Author: TJ Gorton
Over the past twelve months, not only was there a tremendous amount of great new music put out into the world, but we also saw a high-level of incredible reissue releases, including many previously unreleased recordings that had been shelved for 30-40 years or more.
2021 … or what at times just felt like the hangover to 2020. For parts, it seemed like a better year than the one prior, however let’s be real, that certainly wasn’t a hard bar to climb by any stretch. Over the last 12 months it’s become clear that the pandemic still remains a strong influence on all of our daily lives. It also continues to have a significant effect on music in general, what was produced, how it gets created, and often how it’s distributed. A whirlwind of complex emotions, cautious gatherings, high levels of uncertainty, as well as constantly backed-up vinyl pressing plants and more … 2021 was definitely a very challenging year for many, including musicians, record labels, and just about everyone in the music ecosystem.
For over a decade, Matsuli Music, have unearthed and reissued some of the most essential South African recordings ever made. With their latest release, the UK-based label has turned their attention to the incredible story and sounds behind Soweto’s first nightclub, known as the Pelican Club in an incredible new compilation.
French jazz-funk quartet Aldorande follow up both their 2019 breakthrough debut album and superb 2020 double-sided 12inch single Summer Body / Breakfast in Space with an incredible new album, titled Deux on Favorite Recordings.
Bassist of the legendary Brazilian fusion trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros, who has also contributed his pioneering space-funk sound on records by Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, Mark Murphy, and others, has recently released a brilliant new album on Far Out Recordings, appropriately titled Tempos Futuros.
London-based Outernational Sounds has recently reissued, for the first time outside of South Africa, two superb 1974 Johannesburg sessions Song Of Soweto and The Last Special from an all-star U.S. touring band led by both guitarist Charles Mallory and trombonist Al Hall Jr., known simply as the The Mallory Hall Band.
Over the past two decades, Soundway has been at the forefront in unearthing obscure and lost gems from all corners of the world. Through each record they put out, the London-based label is often able to fully tap into the most essential and defining music of a specific region or sub-genre. For their latest compilation, titled Ritmo Fantasía, that is certainly the case, as Venezuelan producer, DJ and record collector Trujillo (aka Andres Astorga) takes listeners on a journey through forgotten 1980s and 1990s era Balearic Spanish synth-pop, boogie and house music.
Formerly Chicago, and now Hawaii-based composer, producer, drummer, and all-around “jazz beat scientist” Makaya McCraven continues to be one the most forward-thinking artists of our present time. On his latest album, titled Deciphering The Message, he dives into the historic vaults of Blue Note Records and completely reworks some of the label’s classic material.
Highly-influential UK-based DJ, compilation curator, producer, and radio presenter Kev Beadle has just reissued a selection of essential tracks from Jan Tober and Ron Satterfield’s extremely obscure 1975 vocal jazz masterpiece As Long As There’s Music.
Since the release of their breakthrough self-titled debut in 2017, the adventurous Philadelphia/NY/DC-based quintet has established themselves as one of the most thought-provoking and forward-thinking jazz collectives. The group returns with an incredible new album on International Anthem, titled Open The Gates, that much like their other recordings, cries out for universal social change.
