NAUTILUS Vinilo y CD

Review: Japanese jazz masters Nautilus strike back again with their first release of 2024, 'Georgy Porgy', a special label collaboration between Oonops Drops and their Japanese label Urban Discos (Diskunion). The title number is a cover version of the yacht rock classic 'Georgy Porgy', with Nautilus' version heard performed alongside UK-based vocalist songwriter and vocalist John Turrell, one half of Smoove & Turrell, and German legend Toni-L. Theirs is a slick and maximised rendition. On the flipside is a similar classic versioning; a sweet cover version of Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together', albeit this time coming with the vocal talents of Japanese singer Keyco and brought with it a crisp, headroomy neo-soulful bent.

Review: During their first European tour in May 2023, Tokyo-based Jazz trio Nautilus received a raucous response from concert visitors. In response, Japanese label Oonops Drops decided to press their last gig of the tour at the legendary King Georg in Cologne, Germany on limited mixed media. This one's for all the concert-goers, who'll now get to soak up the very same vibes heard back in May. This cross-section of songs spans the old to the new, though all originate from a fresh multitrack recording session; going so far as to recapture the mood of the event with canned clapping and whistles, the vibe of "being there" is emulated to a T, with 'Stone Ground Seven' and 'Expansions' coming as exemplary bottlings of Nautilus' joie de vivre.

Review: Japanese jazz trio Nautilus (named of course after Bob James' 1974 fusion classic) are also high-quality rare groove merchants and super sweet and smooth fusion sounds. They have been prolific again this year with somewhere around six new releases and now this welcome Revival album. It comes on both CD (this being a Japanese special edition) and vinyl and is a fine showcase of their sounds which manages to be both timeless and classic as well as contemporary in execution. Many of their recent singles feature here alongside some other treats.