Ray Bryant : Up Above The Rock

Ray Bryant was an American jazz pianist and composer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although he could always play bop, Ray Bryant's playing combined together older elements (including blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and even stride) into a distinctive, soulful, and swinging style.
Bryant started his career playing with Tiny Grimes in the late '40s. He became the house pianist at The Blue Note in Philadelphia in 1953, where he backed classic jazz greats (including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Lester Young) and made important contacts. Bryant settled in New York in 1959, played with Sonny Rollins, Charlie Shavers, and Curtis Fuller; and soon had his own trio. He had a few funky commercial hits (including "Little Susie" and "Cubano Chant") that kept him working for decades. After a lengthy illness, Ray Bryant died in Queens, New York on June 2, 2011; he was 79 years old.

 

Jukka Eskola : Orquesta Bossa

"The Orquesta Bossa project started actually with a live gig in January 2012 when I had a chance to produce a concert for a line up with a quintet plus a string quartet. The material was Jazz and Bossa standards, nothing unusual. The sound of the combo got stuck in my mind, I just loved the traditional Bossa sound of the rhythmic section, combined with the front line horns and the string quartet adding a little bit more modern angle to it. So I decided to make more of the project and compose some original tunes and make an album.
"The musicians on the album are the cream of Finnish jazz players, and classical players when it comes to the strings. The recording sessions were made in a very traditional way, all 9 musicians playing 100% live takes in the same small space. We used old 50's and 60's tube microphones and recorded on an analog 8-track tape recorder." Jukka Eskola
 

Perez Prado : Circle (Gerardo Frisina Edit)

Taken from “Escandalo” by Perez Prado & Don Alfio, “Circle” was written by Mario Rusca and performed by some amazing musicians such as Tullio De Piscopo, Hugo Heredia and Pino Presti. Perez Prado is Pantaleon Perez Prado, the younger brother of the “King of Mambo” who came to Europe in the 50s and recorded several albums with Unifunk. “Circle” is a strong track with a killer groove and it’s not hard to imagine it as the perfect score for a car chase. On the b-side we have Gerardo Frisina with an edit of “Circle”.
 

Nightmares On Wax : Now Is The Time

Nightmares On Wax returns after a five-year absence with ‘Feelin’ Good’, an eclectic collection of playful, sun-soaked tracks that sees Warp Records’ longest-serving artist George Evelyn at his most joyful and musically ambitious.
Having grown up in Leeds, George Evelyn decided to pack his bags and move over to Ibiza seven years ago, and this drastic change in both lifestyle and climate is more evident than ever on this new album. “It was always a natural dream to make music in the sun like I do now,” Evelyn said.
While every Nightmares On Wax release draws from a staggering number of influences, ‘Feelin’ Good’ relates very closely to Evelyn’s own Ibiza club night, Wax Da Jam, where he soundtracks a night of groove, experimentation, percussion and improvisation, featuring guests such as DJ Shadow and Roots Manuva. Evelyn explains: “It’s been pivotal to my music making... everyone turns up as individuals but everybody leaves as one.” Listening to ‘Feelin’ Good’, you can feel the same euphoric, positive vibes seeping through the music, providing the perfect soundtrack to a blissful Ibizan sunrise.
Evelyn recruited a truly virtuosic line-up of musicians for the recording of ‘Feelin’ Good’. With orchestrations and strings by Jazzanova arranger Sebastian Studnitzky, drums by the masterful German jazz percussionist Wolfgang Haffner and a vocal feature from Mozez of Zero 7 fame, this album is full to the brim with undeniable talent.
 

Four Tet : Parallel Jalebi

Kieran Hebden (born 1978) released the seventh Four Tet album, Beautiful Rewind, in October 2013. Four Tet is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist. Hebden has an abstract approach, his sound and melodies incorporate elements of hip hop, electronica, techno, jazz, grime and folk music with live instrumentation. His newer works are inspired heavily by house and electronic music.
 

LascaMão : Caminho De Minas

Names You Can Trust presents the International debut release of the Brazilian percussion ensemble LascaMão. Comprised of eight members including one of the true masters of Brazilian percussion, Robertinho Silva, the sound of the group is the fruit of several years researching the different rhythms and interactions of Brazil's rich musical influences. The result is a modern & heavy mix of Afro-Brazilian traditions created specifically for the dance, an invitation for your feet to travel throughout the sound of the drums and the texture of the voices. This sure-fire single lets the rhythms breath in full on both tracks, lead by the seductive timbre of the cuíca on Rufar dos Tamborins, and the bubbling intensity of the vocal chants on Caminho de Minas.
 

Floating Points : Vacuum Boogie

A repress of the 12" Vacuum Boogie is an excellent excuse to post this classic clubtrack. "Vacuum Boogie," as the title suggests flows upwards, straight into air. The melodies reach, reach, reach until you're nearly ready to dive into the track yourself and push them where they so obviously want to go. This sort of unresolved tension is where Points, AKA Sam Shepherd, excels. You're either hanging on to the edge of your seat or hanging on to your dancing partner waiting for the hit. The same goes for "Truly" and "Argonaute II," on a more muted scale. The groove is paramount, the instruments locked into a Bolero build that only rarely gets extinguished, only to be built up again. Shepherd's talent on this particular EP is in creating glowing bits of soul and then simply letting them run their course.
 

Mala : Como Como feat. Dreiser & Sexto Sentido (Theo Parrish Remix)

Fresh from inaugurating his new Wildheart imprint with a killer collaboration with Tony Allen, cult Motor City producer Theo Parrish (Sound Signature / 3 Chairs) maintains the languorous, dreamy vibe of Mala’s original but opens out the groove, allowing the South Londoner’s warm sub-bass to flex its muscle. The bass weight is tempered by deep, mantric keys; the soft choral vocals of Sexto Sentido; and Dreiser’s spiritual incantations. The results of a true culture clash, ‘Mala in Cuba’ marries the intricate rhythms and deep, spiritual roots of Cuba with Mala’s own roots in South London and his dedication to bass culture. Travelling to Havana with DJ / broadcaster / record collector Gilles Peterson and fellow producer Simbad in 2011 – where they were recording sessions for Gilles’s ‘Havana Cultura: The Search Continues’ album at Abdala Studios – Mala installed himself in a small studio across the corridor from the main hub. With a constant stream of gifted local musicians and vocalists passing through, from diva Danay Suarez to the legendary percussionist Changuito and acclaimed pianist Roberto Fonseca, this was a true journey of discovery for everyone concerned.