Tag: Spiritual Jazz
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.
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.
For the latest release in the absolutely brilliant Jazz Is Dead series, Los Angeles based producers/multi-instrumentalists Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad have joined forces with legendary saxophonist and composer Gary Bartz on an incredible new full-length album.
In what might be the most-anticipated album of the year, New York label Luaka Bop has released an absolute stunning new collaborative album, titled Promises, featuring legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, groundbreaking electronic producer Sam Shepard, also know as Floating Points, and one of the greatest symphonies in the world, in The London Symphony Orchestra.
Following an inspiring tour with Theo Parrish in 2014 and a highly memorable experience at New York’s Soul Summit in 2015, London-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Junior Alli-Balogun aka JAB released quite possibly the best song of 2019 in the 10-plus minute dancefloor gem “Directions”, which was eventually released as a twelve-inch single. With much anticipation, JAB returns with an outstanding new EP titled Currents.
UK’s Emanative, also known as Nick Woodmansey, has made a name for himself over the past decade as one of the most forward-thinking drummers and producers, contributing to some of the best spiritual jazz recordings for labels like Brownswood, Jazzman, and The Steve Reid Foundation. He teams up with longtime collaborator, vocalist, and life partner Liz Elensky on a brilliant new full-length album titled The Volume Of The Light.
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.
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.
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.
