‘If you love the era in which electronic elements began to enter contemporary jazz, during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, you’ll LOVE what Sweden’s Dennis Egberth has been creating.
‘A blend of cosmic composition and chilled ambient and electronic sounds, with floating, irresistible, melodic bass lines, and long, modal build-ups that come alive with exploding lyricism.
‘The drummer is joined by Fredrik Ljungkvist on tenor sax and clarinet, Niklas Barnö on trumpet, Alexander Zethson on Wurlitzer, Linus Hillborg on electronics, and double bassist Joe Williamson.’

‘This improvised, telepathic collaboration between underground legend Rob Mazurek and modular-synth maestro Alberto Novello is a dizzying, psychedelic space ritual. A delicate weft of harmony and melody on trumpet — plus atmospheric bells and samples — rides a loose rhythmic, timbral magic carpet, way out into uncharted dimensions of sound.’

The long awaited follow-up to the superb compilation Loving On The Flipside, from ten years ago.
‘Contained within this anthology are some of the greatest soul ballads that go sweet with a beat. Most of these songs have never been compiled. Some have never been issued in any form. Some, like the Ledgends entry here, have been sampled to great success (in that case for Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Deeper). Some haven’t been sampled, but, like Herb Johnson’s entry, are patiently awaiting their day.’

‘Bottling the raw energy of the scene in the 80s and early ‘90s; featuring its young stars Cheb Zahouani, Chaba Zohra and Abderrahmane Djalti. Newly remastered and including liner notes from Raï authority Rabah Mezouane, this compilation brings together eight cassette tracks from the electrifying period when Raï was evolving from more traditional sounds into mesmerising electro funk.’

Neil Ardley, Jack Bruce, Jon Hiseman, Dave Gelly, Jim Philip, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Barbara Thompson, Derek Wadsworth, John Mumford, Michael Gibbs, Tony Russell, Derek Watkins, Harry Beckett, Henry Lowther, Ian Carr, George Smith, Frank Ricotti…
‘The range, invention and depth evident on Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe outstrips most large ensemble jazz albums of the time; at times muscular and powerful, at others delicate and sensitive, the interplay of the musicians, arrangements and compositions make for a stand-out recording that bristles with confidence and energy.’

‘The beating heart of the golden age of Ethiopian music, the Ibex Band was the driving force behind such stars as Aster Aweke, Tilahun Gessesse, Girma Beyene, and Mahmoud Ahmed. Led by bassist Giovanni Rico and guitarist Selam Seyoum, Ibex relentlessly reshaped Ethiopian music, blending traditional 6/8 rhythms with Western influences like Motown, and knocking out more than 250 albums, 2,500 songs.
‘Stereo Instrumental Music is a rare gem from this era, recorded in 1976 at the Ras Hotel Ballroom in Addis Ababa.’

Luminous, intensely committed, magical spirit music from late-seventies Guadeloupe, rooted in brilliant gokwa drumming.
It opens with two instrumentals — Penn é Plézi was the theme tune for Radio Guadeloupe’s funeral notices from 1980 to 1992 —  before a call for cultural realignment. Then a three-part suite: Primyé Voyaj evokes the appalling tribulation of Africans deported as slaves to Guadeloupe; Dézyèm Voyaj addresses the Bumidom programme driving young Guadeloupeans towards the mirage of prosperity in sixties France; Twazyèm Voyaj closes the cycle with the emigrants’ return from Europe.
Deep, fabulous music.

Thrilling, intensely rhythmic, questing music, featuring brilliant, dynamic contributions by Joshua Abrams and Sam Wilkes.
Very warmly recommended. Check out Bracelets For Unicorns.

‘The core of the album is a lush, opulent matrix of percussion ranging from the familiar   — hand claps and drum machines — to the mysteriously verdant, sampled largely from Krivchenia’s own performed field recorded collection. For years, he would record any and all of his musical encounters with natural objects: performing on a particularly resonant log on a hike, throwing rocks into a pristine pond, tap dancing in the mud. Not just a novel set of sounds, but a new rhythmic language. The particular give, the anticipatory rustle, the extra breath of a hollow log when functioning as a kickdrum provides a greenness that overtakes the rhythmic grid, giving this music a peculiar kind of stickiness.’

Founded in Aachen in 1980 by Rainer Wiedensohler, Nabel released jazz and improvised music only from Europe, avowedly ‘in contrast to the American mainstream of today’s jazz’. Quickly it became a home for innovative musicians blending classic jazz with fusion, Latin and Brazilian rhythms, and the avant-garde.
‘This compilation collects some of the label’s finest moments — the soulful, Latin-tinged brilliance of the Monika Linges Quartet, the cosmic jazz explorations of John Thomas & Lifeforce, the deep jazz-funk grooves of Hipsters In The Zone, and the stunning, expressive vocals of Maria Joao.’

A compilation inspired by the fabulous sound-system, record-collecting culture of the northern cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla, where ricocheting champeta, highlife, soukous, mbaqanga, zouk, soca, and cumbia blare through stacks of hand-painted speakers, in street-corner, neighbourhood bailes.

This is terrific; warmly recommended.

‘Brìghde Chaimbeul is a leading purveyor of celtic experimentalism and a master of the Scottish smallpipes; a bellows-blown, mellower cousin to the famous Highland bagpipes. A native Gaelic speaker, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the smallpipes into unchartered territory. She has devised a unique way or arranging for pipe music that emphasises the rich textural drones of the instrument;  the constancy of sound that creates a trance-like atmosphere, played with enticing virtuosic liquidity. She draws inspiration from the world of interconnected piping traditions, but her most recent album brings in influence from ambient, avant garde and electronic music.’