Tag: Jazz
Over the past 20 years, Nostalgia 77 has been the eclectic work of UK producer Ben Lamdin, exploring the forward-thinking sounds of jazz, soul, and electronic music. Lamdin reunites with longtime collaborator and arranger Riaan Vosloo to release arguably the project’s best album to date in The Loneliest Flower In The Village.
Right on the heals of Jazz Room Records’ most recent 7inch release, Japan’s leading jazz fusion/funk trio Nautilus has recently released a brilliant new full-length on the Urban Discos label, titled Revival.
In what can already be considered a front-runner for album of the year, UK-based drummer, producer and vocalist Andy Hay returns with a 2xLP spiritual jazz masterpiece, titled Children Of The Sun.
Scottish trumpeter Malcolm Strachan has been one of the most active UK musicians for over the past 20 years, recording and performing with Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, The New Master Sounds and many others, as well as leading the notable UK jazz-funk band The Haggis Horns. He steps out on his own again and follows up his critically acclaimed 2020 solo debut album About Time with a superb new full-length on Haggis Records, titled Point Of No Return.
In what certainly is one of the most anticipated albums of 2023, legendary UK producer, deejay, and acid jazz pioneer Chris Bangs is set to release his new full-length record Firebird this week on the iconic Acid Jazz Records.
The legendary London-based Decca Records continues their superb British Jazz Explosion Series, with two massive additions in trumpeter Harry Beckett‘s 1970 heavy-hitting classic Flare-Up and the groundbreaking large ensemble masterpiece Tales Of The Algonquin led by John Surman and John Warren.
Paul Murphy’s superb label, Jazz Room Records is back at it again, releasing a brilliant 7inch single featuring two excellent dancefloor primed covers by Tokyo’s remarkable jazz-funk trio Nautilus.
A record that seemed to receive a lot of worthy play across numerous notable online radio shows (Colin Curtis, Kev Beadle, and others) during the final two months of 2022, was 45trio’s brilliant instrumental of Weldon Irvine’s soulful 1976 classic ‘I Love You’. Led by pianist and producer SWING-O, the Tokyo-based group, which formed back in 2009, also features bassist Sunapanng and drummer Masahiko Kubo.
Happy New Year! Before we turn the page and look ahead to 2023, let’s spend one more moment in celebrating some of the best music from the past twelve months and dive into some of the best tracks of 2022.
As we wind down the final days of 2022, we take a look back at just some of the essential compilation releases over the past 12 months. From rare dance floor jazz to spiritual grooves and obscure Brazilian gems, there was a lot to absorb from some of the year’s best compiled releases. Similar to what we’ve seen with recent reissues, each year it seems like the quality of compilations continue to excel, with labels, record collectors, archivists, and DJs putting together some of the most interesting selections of music from all corners of the world.
This year, even what feels like more so than in the past, there were many incredible EP releases, especially in jazz (which hasn’t been a common format for the genre). Many of which resulted in some of the overall best releases of 2022.
As with new releases, 2022 was a remarkable year for reissues and previously unreleased recordings. It feels like with every great new release or artists that breaks through on the scene, there are still so many records from the past to still discover, or make more readily available again. I also feel that with each year that goes by, the quality of reissues get’s better and better. The care and work that goes into many of these releases is astonishing.
It’s that time again (hard to believe), where we revisit some of the best releases of the year. In regards of new music, 2022 was one of the best in recent memory. It was admittedly extremely challenging pulling together a top 30 list, as many their were many additional favorites that unfortunately didn’t make the list. If there is time before the month is up, I might go back and extend the list to 40 or 50 releases. As always, I’m sure I missed a few that were just not fully on my radar.
