Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Grief can be intensely painful, overwhelming and hard to process, but also provide inspiration for those who make creative expression their life. For Pakistani-born, Brooklyn-based artist Arooj Afhab, the death of her beloved brother provided the inspiration for what some reviewers have called her greatest work yet: beautiful, poignant and soul-aching 2021 set Vulture Prince, which here returns to stores via a deluxe edition that boasts an extra track (the stunning 'Udhero Na'). Deeply emotional, the set pushes her weighty, emotionally inspiring vocals to the fore, with Afthab swapping experimental electronics and leftfield beats for a mixture of acoustic guitars, heavenly string arrangements (harp, violin, uptight bass) and traditional Pakistani instruments. The results are rarely less than stunning.

Review: Arooj Aftab's Night Reign is a stunning trip into the depths of the night, where inspiration thrives. Departing from themes of loss in her previous work, Aftab crafts an album rich with renewal and romance. Collaborations with artists like Cautious Clay and Moor Mother add layers to the lush soundscape, creating a cinematic experience. Each track, from the haunting 'Autumn Leaves' to the soulful 'Bolo Na,' weaves together to form a narrative of surrender and transformation. Aftab's voice, accompanied by intricate instrumentation, guides listeners through the darkness, offering moments of introspection and possibility. Night Train is a chance to throw yourself into the beauty and mystery of deep music, emerging renewed and transformed.

Review: Arooj Aftab's Night Reign is a stunning trip into the depths of the night, where inspiration thrives. Departing from themes of loss in her previous work, Aftab crafts an album rich with renewal and romance. Collaborations with artists like Cautious Clay and Moor Mother add layers to the lush soundscape, creating a cinematic experience. Each track, from the haunting 'Autumn Leaves' to the soulful 'Bolo Na,' weaves together to form a narrative of surrender and transformation. Aftab's voice, accompanied by intricate instrumentation, guides listeners through the darkness, offering moments of introspection and possibility. Night Train is a chance to throw yourself into the beauty and mystery of deep music, emerging renewed and transformed.

Review: Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Aroof Aftab presents her third studio album, and a record that has the power to transport listeners pretty much anywhere. While steeped in traditions stereotypically associated with her homeland, ears more attuned will quickly pick up on just how divergent this is. Whether you'd consider it a classical album is down to how you gauge that genre term, we'd say it has grown broad enough over the past century to definitely include this, but ultimately even that seems reductive.

Elements of poetry, ambient trance, jazz, minimalism, and new age, it's a spiritual and musical experience based around themes of discovery, loss, memory, and intimate connections with the Earth. Sonically, that translates as something that's at once sublime and yet also surprising, combining a multitude of influences from aeons of songwriting to create something that could not have existed in any previous era.

Review: Arooj Aftab's Night Reign is a stunning trip into the depths of the night, where inspiration thrives. Departing from themes of loss in her previous work, Aftab crafts an album rich with renewal and romance. Collaborations with artists like Cautious Clay and Moor Mother add layers to the lush soundscape, creating a cinematic experience. Each track, from the haunting 'Autumn Leaves' to the soulful 'Bolo Na,' weaves together to form a narrative of surrender and transformation. Aftab's voice, accompanied by intricate instrumentation, guides listeners through the darkness, offering moments of introspection and possibility. Night Train is a chance to throw yourself into the beauty and mystery of deep music, emerging renewed and transformed.

Review: Following up 2021's acclaimed Vulture Prince, Pakistini American singer Arooj Aftab collaborates with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily on synths to present a striking exercise in dramatic, atmospheric composition. Aftab's voice remains the centre of a creative groupthink which began in 2018, and here the musical ornamentation is turned down to a simmer, eschewing percussion in favour of ambient pastures. There's also space for Iyer and Ismaily to stretch out on their own, but ultimately this is Aftab's vehicle and her voice goes from strength to strength on this standout record.

Review: Verve Records is set to release Louis in London, the final major performance by the legendary Louis Armstrong. Recorded live at the BBC just weeks after Armstrong topped the UK charts with 'What A Wonderful World,' this 13-track collection is made available on coloured vinyl, capturing Armstrong's vibrant energy as he performs with The All Stars on July 2, 1968. The collection spans his career, featuring everything from W.C. Handy's 'Ole Miss'' to hits like 'Mack the Knife' and 'Hello, Dolly!' This session, broadcast on September 22, 1968, on BBC TV's Show Of The Week - Louis Armstrong, was Armstrong's last significant performance. Armstrong cherished this recording, sharing it with friends and visitors, and now, more than five decades later, it's finally being released officially. With extensive liner notes by Ricky Riccardi, Armstrong's biographer, this album continues Armstrong's legacy of spreading joy and reminding us of the enduring beauty of his music.

Review: Christmas is a time for many things and to our mind, jazz is one of them. There is something warm and cosy about a gentle trumpet tune that makes any festive scene all the more vibey. And who could be better to soundtrack your season than the one and only Louis Armstrong. Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule arrives on suitably festive red vinyl and is the first Armstrong Christmas record ever. It offers up his holiday tracks as a coherent body of work that is a pleasure to behold from start to finish.

Review: Louis Armstrong had an unparalleled impact on American popular music. Verve Records now celebrates his legacy with an all-new collection featuring his greatest hits and most timeless recordings. This release complements Louis In London, which highlights the influence on jazz of a man known for his joyful presence and who once said he was on a mission to spread happiness - this collection underscores that purpose. His contributions shaped the course of music history and that can be heard here in these gloriously catchy and indelible jazz sounds, many of which are well loved by even those without a passion for jazz.

Review: Verve Records presents Louis In London, the last great performance by one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, Louis Armstrong. Recorded live at the BBC in July 2, 1968 - weeks after the artist broke the charts with 'What A Wonderful World', which has persisted in the popular sphere most notably due to its infamous inclusion in the Toy Story repertoire - this 13-track performance also hears stellar renditions of strong-armed Armstrong greats such as 'Hello, Dolly!', all performed with his renowned band The All-Stars.

Review: Dorothy Ashby went down in time as one of Detroit's longstanding greats; predominantly a jazz harpist, she was one of the first and most successful jazz musicians to use the harp as a lead instrument. The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby is her ninth and penultimate album, released in 1970 through Cadet Records. Its adventurous blend of spiritual and funky jazz draws on various cultures and traditions, but was largely inspired by the words of Omar Khayyam, a 12th-century Persian poet and philosopher. Ashby expands her playing repertoire into the Japanese koto, as well as singing on some tracks, producing a sound describable as nothing less than spiritual - this is further tempered by backing flutes, oboes, vibraphones and kalimbas to boot. This one also coincides with a revived interest in the work of Rafiyq, the spoken word artist heard throughout.

Review: Recorded in 1964 at the great Café Au Go Go in Greenwich Village - just months after Astrud Gilberto’s 'Girl from Ipanema' became a Top Five pop hit - this live album from the Stan Getz Quartet in live euphony with the Brazilian vocal phenom marks a pivotal moment in both musicians’ careers. Steering away from her original, traditional Brazilian bossa nova, Gilberto embraced a North American jazz influence here. A young Gary Burton is heard on vibraphone, with Kenny Burrell also on guitar, Gene Cherico on bass, and Joe Hunt on drums - some further percussive substitutions by Helcio Milito (drums) and Chuck Israels (bass) appear in later sets. At the time, Astrud was not a professional singer, but she was asked to sing with Getz because her spouse, fellow bossa nova chanteur João Gilberto, was reluctant to sing in English.