Tag: Jazz Funk
Following the publishing of the now out-of-print Wamono A to Z records guide book by the renowned remixer, compiler, and producer DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite and fellow DJ/record collector Chintam, the two have teamed up again to release a series of compilations highlighting “the Wamono sound,” featuring some of the most rare jazz, funk, soul, and disco music to come out of Japan since the sixties.
Over the past decade, London’s On The Corner records has been one of the most forward-thinking labels, releasing innovative futuristic music that blurs the lines between jazz, electronic music, African, Latin, broken beat and beyond. In the words of Sun Ra, “knock, knock, knocking at the door to the cosmos,” this label is knocking down all sonic barriers on for their celebratory tenth release, which is a limited edition triple vinyl gatefold compilation out on September 18th, appropriately titled Door of the Cosmos.
London-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Tom Funk has recently released a great new cosmic jazz full-length under The Sultan’s Swing alias, titled Ignite on his Lazy Robot Records.
Due to continued demand, London’s Far Out Recordings has reissued for a second time in four years, pianist and composer Antonio Adolfo’s highly obscure 1979 Brazilian jazz-funk album Viralata.
Chicago-based composer, drummer, and producer Makaya McCraven has over the past half-decade, been one of the most groundbreaking artists in jazz, due to his unique recording approaches and post-production editing and mixing processes. The “jazz beat scientist” has just released an insightful documentary and new material from the same sessions that produced the 2018 critically-acclaimed Universal Beings album.
London-based keyboardist, composer, and producer Kamaal Williams, aka Henry Wu, follows up his superb 2018 full-length recording The Return and twelve-inch single New Heights/Snitches Brew, with another incredible album off of his Black Focus label, titled Wu Hen.
Soul Jazz Records has released an incredible new expansive compilation, titled Kaleidoscope: New Spirits Known & Unknown, featuring many of the groundbreaking artists that are fueling the UK jazz scene.
London-based Afro-Latin quintet Waaju follow-up the group’s 2018 breakthrough self-titled debut LP, with a brilliant new album, titled Grown on the UK label Olindo Records.
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.
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-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.
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.”
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.
