BeatCaffeine’s ‘Favorite EP Releases of 2022’
This year, even what feels like more so than in the past, there were many incredible EP releases, especially in jazz (which hasn’t been a common format for the genre). Many of which resulted in some of the overall best releases of 2022.
In a season of so many “best of” lists, I decided to keep this one to just the top 10, however there were many others worth also noting, like Amane’s Moment Of Solace, Future Jazz Ensemble’s Rough Time, Stefano De Santis’s Unreachable Galaxy and plenty others.
With that being said, here are BeatCaffeine’s “Favorite EP Releases of 2022”:
10. Village of the Sun — ‘First Light’
(Gearbox Records)
Over the last several years, saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd have been at the forefront of the thriving London jazz scene. Together as a duo, they have released six acclaimed releases and were named the “Best UK Jazz Act” at the 2016 Jazz FM Awards. They have now teamed up with electronic music legend Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx to form Village Of The Sun, releasing their debut EP First Light on Gearbox Records. This incredible recording, which follows in the footsteps of the trio’s 2020 12inch single, blends together spiritual jazz, atmospheric tones, electronics, and funky danceable grooves, taking the listener on an adventurous sonic journey.
9. Mark de Clive-Lowe — ‘Midnight Snacks Vol.3’
(Mashi Beats)
Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Mark de Clive-Lowe, who is been one of the pioneering artists to successfully blend together jazz, broken beat, house, and experimental electronic-influenced music for the span of three decades, returned with the third release from his superb Midnight Snacks Ep series. Over the course of the four tracks, MdCL touches upon a lot of different territory musically, from the broken-beat opener “Musashi 2474” and the heavy downtempo groover “Journeyman” on side A, to the more soulful cosmic “Third Plane” and the jazzy house “Orbits” on the flip.
8. Gee W — ‘The Good, The Jazz & The Funky’ EP Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
(Colin Curtis Presents)
This year, legendary UK jazz and Northern soul DJ Colin Curtis launched his own imprint label, and released two superb debut jazz dance EPs from UK-based producer and percussionist Glenn Worthington aka Gee W. Mostly recorded at his home in Wolverhampton during the lockdown period, each record features four great tracks that blend together heavily layered Latin percussion grooves, jazzy house, and funky drum breaks with a focus on the dancefloor. Prior to being released, these tracks became instant favorites on Colin Curtis’s 3-hour Sunday ‘Jazz Dance And Fusion’ online radio show on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM. Get them both!
7. Marc Mac – ‘Br-Azil-Ah’ EP
(Omniverse Records)
Following the release of two outstanding EPs from last year, Ah-Free-Ka and Ja-Maye-Ka, Marc Mac, who is half of the groundbreaking broken beat duo 4hero, continued his exploration into sounds from around the world with a superb new EP, titled Br-Azil-Ah. As the name suggests, this record incorporates Brazilian-rooted influences through a London lens that blends together broken beat grooves, electronic beats, samba rhythms, strings and jazz.
6. Fatima & Joe Armon-Jones — ‘Tinted Shades’ EP
(Aquarii Records)
Two of London’s most forward-thinking artists in vocalist Fatima and keyboard wiz Joe Armon-Jones (who is also a founding member of Ezra Collective) teamed up to release Tinted Shades. Released on Armon-Jones’ Aquarii Records, this 3-track recording blends Fatima’s soulful vocals with Joe’s cosmic keys/synths, and head-nodding drum grooves from two of the best in Moses Boyd (on tracks “Tinted Shades” and “Love Life Hope”) and Morgan Simpson (on “#1” — which is one of the best tracks of 2022!).
5. Chip Wickham — ‘Astral Traveling’
(Gondwana Records)
Prior to the release of his outstanding full-length album Cloud 10, flautist/saxophonist Chip Wickham released an remarkable new EP on the label’s spiritual jazz 12 series, featuring fresh new reinterpretations of Lonnie Liston Smith classics. This 3-track session features new versions of “Sais (Egypt)” and “Peaceful Ones” from the jazz-funk legend’s iconic 1974 Cosmic Funk album, as well as the title track from his debut, Astral Traveling (1973).
4. Erik Escobar — ‘New Brazilian Trio’ EP
(Ten Lovers Music)
In 2022, Brazilian pianist Erik Escobar released a superb new jazz funk/fusion EP with bassist Michael Pipoquinhal and drummer/percussionist Miguel Assis on Steve Conry and Cziz Hall’s Ten Lovers Music label, appropriately titled New Brazilian Trio EP. This 5-track recording is great from start to finish, blending together Escobar’s virtuosic keyboard and synth lines with funky bass line grooves and rhythmic Brazilian percussion and drum grooves that are primed for the jazz dance floor. The EP also pays tribute to a lot of personal references, including the track “Chick”, which is dedicated to Escobar’s greatest influence, Chick Corea, as well as “Change of Plan” which is a song dedicated to the memory of his father, Freddy Escobar who was his mentor.
3. Natural Lateral — ‘Tapestry of Life’
(Social Joy)
The London-based collective Natural Lateral, led by Aziz Mustafa (aka Tom Funk), followed up their breakthrough 2019 debut Cogito Ergo Jam with a superb new recording on the Social Joy label, titled Tapestry Of Life. This 6-track recording continues to push the boundaries as the group incorporates a wide array of influences and sounds that celebrate the jazz legends that paved the way like Azymuth, Roy Ayers, Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, and others. Each track takes on a life of it’s own including elements of jazz-funk, cosmic spiritual grooves, warm Bossa rhythms, spacey electronics, and Latin jazz.
2. David Versace — ‘Okra’
(La Sape Records)
Australian-based keyboardist, composer and producer David Versace released an incredible debut album on the Melbourne label La Sape Records, titled Okra. This 7-track live recording, which Versace plays keys, Cuíca, bass and percussion, starts off with a heavy dose of cosmic jazz dance floor grooves before cooling off with some space orbiting ambient pieces, which all work nicely together within the same conceptual space.
1. The Sultan’s Swing — ‘The Sultan’s Swing Sessions’
(Colin Curtis Presents)
Following the release of two releases from GeeW and an incredible two volume compilation, Colin Curtis continued his string of remarkable releases with a brilliant new EP from London-based producer and keyboardist Tom Funk’s project The Sultan’s Swing. Simply titled The Sultan’s Swing Sessions, this superb record marks the fourth official release under The Sultan’s Swing name and features five incredible dancefloor jazz tracks that blend together jazz-funk, downtempo and acid jazz-influences, Latin rhythms, and spacey cosmic grooves. The recording also includes percussionist and bassist Ozan Nidayi, saxophonist Oli Arlotto, drummer David Mrakpor, percussionist Desmond Morgan, and vocalist Kerim Pouso (also on “Libera Tu Mente”).
