Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
Far Out Recordings reissues Manfredo Fest’s 1976 jazz-funk masterpiece ‘Brazilian Dorian Dream’
Legally blind from birth, Brazilian keyboard player and composer Manfredo Fest contributed to a number of great recordings during the sixties and seventies, both as a solo artist and with the group Bossa Rio. London’s Far Out Recordings has just reissued, what arguably might be his greatest recording, in his 1976 jazz funk masterpiece Brazilian Dorian Dream.
UK Saxophonist Nat Birchall releases new Sun Ra-inspired cosmic jazz album ‘Mysticism of Sound’
With some remarkable releases over the past decade on Jazzman and Gondwana Records, as well as his recently brilliant collaborative work with dub producer Al Breadwinner, Manchester-based saxophonist and composer Nat Birchall has made his mark as one of UK’s most forward-thinking musicians.
1981 funky soulful gem “Summer Love” by Prince Billy Mahdi Wright & Mandisa reissued
The London-based reissue label Discs of Fun and Love is quickly making a strong name for themselves with some incredible and worthy seven-inch soul reissues. Their third and latest release features the obscure 1981 funky soulful gem “Summer Love,” written and produced by illustrious jazz musician Prince Billy Mahdi Wright, and sang by Maggie “Mandisa” Epting.
Night Dreamer releases a direct-to-disc session with Nigerian trumpeter Etuk Ubong
The London-based Night Dreamer label continues it’s string of brilliant direct-to-disc sessions with a brilliant new Afro-funk recording featuring Nigerian composer, trumpeter, and bandleader Etuk Ubong, titled Africa Today.
BeatCaffeine’s ‘TJ Plays It Cool’ Jazz-Funk Mix
An hour long mix featuring a selection of soulful jazz-funk gems, including many that have Bay Area roots like the all-female jazz group Alive!, Oakland’s spiritual jazz ensemble Sons And Daughters Of Lite, saxophonists Bishop Norman Williams and Pharoah Sanders whom both resided for a time in the Bay Area, recording for El Cerrito-based Theresa Records. There is also some funky global jazz grooves from France, Spain, Brazil and beyond!
London’s Greg Foat releases new expansive album ‘Symphonie Pacifique’ on Strut Records
London-based pianist Greg Foat has dived into a wide range of sounds over the last few years on some incredible releases for both Jazzman and Athens of The North, experimenting with soul-jazz, cinematic library music, techno, pastoral acid folk, and ambient electronic tones. For his debut release on Strut Records, titled Symphonie Pacifique, Foat brilliantly brings together all of these different elements to produce his most musically expansive and forward-thinking album to date.
Listen Here: Mark de Clive-Lowe, Live Remix Suite — We See You. We Are Here.
For the latest addition to BeatCaffeine’s Listen Here series, we feature an incredible live remix suite by Los Angeles-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Mark de Clive-Lowe that he produced for the La Ceiba Festival. The multi-media suite, which features spiritual jazz and pulsating broken-beat grooves with powerful visual imagery and spoken words of James Baldwin, activist Tamika D Mallory and real-time chants of Black Lives Matter is called “Sawubona: We see you. We are here.”
Khruangbin release incredible new desert psych-funk album ‘Mordechai’
The Houston, Texas based trio Khruangbin (pronounced KRUNG-bin, a Thai word meaning “airplane”), featuring bassist/vocalist Laura Lee, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, follow-up their 2018 breakthrough release Con Todo El Mundo and recent notable collaboration with Leon Bridges (Texas Sun EP) with their highly anticipated third full-length album, titled Mordechai on the Dead Ocean label.
French jazz-funk quartet Aldorande release new EP ‘Summer Body / Breakfast’ in Space”
Just in time for the warmer months, French jazz-funk quartet Aldorande follow-up their breakthrough self-titled debut album with a brilliant new EP Summer Body / Breakfast in Space on Favorite Recordings’ 2020 Disco Jazz-Funk series.
Vibration Black Finger releases adventurous new spiritual jazz album on Jazzman Records
Highly accomplished UK-based DJ and producer, Lascelle ‘Lascelles’ Gordon, who was also a founding member of legendary acid-jazz group The Brand New Heavies, returns with a brilliant new Vibration Black Finger full-length album on Jazzman Records, titled Can You See What I’m Trying to Say.
Soul-Jazz legend Roy Ayers releases incredible new album on Jazz Is Dead
Soul-jazz legend Roy Ayers, who made his mark in the seventies and early eighties with classic recordings like He’s Coming, Ubiquity, Red Black & Green, Vibrations, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, and so many others, has teamed up with Los Angeles based producers/multi-instrumentalists Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of also Tribe Called Quest) to release a brand new album on the newly formed Jazz Is Dead label.
BeatCaffeine guest mix featured on 91.3FM WYEP Dubmission radio show
On Saturday, June 20th, Kerem Gokmen invited to me to put together a guest mix for his weekly Dubmission show on the Pittsburgh, PA based independent radio station 91.3FM WYEP. Given that it was a little while since my last mix, I was honored and excited to compile a mix for this broadcast.
SAULT releases groundbreaking album ‘Untitled (Black Is)’, speaking out against racism & police brutality
The mysterious group SAULT took 2019 by storm with two breakthrough albums 5 and 7. Over time, we have learned that this foward-thinking eclectic UK-based collective consists of producer Dean “Inflo” Wynton Josiah, vocalist Cleo Sol, and rapper/vocalist Melisa Young (aka Kid Sister). The trio has appropriately on Juneteenth, put out their third album Untitled (Black Is), which a powerful and timely release that speaks directly to the Black Lives Matter movement.
