BeatCaffeine’s Most Anticipated Early Releases of 2019
It’s a new year, and that means there are a whole batch of great new releases getting ready to drop. It’s hard to know musically what 2019 has fully in store, however here are some of the most anticipated records I’m looking forward to early in the year.
BeatCaffeine’s Most Anticipated Winter / Spring Releases of 2019
Rosie Turton — ‘Rosie’s 5ive’ EP
(Jazz Re:Freshed / Release Date: January 11)
JUST RELEASED: Rising star trombonist and producer Rosie Turton releases her debut record as a part of the ‘Jazz Re:Freshed 5ive’ EP series. On this recording, the London-based artist fuses her trombone-led jazz melodies with layered string arrangements, atmospheric textures, and electronic sounds. The EP also includes a solid rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly.”
Time Grove — ‘More Than One Thing’
(Wah Wah 45s / Release Date: January 25)
The Tel Aviv-based ensemble, led by pianist Nitai Hershkovits and featuring members of both the Buttering Trio and Rejoicer (Stones Throw), release their debut album through the UK label Wah Wah 45s. The music is delicately powerful and uplifting, blending piano and keyboard driven melodies with layered horns and subtle electronic textures that take the listener on a journey through time and space.
James Holden — ‘A Cambodian Spring’ OST
(Border Community / Release Date: January 25)
Keyboardist and composer James Holden releases his first ever film score, a soundtrack to Chris Kelly’s A Cambodian Spring. This heartfelt documentary centers around a lakeside community in Phnomh Penh fighting to save their homes from destruction by developers. The music on this soundtrack is quite a departure from Holden’s 2017 cosmic masterpiece The Animal Spirits, featuring a mixture of drone-like trance sounds and swelling ambient tones.
Flamingo Pier — ‘s/t’ EP
(Soundway / Release Date: February 8)
Soundway Records presents the latest release from the UK-based tropical dance collective Flamingo Pier. Known for throwing some of the best parties in London and New Zealand, this four-track EP mixes funky disco rhythms, boogie-influenced synth bass lines, and hypnotic vocal chants with Afro-centric percussion and exotic tropical grooves. The EP is being released to coincide with the Flamingo Pier Festival in Waiheke, New Zealand on 9 February 2019. It might be winter, however this recording is pure dancefloor heat.
Theon Cross — ‘Fyah’
(Gearbox Records / Release Date: February 15)
As a member of both Moses Boyd’s Exodus and the Mercury-prize nominated band Sons of Kemet, Theon Cross is one of the most prominent musicians coming out London’s jazz scene. The tubist releases his highly-anticipated debut album Fyah, which successfully blurs the lines between jazz and dance music. The music is a high-energy mix of early New Orleans-style bass line grooves fused with driving saxophone melodies, synth soundscapes, and modern-day grime rhythms. Notable guests also include saxophonist Nubya Garcia and drummer Moses Boyd.
Nubiyan Twist — ‘Jungle Run’
(Strut / Release Date: February 15)
The London-based collective releases their second full-length, and most adventurous outing to date. For their first album on the Strut label, the 10-piece ensemble mixes their blend of groove-oriented music, with soulful vocals, jazz inspired improvisation, dub influences, and funky Afro-Latin rhythms. The record also features a number of guest artists, including two legendary African icons in Afrobeat rhythm maestro Tony Allen and Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke.
KOKOROKO — ‘s/t’ EP
(Brownswood / Release Date: March 8)
Last year, the London-based 8-piece ensemble received high-praise globally for their “Abusey Junction” track on Brownswood’s We Out Here compilation. Led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, the West African influenced jazz group returns with a four-song EP that blends Afrobeat rhythms with soaring horn melodies and soul-shaking grooves.
The Comet Is Coming — ‘Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery’
(Impulse! / Release date: March 15)
Shabaka Hutchings is one of the leading artists in the currently thriving London jazz. The saxophonist and composer, who also leads the groundbreaking groups Sons of Kemet and Shabaka And The Ancestors, returns with his Afro-futuristic space-jazz project featuring synth wizard Dan Leavers, and drummer Max Hallet. The cosmic trio blends astral jazz with electronic instrumentation and Afro-Caribbean grooves. Space is the place!
Ruby Rushton — ‘Ironside’
(22a / Release date: April 5)
Led by flautist, saxophonist, producer and 22a label boss Tenderlonious (aka Ed Cawthorne), the quartet’s upcoming album follows up the group’s three previous breakthrough releases, Two For Joy (2015), and Trudi’s SongbookPart 1 & 2. The new recording is heavily influenced by the jazz concepts from iconic artists like John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef, blended with elements of Afrobeat, hip-hop, electronic music, and UK-rooted underground culture.
Hania Rani — Esja
(Gondwana Records / Release date: April 5)
Recently signed to Manchester’s Gondwana Records, the 26-year-old pianist, composer, and arranger Hania Rani will be releasing her highly-anticipated debut solo this spring. Often splitting her time between Warsaw and Berlin, Rani’s creates beautiful piano-based compositions that are influenced by modern classical minimalism, ambient sounds and atmospheric tones. Recommended for fans of Nils Frahm, Dustin O’Halloran, and Peter Broderick.
Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music — TBD
(Release Date: April)
Mark Guiliana is one of the best and most innovative drummers in jazz today. His groundbreaking 2014 release Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations was an experimental groove-based electronic beat project described perfectly by Time Out London as “What happens when you add hard bop drum masters Elvin Jones and Art Blakey to a 1980s Roland 808 drum machine, divide the result by J Dilla and then multiply to the power of Squarepusher? Answer: Mark Guiliana.”
He recently announced on instagram that he has finished the follow-up release, and it’s planned to be out in April. If you’ve heard the first Beat Music release, you’ll definitely news to get very excited about.
