Review: Jackpot US reissue the 1967 Impulse! standout and instrumental masterpiece from Mel Brown, Chicken Fat. Initially working as a guitar player for such greats as Sonny Boy Williamson & Etta James, Impulse! eventually offered Mel Brown the chance to record his own material. Recorded in 1967 in Hollywood, CA, Brown amassed a group of session musicians who had previously played with Charles Mingus, Marvin Gaye, and Dizzy Gillespie. Much of the album was arranged by Oliver Nelson, who worked with Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith and more. His touch is felt all over the record and helps solidify the journey; these sessions reflect the Sunset Strip and the energy of late 60s Los Angeles so accurately that you can almost hear the go-go boots hit the floor.
Review: Lisa Decker makes a return with two new singles here that are taken from her upcoming album which is due in May of this year. It comes two years after her debut with the Japanese jazz trio Nautilus and marks something of a conceptual shift in her sound. 'Love & Hope' finds her turn in a stylish jazz vocal with funky bass loops and organic drums and percussion that straddle many different genres. 'Summer Child' then sinks into a nice smooth jazz-funk vibe with soft focus chords bringing a touch of class to her breezy vocals.
Review: The Albina Music Trust aims to amplify Portland's musical past by working with underrepresented soul musicians, one such artist being 23-year-old drummer, composer and educator Domo Branch. Branch has come up through the ranks of the American Music Program - a crucial proving ground for Portland's jazz musicians - and now lives in Manhattan, performing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis. Sparse and minimalist in its ingredients it may seem superficially, but closer investigation reveals there's polyrhythmic power and heaps of unpredictable expression in his free improvisation.
Review: Jakarta Records is mostly known for its superb hip hop but this one is a dazzling album well worth checking. It's a perfect mix of instrumental jazz, soul and gentle grooves that will get you nodding along and lost in the gorgeous melodies from the master of this sort of stuff that is Gianni Brezzo. The Italian has put put several fine albums before now and this collection is another doozy with certain harmonic and rhythmic concepts recurring throughout that drawn on European and folklorist style.
Review: An Evening With The Devil is regarded as one of the Tribe Records label's finest ever releases - an unrestrained free jazz expression from Wendell Harrison that is packed with forward-thinking grooves. The Detroit reedman was always in a class of one and he showed it here with a record so heavy it was way ahead of its time. Now though it's regarded as a classic with trumpet from Marcus Belgrave, Charles Eubanks on keyboards, Ike Daney on drums, and Will Austin on bass. There are also some spoken word passages from the Black Messengers making this a jewel of the jazz underground.
Review: Akira Ishiguro's Bon is a limited new album on Somethin' Cool that explores a vibrant mix of jazz style sin a timeless fashion. Each piece is an original work from Ishigurom that he says has been fully inspire day the Leo of his wife and daughter. It has a cosmic bent in many places, with celestial and busy melodies heading off to the stars of broken beat rhythms. Electric guitars, tenor and alto sax, bass, percussion and trumpets all get played by a fine ensemble alongside Ishiguro himself to make this one of the best new albums of the year so far.
Harold Mckinney - "Ode To Africa" (single version) (3:47)
Wendell Harrison - "The Wok" (6:40)
Review: The legendary DJ Muro is behind this superb new P-Vine compilation, Diggin Groove Diggers: Best Of Tribe. Muro is a truly a-grade digger and one of his homeland of Japan's most famous. Here he collates together some of his favourite songs from Tribe, a rather legendary spiritual jazz collective from the Motor City. This music has been revered for more than 50 years and now for the first time gets put together on one album that is both a perfect primer for newbies and a great collection for those long-time fans.
Review: Taeko Onuki's latest release is a live album pressed up to vinyl and capturing her full performance from Tokyo in November 2023. The show featured a seven-piece band with Hirokazu Ogura on guitar, Masato Suzuki on bass, Takashi Numazawa and Tatsuo Hayashi on drums, Febien Reza Panet on piano, and Toshiyuki Mori and Shohei Amamori on keyboards. This album showcases Onuki's dynamic performance with a talented ensemble and a rich array of sounds from the original multi-tracks. It's a great snapshot of the event as well as being a superb contemporary pop exploration across four sides of vinyl.
Review: Tullio De Piscop is an Italian drummer of some repute. He worked solo and with his quartet and interest in his records, many of which were recorded back in the 70s, has piqued recently resulting in a load of reissues. Sotto E 'Ncoppa is one of them and it was recorded back in 1976 and has since gone up in value and rarity. It's a jazz-rock fusion album with a whole host of electric guitar, bass, saxophones and pianos on it that embelish each cut and make the whole thing packed with detail.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.