Category: FEATURED RELEASES
The string of must-have compilation releases in 2022 continues with the French label Favorite Recordings compiling a mind-blowing collection of extremely rare jazz-funk and fusion grooves from the 1970s and early 1980s, titled Fusion Global Sounds (1970-1983).
When it comes to some of the most rare and essential music from all over the globe, there might not be a better resource than UK-based label and record shop Mr Bongo. Since 2016, their Record Club series has produced some of the best eclectic compilations during that span. They have recently released the highly-anticipated 5th volume of the series, sharing their latest musical discoveries and old favorites.
Throughout the seventies and into the early eighties, jazz-funk legend Brian Jackson collaborated with the late great Gil Scott-Heron on some of the most forward-thinking and socially conscious music of our time, releasing tracks like “The Bottle”, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “Johannesburg” and numerous others. Following up on last year’s collaborative effort with Jazz Is Dead, Jackson returns with his first solo album in over 20 years, titled This Is Brian Jackson on BBE.
Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting follows up last year’s incredible breakthrough debut After Dark (which made BeatCaffeine’s 2021 Favorite Albums of the Year) with another superb album, titled Lost in Abstraction, on Jazzman Records.
Highly innovative and active Panamá-born, Chicago-based drummer and DJ Daniel Villarreal, who also notably plays and co-leads in a number of groups including Dos Santos, has recently released an incredible collaborative cosmic psych-jazz debut (under his own name) on International Anthem.
Glasgow’s highly-talented Nimbus Sextet follow-ups their impressive breakthrough debut Dreams Fulfilled, with a superb sophomore release on the Acid Jazz label, appropriately titled Forward Thinker.
The remarkable UK-born, Madrid-based flautist and saxophonist Chip Wickham has joined Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records, and just released an incredible new EP on the label’s spiritual jazz 12 series, featuring fresh new reinterpretations of Lonnie Liston Smith classics.
After 10 outstanding releases over two years featuring new music by Roy Ayers, Azymuth, Gary Bartz, Doug Carn, João Donato, Brian Jackson, and Marcos Valle, Jazz Is Dead’s masterminds Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad are just getting started, as they have kicked off the second series of releases with an incredible new compilation highlighting standout tracks from the next wave of releases.
In what is another essential compilation release of 2022, the UK-based Música Macondo label has teamed up with DJs Tahira (São Paulo) and Tim Garcia (London) for Brasil Novo, which is collection of previously unreleased contemporary dance floor Afro-Brazilian gems.
UK-based DJ, radio broadcaster, and selector Luke Una, who made his mark in the underground scenes of Manchester beginning in the mid-80s, has teamed up with the Mr Bongo label and record shop for a brilliant and wildly eclectic new compilation, titled É Soul Cultura.
