Many thanks to Andrew Jervis over at Bandcamp Weekly for not only sharing Sean Khan’s work but for a stellar interview with a young man who will be seen as one of the UK’s leading lights of new jazz.
Ethno-Jazz
[Music] Nu Guinea – Nuova Napoli
Nu Guinea are a couple of lads from a city which has given me a lot of pleasure and a fair amount of both headaches and heartaches, Naples. Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina will be releasing their latest album, an homage of sorts to their hometown, on April 7th.
The one track they have offered as a sample of what’s to come is a very funky affair reminiscent of the work of Tony Allen. You hear disco, funk and Afrobeat rolled into a rather amazing package.
[Music] Leonardo Pavkovic: Nothing Is Ordinary
All About Jazz does a splendid job interviewing Leonardo Pavkovic, whose imprint MoonJune Records has released some of the most vital discs of the past five years in the field of jazz and avant-progressive rock.
[Music] Joyce Moreno – Visions Of Dawn
I can’t think of a Brazilian singer I adore more than Joyce Moreno, and that’s saying quite a bit considering the legendary talent that has come out of the country.
Still, she is in top form in this album working with percussionist Naná Vasconcelos and Mauricio Maestro on vocals.
Though recorded in 1976, this release, as great as it is, didn’t see a proper release until 2009.
[Music] Mulatu Astatke and Black Jesus Experience – Cradle Of Humanity
There’s no one even close in the running of who is the King of Ethio-jazz. Until he passes on from this mortal coil, this title is Mulatu Astatke’s to keep.
This record is from May of 2016, and it features him pairing up with the Australian jazz collective Black Jesus Experience. This is the first I’ve heard of them, but they meld quite nicely with Mulatu’s vibraphone-based works.
[Music] How Salah Ragab Became an Undisputed Icon in Egyptian Jazz
There was no more important person in the realm of Egyptian jazz than drummer, bandleader and one-time collaborator with the legendary Sun Ra, Salah Ragab. Bandcamp Daily features the artist here.
[Music] The Dusko Goykovich Sextet – Swinging Macedonia (1967)
Trumpet player Dusko Goykovich released one of the finest jazz albums to ever come out of the Balkans in 1967. Swinging stuff.
[Music] Ernesto Chahoud – Ernesto Chahoud presents TAITU – Soul-fuelled Stompers from 1960s – 1970s Ethiopia
Lebanese DJ and crate-digger supreme Ernesto Chahoud has done sterling work collecting some of the most impressive 7-inch sides to come out of Ethiopia. BBE Records has done a great job in remastering and packaging this collection. What I’m looking most forward to is seeing the 3-LP collection. It looks gorgeous.
[Music] Funked Up East #28 – The Evolution of Czecho-Slovakian Jazz
A magnificent podcast out of Estonia, this current session by Funked Up East features smooth, sultry Czech and Slovak Jazz.
Track List:
Czechoslovak Radio Jazz Orchestra – Passacaglia
Karel Velebný – Ztráta Nalezeného Syna
SHQ – Epitaph for George Dillon
Jiøí Mráz – Danyáda
Karel Krautgartner – 31° ve stínu
Rudolf Dasek – Rambles
Václav Zahradník Big Band – Jazz Goes To Beat I
SHQ – Lori
Jazz Cellula – Zmoklá Voda
Jazz Ze Studio A – Ogarské Hry
Gustav Brom – If Only
[Music] Gunesh – Гунеш LP/CD (1980)
Gunesh (or, more appropriately, The Gunesh Ensemble) was a jazz-prog outfit led by one of the world’s most incredible and entertaining percussionist, the late Rishad Shafi, who died in 2014.
Presch Media GmbH has done a wonderful service in reissuing their 1980 debut, which is less flashy or jazzy, but very mellow, progressive, and showing a glimpse of their future greatness.
The good news is that the band is apparently carrying on, and judging by the mp3s I’m hearing on their website, they will be in good hands for some time to come.
