Category: FEATURED RELEASES
As a contribution to help support the Steve Reid Foundation, which is a non-profit organization aimed at helping musicians who are in crisis, the UK-based beat maker/producer The Maghreban (aka Ayman Rostom) and saxophonist Idris Rahman (Wildflower, Ill Considered, Soothsayers) have released a new electronic-meets-cosmic jazz rendition of Steve Reid’s 1976 spiritual jazz-funk classic “Lions of Juda”.
About 18 months ago, Gilles Peterson had the opportunity to present a live session on his BBC 6 radio show at London’s legendary Maida Vale Studios. Recorded specifically in studio MV4, which is where the classic John Peel sessions took place, the London-based DJ, record label owner, and music producer brought together some of the most forward-thinking jazz artists currently making waves in the UK scene. Now those memorable sessions are finally going to be available on a new compilation, appropriately titled Gilles Peterson Presents: MV4.
In 2019 (which feels like an eternity ago), the Chicago-based collective Black Monument Ensemble, led by visual and sound artist Damon Locks, released one of the best and most groundbreaking albums from this past year on International Anthem, titled Where Future Unfolds. This week, the group has released a very timely and powerful new single, called “Stay Beautiful,” which was recorded live back in November 2018 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, as part of Red Bull Music Festival.
Nottingham-based soul singer Yazmin Lacey has continued to make waves within the UK scene over the past few years, releasing a number of great EPs including 2018’s When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees and her debut Black Moon in 2017. She has just released a brilliant new five-track album, titled Morning Matters.
Formed a few years ago in response to the ongoing police brutality that was happening in the U.S., Irreversible Entanglements are one of the most thought-provoking and forward-thinking jazz collectives. Following their 2017 breakthrough self-titled debut, the quintet returns with an incredible new album, titled Who Sent You?, released jointly by International Anthem and Don Giovanni Records.
Iconic drummer Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti of the legendary Brazilian jazz-funk band Azymuth, follows up his stellar 2019 solo album Poison Fruit, with a great new twelve-inch single, titled Katmandu via Far Out Recordings.
The Munich-based quartet Web Web continues to make their mark on the scene, following the release of two stellar recordings in Oracle (2017) and Dance Of The Demon (2018), with a brilliant new album, titled Worshippers, their third on the highly-acclaimed German label, Compost Records.
The stellar London-based trio, featuring bassist and founding member of Ill Considered Leon Brichard, saxophonist and reeds player Idris Rahman (also of Soothsayers), and drummer Tom Skinner of both Sons of Kemet and Hello Skinny, have released a great new album, titled Season 2 through Ill Considered’s very much DIY label.
Los Angeles based producers/multi-instrumentalists Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of Tribe Called Quest), who are the masterminds behind The Midnight Hour, have recently released an incredible new compilation, titled Jazz Is Dead, featuring new recordings from jazz legends Roy Ayers, Gary Bartz, Doug Carn, João Donato, Brian Jackson, Azymuth, and Marcos Valle.
Over the past half decade, Shabaka Hutchings has been one of the most breakthrough artists to come out of the resurgent London jazz scene. Over the past couple of years, the composer and saxophonist’s other two groups, Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, have released a number of incredible recording via the legendary Impulse! label. Following up on the ensemble’s 2016 Brownswood debut, Wisdom of Elders, Hutchings reunites with his South African collective The Ancestors on a brilliant new conceptual album, titled We Are Sent Here By History.
