Brownswood 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Contemporary British jazz drummer-master Yussef Dayes returns with Black Classical Music, a monumental 18-track LP that not only contains collaborations with Rocco Palladino, Charlie Stacey, Alfa Mist, and Mansur Brown, but flaunt his compositional chops after the immediate fact of the studio, with the likes of 'Rust' and 'Early Dayes' laying down a heartfelt and clean foray into the nu-est expression of British jazz yet. Predominantly made in collaboration with Black artists, it's an album that aims to chart the history of an entire art form a fresh perspective, evidently tracing the line of his own personal past-present at the same time.

Review: Kokoroko, a London-based eight-piece featuring musicians with disparate cultural roots and a love of improvised performance, have long been tipped as future stars of British music. Could We Be More, the award-winning outfit's debut album, more than delivers on the promise of their previous singles, offering up a set shaped by their communal love of Afrobeat, dub, Highlife, percussion workouts, spiritual jazz and smooth grooves. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the deep and sun-splashed shuffle of 'Ewa Inu' and the warming, sunset-ready soul-jazz of 'Dide O', to the horn-heavy celebration that is 'We Give Thanks' and the Balearic, beat-free bliss of 'Home'.

Review: Gilles Peterson and Bluey's Str4ta project has always been something of a nostalgic offering, with the pair exploring their mutual love of Brit-funk, jazz-funk and dancefloor grooves of the early 1980s. Naturally, they've loosely stuck to the same winning blueprint on sophomore set 'Str4tasfear', with the addition of an impressive cast-list of collaborators, a touch more production polish and a subtly wider set of inspirations only enhancing the listening experience. The results are uniformly impressive, with our picks of a very strong bunch including the slap-bass sporting, floor-friendly brilliance of 'Turn Me Around', the Maze-esque 'Night Flight' (all squelchy electronic bass, glistening jazz guitars and colourful synthesizer solos), the sweat-soaked jazz-funk disco heaviness of 'Lazy Days' (featuring Emma-Jean Thackray) and the super-sweet 'When You Call Me'.

Review: There have been plenty of column inches devoted to this collaborative debut album from hyped producer Kamaal Williams (AKA Rhythm Section International sort Henry Wu), and fast-rising Afrobeat drummer Yussef Dayes. With such raw talent to choose from, it's little surprise to find that Black Focus is as good as the critics claim. Their sound is distinctive: a London-centric take on jazz-funk that's loose, rich, organic and shot through with soul. Their major influences seem to be the work of West London broken beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham, and his inspiration, jazz-funk legend Herbie Hancock. These touchstones, combined with Dayes' brilliant drumming and Williams' superb synth solos and jammed-out Rhodes lines, makes Black Focus a hugely alluring set.