Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
Bristol, UK based ensemble Dundundun, who feature members whom have collaborated with The Heavy, Alice Russell, Pete Josef, DJ Die, Dele Sosimi, and others, have recently released their brilliant debut twelve-inch on Worm Discs (one of our favorite new labels!).
UK’s Mr Bongo is always reissuing some of the greatest and most obscure titles from yesteryears, however they have certainly outdone themselves again with their latest reissue of Teaspoon And The Waves’ rare 1977 self-titled album, featuring a heavy dose of South African jazz-funk.
For the last two decades, the German-based label Analog Africa has consistently released some of the best compilations and retrospective recordings, highlighting the many unique styles of music that have come out of both Africa and South America. Continuing to dive deep into this exploration, they have just released volume 1 of their much-anticipated Edo Funk Explosion compilation series, highlighting some of the greatest recordings from the genre’s pioneers, Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo.
Los Angeles-based composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, visionary, and one of the two people behind the Jazz Is Dead label and series, Adrian Younge, has released a powerful new groundbreaking album, titled The American Negro, which unapologetically calls out historic racism and white supremacy, and the ongoing trauma it’s caused on Black people in the United States.
With much anticipation, London’s BBE Music releases the third volume of it’s phenomenal J Jazz compilation series, continuing to shed light on some of the most incredible and obscure modern Japanese jazz recordings from the 1960s through the 1980s. Since issuing the first volume in 2018 and the follow-up in 2019, plus a number of essential album reissues, there has not been a more comprehensive and impressive output of releases dedicated to this region’s historic jazz scene.
With so much great music being released these days from all corners of the globe, I find that there are always a number of incredible recordings that are not on my radar and might miss upon their initial release. That is certainly the case with the debut album Dreams Fulfilled from Glasgow’s Nimbus Sextet.
For the tenth JAZZ45 release, in what has become an incredible 7inch series by London’s Jazzman Records, the label features the first single from Tel-Aviv, Israel based composer and bassist Shay Hazan and his quintet.
UK-based Backatcha Records has released a brilliant new sixteen-track compilation featuring some of the hardest to find independent soul gems recorded between 1971-1984.
Nineteen years since the release of their debut twelve-inch single New Standards, Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella team up again following a string of recent singles over the past few years with a brilliant new full-length album on Schema Records, titled People Need People.
New York-based Frederiksberg Records has recently reissued officially for the first time the highly-obscure 1975 self-titled debut album by the South African jazz ensemble Roots, led by master saxophonist and one of the greatest musicians to ever come out of Johannesburg, Barney Rachabane.
London-based Kalita Records has been at forefront of some of the best reissues over the past few years, and that streak certainly continues with their latest release of Muchos Plus’s highly sought-after 1979 12″ reggae disco masterpiece Nassau’s Discos.
UK saxophonist Tony Burkill and his large ensemble Work, Money, Death, whom was also featured on his 2017 debut, have recently released an incredible spiritual jazz recording inspired by the likes of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, titled The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises (got that?!?!).
Led by keyboard guru and producer Dan Goldman, the UK-based live trio version of JD73, featuring electric bassist Hamlet Luton and drummer Gordon Kilroy have released a great new live album titled Pyramid.