#sdban records

[burlveneer-music]

schroothoop - MACADAM - for a band that makes instruments out of scrap, the music is more mellifluous than I expected, favoring international grooves over skronk

Belgian junk jazz trio schroothoop (which translates as ‘junk yard’) bring together multi-instrumentalists Rik Staelens (wind & string instruments), Timo Vantyghem (bass & thumb piano) and Margo Maex (percussion). Their new album called ‘MACADAM’ will be out April 7 via Sdban Records, home of many strongholds in the lively contemporary Belgian jazz and groove scene. In 2020, schroothoop first emerged with their much-acclaimed and infectious debut album Klein Gevaarlijk Afval (Small Hazardous Waste). “Music on homemade instruments with a surprisingly good result” (De Standaard). “Schroothoop show that material limitation can be liberating and that sometimes the source of new sounds is just old junk.”(Written in music). “We assure you that this “scrap heap” is worth gold!“ (Le Grigri). On their second album, to be released on April 7, schroothoop explore the vast sounds of discarded objects found on the macadam streets of Brussels. Wooden crates turn into guitars and lyres. Scrap metal becomes a thumb piano, a cimbalom, or percussion bells. Their compelling collection of semi-improvised songs is born out of several fruitful residencies and live performances during which Margo Maex, Rik Staelens and Timo Vantyghem dive deeper into the possibilities and unique timbres of their DIY instruments. The junk jazz trio find inspiration in traditional Afro-Cuban and North-African rhythms, New Orleans second line grooves, and Arabic Hijaz scales. On Macadam, the band also explore the realms of electronic music, not shunning hints of drum and bass, dub riddims and ambient soundscapes, using pitch shifting delays or gauzy reverbs. The album delivers a mesmerizing trip through the most diverse capital of Europe, mixed and post-produced by none other than sound wizard Dijf Sanders. The trio originally met in the Brussels street orchestra scene. One night they found themselves jamming on trash cans, buckets and other illegally dumped materials. Soon after, they started building their own DIY instruments from street trash. Imagine flutes made out of pvc pipes, a scrap metal drum kit, thumb pianos made out of old kitchen knives, a tin can violin, worn-out cutting discs as gongs, and a washtub bass. Delivering their own brand of “junk jazz”, Schroothoop literally gives junk a second life by immortalizing a whole range of lost and found objects through music. The Brussels-based group effortlessly incorporates jazz, Northern African music, and Afro-Cuban rhythms, resulting in a danceable and hypnotic trip through the city’s melting pot.

[the-entangler]

Azmari - Azalaï (Official Video)

[fucktheglorydays]

OUR FAVOURITE RELEASES THIS MONTH

The Gaslamp Killer – Ananda (Cuss)

SUUNS – The Breaks (Joyful Noise)

Lorenzo BITW - Globale (NTPM)

Orson Claeys - Odyssey to Self (Sdban Ultra)

SE62 – Moon Light Dance EP (Raw Soul)

Odeeno – Mellowroom (C3 Lab)

Various Artists - Orsova (12th Isle)

Thysenterprise - Living Silence (Rucksack Records)

Karlino Princip – Non è il disco che ti aspetti (StrettoBlaster)

Gurriers - Come And See (No Filter)

Orion Sun - Orion (Mom+Pop)

Mustafa - Dunya (Jagjaguwar)

Foxing – Foxing (Grand Paradise)

Floating Points – Cascade (Ninja Tune)

Etran de L’Aïr - 100% Sahara Guitar (Sahel Sounds)

The Alchemist - The Genuine Articulate (ALC Records)

Various Artists - Studio One Soul 2 (Soul Jazz Records)

Ishmael Ensemble – Ritual (Sevvern Songs)

Talib Kweli & J. Rawls - The confidence of knowing (Javotti)

Dave Guy - Ruby (Big Crown)

Jungle By Night - Sinergy (V2)

[donospl]

Europe Jazz Media Chart - Marzec 2023

Wybór nowej muzyki, która pojawiła się w bieżącym miesiącu, dokonany przez grupę czołowych europejskich magazynów i witryn jazzowych. A selection of the hot new music surfacing across the continent this month by the top European jazz magazines and websites. Evan Parker X-Jazz Ensemble “A Schist Story” (JACC Records, 2022) Nuno Catarino, jazz.pt Bandler Ching “Coaxial” (sdban) Dick Hovenga,…

[bandcampsnoop]

5/21/19.

This is intended to celebrate my brother Mark’s birthday.  He is the most influential contrarian (he aligns with mugwumps) in my life, so here is some contrarian pop.  Make no mistake, this is pop.  It’s just that it’s pop in the vein of George Gershwin.

Steiger are a piano trio from Ghent, Belgium.  This is released on Sdban Records (check out their amazing 2 LP/CD release that features “Flemish and Dutch Grooves” from the 1970s).

[todaysbestsongofalltime]

“Open Sky” by Open Sky Unit

[djemerald]

My ‘sweetest’ Favorite 2019

もはやただのメモ！だけど、今年もやっぱりやっておこう。 ということで、2019年のスウィートな音楽をずらりと。 画像はアルバム・LP・EPのみの分をコレクションしてみました。 去年書いた「過去最高のスピードで世界中の音楽が聴けるようになった」のは、今年も継続中。 ただ、画面の中で自動的にレコメンドされるよりも、周りの友達に「これよかったよ〜」とか、「これ好きそう」とか教えてもらう方が、断然、うれしい。 ジャンルは相変わらずいろいろだけど、ジャズ的な要素が増えた気がする。（dublab.jpの影響か、原雅明さんの影響かしら、どうかしら） あと、今年はアルバム通して聴く機会が多かった、というか、その方がフィットしてた。もともとCDを買っていたときの感覚に戻ったようで、なんだかしみじみしちゃう。 そして、11月あたりからじんわりとミニマルハウス〜テクノに惹かれ中。シンプルがゆえに、好みを見つけるのがむずかしい、でも楽しい。新しい境地。 DJ MIXはほとんど聴かなかったなぁ。音楽の聴き方って、1年の間にこんなにも変わるものなのね。 dublab.jpでラジオ番組をはじめたことも大きいかな。 ありがとう、グッドバイ2019年。 2020年は、審美眼を磨きつつ、軽快に。生��の肌で感じたい。 *アルファベット順です *今年リリース以外のものも多くあります *Vanessa Paradis、Marlene Dietrichは常時アイコンなのではぶきます ＊ - My ‘sweetest’ Favorite 2019 - ▽▼▽ ALBUM / LP / EP ▽▼▽ AFK & Bludwork / Loyalty N Service [100% Silk] Akira Rabelais / CXVI [Boomkat Editions] Alexis Le-Tan & Jess present / Space Oddities [Permanent Vacation] Amazondotcom / Mirror River [SUBREAL] Ambien Baby / En Transito [FATi Records] Ana Roxanne / ~~~ [Leaving Records] Anna Homler ‎/ Deliquium In C [Präsens Editionen] Archie Shepp, Jasper Van't Hof ‎/ Mama Rose [SteepleChase] Bartosz Kruczynski, Poly Chain / Pulses [Into The Light Records] Basil Kirchin / I Start Counting [Trunk Records] Basil Kirchin / Primitive London [Trunk Records] Black Boboi / Agate [BINDIVIDUAL] C.Tappin / Ashes to Ashes [Melting Pot Music] Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny / Beyond The Missouri Sky [Verve Records] Chihei Hatakeyama(畠山地平) / Void XIX [White Paddy Mountain] Chocolate Lips / Chocolate Lips [Sony Music] Derric Gobourne Jr. / Supremacy [P-Vine Records] Deweekend / Deweekend [OutOfStock] Dome / Dome 2 [Editions Mego] Eberhard Weber / Encore [ECM Records] Eleventeen Eston / Delta Horizon [Growing Bin Records] Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou / Ethiopiques, Vol. 21 [Buda Musique] Eric Serra ‎/ Le Grand Bleu (Bande Originale Du Film) [Virgin] G.S. Schray / First Appearance [Last Resort] Giovanni Guidi / Avec Le Temps [ECM Records] h hunt / Playing Piano for Dad [Tasty Morsels] Helena Deland ‎– Altogether Unaccompanied Vol. III [Luminelle Recordings] Holdie Gawn｜Micawber ‎/ Gleech Huis｜Parsec Telemetry [Sylphe] infinite bisous / Period [Tasty Morsels] Ion Ludwig / A Better Future To Long [Metereze] J!N /pink stm & wite ptl [Hizz] JAB / Erg Herbe [Shelter Press] Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom / Daytime Viewing [Unseen Worlds] Jai Paul / Do You Love Her Now｜He [XL Recordings] jan and naomi / Fracture [cutting edge] Jan Jelinek / Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records [~scape] Jeff Majors / Yoka Boka (For Us All) [Invisible City Editions] Joao Gilberto / Amoroso [Warner Bros. Records] Joe Tossini and Friends / Lady of Mine [Joe Tossini Music] Joseph Shabason / Anne, EP [Western Vinyl] Juan Hidalgo / Rrose Sélavy [Discos Transgénero] Kali Malone / The Sacrificial Code [iDEAL Recordings] Khotin / Beautiful You [Ghostly International] Kit Sebastian / Mantra Moderne [Mr Bongo] Leech / Data Horde [Peak Oil] Leonardo Marques / Early Bird [180g x Disk Union] Leonore Boulanger / Practice Chanter [Le Saule] Les Yeux Orange / Ghost Dog [Good Plus] Lifted / 2 [PAN] Liv.e / ::hoopdreams:: [Not On Label] Lloyd Miller / A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz [Jazzman] Loren Connors / Evangeline [Recital] Loving / Lately In Another Time [Last Gang Records] Lucas Arruda / Onda Nova [Favorite Recordings] Lunz / Lunz 3 [Curious Music] Mary Lattimore / Hundreds Of Days [Ghostly International] Mega Bog / Dolphine [Paradise Of Bachelors] Meitei(冥丁) / Komachi [Métron Records] melodiesinfonie / A Journey to You [JAKARTA] Molinaro / What The Future Was [Apron Records] Nadia Reid / Preservation [Basin Rock] Neu Balance / In My Life, I've Loved Them All [Budget Cuts] Nia Andrews / No Place Is Safe [rings] Nico Rico / Primitive Thinking EP [Not On Label] Nina Keith / MARANASATI 19111 [Grind Select] Nitai Hershkovits / Lemon the Moon [AGATE / Inpartmaint] Normal Brain / Lady Maid [Vanity Records] Olsen / Dream Operator [100%Silk] Operating Theatre / Miss Mauger [Allchival] Pejzaż / Pejzaż Remiksy [The Very Polish Cut-Outs] Powder / Powder In Space [Beats In Space Records] Priori & RAMZi / Jumanjí [FATi Records] Profit Prison ‎/ Six Strange Passions [Avant!] RAMZi / Multiquest Niveau 1: Camouflé [FATi Records] Regularfantasy /Sunsets & Sublets [Total Stasis] Repetentes 2008 / Galaxia Fini [Superconscious Records] Repetentes 2008 / Gelo Gerônimo [Gop Tun] RIP Swirl / 9TEEN90 [Public Possession] Robert Minden Ensemble / Long Journey Home [Otter Bay Recordings] Robert Minden Ensemble / The Boy Who Wanted To Talk To Whales [Otter Bay Recordings] Robert Minden Ensemble / Whisper in My Ear [Otter Bay Recordings] Robert Wyatt / Shleep [Domino] Rupert Clervaux / After Masterpieces [Whities] Santilli / Surface [Into The Light Records] Sarah Davachi / Pale Bloom [W.25th] Sebastian Gandera / Le Raccourci [Efficient Space] Simone De Kunovich / Mondo Nuovo Vol. 1 [Superconscious Records] Sipprell / I Could Be Loved [Sipprell] Sonia Sanchez / Full Moon Of Sonia [VIA International Artists] Sonny Sharrock / Black Woman [Vortex Records] Soundwalk Collective / What We Leave Behind | Jean-Luc Godard Archives [mAtter] Sparrows / Berries [flau] St. Joseph / Player Nr. 1 EP [Dokutoku Records] Stephen Steinbrink ‎/ Utopia Teased [Western Vinyl/Melodic Records] Takayuki Shiraishi / Missing Link [Studio Mule] Tamaryn / Dreaming The Dark [Dero Arcade] Teebs / Anicca [Brainfeeder] Teiji Ito / Music For Maya [Tzadik] The Caretaker / An empty bliss beyond this World [History Always Favours The Winners] Tim Hecker / Anoyo [Kranky] Tujiko Noriko / Kuro(OST) [PAN] Unknown Mobile / Daucile Moon [Pacific Rhythm] Vanishing Twin / The Age of Immunology [Fire Records] Various ‎/ I Am The Center (Private Issue New Age Music In America, 1950-1990) [Light In The Attic] Various / Visible & Invisible Persons Distributed In Space [Numero Group] Various / Wys! V&a Ep [WYS! Recordings] Various / زمان يا سكر = Zamaan Ya Sukkar - Exotic Love Songs And Instrumentals From The Egyptian 60’s [Radio Martiko] Various Artists / 4 Down [Deek Recordings] Various Artists / Turkish Hamam House Disco [Arsivplak] Viola Klein / A Passport And A Visa Stamped By The Holy Ghost [Meakusma] Violet / Togetherness [Togetherness] Voices In Latin / Voices In Latin [Morgan] Wilson Tanner / II [Efficient Space] Yasuaki Shimizu / Music For Commercials [Crammed Discs] Yohuna / Mirroring [fear of missing out records] Yoshiharu Takeda / Aspiration [METANESOS Records] Yoshinori Hayashi / γ [Smalltown Supersound] Zenit / Straight Ahead [P-Vine Records] 元ちとせ / 元唄 幽玄 ～元ちとせ 奄美シマ唄REMIX～ (Remixes) [Au(g)tunes] 孔雀眼 JADE EYES / 渴望 [香港商黑市音樂股份有限公司台灣分公司] ∞σ / DG Hadi [Hizz] ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ / ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლのʅ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡(ƟӨ)ʃ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡ ꐑ(ཀ ඊູ ఠీੂ೧ູ࿃ूੂ✧ළඕั࿃ूੂ࿃ूੂੂ࿃ूੂළඕั✧ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ɵੂ≢࿃ूੂ೧ູఠీੂ ඊູཀ ꐑ(ʅ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡(ƟӨ)ʃ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡ [༈೧ູ≢)ꐑʅ(Ɵↂↂ. l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡| ̲̲͡ π̲̲͡͡.̸̸̨̨ ఠీੂ)༼ू༈೧ູ࿃ूੂ༽(ଳծູ l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡| ̲̲͡ π̲̲͡͡ ɵੂ≢)_̴ı ̡͌ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ꐑ*:･✧(ཽ๑ඕัළඕั)ꐑʅ(Ɵↂ๑)✧*:･ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡| ̲̲͡ π̲̲͡͡.̸̸̨̨ ఠీੂ)༼ू༈೧ູʅ(ƟӨ)ʃ ꐑ(ཀ ඊູ ఠీੂ)༼ू༈೧ູ࿃ूੂ༽(ଳծູɵੂ≢ↂ. l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡.]

▽▼▽ SONG ▽▼▽ Akis / New Age Rising (Part VIII) [Into The Light Records] Anatolian Weapons / Ofiodaimon (Tolouse Low Trax vs Anatolian Weapons Remix) [Beats In Space Records] Anna Karina / Pierrot Le Fou-Jamais Je Ne T'Ai Dit Que Je T'Aimerai Toujours (いつまでも愛するとは言わなかった) [Barclay] Baba Stiltz / Showtime [XL Recordings] Bartosz Kruczyński / Pastoral Sequences [Growing Bin Records] Beatrice Dillon / Workaround Two [PAN] Bee Gees / How Deep Is Your Love [RSO] Bell Biv DeVoe ‎/ Poison [MCA Records] Betonkust, Palmbomen II / Rejected Demo Tape [Dekmantel] Blue Gas / Shadows From Nowhere [Archeo / Best Record] Bobby Hutcherson / Tranquillity [Blue Note] Bohren & und Club of Gore - Karin [[PIAS] Recordings] Cécile McLorin Salvant / One Step Ahead [Mack Avenue Records] Cigarettes After Sex / Heavenly [Partisan Records] Cleaners From Venus / Corridor of Dreams [Man At The Off Licence] De Beren Gieren / Broensgebuzze 8.2 [Sdban Ultra] Dolphins Into The Future & Lieven Marten Moana / Lava (Long Version) [Edições Cn] DOS / Need U [Nerang Recordings] Dove, Le Makeup / Angel Diaries [Pure Voyage] Duval Timothy / DYE [NTS Radio] Eliza Dickson, Braxton Cook, Lauren Desberg / Gold [Tokyo Dawn Records] Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch / End Scene [130701 (FatCat Records)] Empress Of / When I’m With Him (Perfume Genius Cover) [Terrible Records] Fafá de Belém / Aconteceu Você [Som Livre] Gary Burton / Las Vegas Tango [Atlantic] Hanne Mjøen / Sounds Good To Me [Spinnin' Deep] Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣) / 薔薇と野獣(New ver.) [Speedstar] Jay Som / Superbike [Lucky Number] John Cameron / Half-Forgotten Daydreams [KPM Music] John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra / You Know, You Know [Columbia] Joni Mitchell / Shine [Hear Music] Karen Gwyer / Ian on Fire [Don't Be Afraid] Kelsey Lu / I’m Not In Love [Columbia] Klein Zage / Womanhood (DJ Python Remix) [Orphan Records] Kllo - Back To You [PLANCHA] Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Paris Smith / Lotus Born, No Need to Fear [Smithsonian Folkways] Laurie Spiegel / The Unquestioned Answer [Unseen Worlds] Leon Vynehall / I, Cavallo [Ninja Tune] Lucrecia Dalt / Tar (Jan Jelinek Remix) [Rvng Intl.] mabanua / Call on Me feat. Chara (Knxwledge Remix) [Lawson Entertainment] Madeline Kenney / Nick of Time [Not On Label] Marc Johnson, Eliane Elias / Swept Away [ECM Records] Marcella Bella / Nell'aria [CBS] Mary Lou Williams / It Ain’t Necessarily So [Jazzman] Matthew Halsall, The Gondwana Orchestra, Josephine Oniyama / Into Forever (feat. Josephine Oniyama) [Gondwana Records] Mehmet Aslan / Beat Two Chase [Highlife] Mehmet Aslan / Lobster Is Coincidence [Planisphere Music] Men I Trust / I Hope to Be Around [Men i Trust] Michael Andrews / I’m Not Following You [Everloving] millennium parade / Plankton [PERIMETRON] Murlo / Ferment (Yamaneko’s Flashback) [Coil Records] Noname / Self [Not On Label] Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan / Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix) [‎Real World Records] O Terno / volta e meia [Risco] Octo Octa / I Need You [Technicolour] Ralph Tresvant / Sensitivity [MCA Records] Ratna Das / Rajuan Bulan [Rice Records] Roberto Musci / The Advent of Rose + Croix [Les Disques Victo] Ronald Langestraat / Lowdown [South of North] Salami Rose Joe Louis / Nostalgic Montage [Brainfeeder] Simon Hinter / Makros [Purveyor Underground] SKRS / Dub Shoulda Known [Ancient Monarchy] Smoke Trees / Man in the Moon [Urban Waves Records] Steve Hauschildt ‎/ Strands [Kranky] Tash Sultana / Salvation [Mom + Pop] Tei Shi / Even If It Hurts (feat. Blood Orange) [Downtown] The Golden Filter / Autonomy [4GN3S] Tyme./Tatsuya Yamada / Catch A Fire [astrollage] Unknown Mortal Orchestra / Hanoi 6 [Jagjaguwar] Will Saul / Room 9 [Aus Music] WONK / Sweeter, More Bitter [EPISTROPH] Yo La Tengo / Eight Candles [Verve Forecast] ギターウルフ / バッテラ惑星 [GuitarWolf Records] ちあきなおみ / 泣かせるぜ [TEICHIKU ENTERTAINMENT] んoon / Gum [Flake Sounds] 近田春夫 / 超冗談だから [Victor Entertainment] 佐藤千亜妃 / Lovin' You [EMI Records] 小沢健二 / 彗星 [Universal Music] 大貫妙子 / タンタンの冒険 [Dear Heart] 中原理恵 / ヒーローはあなた [CBS/Sony] 優河 / June [P-Vine Records] (Sandy) Alex G / So [Lucky Number] ▽▼▽ DJ / LIVE ▽▼▽ Sapphire Slows at SUPER DOMMUNE [28 Nov] Nia Andrews at Blue Note Tokyo [31 Oct] Julianna Barwick / Mary Lattimore / DJ Shhhhh at Shibuya WWW ［1 Jul］ Meakusma X dublab.jp at Shimokitazawa Cage LỒNG VÀ QUÁN [28 Apr] 東京楽所第12回定期公演「奉祝の雅楽」 at サントリーホール［2 Feb］ 12月25日のdublab.jpの番組《In Every Second Dream》内で、一部楽曲をON AIRしたのでそちらも是非◎ アーカイヴはこちらから↓

愛を込めてxxx DJ Emerald

[dustedmagazine]

Year End 2018: Derek Taylor

Another year above ground. Another year salvaged in no small part through the solace of music. That may register as a Limbo-worthy low bar for measuring life satisfaction, not mention one hopelessly awash in hyperbole, but there’s a reason. The sobering sense of normalcy that’s come to characterize the daily insanity of the world writ large and small makes the railing and grousing about it through a laptop keyboard feel at once futile and arrogant. Many of us still have it pretty good, if not better. Able to move and think freely. Fortunate to readily find the time to spend sequestered with art, whatever the senses and thoughts it stimulates. Plenty of others can’t consistently say the same. That ever-widening disparity weighs on my mind with a regularity that makes the compiling and commentary of lists such as this seem both a luxury and a necessity. We’re all in it together and revitalizing music is as meaningful a reminder as any of that steadfast reality. If only the orange orangutan still soiling the Oval Office and the psyches of millions (if not billions) would swap the MAGA-emblazoned nonsense that’s his usual headgear for the Burnside brim pictured above and mean it!  

No real ranking to the entries below other than the general order to which they visited me through contemplation and return engagement.

Eric Dolphy – Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions (Resonance)

Released in haphazard, infrequent and incomplete editions, Eric Dolphy’s interstitial work (landing between his formative tenure at Prestige and his solitary masterpiece for Blue Note, Out to Lunch) under the aegis of producer Alan Douglas has never really received a fair shake from curators and critics alike. That long-standing slight was rectified this year with the Record Store Day release of Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions on the Resonance label. Rescued, enhanced and appended with 85-minutes of previously unreleased music and a lavish 100-page book stocked with scholarly essays by the likes of flautists James Newton and Nicole Mitchell, Sonnys Rollins and Simmons, Han Bennink, Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake and others it’s an unprecedented boon on all fronts. The CD version of the set is slated for a 1/25 street date.

Barre Phillips

Octogenarian expatriate bassist Barre Phillips has sustained a relatively steady output in the 21st century, but End To End, a solo set (his purported last) for ECM, and a Oh My, Those Boys!, a timely reissue of his extended duets with Japanese confrere Motoharu Yoshizawa on the Lithuanian No Business label are aural confirmation of his consistency across decades. Alone and self-limited to the length of a LP he sculpts a somber soliloquy of intimate communion with his instrument. In the fast company of Yoshizawa, who fields a custom-made electric upright, the mood is much more frenetic in playful. Both settings are aurally transfixing.

Mingus – Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery/46 Selden

Weighing in at a mighty five-discs, Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery46 Selden dispenses with Christian name specifics and allows surname to suffice in announcing its bigger-than-life subject. Mingus’ instrumental faculties weren’t quite as consistent as the virtuosic powers that propelled him in youth (he had just over six years to live in the winter of 1974 when this material was captured), but any effects of advancing age fall away when he calls a tune, soloing with strength and at length and according his auspicious sidemen including drummer Roy Brooks who is ostensibly responsible for the recording’s survival. Retooled staples like “Pithecanthropus Erectus” and “Peggy’s Blue Skylight” join newer improvisational springboards like “The Man Who Never Sleeps” and “Noddin’ Ya Head Blues” to form a veritable smorgasbord of vibrant small group, stage-born jazz.

Peter Brötzmann

The venerable German road dog always has a place on this list. Now somewhat miraculously pushing eighty he’s still at it, crisscrossing the globe and breaking hearty musical bread with friends old and new. Three releases stood out to these ears: two recent duos and a welcome reissue of Hot Lotta, one of his early free jazz missives recorded almost five decades earlier with faithful countryman Kowald and the Finnish duo of Juhani Aaltonen and Edward Vesala. In the must-hear duo column reside, Ouroboros, a 2011 German club date with Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm on Astral Spirits, and Sparrow Nights on Trost, a wrenchingly intimate studio encounter with pedal steel phantasmagorist Heather Leigh, who ranks easily among Brötzmann’s most intriguing recent coconspirators.

Corbett vs. Dempsey

Keeping the Corbett vs. Dempsey count to just three for the year is a tough task as their usual prolificacy combined with a commensurate excellence. The reissue of Steve Lacy’s seminal Stamps, originally released in 1979 as his debut for the Swiss Hat Hut imprint narrowly edges out the equally edifying appearance of Milford Graves long-lost Bäbi if only because my spouse allows me to spin the cacophonously calorific latter platter only in her conspicuous absence. A decade was a long time to wait for Joe McPhee and Hamid Drake’s duo follow-up, Keep Going, this time trading stage for studio. But from the music to the mantra-ready title it’s a welcome inoculation against the forces of idiocy and ire globally arrayed against those with humanist allegiances.

Guy Lafitte

Last year it was Lucky Thompson. This year French tenorist Guy Lafitte got the Fresh Sound archival treatment with four full discs of material from his heyday as one of his country’s most popular indigenous purveyors of jazz. Each set delves into a different side of his folio from tight ensembles to modestly-sized orchestras, sometimes in the company of visiting guests, but more often plying his sound amongst a core crew of fellow believers. One of former, Michel de Villers, also earned a survey with The Complete Small Group Sessions 1949-1956 that shows him living up to the sobriquet of “Low Reed” at length on deftly deployed baritone saxophone.

Steeplechase

The Danish Steeplechase label always seems to slot in my yearly look back, mainly because of the consistency of both their roster and long-standing aesthetic. Sea changing surprises instigated by their records are exceedingly rare, but the odds of a stimulating listen are conversely high with virtually every release. Guitarist Pierre Dørge’s Soundscapes convenes a quintet with tenorist Stephen Riley and cornetist Kirk Knuffke in the service of the leader’s customarily open-ended compositions. Riley’s Hold ‘Em Joe is at once a canted tribute to Sonny Rollins and a welcome return to the piano-less trio format he first cut his teeth on for the label a decade ago. Baritonist Gary Smulyan’s Alternative Contrafacts yields winsome results with the instrumentation as well in a creative nod to the sort of extrapolations that were the fertile province of the Tristano School in the last century.

No Business/Chap Chap

A partnership between the No Business label and the Korean Chap Chap imprint continues to yield impressive reissues. All in circulation to date are worthy of consideration, but two bent my ears with pleasing consistency. Kang Tae Hwan’s Live at Café Amores offers an extended concert for solo saxophone that is equal measures Zen meditation and extended techniques master-class. Choi Sun Bae Quartet’s Arirang Fantasy teams a trio of Korean improvisers with visiting Japanese bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa for another café set that is ripe with cross-cultural creativity. Lastly, a reissue of sorely unsung vibraphonist Bobby Naughton’s 1976 masterstroke The Haunt with Leo Smith and the recently-deceased Perry Robinson (R.I.P.) in a setting of creative chamber jazz perfection.

Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary (Sony)

Repackaging of milestone rock albums is still the rage even as the compact disc as a physical musical format continues to wane with advance of other intangible digital formats. Hendrix has had his fair share of legacy parceled and promoted along these lines and it’s hard to fault the family for seeking to both cash-in and do right by his memory. Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary does better than most past projects in this regard by hewing to a logical presentation and proffering some genuine value across three compact discs, a Blu-ray and a lavish LP-sized container replete hardcover tome covering all the minutiae of the original double-album phenomenon. And let’s face it, Hendrix fooling around with songs in their protean forms is more fun than sitting down with most rock musicians’ finished product.

Jack Sels – Minor Works (SDBAN)

Parts of Belgian Jack Sels biography read like Hollywood-ready bohemian melodrama with riches, rags, tragedy and triumph all sewn into the story of a saxophonist who spent much of his life trying to capture the magic of his American idols while remaining fiercely true to his European roots. That latter decision explains his relative anonymity today, but the expertly-curated if humbly-titled Minor Works is practically bursting with recovered music and anecdotal context that frames a vivid portrait of a player well-deserving of posthumous consideration.

Jon Irabagon

Irabagon’s a dues-payer, tireless and admirably selfless in his dedication to a revolving door of projects and regular gigs. A recent interview with clarinetist & podcaster Jeremiah Cymerman reveals just how cool and unflappable a customer the Filipino-American saxophonist can be as he relates exercising the patience of Job in the face of dunderheaded racism by erstwhile peers. On the aural front two specific contexts stuck with me as evidence of his indefatigability. Dr. Quixotic’s Traveling Exotics on his own Irabbagast imprint teams his quartet with veteran trumpeter Tim Hagans in a program that feels like a natural and more focused extension of earlier work in Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Dave Douglas’ Brazen Heart: Live at the Jazz Standard released on the trumpeter’s Greenleaf label explores one of Irabagon’s recurring sideman posts and at length over eight discs covering a four-night stand at the titular NYC club in 2015.

Roscoe Mitchell

Recent and nascent masterworks with nearly a half-century of revelatory activity between them, Ride the Wind (Nessa) and Sound (Delmark) represent two essential signposts in Roscoe Michell’s reliably iconoclastic career. Both center on the blurring the subjective boundaries between improvisation and composition. Whether adapting improvised solos to orchestral charts or atomizing ensemble interplay into a freeing malleable framework that can take participating musicians in a multiplicity of expressive directions, Mitchell’s courageous adherence to personal designs and investigations has always been the bedrock of his work.

Intakt

The Swiss Intakt imprint bridges the best aspects of a classic label construct (reliable stable, dependable production values, deep catalog, etc.) with a refreshing willingness to tweak the formula through a voracious ear for new talent. German altoist Angelica Niescer’s triumphant Berlin Concert and a pair of from Cuban pianist Auran Oritz, Live in Zurich with his working trio and Random Dances and (A)tonalities in the unexpected company of clarinetist Don Byron fit that latter bill. Globe Unity 50 Years celebrating the half-century longevity of Europe’s most influential improvising orchestra and Music for David Mossman by the equally indelible trio of Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Paul Lytton argue conclusively that the former end of Intakt’s endeavors is equally secure.

  Clean Feed

Staunch loyalists to the tradition of improvisational album in physical form, Lisbon-based Clean Feed doesn’t just soldier on, it leads away with a release docket that reliably weds frequency with dependability. The sixteen discs that hit circulation in the span since January all have elements to recommend them, but two stuck to my ears and cranium more tenaciously than the others for both their audacity and intimacy. Vocalist Serpa’s Close Up is exactly that, a sans-net song forum with the stark support of Ingrid Laubrock’s saxophones and Erik Friedlander’s cello as the sum of sounding board. Similarly, trumpeter Susana Santos Silva’s All the Rivers situates her solitary horn in the unforgiving acoustics of the Panteão Nacional, a vast marble cathedral, for a recital rife with reverberating complexity.

  Satoko Fuji – 12 for 60 Project

Year-long artist celebrations through output aren’t exactly common, but there’s certainly precedence (bassist Reuben Radding’s 12 in 2007 springs to mind). Already admirably prolific Japanese pianist Satoko Fuji decided to commemorate her 60th birthday on the planet by releasing a dozen albums on the Libra label over the course of the annum. As with her back catalog, many of them featured her kindred spirit Natsuki Tamura on trumpet as well as ensembles both familiar and freshly-minted. I’m still digesting the series in sum, but the standout so far is Aspiration, the core duo’s conclave with Wadada Leo Smith and electronicst Ikue Mori. Fuji has an admitted tendency to crowd the market and numb the senses with her productivity, but the focus and unity guiding these releases sets them apart.

Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris

In common with the intimation of its name, Dust to Digital is a label that takes its time in the laudable work of producing archival music collections that stand instantly apart in terms of quality, scope and expertly-examined context. Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris is a work of art from the packaging to the sounds (and sights) contained within. Incisively indexed into three categories (Blues, Gospel & Folk), the field recordings are immersive and often carry the mesmerizing magic of incantations. A fourth disc containing a DVD collection of Ferris’ hand-shot films evokes time, place and person even more vividly. Temporary antidotes to slowly normalizing nightmare we find ourselves in as a world abound on this list, but this the one I have probably returned to most since my first encounter. It’s that transportive.

V/A – Technicolor Paradise: Rhum Rhapsodies & Other Delights

Exotica was originally indicative a certain slice of commercial music expression, one inextricably entangled in associative issues of appropriation, exploitation and in many cases mollification of indigenous cultural capital. Sometimes it was a complete recontextualization entirely as Numero Group’s Technicolor Paradise explores over three discs and an associative booklet brimming with commentary. This sort of deep crate project is nothing new for the label, but it is gratifying to see them go at it with such gusto after an earlier and unexpected embrace by the label honchos of streaming as a means of revenue. Some selections tip irrevocably into bromidic kitsch, but the first disc especially, which focuses on guitar bands keeps a more even keel of interest.

Charlie McCoy – Real McCoy/Charlie McCoy/Good Time Charlie/Fastest Harp in the South

Jerry Reed – Jerry Reed Explores Guitar Country/Cookin’/Georgia Sunshine/Me & Jerry (w/ Chet Atkins)

Time was when a two-fer reissue was a common currency in the compact disc market place. BGO’s done that erstwhile staple two better maintaining a fearsome foursome reissue program. Sets by country mouth harp maestro Charlie McCoy and good old boy-turned-ace guitar picker-turned-movie star Jerry Reed. Both are dipped liberally in countrypolitan production values that only occasionally slide over into schmaltz and McCoy wisely avoids vocals in favor of instrumentals that often sound like they could serve as soundtrack snippets to The Rockford Files (not a bad thing). Reed by contrast had a decent set up pipes to complement his strings-slinging skills and the chutzpah to try his hand at dry humor like the hilariously off-the-cuff ode to inconsolable nicotine addiction, “Another Puff.”

V/A – The Beginning of the End: The Existential Psychodrama in Country Music 1956 to 1972 (Omni) V/A – Hillbillies in Hell: Country Music’s Tormented Testament (1952-1974) – The Resurrection (Omni) V/A – Hillbillies in Hell: Country Music’s Tormented Testament (1952-1974) – The Rapture (Omni)

After an unexplained although far from unnoticed hiatus several years ago, the Omni Recording Corporation out of Australia roared back to life with renewed reissue campaign. The schedule of new projects eschewed full album(s) + plus bonus tracks for keenly curated collections focusing on the wilder and more tortured sides of the vintage country and country/pop spectrum. The Beginning of the End details descents into madness committed to song while two volumes more of the ongoing Hillbillies in Hell series doubled the entries to date describing that region of idiom(s) devoted to Beelzebub and his myriad earthly incarnations. All three are archly edifying as they are fun.

Sun Ra

Sun Ra reissues are once again a semi-regularity now thanks to reissue operators like Modern Harmonic and Cosmic Myth, both of which have conscripted longtime Ra repository Michael D. Anderson in their noble endeavors. Cymbals/Symbol Sessions: New York 1973 covers ground previously mapped by an earlier set on the Evidence label pairing worthy material including the (16:33) John Gilmore tenor <I<tour de force “Thoughts Under a Dark Blue Light.” God is More Than Love Can Ever Be has singular status as the solitary piano, bass and drums trio album in the entirely of Ra’s omniversal oeuvre and largely lives up to the stated promise of that proposition.

25 more in no fixed order...

Tyshawn Sorey – Pillars (Pi)

Henry Threadgill – Dirt… And More Dirt (Pi)

Peter Kuhn Trio – Intention (FMR)

Dave Holland – Uncharted Territories (Dare2)

Devin Gray – Dirigo Rataplan II (Rataplan)

John Coltrane - Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)

JD Allen – Love Stone (Savant)

Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFunk – Wet Robots (ESP-Disk)

A Pride of Lions – The Bridge Sessions 8

Michael Adkins – Flaneur (hatOLOGY)

Houston Person & Ron Carter – Remember Love (HighNote)

Spontaneous Music Ensemble – Karyobin (Emanem)

Cecil Taylor – Poschiavo (Black Sun)

Paul Rutherford – In Backwards Times (Emanem)

Mike Westbrook Concert Band – The Last Night at the Old Place (Cadillac)

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar – Raga Yaman & Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani (Ideologic Organ)

Kitsos Harisiadis – Lament in a Deep Style: 1929 to 1931 (Third Man)

Asnakech Worku – Asnakech (Awesome Tapes from Africa)

V/A – African Scream Contest 2 (Analog Africa)

Mulatu – Afro-Latin Soul (Worthy/Strut)

V/A – Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central & East African Music (Dust to Digital)

V/A – Ocora – Le Monde Des Musiques Traditionelles (Ocora)

V/A – Music City Blues & Rhythm (Ace)

Professor Harold Boggs – Lord Give Me Strength: Early Recordings 1952-1964 (Nashboro/Gospel Friend)

Yuri Morozov – Strange Angels: Experimental & Electronic Music (Buried Treasure)

[beyondthemain-streams]

Solis Lacus - Remake

From the upcoming album Solis Lacus (A Special Radio ~ TV Record - No 15) Out on Sdban Records, on March 11th, 2022

Country: Belgium

Genre-approximation: jazz fusion

From the notes: "Solis Lacus is the cult group around renowned Belgian pianist Michel Herr, a pioneer of electric jazz in the 70's in Europe. [...] Solis Lacus recorded its only album in the course of 1974 and 1975, before the members of the group headed in their own direction."

Links: Sdban Records

[fuitedejazz]

ECHT! * Inwane | Sdban records

ECHT! is : Federico Pecoraro : bass Martin Méreau : drums Dorian Dumont : keys Florent Jeunieaux : guitar 

 +guests Patrick Méreau : bass tuba Timothée Lemaire : trombone Lucas Méreau : tuba Cyril Francq : bass trombone Antoine Lissoir : baritone saxophone

[burlveneer-music]

ECHT! - Sink-Along - out today on Sdban Records, bass-heavy jazz fusion haunted by the ghost of dubstep

Futuristic Brussels based four-piece ECHT! are set to release their sophomore album ‘Sink-Along’ on the 5th May via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label. Receiving critical acclaim from the likes of Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6 Music) and Mixmag for their debut release ‘INWANE’ (2021), ECHT! takes the best of Jonwayne, DJ Rashad, J Dilla, Ivy Lab, Tsuruda and Aphex Twin, resulting in an unrivalled sound. In a society geared almost exclusively toward the technological, ECHT! forges a different path, one that instead replaces the mechanical with the human. At the heart of their creative process made up of actual skin and bone, the influences of trap, bass music, jazz and hip-hop burst forth through their expert playing of instruments. Echt means ‘vrai de vrai’ - ‘true’ or ‘real’ in brusseleir (Brabantian dialect of Brussels). The name is a direct reference to the fact that their sound transmission is ‘real’, performed with conventional musical instruments as opposed to computer music which the production might suggest. It also relates to the fact that none of the members of the band are originally from Brussels – bassist Federico Pecoraro is from Italy, keyboardist Dorian Dumont is from France and drummer Martin Méreau and guitarist Florent Jeunieaux are both from the Mons region on Belgium.

[melbournemusicboutique]

Listen/purchase: Open Sky Unit - Sunshine Star by Various Artists

[fucktheglorydays]

OUR FAVOURITE RELEASES THIS MONTH

Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit (Wax Nine)

Liquami - S/T (To Lose La Track)

Apollo Brown & Planet Asia – Sardines (Mello Music)

BRUUNO – Fosbury EP (V4V Records)

Tunico – S/T (Far Out)

David Woods -Shuffling The Cards Again (Running Back)

AA. VV. - We Are The Children of the Setting Sun (BBE)

Piotr Kurek - Smartwoods (Unsound)

Godblessomputers – Faded Views (Jakarta - 823)

P.G. Six - Murmurs & Whispers (Drag City)

John Ghost – Thin Air. Mirror Land (Sdban)

Slowdive – Everything Is Alive (Dead Oceans)

Bowes Road Band – Back In The HCA (Jakarta Records)

Human Colonies - Kintsukuroi (Shore Dive Records)

Omega Path  - Meltdown (Queenspectra)

AA.VV – Movelt Juke Jam (Moveltraxx)

Yussef Dayes - Black Classical Music (Brownswood Recordings)

Greg Surmacz - What We Can Assume (XVI records)

AA.VV. - Time Capsule: Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 (Time Capsule)

Explosions In The Sky – End (Temporary Residence Ltd)

Mike Salta & Mortale – Bon Abantu (Music For Dreams)

Jalen Ngonda – Come Around and Love Me (Daptone Records)

Nation of Language – Strange Disciple (PIAS)

CCCP - Felicitazioni! CCCP – Fedeli alla linea. 1984 – 2024 (Universal)

James Blake – Playing Robots Into Heaven (Polydor)

[senorcrumbone]

Next to fantastic reissues, they also are very good in discovering new Belgian talents! Check dem!

[michaeljustinkeddy]

Monday - July 1, 2019

Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society - Mandatory Reality • Eremite Records • 2019 • LP

Black Flower - Future Flora • Sdban Ultra • 2019 • LP

The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery

Swervedriver - Future Ruins

[inneres]

De Beren Gieren ‎– Dug Out Skyscrapers Album: Dug Out Skyscrapers Label: Sdban Records Year: 2017