Juno Recommends Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz October 2021

Review: RECOMMENDED
Last October, acclaimed saxophonist Pharoah Sanders turned 80 years young, and his input on this album is testimony to the fact he has clearly aged like a fine wine. Not that this is to suggest preceding outings were anything less worthy than this collaborative project, which sees Sam Shepherd, the British electronic artist better known to most as Floating Points, write nine spectacular arrangements which are then performed by said brass legend, alongside The London Symphony Orchestra.

The results are spectacular, and wildly far-reaching, albeit firmly rooted in jazz with classical undertones. From the movements that made this final cut, some are whisper quiet and delicate to the point of risking breaking off if you were handling haphazardly. Others are booming loud, musical jumbo jets landing at the end of another great crescendo. Whether hushed or monumental, though, we can feel every note and bar of this masterpiece.

Review: In our eyes, Kaidi Tatham can do no wrong. The long-serving keyboardist barely seems to sleep and releases a high volume of collaborations and solo records, but his quality threshold is so high that there's barely a duff track in his catalogue. Over the last few years he's developed a trademark sound that wraps Herbie Hancock style jazz-funk keys around crunchy broken beats, while also drawing influence from hip-hop, '80s electro, boogie, Latin jazz and slick deep house. An Insight Into All Minds, the veteran musician's fifth solo album, is naturally rooted in this trademark style, offering up a collection of cuts that bristle with positivity, pack plenty of punch, and are as well produced and life-affirming as you'd expect. It's a high bar, but it could well be his single best LP to date.

Review: 'Jungle Kitten' by Manfredo Fest is something of an underground classic. It features the widely admired Kaidi Tatham on synth and has a fine crew of London's best musicians also involved in the line up and now it gets a cover by Da Lata that is drenched in warmth. The a-side is as organic as they come with fluid grooves and samba styles all heavily applied next to the uplifting vocals. On the flip side is another epic one for the dance floor. It is a vital version of Rafaella Renzulli's 'Asking Eyes' featuring Vanessa Freeman that at long last lands on vinyl.

Review: Mansur Brown is just 24 years old and is already a revered multi-instrumentalist and composer from London. Heiwa is his new album after 2018's Shiroi and impressive 2020 EP Tesuto. It coe son his own new label Amai Records and the title translates as 'Peace.' It is inspired by 'the journey of life' and all the emotions that come with that and takes you into a thoughtful world of classy, jazz tinged ambient, rolling broken beats and pensive afro rhythms that are cosmic and deep at the same time. It's utterly fresh and another standout work from this young talent.

Review: Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella's recent album, People Need People, was one of the warmest, soulful ad most accessible sets of the year, with the experienced Italian duo combining authentic jazz instrumentation and percussion with contemporary deep house and broken beat grooves. This superb seven0=-inch single showcases two of the album's undoubted gems: the impeccable deep house soul of 'People Need People' - a wonderfully sun-soaked affair in which Petrella's impassioned vocals and vibraphone solos stretch out across a tactile groove - and the downtempo, spoken word-laden hip-hop/jazz fusion of 'The Higher Love'. In a word: essential.

Review: Jules Buckley is a Grammy award-winning composer, curator and conductor who has linked up with long time collaborative partners Chris Wheeler, Heritage Orchestra and percussion collective Ghost-Note for this lively new full length. The record has been two years in the making and pays homage to the pillars of hip hop and mainstays of the breaking scene, but with plenty of added flair. There are plenty of dance floor ready breaks, as well as more airy and upbeat soul groovers like the excellent 'Space Funk.' Though the backbones of these tunes follow familiar genres rules, the flair on top is what makes them so special.

Review: Now that the disco edit well is in danger of running dry, more and more scalpel fiends are looking further afield for inspiration. One of the leading exponents of this new wave is the shadowy No Ordinary Game crew, who impressed on their debut earlier in the year. They're in fine form on this equally as impressive single, kicking things off with a jazz piano-rich version of a late '80s, house-not-house number ('No Reason'). 1980s world music-meets-jazz thrills are supplied via the fretless bass, South American percussion and marimba melodies of 'Yes Kimmi', while 'Patient B' offers a dub-wise, synth-heavy late-night tweak of a Miami Sound Machine mega-hit. To round things off, they have their merry way with a throbbing, slap-bass-propelled slab of mid-'80s, Sheffield-forged electrofunk ('It's All Lies').

Review: We've recently waxed lyrical about Jazz N Palms' fantastic re-edit EPs, which see the London collective offer-up tidy revisions of all manner of jazz and jazz-funk obscurities. Predictably, their latest clutch of cut-jobs is well worth picking up, too. They begin in gloriously summery fashion via the glistening jazz guitars, hazy horns and two-step jazz-funk beats of 'Passion', before rearranging a soft-focus flamenco-jazz gem ('Van Van'). They fast forward to the electrofunk era on luscious B-side opener 'Night Rider' - all electronic beats, elongated electric guitar solos and fretless bass - while 'Bueonos Dias' is laidback, lovely, rich in classy horn sounds and blessed with some suitably languid solos.

Review: Brazilian producer Zopelar brings oodles of South Hemisphere sunshine to his splendid debut outing on Mother Tongue Records. Theer is so much goodness packed into his 7" its a surprise they didn't have to make it 12"s. 'Entre Viagens' is a languid dance with nimble percussion, sun worshiping synths and jazzy broken beats that keep you on your feet. 'Vista' is high class space funk with rugged analogue textures, crispy hits and plenty of Detroit electro funk stylings in the drums. It's a perfect meeting of Brazil, London and the Midwest.

Review: Electronic-jazz pioneer Mark de Clive-Lowe returns with the second installment of his Midnight Snacks EP series. Vol.2 kicks off with two dedications: "Crush Velvet", a break-heavy, broken beat jam full of twists and turns, dedicated to Phlash - Mark's mentor and dear friend, the late great Phil Asher. "Sorceress" is dedicated to the legend Chick Corea, a reworking of his Return to Forever classic by the same name. Featuring Mark's lithe Rhodes and piano lines, it's perfect for the jazz-minded dancefloor. Side B kicks off with the downtempo head-nod of "Float into ETHer" before taking things back up-tempo again with "Joyful Resistance Part II" - a latin jazz-flavored 3/4-time broken beat samba keeping our spirits high in these unpredictable times. An EP packed full of future classics from one of the masters of the game.

Review: Finland's exceptional We Jazz label continues with 'Tremendoce' series from Otis Sandsjo's Y-OTIS with four fresh new pieces pressed up to this vital 7". All of the tunes here are super fresh and forward-thinking with Kathrin Pechlof on harp adding another dimension to the sound. The joys flute on 'Tremendoce Part 2' is light and airy, the drums busy and meandering. 'Part 3' is a chunkier, slower tune with a big sax lead that makes you move your body and then 'Skerry Part 1' brings the mellifluous piano vibes. 'Skerry Part 2' layers up big kick drums with lurching grooves and busy oboe work to make for some superb avant-garde action.

Review: French producer Laroye has s super slick production style that is showcased across this third volume of works on the If It Ain't Jazz label. Gilles Peterson has already approved the tunes here and for good reason: the a-side edit of 'Leaving This Planet' is an audacious one with powerful and modern drums layered in below the cosmic synth work and deeply buried vocal. Extra synths and new bass recorded by Aroop Roy finishes it in style. The b-side is 'Phantazia,' a more baseman styled disco jam with low sling bass and infectious loops that make you move, all finished off this time with a killer jazz-funk groove.

Review: In the past, Swiss four-piece Kind & Kinky Zoo have explored many of the musical colours that make up the funk spectrum, throwing in a dash of 1960s garage rock and psychedelia to boot. This hybrid sound is further explored on their latest single, which marks the Lausanne-based outfit's first excursion on Japan's Soul Garden Records. A-side 'Soif, Chameau, Pinot' is particularly ear-catching, featuring as it does psychedelic organ flourishes and delay-laden flute solos rising above a foreboding funk groove, sustained chords and nods to 1960s thriller soundtracks. Over on the flip, Voodoocuts reworks one of the band's other tracks, 'Eau Chaude', in the process delivering a heady, Hammond-ready funk excursion full of gritty guitar riffs, layered percussion and breathy flute motifs.