José Carlos Schwarz Le Cobiana Djazz
Lua Ki Di Nos

The reissue of Udu’s sole LP “Sound of the People” originally released on Love Records (Nigeria) in 1976. The band took their name from the Igbo word for a large clay jug normally used to carry water. The jug has a regular opening at the top with an additional hole on the side. In addition to being used to carry water the jug was also played by Igbo women in traditional ceremonies.It was in Lagos the Udu trio met musician, producer and owner of Love Records: Alex Tony Okoroji. The debut release on the label is Alex Tony Okoroji’s own LP Super Sure (Love Records, 1976). Today, Chief Tony Okoroji is a legend of the Nigerian music scene, but back in 1976, just like Udu, he was just starting his recording career…Both the Udu and the Alex Tony Okoroji records where recorded at legendry Arc Studio in Lagos. A studio facility initiated by Cream drummer Ginger Baker in 1972, eventually opening in January 1973. The engineers who worked on the Udu recordings had previously worked on a number of Fela Kuti Records (No Bread, Expensive Shit, Everything Scatter); whilst production and writing duties were in the hands of Alex Tony Okoroji…All of the tracks have a fairly loose, almost conversational arrangement both in the music and the lyrical delivery… For the most part the pace is relatively laid back… it’s by no means chilled-out… there’s always an element of movement…Four of the six tracks have an unexpected and subtle dance floor air: “The Chant", "Sound Of The People", “Nwanyalubi” and "New Bride Song" all have a fairly distinct and uniquely hypnotic build that once you get is seriously foot friendly from a sunrise perspective.It would be easy to say the record is psychedelic, but at times that’s an overused term for a broad spectrum of music which suggests something, but doesn’t define anything in detail… it might be better in this instance to suggest the record has an other-worldly ambience, folk in essence and potentially devotional from a regional perspective; something possibly alluded to in the both the bands’ name and the title of the record… whatever musical genres the record crosses it’s a genuine shame that it’s taken just over 40 years to reach the ears of a wider audience outside of the few people who would have heard the record at the time…Answering the question as to why the record has remained so unknown until now… although the record was recorded at Arc Studios, it was released on a fledgling independent label… in addition, musically speaking, the record doesn’t fit easily to one of the popular genres of the period. It may have been too subtle for the time and the place… falling through the cracks between Afro-Rock and Afro-Funk…

Cheick TIDIANE SECKTimbuktu: The Music Of Randy WestonKomos FranceCheick Tidiane Seck's latest album is something of an all-star affair. It sees a banquet's worth of guest musicians (including fellow African music legend Manu Dibango) help the Malian music maestro send "an Afro-Jazz prayer" to the late, great Randy Weston - a musician whose unique Pan-African vision influenced so many of his contemporaries. The resultant set is vibrant and alluring, with Seck and company underpinning Weston's fluid jazz piano motifs with dense, heavy, intricate and often delightfully polyrhythmic rhythms. There are some more atmospheric and intoxicating numbers present, too - the version of "Timbuktu" is stunning, as is the bluesy "In Memory Of" - but the album's greatest calling card remains it's energetic and effervescent approach.

A 12" comp put together by Four Tet, selecting two big peak-time Jazz tracks he used to spin regularly at Plastic People.On one side, we’ve got all time jazz greats Jackie McLean and Michael Carvin’s De I Comahlee Ah, taken from their seminal album Antiquity recorded in Denmark back in 1975. A year and a half ago, we visited Steeplechase, the original label in the outskirts of Copenhagen. They informed us that at the time, the track was cut short as it didn’t fit on the full LP. They were kind enough to provide us with the tape of the full original recording, allowing us to release for the first time the full extended version capturing twelve and a half minutes of studio magic. Speaking with Michael back in November, he told us that every song on that album was recorded without any overdubs. They had taken their shoes off and organised the studio in such a way that they could move from instrument to instrument during the take (!!)On the flip, we have Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath – MRA. Back in 70s London, the Brotherhood had brought together musicians who had sought refuge from South Africa’s apartheid regime and the best of a new generation of British jazz musicians. Music journalist Richard Williams, who had originally reviewed the band in the 1970s tell us: “They made music that appealed in equal measure to the head, the heart and the feet, taking the jazz legacy of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus and adding to it the fantastic dance rhythms and gorgeous harmonies of the townships and untethered collective improvisations of the new free music”.Four Tet’s instalment is out early May in 12” format and digitally (stream & download), first press comes with a folded A2 insert with words from and about the artists. Graphic design by Studio ChoqueLeGoff, illustration and animation by Nevil Bernard and for the audiophiles out there, remastered and cut at half speed by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios!The second instalment curated by Ben UFO is scheduled shortly, which will be followed over time by a string of releases including selections from Hunee, Mafalda, Floating Points, Anya & Julia from Javybz, Daphni, Josey Rebelle, Charlie Bones, Gilles Peterson… and more, stay tuned!

Dexter Johnson Et Le Super Star De Dakar* ‎– La BicicletaLabel:Pathé ‎– 2C 006-15.008