Erik Escobar
New Brazilian Trio EP

Essential Contempory Jazz from Poland. Do not miss it. Polish septet EABS apply an innovatve approach to jazz, distlling itthrough the prism of hip-hop, blending it with elements of soul, funk andelectronic music. ‘Slavic Spirits’ was 2 years in the making and contains100% original material. They are joined by 22a head-honcho Tenderloniouswho lends his exceptonal soprano saxophone and flute playingto all seven tracks.For this LP the musicians turned to Slavic mythology and Polish demonology, whilepondering upon the contemporary spiritual conditon of Poles. The enigmatc“Slavic melancholy” remains the main inspiraton, as the band tried to extract itfrom their own DNA. ‘Slavic Spirits’ is an endeavour to get in touch with the worldof a long and brutally lost culture which, due to lack of sources, will never bethoroughly explored.Personnel: Marek Pedziwiatr (piano, synths & vocal), Vojto Monteur (guitar),Pawel Stachowiak (bass), Jakub Kurek (trumpet), Olaf Wegier (tenor saxophone),Marcin Rak (drums), Spisek Jednego (samples, sound fx &percussion), special guest: Tenderlonious (soprano saxophone & flute)

Underground Canopy, Paloma Paloma – Même Heure Même Endroit

Last seen effortlessly fusing bossa-nova, broken beat and soul-jazz on Heavenly Recordings (2021's excellent 'Angela'), Caixa Cubo pops up on Jazz N Milk with a pleasingly summery, sun-splashed set. The Brazilian trio's trademark sound naturally draws on their love of samba and the jazz-fusion excellent of countrymen Azymuth, but also touches on deeper and dreamier shades of nu-jazz, the jazz-funk exploits of Herbie Hancock, percussion-rich Afro-jazz, and sumptuous downtempo grooves. It's great listening music, with the core trio frequently serving up music that sounds bigger and more expansive than you'd expect from such a slimmed-down line-up. Recommended!

As-Shams Archive Vol. 1 introduces the core catalogue of As-Shams/The Sun, the independent record label that documented some of the most exciting developments in jazz, funk and soul from South Africa in the 1970s. With 10 tracks from 10 iconic albums featuring 10 different artists and 10 original compositions, this 2LP compilation delivers 85 minutes of South African music history. Including essential tracks by the likes of Dick Khoza, Black Disco and Harari, remastered from the original analog tapes and housed in a gatefold art sleeve, As-Shams Archive Vol. 1 is an unbeatable introduction to South African rare groove for new listeners as well as a long-awaited first anthology for the label’s many devoted followers.

For their first outing, new London-based reissue label Foam On A Wave resurface the remarkable debut album from one of the UK's foremost artists of 'ambient techno', Ultramarine's 'Folk'. Like the surrealist collage of the sleeve designed by Benoît Hennebert, Ultramarine weave together unique instrumentation and sonic influences into rich, ethereal soundscapes, now fully remastered for its 30th anniversary.Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond admitted they weren't totally sure what they were doing when they signed a record deal with the famously bohemian label Les Disques du Crépuscule and found themselves on their way to Brussels. There, over a two week stint, the Essex duo recorded the album - drawing on a kaleidoscopic palette influenced by both the Canterbury scene's jazz-infused psychedelia, as well as the contemporary Benelux scene, with particular nods to the likes of Benjamin Lew, The Durutti Column and Anna Domino. Conceived at a time when technology began reshaping the process of recording and production, the band's interest in fusing the organic and the electronic is apparent, and one that has remained with them throughout their career.'Folk' both sits apart from and serves as a precursor to the 'pastoral techno' sound Ultramarine went on to pioneer. Following US and European tours alongside Orbital and Bjork, a few more albums and collaborations with the likes of Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers, plus remixes for and by Everything But The Girl, Carl Craig, Luke Slater and more, they folded the project for a number of years. Last year the band returned to their inaugural imprint with the ethereal 'Signals Into Space'. Albeit somewhat sparser, more sedate, it is in some ways a coming full-circle to the jazz-laden, analogue sound of their debut, which makes reissuing 'Folk' feel all the more timely.

First time vinyl reissue of Jose Roberto Bertrami's 1966 ‘José Roberto Trio’ via Far Out Recordings. Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertrami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others.