Author: TJ Gorton
Quite possibly one of the best records of the summer comes from “down under,” as innovative Australian producer and deejay known as Sampology (aka Sam Poggioli) has just released a great new EP titled Mt Glorious.
This week (morning of August 16, 2018) we sadly lost one of the greatest vocalists and inspirational figures of our time in Aretha Franklin. The artist who has rightfully been declared the “Queen of Soul” sold over 75 million records, won 18 GRAMMYs, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1987, became the first women to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Jazz is not dead, not even close. Not only is it thriving at this moment, the sound is evolving and speaking to a whole new generation of listeners. The evidence couldn’t be more clearer than on Makaya McCraven’s new recording Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape), which brings together two of the most vibrant scenes in jazz today, Chicago and London.
Are you collecting records on a budget? Is the wallet a little thin this month? Do you still have the itch to do some digging? BeatCaffeine is starting a series called Bargain Bins. This new reoccurring series will highlight three great records on a bi-monthly basis that can often be found for five dollars or less.
Eight months into 2018 and this is shaping up to be a very good year for new music. Over the past few months, there has been a number of incredible jazz releases by Kamasi Washington, Sons of Kemet, Kamaal Williams, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Emma-Jean Thackray, Tenderlonious, Makaya McCraven, and others
The UK based label Mr. Bongo has just released two well-crafted limited edition seven-inch releases by Cymande, featuring four of the legendary British funk bands most notable songs.
At times written off by the genre’s purists that the 1970s were a less than remarkable time for jazz, the decade was actually an era of major exploration for many jazz musicians, incorporating elements of funk, soul, rock, and early electronic sounds into their own recordings. This expansion of musical influences and an adaptation of more electric instrumentation helped lead to what some consider as a golden time for what has been coined “jazz-funk.”
Declared by Pitchfork as “the most compelling argument that techno came from Germany,” and ranked the fourth best album of the eighties by FACT, Manuel Göttsching’s 1984 E2-E4 is considered by many to be one of the greatest electronic recordings of our time.
Before Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith and the legendary producer tag-team of Larry & Fonce Mizell recorded the 1974 jazz-funk masterpiece Gears, the two parties first came together one year earlier to record the often overlooked album Gambler’s Life.
The iconic songwriter, composer, poet, and activist Gil Scott-Heron was one of the most influential artists of the last century. With the help of multi-instrumentalist and long time music counterpart Brian Jackson, Gil Scott was able to create a unique and revolutionary sound that fused jazz, funk, and soulful grooves with politically driven poetry and vocals that helped produce timeless classics like “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” “Home is Where The Hatred Is,” “The Bottle,” and “Johannesburg.”
Starting in the mid-1970s, disco flooded nightclubs in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. From its soul and Motown roots, disco expanded dance music with complex arrangements and productions: Percussion, strings, horns, and keyboards were often played by a large team of musicians under the direction of a producer.
In 2006 I started a blog, and now it’s 2018 and I’m starting another music site. The early lesson I learned back in 2006 when I wrote my first post for American Athlete was that I’m not a writer, and I’m certainly not a journalist. Even though I have the upmost respect for both of those professions, I have come to the realization that is not me. I’m not a Nate Chinen, a Ben Ratliff, or a Richard Scheinin, not even close.
Even though the first thing that might come to mind when you think about Brazilian music are the more popular genres of Bossa Nova, Samba, and Tropicalia during the 50s, 60s and even 70s, however Soundway Records has recently released an incredible new compilation exploring the region’s less explored synth-pop, boogie jams, and electro from the 1980s & 90s.
