Australian duo Confection (Josh Beagley and Juanita Tippins) follow up their debut single with a very tasty long player. Although this is all brand new material you’d swear it was a long lost soul set from around 1984. Both ‘Fantasisin’’, a killer down-tempo groove very much in the vein of Juicy’s classic ‘Sugar Free’ and the mid-tempo boogie outing ‘I Choose You’ from the 12” are present  plus other boogie bombs in the shape of ‘I’ve Gotta Thing (4U)’ and ‘You Got The Love’. If you’re a fan of Paul Laurence, Lillo Thomas, Kashif etc then you’re going to love this album.

Andy Allen

‘Infini’ is the debut album from Parisian based jazz vocalist Anne Wirz. She’s backed in the main by a trio (piano/Fender Rhodes, bass and drums) on this largely self penned set, much of which is sung in French. For me though it’s the covers which she excels on such as Sathima Bea Benjamin’s ‘Music’ and her amazing interpretations of ‘Maiden Voyage’ and the Carlos Garnett/Norman Connors jazz-dance classic ‘Mother Of The Future’.

Andy Allen

‘Earth Blossom’ from drummer/percussionist John Betsch is one of the rarer releases on Strata-East but thankfully Heavenly Sweetness have picked it up for reissue. Originally released in 1974 this is a beautiful example of spiritual jazz and features the haunting title track plus the percussive masterpiece ‘Ode To Ethiopia’ which has long been in demand.

Andy Allen

For his latest project Herbie delves into the Joni Mitchell songbook. With a band including Wayne Shorter and vocal performances from Norah Jones (‘Court And Spark’), Corinne Bailey Rae (‘River’), Leonard Cohen (‘The Jungle Line’) and Joni herself (‘Tea Leaf Prophecy’) this makes for a pleasant listening experience and could well see some airplay on the likes of BBC Radio 2. The real standout here though is a version of one of my all time favourite Joni tracks, ‘Edith And The Kingpin’ featuring Tina Turner. I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge fan of Ms Turner but here her vocals are more restrained than usual yet retain those wonderful earthy tones which sit perfectly on this glorious laid back jazz interpretation.

Andy Allen

It’s been almost two years since ‘Cohiba’ dropped but finally the full length album is here and it’s been well worth the wait. Both ‘Cohiba’ and ‘In The Sun’ from the 12" are present plus another twelve quality broken-soul excursions. It kicks off with a killer cosmic funk intro entitled ‘Let There Be Love’ featuring a distinctive spoken word performance from Chris Jam, before moving into the flute laced ‘Everyday’ and ‘Breathe Some Light’, a great collaboration with Atjazz. With other solid moments such as ‘Eager For The Years’ featuring Michelle Amador, ‘Afrodisiosity’ with Fyza, ‘Hurt Ya Twice’ and the two Oezlem fronted tracks, ‘More Than The Eye Can See’ and ‘Women Of The Night’ this is one album you can’t afford to miss!

Andy Allen

Compiled by Jazzanova and Erik Ott ‘Nueva Vision’ shines the spotlight on Cuba’s EGREM/Areito label between 1971 and 1989. Across 17 tracks it covers a variety of styles including jazz dance delights such as Chucho Valdes’ ‘Triton’ and ‘La Sombra’, the latter of which has an air of Bossa Tres’ ‘Imprevisto’ about it, mellow jazz-fusion with Emiliano Salvador’s ‘Angelica’ and Orchestra LA 440’s ‘Y No Me Ire’ and full on Jazz-funk in the shape of Ricardo Eddy Martinez y Expreso Ritmico’s ‘Mi Conga es laque es’. Psychedelic folk-funk is represented by Grupo Tema IV who serve up ‘Tema 4’ and ‘Yayabo’ and there’s also the superb 2-step soul cut ‘De tu amorme enamore’ from Yo, tu, el y ella. Also available is a 6 track 12" for the vinyl junkies.

Andy Allen

Originally released in very small quantities on the private Numu Numu label in 1981 ‘Fearless Warriors’ was the debut recording by Life Force, an Atlanta based group founded by Joe Jennings and Howard Nicholson. Thanks to Sonorama this spiritual jazz-fusion rarity now gets a welcome reissue. The set sits somewhere between Pharoah Sanders and Jeff Lorber’s early material and features the solid mid-tempo grooves ‘Wow’, ‘Sister Bea’ and the brilliant title track plus the bright and breezy ‘To Pharaoh With Love’, an awesome jazz dancer which should find favour at nights such as Messin’ Around and The Jazz Rooms.

Andy Allen

There’s no denying that Jill Scott is one of the most significant artists to have emerged in the past decade but since her classic debut ‘Who Is Jill Scott?’ she has never quite captured the same sense of magic. That’s not to say her subsequent releases haven’t featured some great moments, they have and ‘The Real Thing’ is no different. ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Only You’ are strong cuts on a funky mid-tempo tip but my personal favourites here are the rich down-tempo arrangements of ‘Insomnia’ and ‘My Love’. Well worth investigating for these tracks alone.

Andy Allen

Fresh for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label is the stunning debut long player from Jose James. Jose possesses a distinctive smoky quality to his voice which sits perfectly on this 10 track selection of largely down-tempo jazz works. ‘The Dreamer’ which initially appeared on ‘Brownswood Bubblers Vol. 1’ is present and correct along with the original mix of ‘Blackeyed Susan’. Other highlights include ‘Love’, a slightly funkier outing with a live, almost drum ‘n’ bass rhythm and an inspired version of ‘Nola’ originally performed by Bill Lee and Ronnie Dyson on the Spike Lee movie soundtrack ‘She’s Gotta Have It’. Touch down anywhere on this album though and you won’t be disappointed. If I had to make one slight criticism it would be that ‘Equinox’ and ‘Resolution’ from the limited edition 10" haven’t made it on to the set.

Andy Allen

Benedic Lamdin keeps the pressure on with yet another exquisite release under the guise of The Nostalgia 77 Octet. Again this is deep jazz of the highest order and features outstanding moments such as the funked up ‘Journey Home’, ‘Chola’, a stunning waltz and the modal ‘Stars’ fronted by vocalist Sophie Smith. Sophie also graces ‘One Step Out’ and ‘To Have Or To Be?’, two spiritual outings. Not to be overlooked though are the gentle meanderings of ‘Medusa’ and ‘When Love Is Strange’.

Andy Allen