Far out can always be relied upon to bring us the finest in Brazilian music and this debut album from Otis Trio is no exception. Whilst the core group are indeed a trio on 74 Club they have greatly expanded the band to produce a very full jazz sound. There’s plenty of vibes on offer here which is always sure to draw me in and although there is a tendency to head off into free-jazz territory in places there are some beautiful moments. Try the brooding No Oceano and Montag’s Dream, a heady spiritual piece.

Andy Allen

Reissued as two separate LPs or as two albums on one CD, these rare recordings were originally only released as private pressings in late 70s. The music on display ranges from raw disco funk through to heart wrenching pop ballads, mainly fronted by a female vocalist who sounds remarkably like Minnie Ripperton. Whilst much of the material is not my bag I must draw your attention to the dance floor winner There’s A New Group In Town and the sweet sweet groove of Who Was It This Time.

Andy Allen

Time is the 4th studio album for soul poet Anthony Joseph. Produced by Meshell Ndegeocello and backed by a new band, this new project sees Anthony making a shift from the Afro-funk sound he was creating with his Spasm Band. The sound is still soulful and jazzy but takes more of a back seat in supporting the poetry and is particularly effective on the low slung space funk of Hustle To Live which has a killer popping bass line, the ambient Shine and Joy, a tasty slab of Jazz-Funk.

Andy Allen

Following his releases on Black Jazz Records Doug Carn converted to Islam and took the name Abdul Rahim Ibrahim. Originally released in 1977 on Tablighi Records, the super rare ‘Al Raman! Cry Of The Floridian Tropic Son’ sees him fuse Islamic influenced spiritual jazz with Californian sweet soul. The result is breathtaking with immaculate cuts such as the lilting ‘Casbah’, the joyful ‘Tropic Sons’, the brooding ‘Al Rahman!’ and the Blaxploitation flavoured ‘The Watcher’.

Andy Allen

Record collector extraordinaire Jonny Trunk launches his new Jonny label (subsidiary to Trunk) in fine style with a reissue of this “rare as rocking horse shit” album. Originally released in 1968 as a private pressing in limited quantities it was the work of a young composer (only 17 years old at the time) Jonathan Klein who married Hebrew song and prayer with New York modern jazz. With players of the caliber of Herbie Hancock, Thad Jones, Ron Carter, Jerome Richardson and Grady Tate this makes for a glorious listening experience. From the opening intro ‘Blessing Over The Candles’ which comes on like the dawning of a bright new day, through intoxicating moments like ‘Sanctification’, the bossa flavoured ‘Kiddush’ to the concluding ‘Final Amen’ this music is truly a blessing to behold.

Andy Allen

Originally released in 1979 jazz trombonist Gregory Charles Royal’s super rare ‘Dream Come True‘ finally gets a reissue. The in-demand up-tempo waltz ‘Dancer’ did make an appearance over ten years ago on the dubious looking compilation ‘A Good Example Of What It Is’ on Higher Learning Records but it’s great to have it again on a quality pressing. The said track is nothing short of exquisite and definitely the standout here, but not to be overlooked is the funky title track and the melancholy ‘For You’ on which Gregory provides some fragile vocals.

Andy Allen

Although I’ve always admired Paul Weller’s music and of course his impeccable dress sense his releases are not usually found within these pages. Of course soul music has always been an influence on him but on ’22 Dreams’ he explores a vast array of styles resulting in a dream like sequence of flashing random thoughts which somehow flow in natural progression. The tracks which will appeal to readers of these pages however are his tribute to Alice Coltrane ‘Song For Alice’, an orchestrated deep jazz instrumental you’d swear was a long lost gem from the woman herself, ‘Cold Moments’ which combines acoustic pop-folk with a heavy dose of soul sway, the folk meets East End barrow boy sounding ‘Black River’ and ‘God’ with spoken word from Aziz Ibrahim having a talk with The Mighty One Above in heartfelt working class bloke kind of way. It’s out there but that’s the way I like it!

Andy Allen

I recently had the pleasure of witnessing the enchanting Elizabeth Shepherd at The Vancouver Jazz Festival performing some of the tracks from her new album ‘Parkdale’, named after the Toronto neighbourhood in which she resides. This, her sophomore album however expands the trio to a quartet or quintet on certain tracks and is produced by Ben Lamdin (Nostalgia 77). Elizabeth describes her style as groove based jazz which is particularly evident on the funky ‘Long As You’re Living’, ‘Just One Song’ and the title track, the Latinesque ‘Con Alma’ and the dancer ‘Mirror Living’. The standouts for me though are the mellower cuts ‘Shining Tear Of The Sun’, ‘Next Time Around’ and ‘Higher Ground’ (no not Stevie’s) which showcase Elizabeth’s voice and song writing abilities beautifully.

Andy Allen

With two singles already under their belt the Italian jazz trio LTC now deliver their debut album. ‘Easy Does It’, ‘Meninos Das Laranjas’ and ‘Just Give Me Time’ from the singles are present but stronger in my opinion is the their take on the modal masterpiece ‘Anthony And Cleopatra’s Love’ and the blistering dancers ‘A Different View’ and ‘Shibuya Crossing’. Another classic from Ricky-Tick!

Andy Allen

Still Music’s subsidiary label Past Due has already built up a strong reputation for releasing super rare or previously unreleased disco and boogie cuts complete with remixes on 12”. Now label boss Jerome Derradji teams up with BBE and selects ten tracks for ‘The American Boogie Down’. Some of the tracks have already been out on Past Due but even if you’ve got them there’s plenty here to make this an essential purchase. Highlights include ‘Get It’ by The Morning After, The Right Direction’s ‘Midnight Rhythm’, Devarne’s ‘You Are Number One’, the P-Funk flavoured ‘Get Up Get Down And Let Your Body Pop’ from Geyship Daviz, DIT’s slick ‘You Bring Out The Best In Me’ and the infectious synth laden ‘Galaxy’ by Visions Of Tomorrow’. There’s also a bonus disc featuring all ten tracks mixed by Derradji himself.

Andy Allen