Category: FEATURED RELEASES
We’ve crossed the midway mark of 2024, and therefore it’s a great time to highlight some of BeatCaffeine’s favorite 30 tracks of the year … so far! With so many highly-anticipated releases forthcoming, this list will definitely change by year’s end, however it’s worth putting a spotlight on some of the choice cuts that have been released over the year’s first 6 months.
As we move into the middle of summer, we see a slew of standout new releases, including a collection of Joaquin Joe Claussell remixes featuring selections from Nicola Conte’s 2023 full-length Umoja, the brilliant debut from UK producer and multi-instrumentalist David Lyn, the latest Best of Various 12inch from Steve Conry’s Ten Lovers Music, and the fourth and arguably best recording from K15 and Culross Close. Let’s go swimming!
Innovative German guitarist JJ Whitefield, who was a founding member of the pioneering acid jazz group Poets Of Rhythm and later, the The Whitefield Brothers, has been a musical explorer over the past few decades, from his experimental Afro-funk project under the alias Karl Hector to his Kraut-rock and ambient recordings via his Rodinia alter-ego, collaborations with legendary Montenegrin-French composer Janko Nilovic and more. For his first release with London’s Jazzman Records, Whitefield dives into the world of spiritual jazz with a new album titled, The Infinity of Nothingness.
For this week’s edition of BeatCaffeine’s Record Rundown, we touch on a wide range of new releases from around the globe, including the massive debut from London’s Afro-Cuban jazz big band, the New Regency Orchestra, a double-sided heater from Colin Curtis‘ label featuring Italian producer and keyboard wiz Stefano De Santis, Jazzman Records‘ exploration into the legendary Riverside catalogue on their latest Spiritual Jazz compilation, South African multi-instrumental Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O‘s highly-anticipated sophomore full-length, and a collection of music from Brazil’s Vinícius Mendes.
This week’s Weekly Record Rundown of new and upcoming releases spotlights some of the best musicians in Finland in Markus Holkko, Jimi Tenor and the Cold Diamond & Mink crew, a highly anticipated International Anthem release from SML (Small Medium Large), and the latest offering from South African piano great Nduduzo Makhathini.
This week’s BeatCaffeine Weekly Record Rundown includes an incredible debut album from Tasmania-born, Melbourne-based pianist, composer and producer Finn Rees, Colin Curtis’ essential EP release of The Earthsouls, the highly-acclaimed sophomore offering from The Brkn Record, led by Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics, Jazz Room Records double-sided 7inch featuring Robert “Dubwise” Browne’s reworking of two soul-jazz classics, and prolific London-based keyboardist and composer Greg Foat paying tribute to his plants.
This week’s BeatCaffeine Weekly Record Rundown includes the return and a fresh new sound from French producer and multi-instrumentalist Blackjoy, Quiet Dawn’s new highly-anticipated full-length, a limited-edition new single featuring the late vocal jazz great Mark Murphy, cosmic jazz pioneer Carlos Niño’s latest spiritual offering, and John Beltran kicking off the summer with the fourth installment of Back to Bahia.
Here is another weekly rundown of just some of BeatCaffeine’s new release recommendations, featuring music from Chris Bang’s Nova Vida project, adventurous saxophonist Isaiah Collier, free jazz pioneer Alan Braufman, cosmic keyboard wiz David Versace, and another “must-own” Ghana-based compilation from London’s Soundway Records.
Legendary UK-based DJ and producer Chris Bangs follows-up last year’s superb My Only 7″ debut from his latest project Nova Vida with a highly-anticipated full-length release, titled Ritmo Da Vida, on London’s BDQ Records. This is also his first album since 2023’s equally impressive record, Firebird (Acid Jazz Records).
In an effort to cover more releases on a weekly basis, BeatCaffeine will kick off the ‘Weekly Record Rundown’ series, which will focus primarily on LPs, EPs, and 7″ featuring new music. We will still do single dedicated features on full-length albums, reissues and compilations during the week, however this allows (hopefully) more coverage for the many great records that continue to come out over a month.
