Siegfried Kessler
Man And Animals

Debut album from Okawa & The Rulers!Takeshi Okawa a.k.a. Okawa 78 is a skilled saxophonist also knows as one of a very few DJs specialised in 1920-50's world roots music who only plays out on 78 RPM records. Under his wing a whole bunch of Japanese musicians gathered to form The Rulers, experimenting with the authentic music from Africa, South America and blending into ska and soul funk creating a new groove of their own. Musicians include members from The Netandars, Sly Mongoose, Oi-Skall Mates, Rub-A-Dub Market, The 69 Yobsters, and Soil & Pimp Sessions.

“The semi-classical drums/sax/piano trio Mammal Hands mutate into a high-volume rave act” The GuardianMammal Hands are pleased to announce the release of their highly anticipated fourth album ‘Captured Spirits’, released 11th September via Manchester tastemaker record label, Gondwana Records.Consisting of saxophonist Jordan Smart, pianist Nick Smart and drummer and tabla player Jesse Barrett, the trio have forged a growing reputation for their hypnotic fusion of jazz and electronica and have recieved glowing recommendations from the likes of The Guardian and Gilles Peterson. Drawing on their love of electronic, contemporary classical, world, folk and jazz music, Mammal Hands take in influences including Pharoah Sanders, Gétachèw Mekurya, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Sirishkumar Manji.Forming in Norwich in 2012, brothers Nick and Jordan along with Jesse, developed their distinctive and polished sound with their meteoric live shows and release of three critically acclaimed albums: ‘Animalia’ (2014), ‘Floa’ (2016) and ‘Shadow Work (2017). Landmark live performances have included shows at The Roundhouse London, the main stage at Field Day Festival, La Cigale Paris, Montreal Jazz Festival, Hamburg Elb Jazz, Athens Technopolis and Unit Tokyo.Teaming up once again with trusted producer George Atkins (Wiley, The Courteeners) at 80 Hertz Studios in Manchester, ‘Captured Spirits’ explores themes including existence and displacement. “The name has multiple readings but was first inspired by something Jordan was reading about past experiences of ancestors being caught and coded into our DNA and having an effect on who you are today. This ties in with themes that we have touched on before relative to identity and the collective unconscious (‘Shadow Work’). It also toys with the idea of feeling contained/trapped and the need to break out of something and also the idea of people being spirits that are "captured" in a body”, says Nick.Opening with the melodic rhythmic patterns of ‘Ithaca’, the tempo picks up with the mesmerising ‘Chaser’, as heavy percussion and Nick’s frenetic keys draw the listener deep into Mammal Hand’s distinctive soundsphere. North Indian influences dictate the meditative ‘Versus Shapes’ with Jesse’s transcendental tabla playing taking centre stage while the dark and moody ‘Spiral Stair’ relies on a multitude of colliding and intersecting shapes and sounds.All three members of the band contribute equally to the writing process: one that favours the creation of a powerful group dynamic over individual solos. “I think with this record, there was a strong and renewed sense of collective enjoyment and appreciation for the process and each other's contributions. After a long period of touring and a slow build up to the actual recording sessions we were able to mull over ideas for long periods, build on lessons from the past and pull our playing connection to an even deeper place. Realising each other's visions for the whole and clearly understanding how they intersect”, says Jesse.That vision is also realised by longtime collaborator and artist Daniel Halsall who designed the artwork for ‘Captured Spirits’. His strong instinctive feel for the band’s visual world is a key component to understanding the music. “Our work with Dan over such a long period of time now has become integral to the bands aesthetic and he always seems to grasp the themes and ideas that we send for each album and distills them into something striking and engaging that really complements the music. This is really important with instrumental music, as we need to be able to convey our ideas without being too literal or definitive and give the listeners space for imagination and to take their own journey when they listen to the music and look at the artwork”, says Jordan.Elsewhere across ‘Captured Spirits’, ‘Riddle’ and ‘Rhizome’ are rich in texture and heavy on groove and both compositions showcase a complex, emotional range and demonstrate three like-minded musicians with a dazzling understanding of jazz, electronica and cinematic rhythms. “Music has the capacity to fill so many spaces in our lives, as I think fundamentally it is a more direct form of communication than even language. In this way it can be refuge, it can be social, it can be revelatory, it can be memory, it can be what we need at a given point in time”, says Jordan.The high intensity of the trio’s live shows is recreated with the spiritual jazz-influenced ‘Into Sparks’ as Jordan’s sax exhibits an unrestrained energy and freedom but it’s left to ‘Little One’ to bring down the curtain on arguably their most accomplished album to date, a soothing,

Le musicien et tenancier des groupe et bar fictifs Mild High Club signe un quatrième album en forme de purgatoire pour temps troublés.Quand certains disques, comme les derniers albums en date de Björk, semblent être le produit ou une fraction d’une dimension parallèle vaste comme le monde et totalement inexplorée, d’autres ont l’air, à l’inverse, d’appartenir à un espace-temps plus modeste aux limites connues.C’est le cas de Going Going Gone, nouvel album du génial multi-instrumentiste Alexander Brettin, qui rassemble tout ce qu’on entendrait dans un petit bar de nuit qui porterait le nom de son vrai-faux groupe : le Mild High Club où funk déglinguée, bidouillages électroniques, musique brésilienne et free jazz cohabitent sans heurt.

Comet Records presents from Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, N.E.P.A Reissue LP Vinyl remastered and coming in an heavy Deluxe Tip-On Jacket.In 1979, Tony Allen decided to leave Fela Kuti & Africa 70 and moved to London in 1982. Originally Released in 1984 on Earthworks Records, this reissue holds an extra track previously unreleased on vinyl called “Olokun”. N.E.P.A (Never Expect Power Always) is a searing critique of the Nigerian Electric Power Authority, an organisation that governed the use of electricity in Nigeria.It starts out with the title track, with a definite Afro-beat punch. Electro-claps stand as part of the percussion line, adding to a more modern look at what Afro-beat was becoming.This is followed by an even further modernized piece of Afro-beat, as the title track is given a dub mix. “When One Road Close” has a similar pace, and is similarly followed by a dub remix, complete with the necessary space-effects reverb.And to make this reissue extra special the track “Olokun” was never released on vinyl before.Blending the nascent rise of electronica into Afrobeat production, it’s tighter than any Fela album and became a definitive project in shaping Allen’s future sound. Whether it’s the electro beats or the punchier, multilayered arrangement, it instantly stands out in Allen’s vast and expansive discography.

Strut present an exclusive collaboration between two jazz greats, Bennie Maupin and Adam Rudolph, on ‘Symphonic Tone Poem For Brother Yusef’, originally commissioned by the Angel City Jazz festival in Claremont, to mark the late, great Yusef Lateef’s 100th birthday on 9th October, 2020.The album weaves a magical, meditative path across five movements, combining electronics, saxophone, voices and Rudolph’s wide palette of percussion from hand drums to thumb pianos and gongs. “I learned so much from Yusef about intervals,” explains Rudolph. “Greats like Yusef, Ornette Coleman and Coltrane stopped using traditional harmonic forms and introduced systems of working with intervals. So, there was an intellectual process with this album, but mostly it was just intuitive. What I love about intuition is that it erases its own tracks behind it. On the 5th Movement of this album, I was working around a major seventh but 90% of what happened was instinctive. It is a unique moment; you can’t go back and recreate it.”Both artists bring unparalleled experience to the project. Detroit’s Bennie Maupin is best known for his work with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew, Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters and Eddie Henderson. Chicago percussionist Adam Rudolph was Yusef Lateef’s percussionist for 20 years and has worked with many other jazz luminaries including Pharoah Sanders, Wadada Leo Smith and Don Cherry. His work with Mandingo Griot Society during the ‘70s and ‘80s and, more recently, leading Hu Vibrational and Go Organic Orchestra constantly break new ground in the use and context of percussion.“Brother Yusef was a luminous being who continues to be an inspiration to so many of us,” continues Rudolph. “He was a great teacher, not only of music, but also of how to live as an artist and as a human being.”

It's been a long time since the UK jazz scene was as thriving and fertile as it is right now, and one of the most fascinating artists currently doing it is Emma-Jean Thackray. UM Yang is her long-envisaged project "dedicated to the Taoist philosophy of duality and harmony" and it has been record straight to vinyl, lending the sounds a real, visceral feel. The DJ, beat maker, trumpeter, singer and composer draws on all her skills to collide worlds here as she leads a septet into the unknown. Free jazz, wailing trumpets, deconstructed marching bands and so much more make for a dense tapestry of sound that leaves you spellbound.