Category: FEATURED RELEASES

Charles Stepney — Step On Step

International Anthem unearths recordings from late legendary producer Charles Stepney

In what has certainly been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Chicago’s International Anthem has unearthed and released the eponymous debut album, titled Step On Step, by the late great producer, arranger, and composer Charles Stepney (1931-1976), featuring never-heard-before 4-track tape demo recordings. During the 60s and 70s, Stepney was a essential contributor to some of the greatest recordings of that time by Earth, Wind & Fire, Terry Callier, Ramsey Lewis, The Dells, The Rotary Connection, Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Marlena Shaw, Muddy Waters, and so many others.

Katalyst — Jazz Is Dead 013

Jazz Is Dead teams up with Los Angeles collective Katalyst on brilliant new album

Jazz Is Dead’s brilliant series continues with multi-instrumentalists, composers, producers, and JID masterminds Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad teaming up with one of Los Angeles’s most innovative collectives in Katalyst. Based specifically out of the Inglewood area, Katalyst is a 9-piece band that was established back in September 2014, and includes a collaborative group of producers, composers, session musicians, and writers, who continue to be at the forefront of creative music and art currently coming out Southern California.

DOMi & JD BECK — NOT TiGHT

Drum-Synth Duo DOMi & JD BECK release breakthrough album on Anderson .Paak’s new label

Youthful virtuosic cosmic drum-keyboard duo DOMi and JD Beck have quickly been one of the most talked about acts this summer, releasing a great new debut album titled NOT TiGHT on Anderson .Paak’s new Apeshit Inc. label, that’s been set-up in partnership of Blue Note Records. This follows four-night sold-out residency this June at the Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City, and numerous standout performances among the summer’s festival circuit.

Brian Jackson — Little Orphan Boy Two Soul Fusion

Brian Jackson’s “Little Orphan Boy” remixed by Louie Vega and Josh Milan, released as double 12inch single

Following the release of Brian Jackson’s first solo album in 20 years on BBE Music, simply titled This Is Brian Jackson, the legendary jazz-funk multi-instrumentalist and songwriter gets the remix treatment from two of today’s best producers in Louie Vega and Josh Milan(aka Two Soul Fusion) on the track’s superb second single “Little Orphan Boy”.

Kokoroko — 'Could We Be More'

London’s Afrobeat collective Kokoroko release their highly-anticipated full-length ‘Could We Be More’

Following the release of both their breakthrough 2019 self-titled debut EP, and last year’s standout double A-side 12″ single Baba Ayoola / Carry Me Home, the London 8-piece collective Kokoroko, led by trumpeter and vocalist Sheila Maurice-Grey, returns with their highly-anticipated full length album on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, titled Could We Be More.

Hidden Waters: Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro

‘Hidden Waters’ compilation celebrates the last decade of music from Rio de Janeiro

The city of Rio de Janeiro has a long well-documented history of producing some of the greatest Brazilian artists from the past century including legends like Marcos Valle, Arthur Verocai, Azymuth, Sérgio Mendes, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Jorge Ben Jor, Tim Maia, Joyce Moreno and countless others. Over the past decade, the region has had a strong resurgence of new artists presenting a more left-field take on bossa nova, samba, jazz and funk. The Sounds and Colours label celebrates these groundbreaking artists on a recently released compilation, titled Hidden Waters: Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro.

UK composer & pianist Greg Foat returns with cosmic meditative soundscape album ‘Photosynthesis’

It’s safe to say that if we’ve learned anything over the last decade when it comes to Greg Foat, who has established himself as one of the most forward-thinking composers and pianists, is that you can “box him in” musically. It seems like each release has it’s own concept or identity, and that is certainly the case on his latest solo effort, titled Photosynthesis, which trades in jazz-funk grooves for meditative soundscapes.