Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos return to Olindo Records with an explosive blend of indigenous Afro-Venezuelan rhythms, muscular spiritual jazz, future-funk, afrobeat and psychedelia on their new album ‘SOL’, an already singular band stretching themselves into masterpiece territory. With a distinctly different rhythmic heritage to many other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Raúl’s ethnomusicologist ear is as important as his brilliance as a composer and multi-instrumentalist. Inviting a top tier list of guests that includes Nick ‘Emanative’ Woodmansey, the great Congolese guitarist Kiala Nzavotunga, Tony Allen’s last musical director Yann Jankielewicz and Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto to collaborate with his multinational outfit, they manage to convey the complex heritage of Venezuela’s coastal regions with a contemporary, well-travelled energy. A mix of original songs are joined by startlingly new interpretations of numbers by Fela Kuti and John Coltrane, their ambition matched by their talents. Read / Listen.
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Singular Visions - a random rundown of recent single releases (Feb 2025)
Is it Spring yet? As usual, a diverse selection this month but I suppose the one thing they all have in common is their fusion of ideas and cultures, a fluidity of influences that creates something new and fresh. Music from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, ESINAM & Sibusile Xaba, Nadeem Din-Gabisi, Céline Dessberg, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly, João Leão and Joe Armon-Jones. Enjoy!
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‘Reflections of Pinters' - a musical journey through memories of Houghton Festival 2024
Looking warmly back to Houghton Festival 2024, this mix is a reflection, a mash of memories of the kind of sounds you might hear at Pinters, a zone of musical discovery away from the tougher electronic sonics that pepper the beautiful festival site, Pinters is where the organic, the esoteric and the hilarious (Reggie Watts being all three) converge. Obviously there were loads more DJs and live acts than just our (Truth & Lies) curated bits but the mix I’ve put together is a blend of tracks that I played, some I wished I’d played, some inspired by other DJ’s sets and a sprinkling of artists who performed live over the long weekend including Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Sven Figee, Reggie, Harper Trio and Alabaster DePlume.
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Singular Visions - a random rundown of recent single releases (Jan 2025)
Welcome to a new year and even though January is usually a quiet period for releases, here are a few tracks that have caught our bleary-eyed attention. From D’Angelo inspired R&B to frenetic Tanzanian mchiriku, there’s hopefully something fresh here for you. This episode includes Jamaica Mnanda. MISS C-LINE, Alabaster DePlume, El León Pardo and Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos.
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Singular Visions - a random rundown of recent single releases (November 2024)
The November rundown of recent singles we have recently discovered. All kinds of music that we may not have time to cover as albums or one time one-offs. This episode includes Da Lata, Khalab feat Kasai Allstars, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, AMAMI, Leah Sinead, Black Flower, Work Money Death, Il Mario & more.
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Waaju feat. Majid Bekkas 'Alouane’ (BBE) - a review
A cross-cultural tour de force from London’s Waaju crew and Moroccan Gnawa master Majid Bekkas on this fantastic live album out now on the mighty BBE! A stunning fusion of Afro-Latin, jazz, psychedelia, Gnawa and heavy heavy grooves recorded in the beautiful Church of Sound in East London, Ben Brown’s new arrangements of traditional Gnawa songs are revelatory, the ensemble’s performance transcendent. Read / Listen.
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Phil Dawson ٤-tet with Dele Sosimi and Biola Dosunmu - Ilé (Iyesa) feat. Rowland Sutherland (Funkiwala) - PREMIERE!
We are delighted to premiere the first single from Phil Dawson ٤-tet’s forthcoming ‘Don’t Waste Your Ancestors’ Time’ album on Funkiwala. ‘Ilé (Iyesa)’ is an absorbing, funky and spiritually charged number that stands up tall next to Airto’s Afro-Brazilian experiments in the 70s and features an outrageous lineup of world class musicians from Nigeria, Brazil and the UK jazz scene. Read / Listen.
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Damian Dalla Torre - I Can Feel My Dreams (Squama Recordings) - a review
The second album by Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist Damian Dalla Torre is a sublime ambient-not-ambient jazz-not-jazz record that inhabits its own beautiful meditative space. Inspired by the environment of Santiago, Chile and awash with a painterly quality, ‘I Can Feel My Dreams’ is an experimental record that is somehow also universal in its emotional naturalness. With guests of the calibre of Miriam Adefris, Ruth Goller, Christian Balvig and Jan Soutschek along for the trip, why not tag along? Or just lie down and let it float around you. Read / Listen.
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Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly 'MESTIZX' (International Anthem / Nonesuch Records) - a review
The debut album ‘MESTIZX’ by Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Frank Rosaly for Chicago’s influential International Anthem label and in collaboration with Nonesuch Records is an astonishingly potent record that touches on ancestral histories, post-colonial resistance and rage, ancient spells and so much more. Avant-Jazz, Post-Rock, Afro-Latin rhythms and a myriad of influences and inspirations colour this brilliant record. One of the best releases of the year. Read / Listen.
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Janek van Laak 'Circle of Madness' (Sonar Kollektiv) - a review
Wildly talented, the Berlin based drummer and composer, Janek van Laak, has a fascinating new album out today on Sonar Kollektiv that straddles a multitude of genres. The spirit of punk and the theatrics of cabaret in his DNA (literally), Janek has pulled in friends and players, collaboration the key to helping him express the many creative roads his mind is travelling on. Touches of future-funk, jazz in all its finery, Afro-Latin rhythms, psychedelia, soundtracks, post-punk edges. It’s all there, and more. Read / Listen
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Fumio Itabashi 'Watarase' (WEWANTSOUNDS) - a review
There have been reissues before but this newly remastered version of Fumio Itabashi’s 1981 solo piano masterpiece “Watarase” on WEWANTSOUNDS really hits the spot. The title is a spiritually charged classic but the rest of the album’s mix of standards and original compositions are much more than filler. Itabashi’s inventive and unique playing style and emotional openness make this an absolute jewel in the jazz canon. Read / Listen
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Harper Trio 'Passing By' (Little Yellow Man Records) - a review
For decades, the harp was a rare flower dotted meagerly amongst the accepted solo instruments that were afforded respect in the world of jazz. Outstanding harpists such as Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby needed new generations to recognise their genius and worth but now, on the shoulders of these giants, we live in a golden era of jazz-harpists and Greek born Maria-Christina Harper will surely find herself in the frontline with her debut album. Harper Trio’s exploratory merging of Mediterranean folkloric influences and bluesy expression alongside touches of the contemporary avant-garde offers a new way of viewing the instrument and how it can be played. Alongside the brilliant Josephine Davies on saxophone and Evan Jenkins on drums, she has created an outstanding album that vibrates with its own distinct personality. Read / Listen.
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The Belgian Soundtrack: A Musical Connection of Belgium with Cinema (1961-1979) (Sdban Ultra)
If you’re a fan of film soundtracks, sample-hunting or just a lover of evocative music, then this new compilation from the excellent Belgian label Sdban Records is for you. After the discovery of 650 soundtrack LPs in the attic of a former film journalist, the soundtrack addicts and researchers Robin Broos and Tom ‘Pélé’ Peeters waded through the entirety of the haul to bring us this brilliant collection of music that has in various ways, a Belgian connection. There are barely known composers and there are the super-famous, all of them are great. Read / Listen.
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Move 78 'Grains' (Village Live Records) - a review
Move 78’s third studio album is another fine example of their unique way of creating music. Take a core of skilled jazz musicians from Berlin, let them jam and improvise around riffs and motifs whilst sampling and processing live back into the mix. Then record the results, remix, add featured instrumentalists, remix again and what do we have? A surprisingly organic sounding record that merges groove-heavy jazz moods, hypnotic atmospherics and psychedelic hues. Read / Listen.
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Web Web x Max Herre 'WEB MAX II' (Compost Records) - a review
German jazz supergroup WEB WEB return for their second collaborative album with Max Herre for Compost Records and it is an exceptional dive into the more cosmic sounds of the 70s with Krautrock and Spiritual influences adding multicolours to their tight compositional chops. With guests including Carlos Gabriel Niño and Marja Burchard from Embryo adding their magic dust, ‘WEB MAX II’ is an easy album to love even if you’re only jazz-curious. Read / Listen.
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Torben Westergaard 'The Gori Project II' (Torben Westergaard Musik) - a review
With 18 albums under his belt and over 40 years of musical connectivity at the heart of his practice, the Danish composer and educator Torben Westergaard is a musician striving to work in an egoless environment. On his fantastic new album 'The Gori Project II', his second immersion into the merging of influences between Nordic jazz and Korean folk music has come good, creating something that belongs entirely to the four musicians involved. Cinematic, theatrical and blissed out at times, the album really does take you away. Read / Listen.
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Siema Ziemia 'Second' (Byrd Out) - a review
Polish outfit Siema Ziemia’s forthcoming album ‘Second’ for Byrd Out is a challenging collision of electronica, acoustic improvisational wildness with moments of free jazz energy. My thesaurus is ill equipped to invent a genre for this, just trust me that amongst the fireworks, there is an emotional vulnerability to their creation. Read / Listen.
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Arthur Hnatek Trio 'Uncertainty' (Bridge The Gap) - Premiere!
We are pleased to premiere the new single from the award-winning Swiss drummer, composer and producer Arthur Hnatek. Like Sons Of Kemet in a rhythmic duel with Steve Reich, Arthur, saxophonist Francesco Geminaini and bassist Fabien Iannone manage to become a single pulsating organism, somehow creating a soothing meditative track that also contains a powerful organic groove. Read / Listen
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Just some of the CDs April Records has sent to us!
April Records - Denmark's jazz powerhouse - label focus
April Records is a ridiculously prolific record label from Copenhagen, their widescreen approach to jazz and their championing of young musicians alongside veteran musicians from across the Scandinavian region has produced a highly impressive catalogue of recordings. We asked co-founder Jan Schmidt about the curatorial approach of the label and delved a little into the history of the Danish jazz scene. Read / Listen.
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3'Ain 'Sea of Stories' (Choux de Bruxelles) - a review
The Syrian/Belgian trio 3’Ain have created a sublime collection of instrumental songs that seamlessly merge jazz, tango and the melodic history of the Eastern Mediterranean region. Evocative, atmospheric and beautifully performed, ‘Sea Of Stories’ contains a wealth of emotions and beautifully sensitive musicianship. It’s really bloody good. Read / Listen
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