Author: TJ Gorton

Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes

Trumpet & percussion duo Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes release adventurous debut on International Anthem

Over the past couple of years, New York City’s avant-jazz-meets-spoken word collective Irreversible Entanglements has stormed on the scene and have been one of the most creative and thought-provoking bands in jazz. Two of the group’s closest members in trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and drummer Tcheser Holmes have come together again to release a brilliant and wildly adventurous duo album titled Heritage of the Invisible II on Chicago’s International Anthem label.

Kahil El'Zabar — America 2020

Listen Here: Worldwide FM’s ‘America 2020’ w/ Kahil El’Zabar

In the run up to the US Election on November 3rd, Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM has put together an incredible thought-provoking series America 2020, which explores the theme of ‘What it means to be American in 2020’. The series has included mixture of inspired music and spoken word interviews from some of the most groundbreaking artists across all genres including Lady Blackbird, Algiers, Pan Amsterdam, Tune-Yards, Kahil El’Zabar and more.

Kahil El'Zabar — America the Beautiful

Legendary percussionist Kahil El’Zabar releases powerful spiritual jazz album ‘America The Beautiful’

Just in time for the U.S. Presidential election when many Americans are voting to decide the direction that the country will steer towards, legendary Chicago-based percussionist Kahil El’Zabar has released a powerful and brilliant new album, titled America The Beautiful on Spiritmuse records, addressing the state of America today, while being hopeful for the future.

Surprise Chef — Daylight Savings

Melbourne’s cinematic jazz-funk group Surprise Chef release sophomore album ‘Daylight Savings’

One of last year’s biggest surprise (no pun intended) and critically acclaim releases was Surprise Chef’s incredible debut full-length All News Is Good News. Originally released in November on the band’s own College Of Knowledge imprint, the album ended up making it to the top of many “best of” lists. After a reissue of the release by Mr Bongo, the Melbourne group has just released their highly-anticipated follow-up full-length, titled Daylight Savings.

Take Vibe E.P. - Golden Brown

The Stranglers meet Dave Brubeck on this incredible 7inch release on Jazz Room Records

Back in May, Uk pianist and saxophonist Laurence Mason had an idea of meshing together two of his biggest musical heroes, Dave Greenfield of the seventies-era proto-punk band The Stranglers with the sixties cool jazz “Take Five” sound of Dave Brubeck. He didn’t think much would come of it at the time, however after posting a demo of this funky soul jazz tribute track to YouTube, titled “Golden Brown”, it immediately blew up and received over a million views, with hundreds of requests for a physical release on vinyl.