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.

Revered British jazz from 1969; the pianist leading a quartet featuring Harold McNair.
Originally out in 1969 on the Deram imprint which Decca set up for prog, new wave folk, and psych, Off Centre is obligingly eclectic. Cameron’s background in library and soundtrack music is opened up to the spirit of Roland Kirk. Best of several tasty modal numbers, the closer Troublemaker is a testifying rug-cutter, with a gritty flute solo by McNair.
Remastered at Abbey Road using the original tapes. New sleeve notes incorporate a recent interview with Cameron.

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.’

Barrington Levy, Poor Man Style; Roots Radics, Scientist and Jammy Strike Back; The Viceroys, We Must Unite; Tristan Palma, Settle Down Girl

‘Tezeta were an experimental eight-piece instrumental group formed in Bristol back in 2014. The Ethiopiques series lit the fuse, but the project quickly gathered Afrobeat, prog, and improvisation into a beguiling mix — always evolving and resolving in different ways to what you might expect — with some thrilling ensemble playing rhythmically propelled by two drummers and a percussionist, and pianist Daniel Inzani’s evocative melodies at the centre. They had a cult following among other musicians and were known for wild group solo wig outs, virtuoso musicianship and creative use of unusual rhythm, harmony and melody. They toured across the UK at various venues and festivals including Glastonbury, Shambala and Green Man, before calling it a day in 2023. Seventh Place was originally a private press CDR, released in 2016; mainly sold at gigs.’

‘Absolutely gorgeous from start to finish’ (Deb Grant, BBC 6 Music). ‘Gorgeous mood music with more than a nod to Addis. Lovely tapestries and textures’ (Matt Temple, Matsuli Music).

‘Amazing! Like stumbling on a treasure-trove of unheard Charlie Patton and Blind Willie McTell 78s, but imbued with the spirit of Mahlathini and Ladysmith Black Mambazo,’ says Joe Boyd.

Classic kwaito by Professor Rhythm and friends, from 2001. That defining Jo’burg blend of hip-hop and house, but enlivened by a distinctive grab bag of fresh influences, and notably quirky and quick on its feet.

Recorded by Jean Michel Jarre in 1972, during his work experience at G.R.M. (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), for a commission to provide sound for public spaces like airports and libraries. Fifteen tracks made with only two synthesizers (EMS VCS3 & Farfisa organ) in an experimental and very minimal style.
‘It was a crazy album, totally homemade, with rhythms that I made in my student room, with a minimum of equipment and at the same time electronic sounds that I stole from the GRM where I went at night after stealing the keys to the studios. It is a pirate record, in every sense of the word, in which we find what I did afterwards.’

‘As playful as it is intense — firmly rooted in tradition, yet endlessly searching and adventurous. Each of the thirteen short pieces explores one or more expressive possibilities of the piano and are, in the words of Adam Shatz in the liner notes, ‘marvels of compressed exploration. To listen to them in succession, as they’re meant to be heard, is to enter a vast, sophisticated, and deeply considered sound-world. Song Unconditional is also gorgeous, sometimes startlingly. It belongs, I think, in the company of the most impressive solo piano albums of recent years.’‘

The third, 1980 LP of this vocal trio led by Trevor Bow. Recorded at Treasure Isle with expert backing by the Negus Dawtus, Family Man, Chinna, Rico…

The Barca-born pianist back to wow us again on piano, Fender Rhodes, Chinese gongs, and a little whistling; with longtime collaborator Masa Kamaguchi, and Detroit drum wizard Gerald Cleaver. ‘Where melodic density meets contrapuntal dialogue, a free interplay of rich textures and riveting, masterly improvisation. This smooth complexity is what gives rise to the group’s uniqueness.’
The Wire magazine hailed the first volume: ‘deep and thoughtful’.

Beau Wanzer + Rezzett = maximum worries squared. Five frazzlers for all us nutters in the dance. Borez they izn’t.