BeatCaffeine’s Favorite EPs of 2020
As we get ready to enter the new year, I’ve put together one final “favorites” list, featuring some of the best EP releases that came out over the past twelve months. Sometimes the line is blurring as to what is an EP and what is considered an album, and definitely a few of the selections below can arguably be considered full-length recordings. Regardless, I thought this provides another opportunity to highlight some of the brilliant recordings that helped get us through this very challenging year. Happy New Year everyone!
Here are BeatCaffeine’s Favorite EPs of 2020.
10. Yazmin Lacey — ‘Morning Matters’ EP
(Own Your Own Records)
Nottingham-based soul singer Yazmin Lacey has continued to make waves within the UK scene over the past few years, and in 2020 she released her latest EP, titled Morning Matters. This new record, which is self-released and features a strong cast of London-based musicians including drummer Femi Koleoso, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi (both of Ezra Collective), pianist Sarah Tandy, and Moses Boyd on both drums and production duties, has an overall laidback and graceful approach, blending together soulful vocals with jazz-influenced backing grooves.
9. Tenderlonious — ‘The Piccolo: Tender Plays Tubby’
(Jazz Detective Records)
22a founder, producer, multi-instrumentalist and one of the most forward-thinking artists out of the London jazz scene, Tenderlonious pays homage to the British Jazz legend Tubby Hayes. The album features four incredible re-interpretations of classic Tubby Hayes tracks, with Tenderlonious playing the jazz great’s piccolo on the recording. A great jazz recording from start to finish that celebrates the legacy of one of the greatest UK jazz musicians of our time.
8. Charlotte Dos Santos — ‘Harvest Time‘
(Because Music)
The second release from Brazilian-Norwegian producer, composer, and vocalist Charlotte Dos Santos is a beautiful and hypnotic soul four-track recording featuring lush atmospheric instrumentation, minimalistic piano lines, pulsating electronic beats, and haunting pop melodies.
7. Penya ft Msafiri Zawose — ‘Penya Safari EP’
(On The Corner)
Another brilliant release from the always forward-thinking On The Corner label, this time featuring an incredible collaborative effort from the UK-based genre defying quartet Penya and Tanzanian gogo-fusion multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Msafiri Zawose. Recorded at Msafiri’s home home near Bagamoyo, the cosmic Afro-futuristic session combines electronic beats, thumb piano melodies, jazz inspired instrumentation, layered percussion grooves using hand drums, shakers, marimbas, and more blended together with soulful vocals from Msafiri and his sisters. The EP also features special guest Tamar Osborn (from Collocutor) on flute and bass clarinet, as well as a number of great remixes from Guedra Guedra, Cervo and Tom Blip.
6. Emma-Jean Thackray — ‘Rain Dance’ EP
(Movementt)
London-based multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Emma-Jean Thackray had a very active year, releasing two outstanding recordings. One of those EPs was Rain Dance, a four-track recording released on her brand new label Movementt. The record featuring a nice mix of jazz instrumentation, especially her virtuosic trumpet melodies, with electronic-based dance breakbeats, spacey hypnotic tones, and thumping house-influences grooves. Also make sure to checkout her other 2020 release on Night Dreamer!
5. Etuk Ubong — ‘Africa Today: Night Dreamer Direct-To-Disc Sessions’
(Night Dreamer)
The London-based Night Dreamer label had to be one of the most active in 2020. One of their many brilliant releases featured Nigerian composer, trumpeter, and bandleader Etuk Ubong on a six-track recording titled Africa Today. This energetic session blended together Afrobeat, highlife, jazz, with ritualistic drumming combining layered horn melodies over heavy rhythm grooves and soulful keys. As with all Night Dreamer direct-to-disc releases, this EP was recorded live-and-uncut in just one day at Night Dreamer’s Artone Studio in Haarlem (a city right outside of Amsterdam).
4. Andrew Ashong & Kaidi Tatham — ‘Sankofa Season’
(Kitto Records)
British-Ghanaian soul singer, songwriter, and producer Andrew Ashong joined forces with one of the most innovative and influential UK broken beat artists over the past two decades in keyboardist and producer Kaidi Tatham to release a brilliant EP, titled Sankofa Season. Representing the first release from Kitto Records, a new label out of Belfast and London, this six-track EP nicely blends Ashong’s layered soulful vocals with 80s-era boogie and jazz-funk grooves, cosmic synth melodies, and broken beat rhythms.
3. Gary Bartz & Maisha — ‘Night Dreamer Direct-To-Disc Sessions’
(Night Dreamer)
Legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz has been at the forefront of some of the greatest recordings over the past six decades. On another great direct-to-disc session released by Night Dreamer, the jazz great teams up with leading UK group Maisha. On this incredible recording, they collectively recapture the brilliance found on some of those iconic NTU Troop-era albums from the seventies, nicely blending together Bartz’ soulful saxophone melodies with funky percussion grooves and Afro-jazz influences.
2. EABS — ‘Discipline of Sun Ra’
(Astigmatic Records)
On this brilliant release (which can probably be considered an album in all honestly), the Poland-based sextet ensemble EABS have put together a six-track mind-blowing tribute to the legendary Sun Ra. This cosmic jazz gem includes re-workings of compositions written by Sun Ra between 1957-1979, blending together adventurous jazz solos, spacey synths and electronics, beat machines, and rhythmic grooves with spoken word excerpts from Sun Ra himself. It’s safe to say that the “Polish Space Program” has launched, and is now sonically orbiting Saturn.
- Nick Walters — ‘Active Imagination’
(22a)
Early in 2020 (which almost seems like a lifetime ago), composer, trumpeter, and member of the UK-based jazz quartet Ruby Rushton, Nick Walters released an absolutely incredible recording (which could also be considered a full-length album), titled Active Imagination on Tenderlonious label 22a. The five-track record is a brilliant combination of spiritual jazz and free-wheeling grooves, featuring fierce solos, hypnotic melodies, and funky rhythms. From the John Coltrane-inspired opener “So Long Chef,” to the West African closer “Dansoman Last Stop,” and everything in-between, this recording is brilliant from start to finish, and continues to show why Nick Walters is one of the most groundbreaking musicians currently in the UK Jazz scene.
BeatCaffeine 2020 Favorites Lists:
Favorite Albums of 2020
Favorite EP Releases of 2020
Favorite Tracks of 2020
Favorite Compilations of 2020
Favorite Reissues of 2020
