Juno Recommends Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz September 2021

Review: Given their combined talents, you'd expect any collaborative album crafted by Andrew Ashong and Kaidi Tatham to be nigh-on essential. Happily, we can confirm that Sankofa Season, their first joint album, is ruddy, bloody brilliant (as Alan Partridge might say). Richly soulful, quietly jazzy and wholeheartedly positive from start the finish, the set sees them jump between deep jazz-funk, hazy contemporary soul, jazzy broken beat, breezy Latin soul, organic deep house and immersive, slow-motion soundscapes. Throughout, Tatham's organ, keyboard and piano work is highly impressive and Ashong's vocals are every bit as sumptuous as usual. Recommended.

Review: Since setting up the Tour Eiffel label 13 years ago, Pascal Houpert has released a string of floor-friendly "45s" that variously join the dots between soul, jazz, easy listening, funk and psychedelia. He's at it again on Soul & Go, his first vinyl release as Minimatic for seven years. On A-side 'Are U Going To Be My Soul Girl' he adds a rasping, rock style vocal to a bustling, high-tempo backing track full of stomping drums, fuzzy guitars, Ramsey Lewis style jazz piano and booming bass. The swinging '60s feel continues on flipside 'Stop & Go (A-Gogo)', where a much-loved, party-starting hip-hop style vocal rides above a bouncy funk beat full of wild organ stabs and sweaty instrumentation.

Review: This is a genuinely excellent remix package, with a quartet of hugely talented artists taking it in turns to provide interesting, mostly floor-friendly revisions of 30/70's warming, jazz-funk-meets-soul jam 'Tastes Like Freedom'. Chaos in the CBD steps up first, re-imagining the track as a jazzy slab of sun-kissed electro bliss, before Carista smothers the band's original drums in moody, foreboding chords, psychedelic acid lines and oodles of delay and reverb. Tornado Wallace channels the spirit of Laurent Garnier's 'Man With The Red Face' - and the St Germain material that the French DJ championed on his F Communications label - on a superb, slow-building deep house anthem in the making, while Yu Su's EP-ending 'Midnight Blossom' remix is a warming, intoxicating downtempo delight.

Review: 20 years ago, legendary jazz-fusion drummer Billy Cobham released one of his most interesting albums, a 21st century jazz-funk opus called Drum 'N' Voice. Recently Rebirth Records has been offering up EPs packed with fresh reworks from a wide variety of dancefloor-focused producers. Their latest batch of reworks begins with a percussive, jazz-dance friendly 'ReVision' of 'Roller' courtesy of the Reflex, before Dele Sosimi and Medlar join forces to create a fizzing, Afro-futurist electrofunk re-wire of the very same track. Elsewhere, Local Artist drops a warming deep house version of 'Let Me Breathe', Early Sounds boss Pellegrino joins the dots between jazz funk and disco on his version of 'Le Lis', and Arpe Frique slows things down considerably on his fine 'Spirit of a late friend' mix of 'Africa's Sounds'.

Review: Funkineven's Apron label has long since had its own unique sound world where nostalgic keys, crunchy melodies and raw, lo-fi beats all coalesce into something both futuristic yet familiar. The latest to step up with a whole album of such sounds is Jarren, the LA artist who can do it all. His debut record is a late-night love affair that follows up his 2020 EP Mina with plenty of romantic beats. The sundown sounds have a real sense of swagger and the keys glow like the neons of a distant metropolis. There are strutting pool party jams like 'Zaiah', boogie bombs like Deja-Vu' and low slung Cali-tinged joints like 'Whittier Blvd.' It's a gorgeous collection.

Review: After making plenty of heard turning releases on other labels, the super talented Joe Armin Jones launches his own new imprint Aquarii Records. He is joined on the tidy 10" by Morgan Simpson of Black Midi on drums, and Luke Wynter of Nubiyan Twist playing bass. His own gorgeous keys lead the way with 'Pray' being a busy cut awash with splashing cymbals, joyous chord progressions and tight rolling rhythms. There is a more chilled-out and downtempo vibe to the loose hip hop beats of 'Nothing Move' on the reverse. Both are brilliant.

Review: Missouri-based beatsmith Bonus Points has been casually slinging out his homebrewed blend of laid back funk-laced skits for five years now, but this 7" drop on Cold Busted marks the first time his music has graced wax (bar the odd moonlight on a compilation here and there). Whatever the case, the vibe on this modest record is impeccable, capturing a kind of easygoing, feel good strain of dusty samples that channels a touch of Quantic. If you've been missing that brand of mellow groove in your life, this 7" should have you setting adrift on memory bliss from the moment the needle drops.

Review: Paul David Gillman's first release on Ten Lovers Music is a special one - it is his debut album under his Red Earth Design alias. Before now, Paul has excelled playing flute and flugelhorn on Caruso's Memories real on this label and also served up a dark jazzy dub for the same EP. Here he goes deep into his own sound across eight tracks over two limited run 12"s. The accomplished, multi-layered tunes take in dark but jazzy house, lush broken beats, ambient and heady, synth laced late night grooves. It sounds like something Roy Ayres might make if he was half the age that he is in 2021.

Review: Japanese jazz-funk revivalists Nautilus have been putting out loads of music this year. Some are reissues of their finest back catalogue moments but this one is a new one. It is, per their usual MO, a cover of a stone-cold classic. But in their hands 'Part Time Lover' - originally penned by Stevie Wonder - becomes more silky and seductive with its smooth flowing drums and chords. 'Sweet Love Of Mine' on the flip is a cover of a Woody Shaw tune and is a mid-tempo jazz-funk jam lead by its busy keys work. Keep your eyes peeled for a new full-length from the band that is due on To & On Music any time now.

Review: BBE is back with another of their well realised and ambitious compilation projects. Modern Love is a collection of specifically commissioned music that includes versions and covers of rarities and classics in tribute to the late great David Bowie. The aim here is to "champion Bowie's lesser-known connection to soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel." Contemporary artists like Jeff Parker, Helado Negro and Khruangbin all add their own sonic identities to the inspiring originals and the collection as a whole ends up straddling everything from jazz to folk, Thai-funk to neo-soul. The force of Bowie lives on in this one.

Review: Prince Ozay is a Napoli based artist who takes care of the latest Casa Voyager EP in some style. He launches off to another planet with the hyper speed breaks and knotted, clipped funk of 'Volvo Magico.' It's part jungle, part electro, part nu-jazz broken beat and pure brilliance. Things remain just as rhythmically compelling on 'Tamra Maew' and then it's a deep space funk workout on 'Sarmoung.' The musicianship in these tunes is unreal - the melodies are tight, the drums hypercomplex, yet somehow the tunes float on a wave of spiritual joy way up in the sky.

Review: Wide Through The Eyes Of No One is a second album from The Steoples. The avant-soul pair of GB aka Gifted & Blessed and DJ Spinna and Theo Parrish collaborator Yeofi combine their different musical backgrounds to great effect here. Latin rhythms, '80s soul, sombre folk and R&B all feature alongside confessional lyrics from Yeofi that muse on isolation. A host of live instrumentation keeps each track fresh and original as the pair explore music and philosophy from two different perspectives. Check the title track as a fine indication of the richness of this record.