Category: FEATURED RELEASES
With the warmer months and the ability to gather again upon us, Amsterdam-based label Bongo Joe and Worldwide FM radio DJ Coco María have teamed up to release one of the dance floor records of the summer with a brilliant new Afro-Latin compilation, titled Club Coco.
Following the release of last year’s incredible Color de Trópico compilation (which made the list of BeatCaffeine’s “Favorite Compilations of 2020“), the Barcelona-based label El Palmas Music returns with the highly-anticipated second volume of the series, further shining a light on some of the most obscure gems out of Venezuela during the sixties and seventies.
The brand new Belfast, Ireland-based label Sounds Familiar launches it’s “7 Inch Nails” series with two stunning tracks from Broken Beat pioneer and keyboard wiz Kaidi Tatham. This brilliant new release kicks off what will be a string of 7inch singles from the label featuring a number of extraordinary artists.
The groundbreaking London-based two horn-two drummer quartet known as Sons of Kemet featuring saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, tuba player Theon Cross, and drummers Tom Skinner and Edward Wakili-Hick have returned following their breakthrough 2018 Mercury Prize-nominated album Your Queen Is a Reptile, with their most adventurous and collaborative album to date, titled Black To The Future.
London-based reissue label Melodies International, run by Floating Points (aka Sam Shepherd) and Mafalda, have just launched their Melodies Record Club series featuring “mini compilations” in a twelve-inch format selected by notable DJs and artists. The series kicks off with a bang, with highly-acclaimed and innovative producer and DJ Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) selecting two peak-time jazz dance classics that he used to spin regularly at the now legendary Plastic People nightclub in London.
You know that moment, often in a time of frustration or in a stressful state, when you are seeking for something to help transport you to another peaceful and meditative dimension? The prolific Los Angeles-based producer, percussionist, and DJ Carlos Niño and superb cast of musicians, many at the center of the creative music scene in Southern California, have provided that spiritual transportation through an absolute cosmic ambient jazz masterpiece recording, titled More Energy Fields, Current on Chicago’s International Anthem label.
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) have returned with an incredible new twelve-inch single featuring new renditions of two essential Brazilian jazz dance classics in Manfredo Fest’s 1979 “Jungle Kitten” and Raffaela Renzulli Ensemble’s 1987 “Asking Eyes”.
Over the past decade, New York City based tenor saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis has made his mark as one of the leading and most cutting-edge artists in jazz. Voted “Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist” in the 2020 DownBeat Magazine International Critic’s Poll, Lewis very much carries on the torch of those great saxophonists that came before him, like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and others. He has just released his highly-anticipated new album with his group the Red Lily Quintet, titled Jesup Wagon on the Brooklyn-based AUM Fidelity label.
From his collaborative work with Yussef Dayes, 44th Move with Richard Spaven, and a number of breakthrough recordings of his own, including his highly acclaimed 2017 debut Antiphon and stellar follow-up Structuralism, the London-based producer, self-taught pianist, and rapper Alfa Mist has become one of the leading artists among today’s UK jazz scene. He returns with a brilliant new groove-oriented jazz full-length album, titled Bring Backs.
After a number of years of re-releasing some of the best and most obscure recordings, you can basically guarantee that if Portugal’s Mad About Records is putting something out, it’s going to be absolutely incredible. That string of essential releases continues with their recent reissue of the 1980 modern soul full-length gem from vocalist and keyboardist Kenny Mann and his group Liquid Pleasure.
