Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
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.
Fresh off of the reissue release of Khan Jamal’s 1984 spiritual jazz “holy grail” Infinity, Paul Murphy’s Jazz Room Records has just reissued the highly obscure 1964 cool jazz 7inch Le Monocle Rit Jaune by highly prolific French film composer Michel Magne.
With the massive new album from STR4TA and other recent releases from Koji Ono (w/ members of Atmosfear), The Expansions (2018 track “Mariposa” specifically) and others, it feels like their is bit of a Brit-funk revitalization that is brewing. The momentum to take this DIY new-wave-jazz-funk sound, that originated in the UK during the late 70s and early 80s, into the future continues with an incredible new twelve-inch single, titled ‘Life Is A Mirror’, from the French group GALXTC.
The Paris-based label Hot Mule, which has produced some of the best reissues over the past few years, has just released an incredible retrospective celebrating the music of poet and activist José Carlos Schwarz and his superb group Le Cobiana Djazz, who were highly influential and outspoken in the fight for the West African county of Guinea-Bissau’s independence during the 70s.
Broken Beat pioneers Denis “Dego” McFarlane of 4Hero and Matt Lord of the legendary Bugz In The Attic collective follow-up their outstanding 2018 collaborative debut release One Way To Another, with a brilliant new self-titled EP on the 2000 Black label.
After being featured as an integral part of Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Orchestra, Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting steps out on her own to release a brilliant and mesmerizing new full-length album on Jazzman Records, titled After Dark.
Far Out Recordings reissues, for the first time ever on vinyl, two groundbreaking Latin jazz recordings, titled Mora! and Mora! II from Mexican-American percussionist and former member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Francisco Mora Catlett.
Paul Murphy’s Jazz Room Records, who has been putting out a number of stellar releases over the past couple of years, has recently reissued vibraphonist Khan Jamal’s highly obscure 1984 spiritual soul jazz masterpiece Infinity.
Over the last several years, Nimbus West, who released some of the greatest recordings to come out of the spiritual Jazz scene in Los Angeles during the late 70s and early 80s has been diving deep back into it’s vaults and unearthing a number of incredible sessions. Most recently, they have issued saxophonist Billie Harris‘ masterful 1980 album I Want Some Water on vinyl for the first time.
Cognitiva and ANMA Records have teamed up to release an incredible new compilation, titled Outlines, which highlights a new generation of exciting producers from across Europe, whom are fusing together jazz, broken beat and house in adventurous new ways.
Following last year’s superb collaborative EP with Andrew Ashong and the reissue of his groundbreaking 2008 sophomore solo recording In Search Of Hope, pioneering producer and keyboardist Kaidi Tatham, who has made his mark as one the most innovative broken beat artists over the past two decades, has just released an absolutely incredible new cosmic jazz album, titled An Insight To All Minds on First Word Records.
Over the last couple of years, the Chicago-based collective Black Monument Ensemble, led by visual/sound artist, and producer Damon Locks have released some of the most powerful and forward-thinking music. Their 2019 debut, Where Future Unfolds was arguably the best album to come out that year, and last year, the group put out the timely and very much needed uplifting track “Stay Beautiful”. Locks and the stellar ensemble have returned to release an absolutely brilliant new sophomore record on International Anthem, titled NOW.