BeatCaffeine’s Favorite EP Releases of 2021
Putting together selections for this list, I often find that there is a blurring line as to what is an EP and what is considered an album, and some of the selections below can arguably be considered full-length recordings. Sometimes I think it’s best to leave it up to the artist’s interpretation, which to me, makes the most sense. Regardless of the category, I thought this most importantly provided another opportunity to highlight more incredible recordings that came out in 2021.
With all that being said, here are BeatCaffeine’s ‘Favorite EP Releases’ of 2021.
10. Wildflower — ‘Better Times’
(Tropic Of Love Music)
The innovative London-based trio, featuring bassist and founding member of Ill Considered Leon Brichard, saxophonist Idris Rahman (Soothsayers), and drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet), follow up last year’s outstanding album Season 2, with a superb new four-track EP. Building off of the core foundational folk-like spiritual vibe that is strongly present on the group’s past two releases, the music features groove-heavy rhythms and melodic tones, combined with an open approach that allows space for improvisation and exploration. This also marks the debut release on notable London-based Portuguese DJ Mafalda Daniel‘s new label Tropic of Love Music.
9. Lord & Dego — ‘s/t’ EP
(2000 Black)
Broken Beat pioneers Denis “Dego” McFarlane of 4Hero and Matt Lord of the legendary Bugz In The Attic collective follow-up their outstanding 2018 collaborative debut release One Way To Another, with a brilliant self-titled EP on the 2000 Black label. Incredible from start to finish, this four-track recording dances the line between jazz-funk, broken beat, disco and boogie.
8. Sitka Sun — ‘All The Way West’
(The Long Road Society)
Oakland-based cosmic psych jazz ensemble Sitka Sun, which is the brainchild of bassist, composer, and arranger Patrick Murphy, follow-up their breakthrough 2018 debut album with another incredible release, titled All The Way West via The Long Road Society label. This brilliant record blends together meditative rhythms, interwoven melodies, cosmic grooves, and psychedelic textures featuring a wide range of both acoustic and electric instrumentation including multi-layered horns, percussion, double-bass, electric and slide guitars, pedal steel, spacey synths and more. Featuring six incredible tracks, you can make an argument that this is a full-length album, however regardless which list it “qualifies” for, it’s definitely one of the best releases of 2021.
7. JAB — ‘Currents EP’
(Joon Dada)
Following up on quite possibly the best song of 2019 in the 10-plus minute dancefloor gem “Directions”, London-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Junior Alli-Balogun aka JAB released the much anticipated follow-up EP titled Currents. This brilliant four-track recording builds off of the foundation we heard on “Directions”, fusing together a layering of percussion rhythms and cosmic meditative grooves, while also now incorporating some epic string arrangements, which only add to the hypnotic sonic excursion.
6. Foat, Heinola, Åkerblom — ‘Gone To The Cats’
(Jazzaggression)
For more than a decade, acclaimed London-based pianist Greg Foat has been at the forefront of some of the best groove-oriented jazz recordings for labels like Jazzman Records, Athens Of The North, and Strut. On his latest release, he teams up with two incredible Finnish musicians in bassist Teemu Åkerblom and drummer Aleksi Heinola for a superb feline-themed album on Jazzaggression, titled Gone To The Cats. Recorded in a small cabin in snowy pre-COVID Norway in the winter of 2020, this incredible eight track recording features Foat’s spacey synth and Fender Rhodes based solos and harmonics with atmospheric soundtrack-like textures, and funky bass-drum backing grooves.
5. Mark de Clive-Lowe — ‘Midnight Snacks EP Vol.2’
(Mashi Beats)
Highly innovative Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Mark de Clive-Lowe, who is always blurring the lines between jazz, broken beat, and experimental electronic-influenced music, has released volume two of his superb Midnight Snacks EP series. MdCL describes the series as “moments in time created in the dead of night – as the world sleeps, I get to imagine alternate realities.” This four-track EP features uptempo cosmic jazz tributes to two recently passed away legends, in piano great Chick Corea and massively influential London DJ and producer Phil Asher, as well the funky mid-tempo groover “Float into ETHer” and a Latin and Samba-flavored broken beat gem, titled “Joyful Resistance Part II”.
4. Nathaniel Cross — ‘The Description Is Not The Described’
(First World Records)
Once described as “the Quincy Jones of Catford” by Rolling Stone magazine, South London composer, arranger, and trombonist Nathaniel Cross has become a prominent musician among today’s UK jazz scene. This four-track EP nicely fuses together soulful jazz melodies with broken beat and hip-hop foundational grooves, and mixture of calypso, dancehall, Afro-Cuban and West African influences. With so much talent, I think it’s safe to say that we should expect a lot more great music from this artist for years to come.
3. Rosie Turton — ‘Expansions and Transformations: Part I & II’
(self-released)
Over the last several years, London-based trombonist Rosie Turton has continued to make her mark as one of the prominent musicians and composers among the thriving UK jazz scene. This remarkable four-track cosmic jazz recording takes the listener on a sonic journey that taps into different moods and emotions, from unsettling tension to melodic spiritual textures and uplifting grooves, while tapping into influences of jazz greats Pharoah Sanders and Abdullah Ibrahim. The music beautifully blends together interwoven layers of horns, strings, atmospheric electronics, and dynamic percussion rhythms. According to Turton, “Parts I and II are a story of finding a way to break through the turbulence and remembering that on the other side of the storm there is always the sun shining.”
2. Work, Money, Death — ‘The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises’
(ATA Records)
Clocking in at over 33 minutes in length, UK saxophonist Tony Burkill and his large ensemble Work, Money, Death released an incredible 2-track spiritual jazz recording inspired by the likes of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. The mind-blowing record blends together meditative musical mantras, Pharoah-like tenor saxophone improvisation, hypnotic chants, layered percussion grooves featuring bells, drums, bamboo xylophones, woodblocks, and more. An overall spiritual jazz masterpiece that nicely captures that classic late sixties-early seventies post-Coltrane cosmic sound that artists like Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Michael White, Don Cherry, Yusef Lateef, and others were exploring at the time.
1.Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble — ‘NOW’
(International Anthem)
Over the last couple of years, the Chicago-based collective Black Monument Ensemble, led by visual/sound artist, and producer Damon Locks have released some of the most powerful and forward-thinking music, including their breakthrough 2019 debut, Where Future Unfolds. In 2021, Locks and the stellar ensemble, which also notably includes Angel Bat Dawid and Ben LaMar Gay, returned to release an absolutely brilliant new record on International Anthem, titled NOW. This incredible six-track session was recorded at end of the Summer 2020, safely in an outside garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio. Recorded in just a in only a few takes, the music perfectly fuses together electronic beats and samples with spiritual jazz textures, adventurous horn solos, driving percussion rhythms, and soulful vocal melodies. At times, it almost sounds like a wild cosmic blend of Sun Ra meets Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite with a touch of Flying Lotus, all with it’s own unique original twist. Through the joy and desire of creating art again as a collective, Damon Locks and the Black Monument Ensemble have produced another timeless masterpiece.
