Carter Jefferson
The Rise Of Atlantis

It was a time when the reigning U.S. label for jazz was CTI. The early 1970s also saw another label hit the streets, and with Rudolph Johnson's Spring Rain, Black Jazz offered a kind of counter to the CTI Sound. Airtight and with little or no reverb, it was an even starker contrast to yet another new label of the time, Europe's ECM Records. And, with 1971's Spring Rain, we heard what now sounds even more vibrant, a resonant recording quality that found everyone from Ray Pounds' drums peppered and punctuated with just the right amount of sizzle, akin to what Billy Cobham, Bernard Purdie and Steve Gadd were doing over at CTI. Likewise, Reggie Johnson's rich, fat bass and John Barnes' crystal-clear piano are also all over these songs. But, it's the main attraction, tenor saxophonist Rudolph Johnson, who sounds like a well-bred catalogue of stylists, from Eddie Harris and his trademark sass and spunk-funk to Charles Lloyd before Lloyd sounded like the tenorist we've come to know, with traces of John Coltrane thrown in for good measure. It's a composite where the man still comes out sounding like himself." --John Ephland; Personnel Rudolph Johnson (tenor), John Barnes (piano), Reggie Johnson (bass), Ray Pounds (drums).

The ‘Abroad EP’ catalogues a period of time spent travelling Japan in the spring of 2019. Throughout the course of the month-long trip, Rudy carried around a portable recorder, capturing various sounds that caught his ear. That collection of found sounds would eventually become the foundation for the EP, each track utilizing a handful of different recordings ranging from bird calls in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, to windchimes in the coastal town of Kawazu. The EP took a full year of patient, daily work to complete, during which time Rudy invited a diverse group of collaborators in to help finish the songs. Throughout the recording process, harp, saxophone, and violin parts were added to create a unique blend of organic and electronic sounds.

Michel Legrand's cult soundtrack for Jacques Deray's 1969 classic 'La Piscine' gets reissued with three bonus tracks making their vinyl debut. Featuring newly remastered audio, gatefold sleeve designed by Eric Adrian Lee and Liner notes by Jeremy Allen (The Guardian, The Quietus).The RSD Edition will also include Michel Legrand's super rare and funky 7" OST for Deray's 1972 film 'Un Homme Est Mort'.

Third part in the series from new project Cotonete, made up of members of Ethio Jazz group Akalé Wubé and keyboardist Florian Pellissier. Wicked 70's style jazz-funk featuring remixes by the French producer Hugo LX, the Parisian duo Vox Low & P.Scott Sistrum from Detroit. Recommended!

After an extended hiatus punctuated by rare live performances, The Shaolin Afronauts returned on September 16th with The Fundamental Nature of Being, an epic five LP box-set release that expands the sonic vision of the ensemble to towering new heights of burning afro-funk alongside esoteric and ethereal new sonic excursions. This expanded musical journey further explores the wide spectrum of the...