music

Taken from live improvisation to live sampling and amp; recomposition to borderdefying beat collage – a new jazz mixtape tells a many-splendored tale of Trans-Atlantic collaboration in constant cadence. Over the course of 3 days in London, drummer / producer Makaya McCraven connected with first time collaborators (Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Soweto Kinch, Ashley Henry, Daniel Casimir and Kamaal Williams) and did 2 improvised performances as part of a 2-night showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON at legendary UK Jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (TRC). The following Sunday afternoon five producers (LeFtO, Ben LaMar Gay, Quiet Dawn, Earl Jeffers and Don Leisure of the Darkhouse Family) were invited to TRC to participate in an event called Fresh Roasted: Live Beat-Making ad Battle, where they did live remixes of the recordings from Makaya and cos CHICAGOxLONDON performances.

Captured during two sunny afternoons in September 2017, The fourth LP by the much respected and collected duo, Hampshire and Foat, takes us to a new level of direct performance. Recorded live, with no overdubs, in two churches situated in Saint Lawrence on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, and mixed direct live onto a vintage stereo Nagra IV-S and AKG C24 Stereo microphone, every nuance of the performance is laid bare. Only the ambience of the room and the artists' skill make the recording what it is.

As with many of the classic Ramsey Lewis cuts this album was recorded live, capturing the rich inter-relationship between the players and leaving in some of that chunky room noise, lending the album a sound that’s as thick as a steak and raw as a carrot. Recorded over an intense two-day session by the band of the same name, “The Lewis Express” is a nod to the classic soul jazz recordings of The Young Holt Trio / Young Holt Unlimited and Ramsey Lewis, from who this group take their name. But, delivered with a distinctly European feel.

Originally from Oakland, California, “a place where revolutionaries are born,” Tenesha the Wordsmith originally began to fuse hip hop and poetry while living in Albany, New York, where she created her first collection ‘Body Of Work’. Her early influences have returned with features from beatboxers and vocalists that give the album a distinctly urban hip hop vibe.

Into Forever expands the lineup of their last album (When The World Was One) with a string quartet and the gospel and R&B-infused sound of the powerful Manchester vocalist Josephine Oniyama. Halsall’s jazz sensibilities constantly lead him to energise the gentlest passages with contrastingly prodding bass hooks, tough drum patterns and rimshot snaps (as on The Land Of), McCoy Tyner-like piano lines edging through Rachael Gladwin’s harp swoops (Badder Weather), or his own unhurried trumpet reflections, as on Daan Park. The Gondwana Orchestra’s sound palette is frequently gorgeous, and Oniyama’s dramatic presence will undoubtedly broaden their appeal, even if the directness of lyrics may diminish some of their earlier ethereal attraction for some.

Born in Paris, raised in Vienna, resident in Ibiza, saxophonist and composer Muriel Grossmann embodies the borderless, pan-continental energies of contemporary European jazz. Her music emerges from the lineage of European jazz that's absorbed the progressive music of Coltrane, Dolphy and Sanders. Today, she cites players such as Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young in the same breath as the masters of the avant-garde, and her playing marries the directness and eloquence of the older generation with the questing, spiritualised playing epitomised by Coltrane. "Timeless and innovative... a musical genius" Mike Gates, UK Vibe / "Vibrant, passionate, exhilarating. A monument of spiritual jazz" Mark Sarazzy, Impro Jazz / "You know you are always going to get quality on the Jazzman label and this is yet another brilliant example!" Ruth Fisher, Jazz FM

Sun Ra inspired Space Jazz. Nat Birchall plays all the instruments - Tenor & soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, Korg Minilogue synth, bass, drums, hand drums, bells, shaker. Includes unlimited streaming of Mysticism Of Sound via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. The album mixes funk and rhythm and blues elements with hard rock and jamming, an approach which later became the basis of funk rock. It contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death.

The End: Live in Birmingham is a live album and film by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It features the final performance from their The End Tour, recorded in Birmingham, England on 4 February 2017. It was released on 17 November 2017 through Eagle Vision, as a CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Vinyl and a limited deluxe box set.