — "The Closest Thing to Silence" — which is taken from a quote by Kalma included in a documentary by RVNG Intl (as part of their release of the 2014 compendium/retrospective An Evolutionary Music). Perhaps coincidental, Kalma’s quote was a slight modulation of a legendary ECM Records motto, as he said: “Music is the closest thing to silence.” Ultimately, the collection of music highlights the work of all three musicians, intertwining the contextual immersion heard on Chiu & Honer’s 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' with an intergenerational reverence for (and the undeniable presence of) Kalma’s decades-spanning body of work. It is work that has definitively enshrined him as one of the true, transcendent pioneers and sages of new age and fourth-world music. That reverence is affirmed by the album title chosen by the group — "The Closest Thing to Silence" — which is taken from a quote by Kalma included in a documentary by RVNG Intl (as part of their release of the 2014 compendium/retrospective An Evolutionary Music). Perhaps coincidental, Kalma’s quote was a slight modulation of a legendary ECM Records motto, as he said: “Music is the closest thing to silence.” The Closest Thing To Silence is an album-length collaboration between fourth-world music icon Ariel Kalma and the recording duo Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer, which evolved from a twenty-minute selection pieces they recorded in 2022 for BBC Radio 3’s ‘Late Junction’ program as part of a scheme that places together artists who have never worked together before. Chiu and Honer, who both cite Kalma as a huge influence on their work, beautifully fit into Kalma’s vision.

Hakushi Hasegawa is a musician/singer-songwriter based in Tokyo, Japan, and the first Japanese artist signed to the Brainfeeder label. Brainfeeder announced the signing back in July 2023 and shared a single – “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)” – featuring bass by the super-talented Sam Wilkes (Leaving Records). A few days later Hakushi blew fans away, making their debut at the iconic music festival Fuji Rock in Japan. In September Hakushi created the soundtrack for the noir kei ninomiya Spring/Summer 2024 runway show for Comme des Garçons at Paris Fashion Week. Now Hakushi is the focus of a cover-to-cover takeover at Yuriika [Eureka] for November’s issue of the historical Japanese literary magazine specializing in poetry and criticism.

Consistent with Brainfeeder’s ethos of seeking out artists operating outside the confines of genre since the label started in 2008, Hakushi’s music is tricky to categorize as it straddles a few genres: alternative, electronic, jazz, pop/J-pop. Sometimes it’s pretty, at times it’s very intense and fast-paced. Releasing since 2018, they’ve already made a name for themselves domestically in Japan with a string of wonderfully wild releases and started to build a cult following internationally. Collabs to date have included Kid Fresino, yuigot, TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, Yukichikasaku/men and Eye from Boredoms.

“Somoku Hodo” was Hakushi’s debut release in 2018 as a teenager, featuring fan favourites ‘Somoku’ and ‘Doku’ – a hyperspeed junglist jazz workout that makes early Squarepusher material sound positively pedestrian. Their debut album “Air Ni Ni” followed a year later in 2019, cementing their reputation as one of Japan’s most exciting, adventurous artists. Hakushi performed at the online festival “Secret Sky” in May 2020 hosted by Porter Robinson (4M viewers) and they graced the cover of influential music publication “MUSIC MAGAZINE” in September 2020. 

Hakushi Hasegawa is a musician/singer-songwriter based in Tokyo, Japan, and the first Japanese artist signed to the Brainfeeder label. Brainfeeder announced the signing back in July 2023 and shared a single – “Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi)” – featuring bass by the super-talented Sam Wilkes (Leaving Records). A few days later Hakushi blew fans away, making their debut at the iconic music festival Fuji Rock in Japan. In September Hakushi created the soundtrack for the noir kei ninomiya Spring/Summer 2024 runway show for Comme des Garçons at Paris Fashion Week. Now Hakushi is the focus of a cover-to-cover takeover at Yuriika [Eureka] for November’s issue of the historical Japanese literary magazine specializing in poetry and criticism.

Consistent with Brainfeeder’s ethos of seeking out artists operating outside the confines of genre since the label started in 2008, Hakushi’s music is tricky to categorize as it straddles a few genres: alternative, electronic, jazz, pop/J-pop. Sometimes it’s pretty, at times it’s very intense and fast-paced. Releasing since 2018, they’ve already made a name for themselves domestically in Japan with a string of wonderfully wild releases and started to build a cult following internationally. Collabs to date have included Kid Fresino, yuigot, TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, Yukichikasaku/men and Eye from Boredoms.

“Somoku Hodo” was Hakushi’s debut release in 2018 as a teenager, featuring fan favourites ‘Somoku’ and ‘Doku’ – a hyperspeed junglist jazz workout that makes early Squarepusher material sound positively pedestrian. Their debut album “Air Ni Ni” followed a year later in 2019, cementing their reputation as one of Japan’s most exciting, adventurous artists. Hakushi performed at the online festival “Secret Sky” in May 2020 hosted by Porter Robinson (4M viewers) and they graced the cover of influential music publication “MUSIC MAGAZINE” in September 2020. 

“People don’t like Abdullah Ibrahim, they adore him, bestowing on him the devotion normally reserved for Nina Simone. When he plays, melodies tumble out effortlessly, as he slides from theme to theme like a laid-back South African reincarnation of Thelonious Monk.” - The Guardian

Taken from Abdullah Ibrahim’s summer 2023 sold-out headline date at London’s Barbican Centre, the new album “3” follows suit and is spread across two performances – the first is recorded without an audience ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1” Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios.

The second recording is taken from the evening’s performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (flute, piccolo, saxophone) who has performed alongside the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Joe Henderson, as well as lauded bassist and cellist Noah Jackson, both of which are members of EKAYA and featured on Ibrahim’s Top 3 Billboard Jazz album “The Balance”

Recorded in various basements and professional studios around Chicago between 1980 and 1984, the Apart Demos documents 12 intimate and stripped-down sketches, demos and unreleased tracks by Andre Gibson and the Universal Togetherness Band as they pivoted to solo careers. From heartfelt tributes to lovers adorned by a silky Fender Rhodes to disco party-starters about spiritual gratitude, Andre Gibson universally lets us into his heart and brings it all together in the end.

In 1975, spiritual jazz pioneer Brother Ah (aka Robert Northern) ventured into a more worldly sound on his second album, incorporating robust African and Asian influences. Its eight eclectic tracks feature vocals from artists Dara, Aiisha, Kwesi Gilbert Northern and Ayida Tengemana, along with cacaphonous percussion, flute and stringed instrument flourishes.

One of the leading lights of Ethiopian music presents his first new material in an age on Lala Belu for Awesome Tapes From Africa - the label who were instrumental in showcasing his work to wider audiences with the compilation Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument: Shemonmuanaye in 2013, and later a reissue of reissue of his Tche Belew [1977] album. Comprising the virtuoso accordionist and keys player¡Çs first new material since those reissues triggered a worthy career resurgence, Lala Belu catches fire in all six parts with a vitally tough and expressive sound that feels like Mergia has thrown off the more genteel jazz vibes of early releases in favour of a fierce, freer jazz and funk flex to proceedings. The guy¡Çs gotta be knocking into his 70s now yet shows no sign of letting up here, sounding utterly alive and full of feels from the opening cut¡Çs switch from mellow sway to bustling jazz and blazing electric keys, thru the head-down funk chops of Addis Nat, to the swingeing organ lines and percolated percussion of Anchihoye Lene. He chills out beautifully well on the sublime solo piano piece Yefikir Engurguro, which sweetly recalls the magic of Emahoy Tsegue-Mariam Guebru, while Gum Gum sounds perhaps closest to his debonaire early recordings.

Chet Baker (1929 – 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, actor and vocalist that needs little introduction. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s but his well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety (he was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late ‘70s and ’80s). Chet’s career included collaborations with greats such as Elvis Costello, Charlie Parker and Van Morrison. Mr. Baker was the subject of many books and documentaries throughout the decades and he was even portrayed by Ethan Hawke in the 2015 film Born to Be Blue. Chet began his musical career singing in a church choir and his mother said that he had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was even given his first instrument. Peers called Baker a natural musician to whom playing came effortlessly. In the early 1950s he was chosen by Charlie Parker for a series of West Coast engagements…shortly after this, his song “My Funny Valentine” became a hit and would be associated with Baker for the rest of his career. Mr. Baker (with his quartet) was a regular performer at famous Los Angeles jazz clubs such as The Haig. Chet Baker’s quartet released popular albums between 1953 and 1956 and he won reader’s polls at Metronome & Down Beat magazine, beating trumpeters Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. In 1956, Pacific Jazz Records released Chet Baker Sings, an album that seriously increased his visibility. During most of the 1960s (before heading to Europe more frequently) Chet recorded music that could be classified as ‘West Coast jazz’ From 1978 until his death in 1988, Chet Baker lived and played almost exclusively in Europe, returning to the U.S. once a year for a few performances. This was Baker’s most prolific era as a recording artist. On the album we are presenting you today (Mr.B) you’ll find Dutch recordings (recorded in 1983 & released in 1984). This rare gem of an album is comprised out of tracks written by some of the top jazz composers of all time (Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, David Brubeck,..) and played meticulously by Baker and his all-star line-up trio consisting out of Ricardo Del Fra (Ennio Morricone), John Engels (Toots Thielemans, Dizzy Gillespie) and Michel Graillier (Magma, Steve Grossman). On the bonus tracks you’ll also find a top performance from Philip Catherine (Placebo) on guitar. Be prepared for eight sublime tunes that bring out the more intimate and touching aspects of the Chet Baker sound, a fantastic session where the master plays his themes with an almost religious surrender. There is a sadness permeating the trumpeter’s sound throughout…a deep and touching beauty can be felt, marking this as one of Chet’s best from the period. Originally released in 1984, Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of Chet Baker’s classic Mr. B album. This reissue was remastered by Peter Brussee (Herman Brood) and is featuring the original album cover shot by Hans Harzheim (Pharoah Sanders, Coltrane & Sun Ra). Also included are the original liner notes from jazz writer Wim Van Eyle and two bonus tracks that were not on the original vinyl release. Available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition with obi strip. This release is only available to NORTH AMERICAN customers…there is a ‘rest of the world’ edition of this release coming out on RECORD STORE DAY (August 29, 2020) which will be available in other territories. Preview Tracklist

The legendary original soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop is finally available on vinyl!

The Bebop crew is just trying to make a buck. This motley lot of intergalactic loners teams up to track down fugitives and turn them in for cold hard cash. Spike is a hero whose cool façade hides a dark and deadly past. The pilot Jet is a bruiser of a brute who can’t wait to collect the next bounty. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale prone to breaking hearts and separating fools from their money. Along for the ride are the brilliant, but weird, hacker Ed and a super-genius Welsh Corgi named Ein. On their own, any one of them is likely to get lost in the sprawl of space, but together, they’re the most entertaining gang of bounty hunters in the year 2071.

Composed and performed by Yoko Kanno and the band SEATBELTS, the music of Cowboy Bebop is one of the signature elements of the series. The energetic jazz-infused pieces rip and roar across the stars and are as indispensable as the crew of the Bebop themselves.

Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. Originally Sanders was interested in urban blues music, but his high school teacher exposed him to jazz and this took Farrell in an entirely new direction. Once completing high school Sanders quickly packed his belongings and headed to Oakland, where he got a chance to work with musicians of high caliber such as saxophone players Sonny Simmons and Dewey Redman (who were both later to be major forces in new jazz and free jazz). Soon the young Pharoah would meet John Coltrane and would feel being attracted to the life as a professional musician. By the early sixties Sanders moved to New York where the major jazz scene was happening. Here he’d spent most his time honing his skills at rehearsals with Sun Ra….sadly he was not making much money with the Arkestra and soon found himself living on the streets, trying to stay up all night playing and then scrounging for money during the day, often selling blood to eat. Sanders recorded his debut album for ESP soon after, but it wasn’t until he started playing with his old friend John Coltrane that he would fully unleash the fury of his saxophone on the world of free jazz. The records Pharoah Sanders played on for Coltrane laid the foundation of what was to come for both the world of free jazz and for Sanders as a musician. After Coltrane’s tragic death Sanders would record further with Alice Coltrane, John’s widow, on the album Karma (1969 – Impulse!), which is universally accepted as Sanders’ masterpiece. Along with musicians Alice Coltrane and singer Leon Thomas, Sanders helped to create the genre of spiritual jazz. On the album we are presenting you today (Africa from 1987) Sanders plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Idris Muhammad, John Hicks and Curtis Lundy. Muhammad brings his trademark tight sense of timekeeping, but with a looseness that we love – and Lundy’s warm soulful bass does more than enough to give the set a sound bottom- all this while Hick’s free lyrical piano works nicely with Sander’s spiritual horn. The brilliant ‘Africa sessions’ features the quartet at their best…soulful but also searching for a strong groove at the same time. The music here is less ornamented than on most of Sanders’ studio recordings, where sextets, septets or larger lineups have been the norm, but this brilliant effort here remains every bit as compelling. Pharoah and his crew play with the utmost sensitivity and give a demonstration that shows us the full extent of their skills. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents: the official reissue of this fantastic album, back available on vinyl for the first time since 1987. Available as a deluxe 180g 2XLP set, with TWO bonus tracks from the same session that were not featured on the original vinyl release. This album is limited to 500 copies worldwide and comes with an obi strip + liner notes by American jazz critic & author Kevin Whitehead.

Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi (1932 - 1991) was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. He was one of the earliest noise guitar improvisers, and the first (with Keith Rowe) to use the table-top guitar.

Miša Blam’s - Sećanja (Memories), one of the most sought of, rarest and cult ex-Yugoslavian jazz LP’s - is finally reissued, sourced and fully licensed straight from vaults of Jugodisk (Belgrade, Serbia). And where better than on the Everland’s Everland-Yu imprint dedicated to the unheard sound of Yugoslavia! This LP, kept tight in private ex-Yu collectors cabinets and championed by jazz dance DJ’s across the planet, was recorded in 1979 and released in only 1000 copies in 1980 by the Beograd Disk label. The LP is filled with jazz-funk, bop styles, latin jazz and even Gospel live recordings by the Golden gate quartet (recorded by Miša himself) all accompanied by the crème de la crème of Yugoslavia’s jazz-funk instrumentalists at the time (Jelenko Milaković, Lazar Tošić, Stjepko Gut, Jovan Maljoković, Josip boček…). Miša Blam (1947 - 2014) was an influential Serbian jazz composer, arranger, publicist, festival organizer and Radio-Television Belgrade’s long-time collaborator (jazz and folk orchestras, recording engineer, music director…). But Miša was first and foremost a bass player! Having played with numerous worldwide famous jazz cats he often talked of his work in the Chet Baker - Sal Nistico trio while living in New York and playing with them for two years (or rather bailing Sal out of prison or buying off Chet’s trumpet on his behalf from the pawn shop). The album perhaps represents an unusual collection of songs mostly composed by Miša Blam himself during his world wide spanning jazz pursuits in the 70’s. Unusual for it does not stand alone as a cohesive album release but as a collection of works that we were lucky to be rewarded with in his very sparse discography consisting of: one EP, this LP and one cassette tape… Finally this collection showcases what was Miša all about – and that was jazz bass in all its marvelous forms – from lacing dreamy ballads with his impeccable upright bass fiddle play to grooving on his fender bass on the jazz-funk monster Sećanje which could be included on any acid jazz compilation of the 90s (check out Balkan Express...). Masterfully executed and kept to its original sound this release will keep your ears busy and open to the sound of ex Yugoslavian jazz and the sound of unheard Yugoslavia – where-else but on Everland-Yu! Dr. Smeđi Šećer, 2021

“Forever Forever” is the new album by Genevieve Artadi, the LA-based singer-songwriter, producer, archer and Dr. Mario enthusiast (“I keep my Switch in my back pocket most days”). A creative tornado, Genevieve is known for being the force in KNOWER, Expensive Magnets and her former band Pollyn, signing to Brainfeeder to release a sparkling solo album “Dizzy Strange Summer” in 2020. The following year she also collaborated with Thundercat, Raedio and Louis Cole on ‘Satellite Space Age Edition’ for the Insecure Season 5 soundtrack (HBO). “Forever Forever” encompasses a truly kaleidoscopic range of influences, making it impossible to pin down stylistically. Rooted in jazz, but winding up at alternative rock or avant pop, it’s in the lineage of legendary boundary-testers Stereolab and Talking Heads.

Genevieve hails from the scarily talented crew that includes Louis Cole, Pedro Martins, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes, Jacob Mann and Chiquita Magic, bearing a similar foundation of classical and jazz traditions offset with a healthy punk attitude and passion for musical hybridity and fusion. She admits that being surrounded by these talented individuals is motivation to create in and of itself.

Drawing on the spiritual teachings of Thích Nhất Hạnh – the Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk known as the “father of mindfulness”; Ram Dass (guru of modern yoga); Eckhart Tolle and Jiddu Krishnamurti, Genevieve reflects on her relationships, growing up and her adventures in life on this new album. “‘Forever Forever’ is an album about the love I have for the people in my life, attempting to express with a lot of care different sides of it: reassurance, acceptance of change, ruptures, joy.”

Genevieve also emphasizes the importance of anime in her life: “It has inspired me to adopt a bold, full-hearted attitude to my music but also my life more generally,” she acknowledges, referencing a few favourites: Naruto (“It’s changed my life”), Attack on Titan, Rurouni Kenshin, Hikaru No Go, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures.

Half of the songs for “Forever Forever” were originally written for big band, with Genevieve having struck up a relationship with the Grammy-nominated Norrbotten Big Band from Sweden with whom she has been a composer in residence and performed live many times. Consequently, she says that she listened to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans with Miles Davis in pursuit of a creative spark. “The rest I think is just everything from my past that is in my subconscious,” she says. “Random flashes of inspiration from Chopin, Bach (I was learning some 2-part inventions during the lockdown), Debussy, Nancy Wilson, Björk, Ryan Power, Nobukazu Takemura, The Beatles, Dionne Warwick…”

With an accompanying tongue-in-cheek video that goes hard in an 80s hair metal style, the first single ‘Visionary’ climaxes with suitably epic solos from Pedro Martins (guitar), Chiquita Magic (synth bass), Christopher Fishman (piano) with Louis Cole and Daniel Sunshine doubling up on the drums. “It’s a celebration of love, expressing gratitude to ‘the other’ who was first to be brave enough to jump into a relationship when I had lost hope,” says Genevieve.

Genevieve’s relationship with the Brazilian guitarist and Thundercat collaborator Pedro Martins is also evident in the music, with Genevieve drawing inspiration from Brazilian legends of the ‘60s-’70s such as Beto Guedes, Toninho Horta and Elis Regina that Pedro brought into her orbit.

Recorded on location in Mexico at El Desierto Studio on a recommendation from Thundercat keyboard maestro Dennis Hamm, Genevieve travelled with best pals Chiquita Magic (keyboards, vocals), Pedro Martins (guitars, vocals), Chris Fishman (keys), Louis Cole (drums, synth bass), Henry Halliwell (additional production) and Daniel Sunshine (engineer) to elevate her demos. “The band made the music come alive with their skills, making all the written stuff more musical, adding ambient layers, choosing sounds that were perfect for the songs,” says Genevieve. “They played beautiful solos too. I loved watching them get so into it because all of them have musical visions I respect.”

“My previous albums were made at home, so this was a big jump”, she explains. “But I felt like it was the right move for these songs and, thankfully, it ended up better than I imagined. El Desierto is a big, beautiful wooden house in a forest designed for music, with everything we could possibly need. There was a camp vibe because we all slept there, had meals together, played on the crazy instruments everywhere, jammed and practiced day and night, and partied in the kitchen after sessions.”

"The classical musicians have a foot in improv; the jazz players get Indian music."
The Guardian, contemporary album of the month

"A record that transcends generic assumptions of the lazily termed “Eastern style”..."
The Vinyl Factory

"A truly enriching listen."
Songlines, ★★★★★

Off the back of Sarathy Korwar's much lauded Day To Day album comes the live album My East Is Your West - a performance that takes the fusion of Indian classical music with the jazz tradition further than its ever been before. Recorded live at London's Church Of Sound, the album is a homage to the great musicians of the 60s and 70s spiritual jazz movement, covering the likes of Alice Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, and Joe Henderson. Korwar plays alongside the UPAJ Collective, a group of highly-versatile musicians who share Sarathy's passion for jazz and Indian music and who have together managed to rebalance the cross-cultural relationship between 'Western' and 'Eastern' music.


With every record Sarathy releases his music becomes more exploratory and insightful, delving into his personal influences, which also inspire much of the music in the jazz scene that surrounds him. At a time where UK jazz is being heralded for its progression, innovation and far-reaching appeal to people from varying backgrounds, ‘My East Is Your West’ is an essential record that explores cultural and musical diversity in way that will continue to be relevant for years to come.

Dorothy Ashby was the very best and most swinging performer on the multi-stringed instrument associated with the gates of heaven. Here on Earth, Ashby adeptly plucked and strummed the harp like nobody else, as evidenced on a single reissue containing her two best LPs for the Prestige and Prestige/New Jazz labels from 1958 -- Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove. Alongside her prior efforts for the Savoy label, they collectively represent a small but substantive discography for the Detroit native in small group settings. With the exceptional flute sounds produced by Frank Wess, the combo plays music that is oriented via a unique sonic palate, further enhanced by the principals in the standards and originals they have chosen. Fellow Detroiter Herman Wright is here on bass, with duties split between legendary drummers Art Taylor and Roy Haynes, who place particular emphasis on subtle brushwork. Of course, the watchword of Ashby's sound is elegance, as she and Wess weave magical threads of gold and silver through standards like the circular and pristine "Moonlight in Vermont," the dramatic, slow "Yesterdays," or the sad "Alone Together." In a more Baroque or chamber setting, "Charmain" and "It's a Minor Thing" have Wess and Ashby thinking on a regal or Grecian platform. The variety on this collection is impressive, as you hear cinematic bluesy proclamations on "Autumn in Rome," striking mystery in "Taboo," mischievous and sly winks during "Rascallity," and a sexy calypso-to-swing beat as "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" unfolds. (all music)

The musician and spiritual seeker Alice Coltrane was much more than just John Coltrane's second wife. One of the few harpists to feature prominently in jazz, she was also a renowned pianist and composer and her interest in spiritual matters greatly helped steer her husband deeper into Krishna consciousness, which had significant bearing on his music, most notably evident on A Love Supreme (1965). This mesmerizing performance, held at Carnegie Hall four years after John's untimely passing as part of a benefit event for Swami Satchidananda's Integral Yoga Institute, comprised a stunning and largely improvised rendition of Coltrane's "Africa," with Alice's subtle piano and harp expressions excellently framed by the wailing saxes of Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp, Cecil McBee and Jimmy Garrison trading non-standard bass lines, a dual drum onslaught from Clifford Jarvis and Ed Blackwell, along with members of the Institute on harmonium and tamboura.

180-gram vinyl reissue. The epochal album released by Impulse ! in 1966 with a lineup enhanced by the addition of Rashied Ali on second drums and Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax.

The music could score a romantic drama, an action thriller, or a modern twist on a classic film noir. The spare, cascading vocals accentuate the lush instrumental orchestrations composed, performed, arranged and produced by multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum, whose latest brainchild was conceived and conceptualized during The Great Pause of 2020, a time of tension, bewilderment and isolation. Evoking the grooviness of an era which preceded his arrival on earth, Applebaum draws upon sonic devices of mid-century exotica and the succinct but dense arranging style of the leaders of the pop orchestras which dominated the hit parades of the 60s and early 70s. He blends impressions of this bygone era with an expression of his actual experiences as a young filmmaker coming of age in the 21st century, citing influences such as Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings and Antibalas. A New Kind of Love encompasses a reverence for the past without attempting to recreate it. I Each song on Ghost Funk Orchestra’s 3rd album, A New Kind of Love, due to be released on Colemine Records … 2022, resonates like the soundtrack to a scene from an imaginary movie. The music could score a romantic drama, an action thriller, or a modern twist on a classic film noir. The spare, cascading vocals accentuate the lush instrumental orchestrations composed, performed, arranged and produced by multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum, whose latest brainchild was conceived and conceptualized during The Great Pause of 2020, a time of tension, bewilderment and isolation. Evoking the grooviness of an era which preceded his arrival on earth, Applebaum draws upon sonic devices of mid-century exotica and the succinct but dense arranging style of the leaders of the pop orchestras which dominated the hit parades of the 60s and early 70s. He blends impressions of this bygone era with an expression of his actual experiences as a young filmmaker coming of age in the 21st century, citing influences such as Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Antibalas. A New Kind of Love encompasses a reverence for the past without attempting to recreate it. In the tradition of the “production forward” discographies of such record makers as David Axelrod and the Mizell Brothers, it’s easy to visualize Applebaum as a “mad doctor” figure, hunkered down in a studio channeling this musical representation of his inner world into the 12 compositions which make up A New Kind of Love. His writing stretches his psyche to explore a terrain in which to capture emotional notes of love going well, love gone sour, manifesting love songs based in ghostly affairs. While the studio is obviously a wondrous happy place of experimentation and creativity for Applebaum, he’s a band guy too (having actually fronted punk outfit The Mad Doctors). Applebaum has the wherewithal to bring his dreamy material to the 10 piece all star Ghost Funk Orchestra, leading them to breathe life into this sophisticated body of work which heralds the celebration of a new era for the group. Ghost Funk Orchestra will be touring in concert this summer and fall to celebrate the release of A New Kind of Love, an album which is sure to stand the test of time.

Hot on the heels of Impulse’s recently unearthed Coltrane number one hit album comes another beauty from Jazz’s ‘Holy Trinity’. This is a previously unreleased, precious lost treasure from Monk’s most critically acclaimed line-up; Charlie Rouse on saxophone, John Ore on double bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. The music was recorded live in Copenhagen in 1963 at the peak of Monk’s career. A year later he was to feature on the cover of TIME magazine, one of only for 4 Jazz artists ever to do so.

The performance, a mixture of Monk originals and interpretations of standards, showcases Monk at his prime: full of avant-garde flair and wit, but always with a swinging feel that explains his title as the 'High Priest of Bebop'.

The original tapes, saved from a skip and blessed with the approval of the Monk estate, have been faithfully restored, mastered and cut using Gearbox's legendary all-analogue process.

Line-up

Thelonious Monk - piano
Charlie Rouse - tenor saxophone
John Ore - double bass
Frankie Dunlop - drums

First making waves with the almost cult level ‘Hype Williams’ project, and then more recently solo and as part of the group Babyfather, the new 8 track LP sees Dean Blunt step back into the shadowy role of producer for a new band called Blue Iverson. It’s a vibesey one, this; digging a vein of smoke-hazed living/bedroom feels in eight parts that could almost be passed off as a Dam-Funk jam. Well, almost, but there’s still something off kilter and economical about the fidelity and mixing of the recording that hints it’s from the UK, or is even made to sound like the private pressed soul obscurities picked out by PPU. Hotep strongly reminds of those lush soul bits from Yves Tumor’s Serpent Music or even selected Letherette cuts released on Alex Nut’s namesake label. The image of Lauryn Hill on the sleeve is a cherry on the cake.