BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Tracks of 2021
As we wind down the final days of 2021 and look ahead to 2022 (with so many questions regarding what the future or this virus has in store), here is one more “look back” at the past twelve months — exploring some of the best individual tracks that helped us all get through this (still very much) challenging year. Happy New Year everyone, and more importantly, stay healthy and safe!
BeatCaffeine’s ‘Favorite 30 Tracks of 2021’
(See Playlist Below for Over 150+ Favorite Tracks of the Year!)
30. KOKOROKO — “Baba Ayoola”
(Brownswood Recordings)
Led by trumpeter and vocalist Sheila Maurice-Grey, “Baba Ayoola” was one of two great tracks from the London ensemble’s double A-side 12″ single featuring a nice blend of funky jazz and Afrobeat grooves.
29. Turbulance — “Runnin'”
(CoOperation Records)
An incredible instrumental broken beat-inspired rendition of Earth, Wind, & Fire’s 1977 classic “Runnin'” from their superb debut from a trio project featuring Amsterdam’s Kid Sublime, jazz piano protege Beka Gochiashvili, and producer Mishulino.
28. Emanative & Liz Elensky — “Tea Leaf Dancers” ft. Vince Vella
(Home Planet Recordings)
UK’s Emanative, also known as Nick Woodmansey, teamed up with longtime collaborator, vocalist, and life partner Liz Elensky for a brilliant full-length album, titled The Volume Of The Light. The album featured a number of great tracks, including a superb new rendition of Flying Lotus’ “Tea Leaf Dancers”, which also included Vince Vella.
27. Kaidi Tatham — “Carry It Mongo Man”
(First Word Records)
One of the many great cosmic jazz dance tracks off of his masterful album, An Insight To All Minds. This track specifically saw some heavy rotation from notable DJs including Gilles Peterson, Collin Curtis, Patrick Forge, and others. I highly recommend not only this track, but the entire album — go pick it up!
26. Little Simz — “Women” ft. Cleo Sol
(Age 101 Music / AWAL)
Two of the most forward-thinking artists in all of music come together on this soulful cinematic hip-hop cut from Little Simz’ incredible full-length album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which also features production contributions from SAULT’s Inflo.
25. Josef Akin — “Sun Dance” ft. India Blue
(Sola Terra)
One of the many standout tracks on Glasgow-based pianist, keyboardist, and composer Josef Akin’s superb Flightcase album. Similar to the vibe throughout the recording, the track blends together spacey jazz-funk with spiritual grooves, and also features some soulful hypnotic vocals from rising star India Blue.
24. Tiombé Lockhart, Kaidi Tatham & Tommaso Cappellato — “Face To Face”
(Mother Tongue Records)
An incredible rendition of Flight’s 1980 mid-tempo jazz-funk classic “Face To Face” from three of the most active and forward-thinking artists today. This was just one of the many great tracks on Mother Tongue Record’s outstanding EP compilation Madre Lingua.
23. Stéphane San Juan & Sambacool — “Milestones” (S-Tone Inc. Remix)
Nu-jazz pioneer Stefano Tirone aka S-Tone, reworks drummer Stéphane San Juan and his New York based trio Sambacool’s great new jazz dance rendition of Miles Davis’ classic standard “Milestones”. This track is unfortunately only currently available digitally — really hope a vinyl pressing is in the near future!
22. Nautilus — “Empty Faces” ft. Kei Owada
(Urban Discos Japan)
The Japanese-based jazz-funk trio featuring drummer/bandleader Toshiyuki Sasaki, bassist Shigeki Umezawa and keyboardist Mariko Nakabayashi released a number of great releases in 2021, including the masterful full-length Refrain. On top of that, they also released a few outstanding 7inch singles. One of the standout tracks from those limited-edition releases was their rendition of Mark Murphy’s 1975 vocal jazz dance gem “Empty Faces”.
21. Damon Locks & The Black Monument Ensemble — “Keep Your Mind Free”
(International Anthem)
One of the many standout futuristic spiritual jazz selections from Damon Locks and The Black Monument Ensemble’s Now recording which fuses together electronic beats and samples with adventurous horn solos, driving percussion rhythms, and soulful vocal melodies.
20. The Invisible Session — “People All Around The World, Can Make It”
(Space Echo Records / Dialogo Records)
Following a 15-year long hiatus, Schema Records’ co-founder and musician Luciano Cantone, in collaboration with Gianluca Petrella and a new group of musicians released a great new Invisible Sessions album. One of the many standout tracks, which in a lot of ways feels like a positive hopeful message in the moment, was the mid-tempo Afro-funk groover “People All Around The World, Can Make It.” Definitely a modern-day global anthem moving forward.
19. Mara TK — “Te Kete Aronui”
(Extra Soul Perception)
Singer of the Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle and frequent collaborator with Lord Echo released an impressive new album, titled Bad Meditation. This was one of the many standout tracks, a beautiful meditative song that you will find yourself listening on repeat.
18. Lady Blackbird — “Fix It”
(Foundation Music)
For one of the many brilliant tracks on Lady Blackbird’s groundbreaking debut album, she added complimentary vocals to Bill Evan’s 1958 modal jazz classic “Peace Piece”.
17. Rosie Frater-Taylor — “Better Days” (Kaidi Tatham Remix)
(self-released)
One of the best remixes of 2021, broken beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham reworks Rosie Frater-Taylor’s standout “Better Days” track off her breakthrough Bloom album.
16. Makaya McCraven — “Black Rhythm Happening”
(Blue Note Records)
For his latest record, composer, producer, drummer, and all-around “jazz beat scientist” Makaya McCraven dove deep into the historic vaults of Blue Note Records are reworked some of the label’s most classic material. One of the many brilliant tracks was his funky rendition of Eddie Gale’s 1969 spiritual jazz anthem “Black Rhythm Happening”.
15. Nubiyan Twist — “Wipe Away Tears” ft. Nick Richards
(Strut)
Led by producer and guitarist Tom Excell, the 10-piece UK-based collective Nubiyan Twist released an expansive new album on the Strut label, titled Freedom Fables. Featuring an all-star cast of special guest vocalists, one of the many notable tracks was the feel-good Afro-jazz dancefloor groover “Wipe Away Tears” with soulful vocals from Nick Richards.
14. Alex Malheiros — “Alto Verão” ft. Sabrina Malheiros
(Far Out Recordings)
Near the end of 2021, bassist of the legendary Brazilian fusion trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros released a phenomenal futuristic Brazilian-influenced jazz-funk recording titled Tempos Futuros. Produced by Daniel Maunick (son of Brit-funk legend Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick), the album featured his daughter and Brazilian vocalist star Sabrina Malheiros two of the tracks most standout songs, including this vocal jazz gem “Alto Verão”.
13. The Sunburst Band — “Listen Love”(Dave Lee Jazz Funk Renaissance Mix)
(Z Records)
Dave Lee’s Sunburst Band teams up with vocalist Wayne Hernandez does an incredible uptempo jazz dance take on Jon Lucien’s 1974 Brazilian-flavored gem ‘Listen Love’.
12. Da Lata — “Jungle Kitten” ft. Kaidi Tatham
(DLM Music)
In 2021, the London-based Afro-Brazilian soulful jazz duo known as Da Lata, featuring multi-instrumentalist and producer Chris Franck and legendary DJ and producer Patrick Forge (Dingwalls) returned with an incredible new twelve-inch single featuring the essential Brazilian jazz dance classics in Manfredo Fest’s 1979 “Jungle Kitten”. Also check the equally as good new rendition of Raffaela Renzulli Ensemble’s 1987 “Asking Eyes” on the flip.
11. Nicola Conte & Gianluca Petrella — “People Need People” ft. Davide Shorty & Carolina Bubbico
(Schema Records)
In what could arguably be the anthem of the past two years, “People Need People” is the soulful jazzy house title track off Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella’s outstanding latest recording for Schema Records. One of the feel-good dance tracks of the year!
10. Hiatus Kaiyote — “Get Sun” ft. Arthur Verocai
(Brainfeeder)
Melbourne’s future prog-soul innovators Hiatus Kaiyote tapped the legendary Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai for this adventurous track off their latest album, Mood Valiant. Released on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, the the band is backed on the track by a horn section and string arrangements.
9. Emma-Jean Thackray — “Say Something”
(Movementt)
One of the many brilliant tracks from Emma-Jean Thackray’s incredible full-length album titled Yellow, which was released on her own Movementt label. For this track, primed for the dancefloor, she nicely melds together cosmic jazz grooves and soulful hypnotic vocal harmonies with uptempo disco feel.
8. Cleo Sol — “Don’t Let Me Fall”
(Forever Living Originals)
The opening track from Cleo Sol’s remarkable Mother album, is one of the most heartfelt and soulful tracks you’ll ever hear … poetic, beautiful, hopeful, and personal.
7. Soccer96 — “Entanglement”
(Moshi Moshi Music)
London-based Soccer 96, featuring The Comet Is Coming keyboardist Danalogue (Dan Leavers) and drummer Betamax (Maxwell Hallett), take on the robots in this sexy futuristic psychedelic groover that will have you orbiting in slow-motion.
6. Overmono — “So U Kno”
(Poly Kicks)
Hands down, the best club track of the year, produced by London-based brother duo Truss and Tessela Russell aka Overmono. For this absolute peak dancefloor banger, they use a repetitive vocal sample backed by an early house music-like break beat and subdued bassline. If you’re looking for that perfect dancefloor track to ring in 2022, you’ve found it with “So U Kno”.
5. Sio — “Golden” ft. Kid Fonque & D-Malice
(Stay True Sounds)
A dark and pulsating deep house dance-scape from vocalist Sio, featuring UK producer D-Malice and fellow South African producer Kid Fonque. This addictive hypnotic club gem is featured on Sio’s outstanding FEATURES recording, released on Stay True Sounds.
4. STR4TA — “Rhythm In Your Mind”
(Brownswood Recordings)
With the strong help of Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick’s incredible STR4TA project, in 2021, their became a very welcomed rejuvenated interest in Brit-funk, a short-lived raucous British-based DIY jazz-funk sound of the late 70s and early 80s. The duo’s highly-acclaimed debut album Aspects made the top of many “best of” year-end lists, including named the BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Album of 2021. Great from start to finish, the track “Rhythm In Your Mind” seems to truly capture the essence of the project perfectly, with a rawness that will having you thinking you’re hearing a lost recording from that era.
3. Secret Night Gang — “Journey”
(Brownswood Recordings)
Featuring a unique blend of soul jazz, Brit-funk, gospel, and R&B, Secret Night Gang have a sound that’s all their own, which is fully on display on with their lead single “Journey” off their debut album. This is definitely one of the most exciting up-and-coming UK bands.
2. Tyson — “Tuesday”
(The Orchard)
Speaking of up-and-coming artists … one that might top that list is highly talented British vocalist and songwriter Tyson (also the daughter of Neneh Cherry). In 2021, she self-released her debut EP Pisces Problems, which features the incredible breakthrough neo-soul jam “Tuesday”. Seeing consistent rotation on Gilles Peterson’s BBC 6 and Worldwide FM broadcasts, this is doubt one of the anthem tracks of 2021.
1. GALXTC — “Life Is A Mirror”
(Space Grapes)
Even though the STR4TA album rightfully deserves much of the credit for the recent Brit-funk revitalization, it was the debut 12inch single release by French group GALXTC that might of had enthusiasts scouring the internet for any bits of information on this, as of now, very mystery project. The track itself, hits all the right spots, brilliantly blending together spacey synth melodies, scratch guitar riffs, and a hypnotic vocal chorus with a disco-funk bass and percussion groove. It’s like if legendary Brit-funk bands Atmosfear and Hi-Tension met up with no wave pioneers Liquid Liquid and produced a disco track together — it’s really that good!
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Tracks of 2021 Playlist — Over 150 Selections!
