Category: FEATURED RELEASES
Sheffield-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Harris, aka Yarni continues his exploration into new sounds with a superb soulful cosmic jazz album, titled Pigna, which references a glistening pine cone standing upright – the longstanding symbol of Sicilian openness and welcome hospitality that can be found in homes throughout the Italian island.
This Saturday, June 18th is Record Store Day Drop #2 and as usual, there are many notable RSD releases, however one that arguably might rise above the pack is Far Out Recording’s limited-edition twelve-inch featuring the never-before-released 11-minute version of Brazilian icon Joyce Moreno‘s groundbreaking 1977 “Feminina”.
The second wave of collaborative Jazz Is Dead releases from masterminds Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad kicks off with the first album in over 20 years from the great jazz, gospel, and soul vocalist Jean Carne.
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.
