MUSIC

2024 repress with a new cover art.

Mustapha Skandrani. Besides having an excellent name, this man, a luminary of Algerian music, possessed a unique musical sense, able to transcend the borders of musical cultures to create a distinctive fusion of Arabo-Andalusian and European styles.

"Istikhbars and Improvisations", recorded in 1965 in Paris, is a solo piano album presenting a trans-Mediterranean crossover based on traditional Algerian vocal pieces known as Istikhbars. Playing these istikhbars (which have roots in the Islamic Arabo-Andalusian culture which flourished in Spain) on the piano, that quintessentially European instrument, Skandrani was greeted with derision by some purists. Skandrani's powerful musical vision, however, perceives the European element involved in Arabo-Andalusian musical culture, a world of exchange and co-existence, and his decision to play this music on the piano reminds us of this European influence.

Skandrani's modus operandi on this release is to present each istikhbar, modal in nature, then to play an improvisation based on the istikhbar and its attendant mode. This A/B alternation continues throughout. The pellucid clarity of Skandrani's playing on this album may remind the listener of a modal Goldberg Variations, Bach and Glenn Gould transplanted to Andalucia. Other ears will hear the Arabic/Maghreb elements more strongly. Skandrani's precise touch and clear, symmetrical rhythmic sense links both worlds, assuring us that the Mediterranean is not a barrier, but a unifier, and that the differences between the cultures are not vast. This is an admirable acheivement, resulting in beautiful music of a rare charm.

Mustapha Skandrani was born in Algiers in 1920, and died there in 2005. He mastered a number of instruments at an early age, and his musical prowess led him to work with the great singers and ensembles of his day, in live performances, recordings, and radio broadcasts. Later in his life, he devoted much energy to education.

TRACKS:
1. Mode: Raml Maya + Improvisations
2. Mode: Moual + Improvisations
3. Mode: Sika + Improvisations
4. Mode: Araq + Improvisations
5. Mode: Mezmoum + Improvisations
6. Mode: Sahli + Improvisations
7. Mode: Ghrib + Improvisations
8. Mode: Zidane + Improvisations (Vinyl edition only)
9. Mode: Kourdi + Improvisations (Vinyl edition only) 

Belt of Orion by Stockholm-based Isak Edberg is the composer’s second solo release on XKatedral, and his first to focus solely on instrumental music in the form of two pieces of extended duration for solo piano. Edberg is a composer of electronic and acoustic music as exemplified by Ondulations from 2017 and Lamé written in 2010 and released in 2022, both on XKatedral. Edberg was also a member of Golden Offense Orchestra, active from 2012 to 2014. Edberg writes that his music is informed by an enchantment of being and a search for holiness, rapture and transcendence through stillness, contemplation, dreaming and an attempt to uphold the present. Edberg regards his music to be an adornment of time. The two works presented here were composed in the south of France and in Stockholm during a period spanning the years 2016-2018. The music was inspired by the cold winds, starry nights and desolate, palely bright landscape of the provençal autumn, as well as reflections during a time of escapism and isolation in the life of the composer. More concretely, this music grew out of hours of improvised playing on an old piano while living alone on the countryside, during which harmonic structures and gestures were slowly worked out by means of performing and listening, assessing and balancing sounds and silences. Stylistically, the music draws on a range of sources, such as Feldman’s use of space and resonance as projected through both harmonic and temporal distance, the ritualistic gestural repetitions of Satie, as well as Messiaen’s resonant harmony, together with some of the harmonic lushness of Scriabin’s late work. Belt of Orion is a piece that explores the contrast of two musical textures, the one being fluid, airy and progressive, the other being more static, steady and repetitive. The music sequences through a series of harmonic tensions in search of a place of peace, exposing a rift in the weave of time where everything momentarily stands still. In Vestiges repetitive and rhythmic materials form a major part of the musical structure, while sections of sparse, floating harmonies temporarily interrupt with reflective pauses of stillness. The music thus employs two different and contrasting kinds of musical hypnosis, with the aim of cradling the listener into a dark and perhaps unsettling sleep. The music on this recording was performed by the renowned Swedish pianist Mats Persson, who has for many decades been a legend in the art music scene of Stockholm. Through his languid yet distinct interpretations the delicacy and intimacy of these works are elegantly brought to the fore. The recordings heard here were made over the course of two evenings at Fylkingen in Stockholm. Isak Edberg's music moves slowly through the seemingly endless world that is harmonic sound. In his practice he uses heavily reduced and carefully controlled materials to create states of maximum clarity.

The soundtrack to “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (winner of the 1983 British Academy Award for Best Original Score), one of Ryuichi Sakamoto's first film scores and masterpieces, is finally being reissued on 180-gram vinyl for the first time in 41 years since its initial release in 1983. The new cutting master has been remastered in 2024 by Heba Cardley, an engineer who has worked on reissues of Ryuichi Sakamoto's works as well as Bjork's. The booklet includes liner notes by Peter Barakan and Junichi Onuma.

This masterpiece album, featuring a live performance by jazz pianist legend Bill Evans, bassist Eddie Gómez, and drummer Marty Morell at the former Tokyo Postal Savings Hall in Tokyo on January 20, 1973, has been reissued on vinyl. This is his first recording on the Fantasy label. It includes a variety of songs, from quirky tunes to overlooked classics and familiar standards, but it is a unique album with only one of Evans' own songs, "T.T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune Two)."

12" is Ryuichi Sakamoto's first original album in about 6 years, since "async" released in 2017. This is a collection of 12 songs selected from musical sketches he created as if he were writing a diary, and compiled them into a single album. The jacket was drawn by Lee Ufan, an international artist representing the "Mono-ha" school.

Kindred spirits Passepartout Duo and Inoyama Land embody the essence of play – charting a new chapter and reinvigorating the environmental music and electronic landscape.

Passepartout Duo is formed of Nicoletta Favari (IT) and Christopher Salvito (IT/US), who since 2015 have been on a continuous journey travelling the world’s corners, engaged in a creative process they term “slow music”. Having been guests of many notable artist residencies and with live performances in cultural spaces and institutions, their evocative music escapes categorisation. With no fixed abode their musical pilgrimage brought them to Japan first in 2019, which prompted a deep connection to Kankyō Ongaku ‘environmental music’, a genre in which Inoyama Land is often associated with, soundtracking the duo’s first immersive experience. In 2023 the duo revisited Japan and set out to reconnect in particular with the music of Inoyama Land, performed by Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita. The highly revered album ‘Danzindan-Pojidon’ (1983) produced by Haruomi Hosono amongst other well publicized and acclaimed reissues (Light in The Attic Records’ Grammy-nominated compilation ‘Kankyō Ongaku’), produced a global resurgence and admiration of the environmental music movement. Nicoletta took the lead to seek out Inoyama Land and in making contact successfully their intrigue and eagerness to meet was warmly reciprocated, and the group scheduled to meet in the form of a spontaneous improvisation session.

“We’re deeply concerned with what it means to be a duo, and what it means for people to connect through music.”

'Radio Yugawara' was recorded in 2023 in Makoto Inoue’s hometown of Yugawara where his family runs a kindergarten, whose space has doubled as a Sunday recording studio. Upon arriving a circle of four tables was set up in the school’s auditorium - the tables were carefully populated with children’s instruments: a full set of handbells, a glockenspiel, a xylophone, recorders, melodicas, and harmonicas. Surrounding the tables were racks hanging all sorts of bells and wind chimes and within this environment each performer set up their own electronic instruments. Dialling into each other, a simple set of playground ‘game rules’ was devised where time was divided into three separate sessions (1) ‘only electronic instruments’, ‘only acoustic’, and ‘a mix of both’, (2) ‘revolving duets’ each taking turns to play through a cycle of ‘four duos’ and (3) ‘anything permitted’, accumulating to more than three hours of material which was then carefully distilled into succinct tracks. The alluring album opener ‘Strange Clouds’ oscillates into view, setting a lush scenery built from a bed of synthesisers and the first glimpse of the chromaplane, the hand-built analogue instrument designed by Passepartout Duo, featuring a touchless interface and endless organic sounds that underpin the album’s 11-track inlets. Percussive pulses act as the heartbeat to ‘Abstract Pets’ before earthy sub-swells open the pathway to glistening glockenspiels and wind chimes. The atmosphere shapeshifts with ‘Simoom’ and ‘Tangerine Fields’ with swirling synth lines and subliminal beats resembling changes in weather patterns. At the centre points the idyllic ‘Observatory’ and ‘Mosaic’ could illuminate the deepest oceans before the hypnotic, arpeggiating synth lines in the otherworldly ‘Xiloteca’ propel the album towards ‘Solivago’, with its gentle lullaby of playful ambience. The reflective closer ‘Axolotl Dreams’ resolves their somewhat chance meeting with elegant pastoral chord strokes and uplifting synth swells, sending final signals upwards into the ether.

'Radio Yugawara' is a unique one-off transmission from a specific place and point in time, unlikely to ever occur again. The respective duo’s approach can really be described as “tuning in”, a tuning into each other, to themselves, and to the surrounding nature of Yugawara. Like waves that travel off-world, sounds travel through the universe and can be lost forever if we don’t seek them out. In finding a harmonic affinity within their instruments and a spiritual kinship in their interwoven performance, Radio Yugawara at its core is an interpretation of feeling, of close human interaction and the true essence of discovery.

“The album is both a transmission from a location, but also a tuning into the surroundings and to each other. Music in this kind of ephemeral moment is much less about active creation and more about discovering something which is already there in the air.” 

FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL RELEASE OF RYUICHI SAKAMOTO'S LANDMARK 1983 ALBUM "CODA," HIS RENDITION FOR SOLO PIANO OF THE 'MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE' SOUNDTRACK. FEATURING REMASTERED AUDIO AND NEW LINER NOTES BY ANDY BETA.

Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic LP "Coda”, issued in Japan in 1983 as a solo piano version of the "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" soundtrack. The album, which was never been released outside of Japan until now, sees Sakamoto on acoustic piano reinterpreting fascinating versions of his famous soundtrack including the classic theme and "Germination," which was later used in the "Call Me By Your Name" soundtrack. This reissue has been remastered by Seigen Ono's Saidera Mastering studio in Tokyo and boasts the original artwork plus a 4-page insert with new liner notes by Andy Beta.

- First international release of the album
- Audio remastered by Saidera Mastering in Tokyo
- Original artwork with OBI and 4 page colour insert
- New liner notes by Andy Beta

Tracklist
SIDE 1
1. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 4:49
2. Batavia 0:50
3. Germination 2:09
4. A Hearty Breakfast 1:18
5. Before The War 1:44
6. The Seed And The Sower 3:55
7. A Brief Encounter 2:27

SIDE 2
1. Ride Ride Ride 1:02
2. The Fight 1:20
3. Dismissed! / Assembly 1:50
4. Beyond Reason 1:26
5. Sowing The Seed 1:31
6. Last Regrets 2:05
7. The Seed 1:06
8. Japan 2:58
9. Coda 5:32

Ryuichi Sakamoto's seventh solo album, "Neo Geo," co-produced with Bill Laswell for global release, showcases a fusion of top musicians across various genres, including Sly Dunbar and Bootsy Collins. Infused with electronic tones intertwined with organic and ethnic flavors like traditional Okinawan and Balinese music, the album was meticulously crafted in both Tokyo and New York, reaching audiences in over 20 countries and marking a significant milestone in Sakamoto's solo journey.

Evening Air is the result Loren Connors and David Grubbs’s first trip to the recording studio in the two decades since their first duo album, Arborvitae (Häpna). Arborvitae stood out for its spellbinding, utterly unhurried meshing of electric guitar (Connors) and piano (Grubbs). With this long-awaited return, Connors and Grubbs take turns trading off on piano and guitar, with Grubbs at the keyboard for the two gently expansive pieces on the first side and Connors taking over the instrument for three gorgeous miniatures on the flip, including an album-closing and perfectly heart-stopping version of Connors’s and Suzanne Langille’s “Child.” The album’s wildcard is “It’s Snowing Onstage,” which finds the two locking horns with two electric guitars before Loren blew the minds of all present in the studio by unexpectedly switching to drums. Loren Connors is one-of-a-kind, one of a handful of deservedly storied musical greats gracing us with their presence, and with Evening Air David Grubbs again demonstrates that he’s a stellar musician who also ranks among the most simpatico of collaborators. A cover painting by Connors—another wordless signalling—sets the tone for this most beguiling of seances.

First volume of solo piano compositions by Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, finally back in print. Born to an aristocratic family in Addis Ababa in December of 1923, Emahoy spent much of her youth and young adulthood studying classical music in Europe. She returned to Ethiopia in the 40s, where the war interrupted her musical studies. In 1948 during a church service in Ethiopia, she found her faith and began years of religious training. Throughout her physical and spiritual journeys, Emahoy continued to compose for the piano. She first released this album in Germany 1963 as small private press record. The tracks reflect her own travels, seamlessly moving between Western classical and traditional Ethiopian modes, evoking Erik Satie, the orthodox liturgy, and meditative Christian music all at once. Her work is like no one else in the world, lyrical, hypnotic, full of spiritual warmth and a direct connection to the divine. Emahoy is now 98 years old and still lives in Jerusalem. She continues to play, and the funds from her work go to the righteous causes to which she has dedicated her life. We are incredibly proud to present this music on vinyl again, mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk and presented in collaboration with the EMAHOY TSEGE MARIAM MUSIC PUBLISHER and Foundation. This black vinyl LP version includes a new reproduction of the original artwork, with the composer’s own notes, translated from the original German.

Available for the first time on vinyl, Brainfeeder releases a wonderful new deluxe edition of Austin’s 2011 album on February 9th, 2024. “Endless Planets” was, and remains, a landmark album in the Brainfeeder catalog, marking the label’s first foray into jazz. It pre-dated his friend Thundercat’s debut album “The Golden Age of Apocalypse” by a few months and Kamasi Washington’s “The Epic” by four years. A truly prodigious talent on the piano, Austin effortlessly combined inquisitive futurism with incredible musicianship and a healthy respect for the heritage of jazz, and in this way it is an exemplary Brainfeeder record.

“I don't think art can or should be classified into earthly conventions. True art defies categorization and transcends boundaries and shouldn't be looked at through a lens of ‘earthly’ or ‘not earthly.’ If you let it wash over you and carry you away, that experience may not feel like anything you've ever experienced here on Earth. It can be the doorway into an infinitude of worlds.”
– Austin Peralta

The new edition features four previously unreleased tracks including a live version of ‘DMT Song’ from FlyLo’s 2012 album “Until the Quiet Comes” that Austin co-wrote. Recorded at the legendary BBC Maida Vale Studios in London in July 2011, Austin led an all-star British band comprising Richard Spaven (drums), Tom Mason (bass), Jason Yarde (alto sax), Heidi Vogel (vocals), and Jason Swinscoe of The Cinematic Orchestra (electronics).

On “Endless Planets” Austin recorded with the late Zane Musa (alto sax), Ben Wendel (tenor and soprano), Hamilton Price (bass) and Zach Harmon (drums). He also relied on longtime friend and associate Strangeloop for electronic manipulation throughout the set and ends the album with a scintillating collaboration with The Cinematic Orchestra and singer Heidi Vogel, “Epilogue: Renaissance Bubbles.”

The “Endless Planets” artwork is by Strangeloop, reworked for this new deluxe vinyl edition by Adam Stover and Sean Preston. Creative direction by JC Caldwell. The black vinyl gatefold 2LP features spot gloss detailing, printed inner sleeves and will be released on February 9th, 2024 via Brainfeeder Records. 

This second album was recorded about a year after "Scenery. The delicate yet emotionally rich playing is still there, but this time it is more powerful, and the world that Fukui has depicted comes to life with clearer contours and a greater sense of depth. The sweet and sad melody of "Mellow Dream" and the dynamic and fast-paced "Horizon" are among the dazzling performances. In addition, the album features three original songs, compared to only one on the previous album, which allows the listener to enjoy Fukui's musicality even more. Considering its maturity and rich content, it is safe to say that this is a masterpiece that surpasses the first album. Ryo Fukui regrettably passed away in 2016. His delicate touch, rich tone, and beautiful compositions. We are deeply grateful for the "pleasant dream" he showed us.

Ryo Fukui is a renowned pianist born in Hokkaido, Japan. His fresh and delicate playing has attracted many listeners, and his first album, "Scenery," has been highly acclaimed worldwide. The earnest performance of his youthful days shakes the listener's emotions pleasantly. It Could Happen To You" swings as if strutting, "Early Summer" is exhilarating and joyful, and "Scenery" seems to contain the night air of late autumn. The "Hokkaido-like emotion" that blends with Fukui's qualities and combines a large scale and subtlety is pleasant to listen to. The green leaves sprouting, the dazzling clear stream, the clear sky, the snow falling without a sound.... Here, the beautiful scenery spun by Ryo Fukui lives on forever.

Kelly Moran has steadfastly established himself as a standard-bearer of contemporary music, challenging the classical school of piano with modern and experimental approaches; in 2018, he joined Oneohtrix Point Never's touring ensemble and has performed live with FKA Twigs. In the classical realm, she has composed for Margaret Leng Tan, while also performing with artists such as Kelsey Lu and Yves Tumor. Her latest album, "Moves in the Field," was released on March 29, 2012 on Warp Records! This album contains 10 duets that explore the inhuman and impossible realm of piano playing, experimenting with the Yamaha Disklavier automatic piano, which Moran plays in real time while the Disklavier plays ultra-fast arpeggios and chords that require more than 10 fingers, accompanying motifs that transcend the physical limits of the piano. Mixing and recording was done by Dan Bora, known as the sound engineer for Philip Glass, and mastered by Joshua Eustis of Tel Aviv.

For Anyone That Knows You, an album of mostly piano solos by Josiah Steinbrick, was recorded not for smoothness or posterity but to emphasize the piano as object, the person playing it, and the moment it sounds. On three of the pieces, the saxophone of Sam Gendel hovers over the piano like a faint change in the light, adding resonance and gentle reinforcement rather than counterpoint. Three others are delicate renditions: “Green Glass” interprets an untitled recording by Quechuan folk musicians Leandro Apaza Romas and Benjamin Clara Quispe; “Elyne Road” abbreviates one of Malian kora master Toumani Diabaté’s most tender compositions; and “Lullaby” is an arrangement of a traditional Creole song, originally recorded in 1954 by the Haitian-American guitarist Frantz Casseus.

The recording date of this solo outing by pianist Bill Evans has been listed as both September 1968 and December 1969; the latter seems the more logical entry. This is Evans' final Verve album. He plays five long solos (including a fourteen-and-a-half -minute exploration of "Never Let Me Go"). The repertoire includes "Here's That Rainy Day," "A Time for Love," "Midnight Mood," and "On a Clear Day." This set is recommended to Bill Evans completists who already have many of his other recordings.

Emotion and Reason. Past and present.
The pianist Nobuko Kondo, who highly integrates conflicting elements to create a well-honed musical world, plays richly flavored Bach. While Kondo has expanded her international activities through first and second prizes at the Artur Schnabel Competition and prizes at the Busoni International Competition, she has also been active in premiering new works and performing contemporary music, including Stockhausen's works, Bach has always been present in her activities.
Included on this CD are six works that were featured in a 2014 recital and garnered rave reviews from all quarters. Each of the six works encompasses a completely different style, and Kondo sublimates them with a high degree of emotional and rational integration, while maintaining the philosophy of the works themselves. The unique, one-of-a-kind, and solitary Bach resonates from a unique piano and contemporary perspective.

[1]-[2] Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge d-moll BWV903
Fantasia
Fuga

[3]-[4] Fantasie und Fuge a-moll BWV904
Fantasia
Fuga

[5]-[6] Ricercar a 3 / Ricercar a 6 aus dem „Musikalischen Opfer“ BWV1079
Ricercar a 3
Ricercar a 6

[7]-[12] Capriccio B-dur sopra la lontananza de il fratro dilettissimo BWV992
1. Arioso. Adagio
2.
3. Adagiosissimo
4.
5. Aria di Postiglione. Allegro poco
6. Fuga all’imitatione di Posta

[13]-[16] Vier Duette BWV802-805
Duetto I e-moll BWV802
Duetto II F-dur BWV803
Duetto III G-dur BWV804
Duetto IV a-moll BWV805

[17]-[19] Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto F-dur BWV 971
1.
2. Andante
3. Presto

[20] Ricercar a 6 aus dem „Musikalischen Opfer“ BWV1079 (Bonus Track)

Nobuko Kondo
D. in Instrumental Music from Tokyo University of the Arts. D. for her thesis and performance of Stockhausen's piano music, and received the Bunka Hoso Music Award. She was awarded the Bunka Hoso Music Prize, and studied at the Berlin University of the Arts as a scholarship student of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from 1986 to 1988, graduating with the highest honors. He won a prize at the Busoni International Competition and was awarded the Nancy Miller Memorial Prize at the William Kapell International Piano Competition in 1990. He has performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Haydn Orchestra (Italy), Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo University of the Arts Orchestra, and many others. In 1993, she began the recital series "Piano Music of the 20th Century". In recent years, she has also concentrated on the works of J. S. Bach, especially her recitals in 2000 and 2005 of the complete works from "The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volumes I and II", which were highly acclaimed. She has also released the CDs "J.S. Bach Toccata Complete Works," "New Viennese Music School Piano Works," and "Nobuko Kondo Plays J.S. Bach" (specially selected for "Record Geijutsu"), which have been well received. In April 2017, he spent a year in Berlin as a long-term overseas trainee at Kunitachi College of Music, where he conducted research focusing on Beethoven's piano works. She is currently a professor at Kunitachi College of Music.

"The first vinyl release of Charlemagne Palestine's Godbear, a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca's Neutral Records but eventually released on CD by the Dutch Barooni label in 1998. Although Palestine has worked in an enormous variety of media, his long form performances for solo piano are perhaps his most acclaimed works. Palestine immersed himself in the study of overtones throughout the 1960s, working first with carillons and then with electronic synthesis, searching for the 'golden sound'. Beginning in the early 1970s he continued his exploration of the complexities hidden within seemingly simple tones and intervals on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, the 'Rolls Royce' of pianos. With the piano's sustain pedal constantly depressed, Palestine hammers out rapidly repeated notes, allowing a complex cloud of overtones to rise above the percussive texture of the struck keys. Initially working with simple intervals such as octaves and fifths, Palestine gradually expanded the harmonic range of his piano performances over the years, while still retaining their ecstatically single-minded nature. Revisiting his signature piano style in 1987 after several years focusing on visual art, Godbear presents three distinct variations that demonstrate the development of his piano music after the classic recordings of the early 1970s. Occupying the entire first side, 'The Lower Depths' stages a slow descent from the piano's mid-range to the Bösendorfer's cavernous additional low octave, building into a thundering swarm of booming overtones. Breaking entirely with the stereotype of clinical minimalism, Palestine's journey to the depths embraces passages of darkly romantic melody before slowly ascending to its starting point. The version of 'Strumming Music' performed here condenses the developmental arc of the piece into eleven minutes, fanning out from a single octave to a complex harmonic wash that calls to mind Palestine's enthusiasm for Debussy and Ravel. 'Timbral Assault' is like an evil twin of 'Strumming Music,' transforming its insistency and harmonic complexity into aggressive intensity and creeping dissonance, foreshadowing Palestine's later collaborations with Christoph Heemann. A classic release, and one that, because of the variety of approaches surveyed within, serves as an ideal introduction to Palestine's ecstatic and mysterious sound world" --Francis Plagne. Remastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Presented in a deluxe gatefold sleeve designed by Stephen O'Malley.

“There are few musicians in jazz who can make you feel that essentially all is right in the world.” - The Times

On The Balance:

"Getting the balance just right has always been Ibrahim’s great strength, drawing from a source but keeping it fresh..." - Julian Cowley, The Wire

★★★★★ - The Evening Standard

"A modern master... his graceful playing leans on equal measures of force and restraint, of dense clusters and open space. Mr. Ibrahim’s music is dotted by satisfying, sometimes stunning, passages of repose." - Larry Blumenfeld, Wall Street Journal

Entitled 'The Balance', this project featured his long-time septet Ekaya, a line-up that he's been recording with since 1983. In this case, the album was recorded over the course of one day at London's RAK Studios last November. The lush horn lines, lilting melodies, and uplifting chord progressions are characteristic of Abdullah's own particular brand of Township Jazz. This is contrasted with various solo piano improvisations, which epitomise the nostalgic yet hopeful nature of Abdullah's musical spirit. Hence, The Balance.

In his own words, "We push ourselves out of our comfort zones. So that we can present to the listener our striving for excellence. So that we can engage with our listeners without any barriers of our ego. It's not jazz. For us, it's a process of transcending barriers."

“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”

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

Koki Nakano’s new album, Oceanic Feeling, is a celebration of ambiguity. The album’s title is borrowed from an expression coined by the French writer and musician Romain Rolland in 1927. In a letter written to Sigmund Freud, Rolland described the oceanic feeling as “the sensation of eternity, a feeling of being one with the external world as a whole”. While this concept of oneness permeates Nakano’s whole album, the music also deals with his inability to fully live in this so-called "oceanic feeling", capturing thus the composer’s longing, frustration and ultimately search for harmony within his own limitations.

A spiritual soul inspired by nature, life and her experience living as an Afrikan woman, listening to muva of Earth is like planting your feet in rich warm soil; blending spiritual mantras and conscious lyricism, her music fusing afro-futurism, jazz, classical and more is truly transformative. Today, muva of Earth returns to announce her forthcoming debut project align with Nature’s Intelligence out 15th September via Brownswood Recordings and shares the gorgeous first single “heaven hear me above”. A soft and celestial spell lush with playful keys, delicate sparkling chimes and the harp expertly played by muva, this single explores her deep appreciation of being a unique and divine being. A meditative project centred around vulnerability, healing and an evolved way of thinking, on the forthcoming project across 8-tracks (also known as affirmations and chants) muva of Earth encourages empowerment and self expression.

Born as Davina Adeosun-Bright (Davina, which originates from the word ‘divinity’, Adeosun pronounced A-de-o-shu is yoruba tongue and means ‘Crown of Ọṣun’ which is a dedication to the orisha and goddess of the river, Ọṣun), muva of Earth was raised by Nigerian parents to be strong and independent. Making an impact early in her career, her live experience has already led her to open for Erykah Badu and Pink Siifu , as well as previous headline shows and plays at We Out Here, SuperSonicJazz , Cross The Tracks, XJazz! Festival and more. Previous singles including last year's “High” have garnered support from The Guardian, COLORS, Clash, Loud and Quiet, Hunger, RinseNotion, BBC 6Music, BBC Radio 1, NTS, and more.

Speaking on the single, muva of Earth says:

‘I wrote this song about what it means to be proud of what makes you unique,
A statement to the heavenly realms asking for understanding.
I may have hurt you in the past but I didn’t mean to,
I tried my best with the experience that i have,

Know my intentions are pure and that I am learning.
Love’ 

As with Directstep (recorded one week previously), this album was recorded, and originally only released, in Japan. It was one of Hancock's most successful albums in Japan, perhaps because it was entirely solo piano. Hancock tackles jazz standards such as "My Funny Valentine", "On Green Dolphin Street" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come" while also performing four original compositions.