Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
Greg Foat Group returns with an incredible cosmic jazz full-length ‘Blue Lotus’
Over the last several years, there haven’t been many artists that have been able to release the sheer number of quality releases as composer and pianist Greg Foat. The London-based artist returns with his longstanding Greg Foat Group for the ensemble’s first full-length album in 6 years, titled Blue Lotus.
Saxophonist & flautist Chip Wickham takes us to ‘Cloud 10’ on first full-length for Gondwana Records
Following this past Spring’s fantastic 12″ tribute to the great Lonnie Liston Smith, and a number of superb releases for the Lovemonk label, saxophonist and flautist Chip Wickham, who divides his time between Spain, UK and the Middle-East, has released his debut full-length album on Matthew Halsall’s Manchester-based Gondwana Records, titled Cloud 10.
Australian keyboardist & producer David Versace releases brilliant cosmic jazz debut ‘Okra’
Australian-based keyboardist, composer and producer David Versace, who also plays in the Meanjin nu-jazz group First Beige, has released an incredible debut album on the Melbourne label La Sape Records, titled Okra.
International Anthem unearths recordings from late legendary producer Charles Stepney
In what has certainly been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Chicago’s International Anthem has unearthed and released the eponymous debut album, titled Step On Step, by the late great producer, arranger, and composer Charles Stepney (1931-1976), featuring never-heard-before 4-track tape demo recordings. During the 60s and 70s, Stepney was a essential contributor to some of the greatest recordings of that time by Earth, Wind & Fire, Terry Callier, Ramsey Lewis, The Dells, The Rotary Connection, Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Marlena Shaw, Muddy Waters, and so many others.
Jazz Room Records reissues Carlos Franzetti’s 1977 dancefloor classic ‘Graffiti’
Continuing the streak of putting out must-own releases, Paul Murphy and his label Jazz Room Records are reissuing Carlos Franzetti’s hard-to-find jazz dance classic album Graffiti, which was originally released on Guinness Records (not related to the drink) in 1977.
Mr Bongo celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Arthur Verocai’s 1972 masterpiece recording
Back in 2017 for Record Store Day, Mr Bongo put out an official reissue of Arthur Verocai’s 1972 “holy grail” masterpiece. Since then, the UK-based label has reissued the album a number of times. Now celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary, Mr Bongo has put together an expansive special edition package commemorating it’s initial release.
Two classic 70s jazz-fusion albums by Ian Carr’s Nucleus reissued
Within about a month’s span, both UK labels We Are Busy Bodies and Be With Records are reissuing (or have reissued) two hard-to-find mid-seventies albums from Nucleus, which was an incredible British progressive jazz-fusion group led by legendary trumpeter Ian Carr that existed in different forms from 1969 all the way through to 1989. Both labels will be putting out the bands 1974 Under The Sun recording, as well as the group’s brilliant 1975 release, Alleycat.
Trunk Records reissues extremely rare 1978 British jazz-fusion album ‘Magician’
London’s Trunk Records has recently reissued the extremely rare 1978 British jazz fusion self-titled album from Magician, which at the time of it’s release only sold a few copies (rumor has the number around 10).
Diplomats of Soul reissue Grady Tate’s rare 1974 soul-jazz rendition of Jon Lucien’s ‘Lady Love’
The Diplomats Of Soul, which is a London-based label (distributed by Expansion Records) run by acclaimed DJs and diggers Mike Allin and Ralph Tee, have recently reissued drummer and vocalist Grady Tate’s very obscure and highly sought-after 1974 soul jazz rendition of Jon Lucien’s “Lady Love”.
Jazz Is Dead teams up with Los Angeles collective Katalyst on brilliant new album
Jazz Is Dead’s brilliant series continues with multi-instrumentalists, composers, producers, and JID masterminds Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad teaming up with one of Los Angeles’s most innovative collectives in Katalyst. Based specifically out of the Inglewood area, Katalyst is a 9-piece band that was established back in September 2014, and includes a collaborative group of producers, composers, session musicians, and writers, who continue to be at the forefront of creative music and art currently coming out Southern California.
