[engl] Their first two albums, Exit (2013) and Enter (2014), presented us with sizable and ambitious line-ups of 28 musicians. Ritual (2016) saw it reduced to 21 and with Arrival it's been trimmed down to a "mere" 14, with the core trio of Fire! (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin) and the two singers Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg being the only constant members since the beginning. Apart from this reduction, the main line-up difference is the introduction of a string quartet. This "cleanup" has worked wonders, keeping the rhythm and horn sections to their bare necessities, with the string quartet expanding the canvas and bringing a new, exciting dimension to the table. And on top of their game; the two powerful and sublime singers, quite different, but still blending perfectly. We also have to mention drummer and producer Andreas Werliin for his work in the audio department; rarely have we heard such a detailed, warm, deep and dynamic mix from a relatively complex combination of instruments. Arrival is a collection of more individual compositions and songs, including two stunning cover versions. Blue Crystal Fire by visionary guitarist Robbie Basho was first heard on his 1978 album Visions of the Country. At Last I Am Free was originally written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers of Chic. Although the rest of the tracks are credited to Berthling, Gustafsson, Werliin and Wallentin, it's important to stress that this time the orchestra members have had considerable creative input throughout the process. Arrival is light and shade, joy and despair, structure and improvisation, performed by an ensemble of excellent musicians.

[engl] 1966 R&B album by Fontella Bass originally released on Checker. Among others it contains her biggest hit, "Rescue Me". This album also charted on the pop albums chart, being listed for 8 weeks, with a highest position of #93.

[engl] With what was once considered a totally abandoned project French free jazz pioneer and stalwart François Tusques stumbles upon a series of shelved recordings from 1969 which further bolster the discography of historic French improv. Having lurked in the dark shadows for exactly 50 years this mutated micro-vile of youthful elixir and rebellious invention documents what would have undoubtedly been regarded as an important supportive pillar of the movement had it been released on vinyl during those formative years. Entitled Nosferatu as both a reference to a photograph taken by legendary photographer Horace, whilst shrouding a sly wink to film director Jean Rollin, this music is the first glimpse into a wider vampiric vault comprising a host of key figures from the Actuel/Futura/Palm universe… an historical artefact indeed. These newly excavated recordings not only mark the dawn of Tusques’ large group activities, and what would become his inter communal orchestras in the coming decade, but they also see the beginnings of thematic and pictorial free-jazz auto-composition with heavy leanings towards the fantastique trends in film and pulp literature that proliferated in French art at the turn of this important decade. A potential thematic precursor to the Palm Records releases Watch Devil Go by Jacques Thollot or Such A Strange Planet by François Jeannaeu (the latter being decidedly less spontaneous) this release is an essential jigsaw price in one of Europe’s most puzzling anti-genres. Whilst comprising themes taken from Mary Shelley and Lewis Carol amongst others, Nosferatu is the first disque in a wider series of unreleased Tusques tapes scheduled for vinyl editions for Finders Keepers’ Cacophonic label. While capturing the essence of the late 60s tumultuous era and the afformentioned commitment to the fantastique and free-thinking mindsets, Cacophonic are very proud to present this record with a rare archival illustration (from the same 1969 year) by maverick American Bande Designee artist Vaughn Bode whose legacy is indelible but still bequeathes unknown gems like his own “pre-lizard” homage to Nosferatu from an early free-press fanzine. Both artist widely respected and hugely influential in France (and around the world) this package is quite possibly a bona fide match made in heaven… if not elsewhere!

[engl] As Finders Keepers disobedient little-sister-label reaches her 20th (release) anniversaries Cacophonic Records are proud to present a record that will not only leave rare record collectors salivating but will open ambitious ears to a truly pioneering album from the seldom celebrated and individualistic micro-genre that is French free Jazz. Comprising some of the earliest uninhibited performances from key musicians behind records by Serge Gainsbourg, Jef Gilson, Triangle, Don Cherry, Barbara and countless other groundbreaking European jazz records and freakish films, this LP captures the birth of an exciting movement that would soon earn its Parisian birthplace as the go-to European spiritual home of improvised and avant-garde music. Spearheaded by polymath pianist and composer François Tusques this 1965 French LP coined the phrase “free jazz” before the American genre of the same name had fully taken shape and packed its suitcase; laying the foundations (alongside Jef Gilson’s Enfin!) for a unique satellite brand of jazz that would later provide visiting afro American avant-gardeners with a vibrant Parisian platform. Having recorded a very rare single in celebration of the architect Le Corbusier in late 1964 Tusques was lucky enough to play live with Don Cherry (a key player on Ornette Coleman’s 1961 Free Jazz LP) thus planting a pedigreed seed for this vibrant cultivar. With this record we not only hear the unique differences within the Gallic approach to the art form (combining masterful sombre cinematic changes with aerated free-form percussion and erratic reed and brass) but we also get to witness the early lesser savoured secret ingredients that would carry France’s mainstream pop culture into truly uncharted and unrivalled territories throughout the following decades. Best known to faithful Finders Keepers fans as the soundtrack composer to the horrortica films of Jean Rollin, Tusques is joined here by sax and flute player Francois Jeanneau, who’s electronic jazz album Such A Weird Plane” would later lead to his own band Triangle gaining recognition as France’s leading French language prig-jazz-rock act. Featuring three players from the aforementioned Enfin! LP by French jazz pioneer and producer Jef Gilson, Free Jazz combines the skills of Jeanneau, with clarinet player Michel Portal (Gainsbourg Percussions/Claude Nougaro) and trumpeter Bernard Vitet (whose avant-garde appearances on the Futura label are indispensable). In addition to this, Free Jazz also boasts the inclusion of Tusques’ sidekick and double bass master Bernard “Beb” Guérin (of Sonny Sharrock Monkey-Pockie-Boo infamy) who had also appeared on the earlier Don Cherry/Le Corbusier recording providing further kudos to this LPs historical importance. It is by no coincidence that this carefully selected ensemble would around this time become enlisted as the backing group for politically driven singer-songwriter Colette Magny (an action which would arguably later influence Brigitte Fontaine’s choice to adopt The Art Ensemble Of Chicago as her backing band after the Actuel records Pan-African Jazz festival and record series). The fact that Colette Magny would provide the art direction for this very LP is a cute small-print signifier of this LPs intended manifesto status. This album also captures a rare glimpse of percussionist Charles Saudrais in free-form mode after his departure from the Barney WIlen Quartet (Moshi) - an inclusion that would surely galvanise the relationship between WIlen and Tusques resulting in the follow-up record Nouveau Jazz for actor Marcel Mouloudji’s privately funded Disques Mouloudji label (on which both rare LPs were originally pressed). Presented here on vinyl for the first time since its original ultra rare micro-press (original copies now fetching upwards of 1000 euros) the Cacophonic release is taken directly from François Tusques very own master-tape archive, allowing Finders Keepers access to two rare original out-takes which did not appear on the original LP. With a characteristic keen eye for detail Cacophonic are delighted to present this LP in authentic packaging complete with external seams and a facsimile of the original Tusques-penned booklet, which, after 52 years, still evades the most fastidious collectors trying to unite mint copies with this oft estranged pictorial pamphlet. This glimpse into a seldom documented underground of a domestic, revolutionary, uncompromised spiritual art-form successfully reveals the other-side of abstracted French music which alongside musique concrète, protest pop, symphonic rock and Zeuhl-skool electronic prog created a homegrown, self-contained music industry that went on to influence a universe of Gallic magnetic inspiration. “This is free jazz, Jim; but not as we know it.”

[engl] In 1967, 1968 and 1969 most of my works were happenings loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting Of The Snark, a not-so-cryptic poem that, to my mind, gave clues to free the theatre in the same way the “new music” had freed jazz. It never made it to record and I gave up on the idea when I met Sunny Murray and Alan Silva when they arrived in Paris in the summer of ‘69. Few concert venues would have anything to do with us but we didn’t want that kind of connection with the public – famous or not (Jacques Higelin joined on occasion!) – which more often than not would join us on stage to bang percussion, sing, dance, freak out. Our favorite part was when we shut down the lights near the end, silently left the stage, and when the light went on for the curtain... The public had formally taken our place. Galleries, museums and art/theatre/dance festivals, on the other hand, were open to this early multimedia event – complete with films, masks and early electronic devices (Bernard Vitet, the trumpet player, brought an early portable reverb system to the proceedings). The reels and cassettes we rescued from my basement are rather evasively labelled and the following data is far from precise. The core group was me on piano, Bernard Vitet on trumpet and electronic treatments, Beb Guérin on double bass, Daniel Laloux (who later had tremendous success in film, theatre and voice acting) as MC, Jean Frenay and Jean Vern (who did the artwork for le nouveau jazz) on saxophones, Michel Kurylo, Annick Astier, Lambert Terbrack and my then wife Françoise Tusques “singing” and “acting”, so to say. Jacques Thollot, Aldo Romano and later Noel Mcghie were on drums. I know for sure side A is a studio recording carried out in august 1968 by the comité action musique, an activist group of artists and engineers aiming to reclaim the means of production from the “record industry”. The line-up is me, Vitet, Guérin, Laloux, Frenay, Vern, Astier, Françoise Tusques, no drums (everyone doubling on percussion), and Michel Portal on bass clarinet and saxophone as guest. Side C is a montage of the surviving bits of the happenings that took place at La Vieille Grille between August 1967 – March 1968 (sometimes on a daily basis in ‘68!), the museum of modern art during the May ‘68 demonstrations, and the Biennale Of Paris in February 1969. Sides B and D are less theatre oriented and may have been recorded either at the American center in October 1968, the international students center in November 1968 (Barre Phillips on bass and Barney Wilen on sax guested on these dates but I’m not able to confirm they are on the tapes), or in the winter and spring of 1969. However, the cassette for side b only read “Snark 1969”... The name of the group (it changed every time it ventured out), the title of the concerts and accordingly the cuts on these LPs were all lifted randomly from Lewis Carroll’s poems and novels. Back then, I described what we did in this way: “Composers, directors, writers, band leaders, those people are vampires sucking the blood of musicians and actors. They are byproducts of the current state of our society. Yet, someone who has something to convey needs performers... Unless a cultural revolution happens soon, I think it’s impossible to overcome those contradictions. Therefore, I wish that this rendition of the hunting of the Snark would be the last ever rendition of any work of art, and that the next stage of evolution is that any individual craving for expression will have the physical and intellectual means to create without constraints, to freely associate with others, without bearing the weight of so-called geniuses and nobodies. We want to bring to the stage the same revolution that happened in jazz with the new music.

[engl] Cross-pollinating the wants lists of art/jazz/print and architecture enthusiasts this seldom sighted 45 single is regarded as the rarest “lost” recording by American jazz trumpeter and global communal music missionary Don Cherry as he collaborates with French piano improv genius Franc?ois Tusques. A missing link in the pre-formative years of improvised jazz this mythical private pressing unites two of the key exponents of both American and French free jazz - two entirely independent musical art forms which by 1964 had yet to publicly entwine at the hands of bands like Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Sunny Murray, the Actuel magazine/label and Pan-African jazz festivals in the late 60s. This intimate recording was made to accompany an exhibition by pioneering Swiss/French architect Charles-E?douard Jeanneret-Gris (better known as Le Corbusier) held in Tusques own home town of Nantes. Recorded in one sitting while the globe-trotting Don Cherry stopped off in France this record also marks the beginning of a musical journey which lead to releases in Germany, Italy and Sweden featuring collaborations with the likes of Komeda (Poland), Okay Temiz (Turkey), Joachim Ku?hn (Germany), the legendary Krzysztof Penderecki and directors Alexandro Jodorowsky and Jerzy Skolimowski. Here these compositions are lead by Franc?ois Tusques adopting the Chinese whisper sound carrier techniques deployed in his music for the film Viol Du Vampire by Jean Rollin while sonically evoking other cinematic works by Komeda, Mal Waldron and Bernt Rosengren. Housed in a two fold wrap-around sleeve identical to the original article this pocket document of a cross-continental jazz milestone also features a miscredited appearance by bass player Bernard “Beb” Gue?rin (BYG/ Futura) and lays the foundations for Tusques’ imminent free jazz and le nouveau jazz LPs.

[engl] With track titles translating to Song For The Devil and The Witches, Francois Tusques’ rarest commercially released LP casts an early stylistic premonition of the vampire themed improvised soundtracks recorded for director Jean Rollin merely months after its release. Assembling the very same group of musical sorcerers this albums personnel (featuring, amongst others, soprano saxophonist Barney Wilen) reads like a who’s who of France’s early improvised music/free jazz scene resulting in a wholly unique European flavour while preserving the essence of other global inter communal travellers such as Don Cherry and Krzysztof Komeda. Originally extracted from three separate recording sessions in early 1967, Le Nouveau Jazz opens with themes conjured up for the short film Coda by French jazz documentarist Marc Pauly highlighting the composers adept ability in his multi-disciplined art further aligning him with the aforementioned pioneers. The rest of the album combines frenzied macabre picture music (akin to Detroit’s Wendell Harrison) and emotive piano improvisations (Mal Waldron anyone?) with the sui generis inclusion of a double double bass formation courtesy of Bernard “Beb” Guerin (Sonny Sharrock/Ku?hn Brothers) and Jean-Francois Jenny Clarke (Enrico Rava/Giorgio Gaslini). As Tusques’ second official album (after the seldom sighted Free Jazz from 1965) this LP expands on this important French musicians vision and follows up Cacophonic’s repress of his mega rare Don Cherry art installation collaboration from 1964 this time introducing extra rhythmic arrangements courtesy of Italian drummer Aldo Romano (Robin Kenyatta). Housed in the elegant original Witches artwork sleeve by comic illustrator Jean Vern with French liner notes by French psychiatry/beat poet/crime fiction writer Yves Buin this worthy reissue hopes to find a unique uninhabited part of your collection from an era that changed the Parisian underground prior to the important developments of labels like BYG Actuel and Futura Records in the early 1970s.

[engl] The long-awaited reissue of the best ever album of rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz music by this famous Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo, originally released in 1968. For the first time as extended edition with 2 bonus tracks: radio versions of Fire Dance / Ferris Wheel from the 1969 7” single 7”. Deluxe 8-sided Digipak CD and Gatefold Vinyl come with long, exclusively written inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne. Remastered by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios (UK). Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still living in his hometown. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way to America, settling with his family in California. He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and "Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more commercially oriented forms of jazz. During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style. From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop, Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday

[engl] Debut album by the influential gaucho musician Gelson Oliveira, in partnership with the drummer Luiz Ewerling, released independently in 1983, with minimal resources. In spite of all this, they made a unique and very album, with a spectacular musicality, a mix of sounds, ranging from jazz, funk and fusion.

[engl] Gil Scott-Heron’s second album, “Pieces Of A Man”, showed that his collaboration with musical partner Brian Jackson was very special. The record contained some of Gil’s most revered songs, including ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’ and the title track. Although not a hit, it was a big enough success to warrant a follow-up, but when the time came Gil was unsure. With more books than albums to his name, he thought his future may have been as a writer, but Brian Jackson and producer Bob Thiele convinced him otherwise, and in March 1972 “Free Will” was recorded. The record’s first side comprised a set of songs that confirmed how well he and Brian Jackson worked together. The album’s masterpiece is ‘Did You Hear What They Said?’, one of the most effective evocations of war’s ultimate price. It was aimed at the conflict in Vietnam, but is as relevant today as when it was written. Other numbers seem to focus on the apathy or self-centred attitudes Gil saw in people’s actions. He was seeing the 60s dream turning sour and people standing idly by and letting it happen. It made for compelling art. Gil’s literary side was represented on the album’s second side, which saw him return to the spoken-word poetry found on “Small Talk At 125th And Lenox”, his first LP. The new material seemed to find him angrier and more incensed by the world. He railed against apathy in society and misuse of power by the Nixon administration. He took white musicians to task for ripping off black American music throughout the 20th century, questioning why Elvis was more successful than Chuck Berry. The only let-up occurs in the final track, ‘…And Then He Wrote Meditations’, a considered tribute to John Coltrane. “Free Will” was Gil’s final album for Flying Dutchman, and it showed a talent primed to succeed. Our reissue comes in CD and 12-inch vinyl formats. The CD version includes 11 alternate takes, taken from the original session tapes, providing a fascinating glimpse into the recording process.

[engl] Gil Scott-Heron never had a pop hit single; he was more important than that. With ‘Johannesburg’, ‘Home is Where The Hatred Is’ and ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ he wrote songs that resonated beyond the world of disposable chart-toppers. That’s not to say he didn’t have success, and 1974 was a very good year for him. The album “Winter In America”, released on Strata-East, spawned the radio hit ‘The Bottle’ and several cover versions. Former Columbia Records boss Clive Davis was impressed and made Gil, Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band the first signing to his Arista label later in the year. The streak continued into 1975 when their first Arista album, “Midnight Band: The First Minute Of A New Day”, made the jazz, R&B and pop charts. Gil was certainly making a name for himself. Towards the end of 1974, Gil’s former label, Flying Dutchman, put out a compilation of tracks from his first three albums. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” was no hastily put together cash-in. Instead it became the primer for what many would describe as Gil’s best work. From its striking Charles Stewart cover shot and lavish packaging, it was clear time and effort had been made to get the album right. From the incendiary polemicism of the title track through heart-wrenching contemplations on modern life such as ‘Pieces Of A Man’ and ‘Did You Hear What They Said?’, and back to the anger of ‘Whitey On The Moon’, it captured perfectly what his first three albums were about, revealing not just a performer but a writer every bit as poetic as Bob Dylan. The skill of his collaborators, most notably co-writer Brian Jackson and producer Bob Thiele, and musicians of the calibre of Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie and Ron Carter, all helped to showcase his songs to their full splendour.

[engl] Gil Scott-Heron never had a pop hit single; he was more important than that. With ‘Johannesburg’, ‘Home is Where The Hatred Is’ and ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ he wrote songs that resonated beyond the world of disposable chart-toppers. That’s not to say he didn’t have success, and 1974 was a very good year for him. The album “Winter In America”, released on Strata-East, spawned the radio hit ‘The Bottle’ and several cover versions. Former Columbia Records boss Clive Davis was impressed and made Gil, Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band the first signing to his Arista label later in the year. The streak continued into 1975 when their first Arista album, “Midnight Band: The First Minute Of A New Day”, made the jazz, R&B and pop charts. Gil was certainly making a name for himself. Towards the end of 1974, Gil’s former label, Flying Dutchman, put out a compilation of tracks from his first three albums. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” was no hastily put together cash-in. Instead it became the primer for what many would describe as Gil’s best work. From its striking Charles Stewart cover shot and lavish packaging, it was clear time and effort had been made to get the album right. From the incendiary polemicism of the title track through heart-wrenching contemplations on modern life such as ‘Pieces Of A Man’ and ‘Did You Hear What They Said?’, and back to the anger of ‘Whitey On The Moon’, it captured perfectly what his first three albums were about, revealing not just a performer but a writer every bit as poetic as Bob Dylan. The skill of his collaborators, most notably co-writer Brian Jackson and producer Bob Thiele, and musicians of the calibre of Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie and Ron Carter, all helped to showcase his songs to their full splendour.

[engl] PLUS TWO BONUS TRACKS! This is an ancient Blue Note rarity recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary studio in 1956 with legendary bass man Paul Chambers doing the deep notes. First press originals in adequate condition go for about 500 Euros. So what does this sextet featuring trumpeters Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan with tenor saxophone hero Hank Mobley as bandleader and piano madcap Horace Silver backing the rhythm section with his extraordinary chord progressions have to offer? The album is widely labeled as hard bop and it shows a great development from the mid to late 1940s bebop scene where John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and other now mystical protagonists brought the swinging dance music of the even older big bands to a new level of sophistication and still maintained an earthy and highly spirited atmosphere. Same goes for the hard bop and post bop scene of the later half of the 1950s from which finally modal jazz and free jazz emerged within the wink of an eye. All four lengthy compositions on this album are still one step behind the next level and show a playfully jamming band executing comprehensible harmony lines backed by tricky yet enthralling grooves that in the end move straight forward despite the rhythm section playing mostly around the pulse. The duels of both trumpets and the tenor sax heat up one?s soul as they are aligned with the racy rhythm patterns. The melodies themselves are quite cheerful and cool. When Paul Chambers takes the bow in one passage of the fourth tune Mobleymania and scratches some cool lines backed up with an everflowing drum pulse nobody may sit still. All six musicians here are fairly well connected with each other in terms of playing tightly to what the next improvises. Especially Mobley burns with every note he plays and if you bushwhack through to the core that carries the steaming dialogues between trumpets and saxophone you will find some maniacs building rhythmical patterns par excellence. This album certainly demands many spins before you will be aware of every beautiful detail. Indeed a classic of 1950s jazz aside from the greasy mainstream sound. Let's go wild with Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan.

[engl] An incredible record from reedman Harold McNair ? one of the key Jamaican jazz players who hit the London scene in the same post-colonial wave as Joe Harriott and Shake Keane ? and maybe our favorite of the bunch! Harold's a hell of a talent on both tenor and flute ? and although he might be best known for his background work on late 60s Donovan albums, he really soars here as a soloist ? working with Ornette Coleman group members David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums ? both of whom swing wonderfully in McNair's company! The album bills Izenzon and Moffett strongly on the cover ? as if they're one of the main attractions ? but what's most compelling is the way that McNair and pianist Alan Branscombe bring the American musicians into their own sort of groove ? a modal, soulful style that's completely sublime ? and which makes the album a killer all the way through. Titles include the original ''Affectionate Fink'' ? plus great takes on ''I Love You'', ''O Barquinho'', ''You Stepped Out Of A Dream'', and ''Here's That Rainy Day'' ? all soulful swingers.

[engl] Osamu Kitajimas venture on British late 60s pop music with even a typically English sounding pseudonym to make the impression perfect. And this album definitely is a perfect late 1960s British pop album with songs of an extraordinary greatness. It is time that this awesome piece of late 60s style beat and psychedelic rock music gets a proper reissue. This one will be appointed with an awesome leathery cover and comes in a strictly limited edition, available in prsale only.What do we know about this record? It feels like Syd Barret, TBeatles, Twink, The Deviants, T-Rex, Tomorrow and The Small Faces got together for a boozy and smoky jam session out of which a handful of beautiful songs have emerged, ranging from straight, powerful beat tunes towards joyful flower pop anthems with a bubble gum edge with a layover at melancholic folksy singer / songwriter sounds. What most people do not know ist that the participating musicians are only partly British. This album is the brainchild of renowned Japanese world music / ethno jazz rock artist Osamu Kitajima, who later on went to fame under his own name with some extraordinary progressive albums in the later 70s. He spent a year in England around 1970 to 1971 and recorded this album under the monicker of „Justin Heathcliff“, to make the impression of a true British pop / psyche record with a distinctive late 60s feel perfect. It might not have been a commercial starship around the time it got released, but it stood the test of time and even nearly 50 years after it’s initial release this record still flatters our ears with songs of unearthly beauty on par with the above mentioned English legends. More pop than alternative music of 1968 „Justin Heathcliff“ is a great soul journey to a brighter and more colorful time. This is swinging London, not the apocalyptic hippie Utopia of Haight Asbury in late 1967, or the revolutionary street fights in Germany or France. This is music to comfort your mind and make you feel happy. It even goes back to 1966 when The Beatles did „Revolver“. For a 1971 release this is already a retro affair despite only going back to elements who were five years old at most. It does not matter anyway, this is a masterpiece and Osamu Kitajima is a master of colorful UK 60s pop.For all fans of The Kinks, Tomorrow, Manfred Man in the late 60s, The Small Faces, Twink, The Beatles etc.

[engl] Strut presents the brand new album from cosmic jazz travellers The Pyramids, led by saxophonist Idris Ackamoor, ’An Angel Fell’. “I wanted to use folklore, fantasy and drama as a warning bell,” explains Ackamoor. “The songs explore global themes that are important to me and to us all: the rise of catastrophic climate change and our lack of concern for our planet, loss of innocence and separation... but positive themes too, the healing power of music, collective action and the simple beauty of nature. ”Produced by Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics, the album was recorded during an intense week at Quatermass studios in London and is one of the deepest, richest works yet from a band reaching their highest creative peak since the early ’70s. The Pyramids originally came together in 1972 at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio where teachers included renowned pianist, Cecil Taylor. After forming in Paris and embarking on a “cultural odyssey” across Africa, the group recorded three independent albums, ‘Lalibela’ (1973), ‘King Of Kings’ (1974) and ‘Birth / Speed / Merging’ (1976) and became renowned for their striking live shows, mixing percussive, spiritual and space-age jazz with performance theatre and dance. After migrating to San Francisco, they disbanded in 1977. 35 years later, the band reunited in 2012 following growing demand for their music from vinyl collectors.

[engl] Influential jazz collective Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids return with an epic new opus, ‘Shaman!’, featuring a fresh line-up including original 1970s Pyramids member Dr. Margaux Simmons on flute, Bobby Cobb on guitar, long-term associate Sandra Poindexter on violin, Ruben Ramos on bass, Gioele Pagliaccia on drums and Jack Yglesias on percussion. The band transitions from the political and social commentaries of 2018’s acclaimed ‘An Angel Fell’ into more introspective themes. “I wanted to use this album to touch on some of the issues that we all face as individuals in the inner space of our souls and our conscience,” explains Ackamoor. “The album unfolds over four Acts with personal musical statements about love and loss, mortality, the afterlife, family and salvation.” Evolving around Ackamoor's intricate compositions, the album takes us effortlessly across moods and emotions through a series of expansive, extended pieces. Starting with ritual, soul-searching, and masculine vulnerability on the title track, the band explores timeless existence on ‘Eternity’ and mourns the sudden loss of loved ones in the prescient ‘When Will I See You Again?’, a track which gains new relevance amidst the current COVID-19 crisis. Ackamoor pays tribute to his mentor Cecil Taylor on the angular ‘Theme For Cecil’ and renders homage to the ancestors on ‘Salvation’ and ‘The Last Slave Ship’, recalling the last ship to bring slaves to the US from Africa, the Clotilda. The superb ‘Virgin’ is an anthem of forgiveness, new beginnings and self-healing.

[engl] Ivan Bonacic is a Croatian saxophone player, flutist and composer. Fans of modern jazz will adore his debut album named Kraken.

[engl] Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy, x2 LPs of long-form, lyrical, groove-based free improv by acclaimed guitarist & composer Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet. Recorded live at ETA (referencing David Foster Wallace), a bar in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood with just enough space in the back for Parker, drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, & alto saxophonist Josh Johnson to convene in extraordinarily depth-full & exploratory music making. Gleaned for the stoniest side-length cuts from 10+ hours of vivid two-track recordings made between 2019 & 2021 by Bryce Gonzales, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy is a darkly glowing séance of an album, brimming over with the hypnotic, the melodic, & patience & grace in its own beautiful strangeness. Room-tone, electric fields, environment, ceiling echo, live recording, Mondays, Los Angeles. Jeff Parker's first double album & first live album, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy belongs in the lineage of such canonical live double albums recorded on the West Coast as Lee Morgan’s Live at the Lighthouse, Miles Davis' In Person Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco & Black Beauty, & John Coltrane's Live in Seattle. While the IVtet sometimes plays standards &, including on this recording, original compositions, it is as previously stated largely a free improv group —just not in the genre meaning of the term. The music is more free composition than free improvisation, more blending than discordant. It’s tensile, yet spacious & relaxed. Clearly all four musicians have spent significant time in the planetary system known as jazz, but relationships to other musics, across many scenes & eras —dub & Dilla, primary source psychedelia, ambient & drone— suffuse the proceedings. Listening to playbacks Parker remarked, humorously & not, “we sound like the Byrds” (to certain ears, the Clarence White-era Byrds, who really stretched it). A fundamental of all great ensembles, whether basketball teams or bands, is the ability of each member to move fluidly & fluently in & out of lead & supportive roles. Building on the communicative pathways they’ve established in Parker’s -The New Breed- project, Parker & Johnson maintain a constant dialogue of lead & support. Their sampled & looped phrases move continuously thru the music, layered & alive, adding depth & texture & pattern, evoking birds in formation, sea creatures drifting below the photic zone. Or, the two musicians simulate those processes by entwining their terse, clear-lined playing in real-time. The stop/start flow of Bellerose, too, simulates the sampler, recalling drum parts in Parker’s beat-driven projects. Mostly Bellerose's animated phraseologies deliver the inimitable instantaneous feel of live creative drumming. The range of tonal colors he conjures from his extremely vintage battery of drums & shakers —as distinctive a sonic signature as we have in contemporary acoustic drumming— bring almost folkloric qualities to the aesthetic currency of the IVtet's language. A wonderful revelation in this band is the playing of Anna Butterss. The strength, judiciousness & humility with which she navigates the bass position both ground & lift upward the egalitarian group sound. As the IVtet's grooves flow & clip, loop & repeat, the ensemble elements reconfigure, a terrarium of musical cultivation growing under controlled variables, a tight experiment of harmony & intuition, deep focus & freedom. For all its varied sonic personality, Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy scans immediately & unmistakably as music coming from Jeff Parker‘s unique sound world. Generous in spirit, trenchant & disciplined in execution, Parker’s music has an earned respect for itself & for its place in history that transmutes through the musical event into the listener. Many moods & shapes of heart & mind will find utility & hope in a music that combines the autonomy & the community we collectively long to see take hold in our world, in substance & in staying power. On the personal tip, this was always my favorite gig to hit, a lifeline of the eremite records Santa Barbara years. Mondays southbound on the 101, driving away from tasks & screens & illness, an hour later ordering a double tequila neat at the bar with the band three feet away, knowing i was in good hands, knowing it would be back around on another Monday. To encounter life at scales beyond the human body is the collective dance of music & the beholding of its beauty, together. —Michael Ehlers & Zac Brenner

[engl] Joao Donato is a legend of Brazilian jazz and Latin music and here we have his either legendary debut album from 1962. The well skilled performance speaks of a great routine each musician has but there is so much fire and hunger to be found within the compositions. You will experience rather relaxed slow jazz tunes with an obvious bossa nova groove and a leading piano that takes off from the backing rhythm by drums and standing bass. On the other hand there are tunes with wicked piano staccato lines and a powerful rhythmical drive that still roots in Latin music but shoots forward on a ray of energy. The tunes are well composed and have a memorable structure that distinguishes them from the beginning free jazz hype back in the day. Joao Donato and his mates in the trio were jazzers but also songwriters. Catchy melodies were as important as a great and skilful performance. The combination of both sides of jazz and the crossover with Latin sounds makes this a special album which got followed by many for certain but it still stands out as a landmark. If you feel that it is time for an equally relaxed but exciting jazz record to enchant you here we go with a sweet reissue of a classic from the early 60s. Joao Donato and his trio play it rather smoothly but their passion hits you automatically after a short while listening. And even the slower tunes offer enough twists and turns that leave you feeling amazed.