Robert Strauss follows up his debut album ‘Quasars & Phasars’ (Freerange) with an even stronger set. Whilst contemporary, ‘Mr. Feelings’ is heavily influenced by the feel-good grooves of 80s soul. With boogie bombs like ‘Music Is My Life’ fronted by Richie Henessey, ‘Miami Jammin’ and ‘Hot Like An Oven’ featuring the legendary Leroy Burgess. This should be huge.

Andy Allen

Renowned jazz artist Doug Hammond makes a welcome return with his first studio album in 20 years. With Doug on drums, sanza and vocals accompanied occasionally by Kirk Lightsey on piano this is an extremely sparse set but one that retains the magical quality of his 70s recordings for Tribe. ‘A Real Deal’ is consistent throughout but the tracks particularly worth mentioning are ‘Dope Of Power Suite (Four Tet Club Mix)’, ‘Rizz Biz’, ‘Moves’ and the stunningly beautiful ‘A Tear’.

Andy Allen

It’s been two years since jazz poet Norman A. Woods, AKA N-Side first came to my attention via ‘Three Voices From The N-Side’. That particular set brought together tracks from three separate but at that time unreleased albums, one of which was ‘Jazz Opera’ so it’s great to see the full set finally see the light of day. ‘Jazz Opera’ is N-Side’s tribute to drummer William Richard “Smiley” Winters who worked with some of jazz music’s all time greats including Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Lester Young and John Coltrane. It features original music conducted by Winters himself and performed and recorded in 1973 by Les Oublies De Jazz Ensemble with Ed Kelly (Theresa Records) on piano. The music is interspersed with commentary by Winters taken from a previously unreleased interview. Together these elements form the basis for N-Side to deliver his unique and thought provoking poetry to great effect. ‘Vanguard Five’, ‘The Art Of Traveling Black’, ‘Voices’ and the title track are all essential listening but each track is a masterpiece in it’s own right. Although this CD is not yet widely available, do yourself a favour and track it down. (Try cdbaby).

Andy Allen

The second release this month from N-Side and one which sees him take a slightly different path. Of course his distinctive poetry delivery is present and correct but the musical accompaniment, largely provided by Ricardo Love journey’s into soul/hip-hop territory. ‘What Comes From The Mouth Of A Fool, ‘Hero, I Know’, ‘Discovery (A Gift Within A Verse)’ and ‘Hidden Scars And Movie Stars’ work particularly well and deserve to receive serious attention from the organic soul fraternity. 

Andy Allen

Recorded in 1980 but not released until 2001, Olivier Peter’s ‘Wings Of Spring’ now gets a welcome repress. Olivier’s sax takes the lead on this consistent set with the title track being one of the standouts. It’s the tracks featuring the captivating vocals of Joan Johnson which really shine though such as the Latin tinged ‘Full Moon’ and the supreme jazz dancer ‘Kekay’ on which Johnson lets rip in scat mode.

Andy Allen

This retrospective of Bobby Matos’ recordings for the Ubiquity/Luv N Haight subsidiary Cubop is a must for any fan of Latin jazz. Much of the material here is aimed directly at the dance floor and whilst you can’t help being drawn in by the intoxicating rhythms it’s the gentler moments which appeal to me the most. His versions of John Coltrane’s ‘Naima’ and Pharoah Sanders’ ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ are both outstanding as is his take on Miles’ ‘So What’. If you’ve overlooked Bobby Matos in the past and feel the urge to acquaint yourself with his music, then this album is a great place to start.

Andy Allen

Although recorded in the late 60s this is the first ever release of this album. It came about following DJ Food’s discovery of The Dragons’ ‘Food For My Soul’ on an old surfing movie soundtrack. He eventually tracked down the band to find they had recorded a full album of material which until now had never been issued. ‘BFI’ is very much based in psychedelic rock but with heavy doses of funk and jazz thrown in for good measure. ‘Food For My Soul’ is definitely the strongest cut on show but not to be overlooked are ‘Are You There?’, ‘Sunset Scenery’ and ‘Your Way Too’.

Andy Allen

The third album from Clara Hill, as the title suggests, is a folk orientated affair which although is a pleasant, overall lacks the impact of her previous outings. That’s not to say there aren’t any great tracks here, there are, particularly the duet with Thief, ‘About You’, the Minnie Riperton influenced ‘Wonderful World’ and the Marc Mac produced ‘Everything’. It just would have been nice to have a few more tracks of this standard included.

Andy Allen

The fourth volume in the ‘Secret Love’ series and yet another quality selection of modern tripped-out folk delights. Midlake’s ‘Roscoe (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Mix)’, ‘Duet’ by Breaks Co-Op, Roe Beck’s ‘Atlantic’ and ‘The Loved’ from Paul Weller are tracks I was previously unfamiliar with but all instantly hit the spot. Also included is Clara Hill’s ‘About You’ from her new ‘Folkwaves’ album, ‘Down Down’ by Thief, Nostalgia 77’s Little Steps and ‘Twice’ by Yukimi Nagano’s new project Little Dragon.

Andy Allen

Japanese jazz quartet Quasimode follow up their debut ‘Oneself-Likeness’ with another first rate set packed with firing jazz dance material. ‘The Man From Nagpur’, ‘For Self Defense’, ‘Percussion Revolver’ and ‘Dark Beauty’ featuring Mika Arisaka all hit the spot but what makes this album so special is a guest appearance from my favourite female jazz vocalist bar none, Carmen Lundy. She graces the spoken word intro ‘Over The Horrizon’, the immaculate ‘Object In The Mirror’ and a new version of her classic ‘Time Is Love’. Need I say more!

Andy Allen