Various Cagnet
Long Vacation Original Soundtrack / ロングバケーション オリジナル･サウンドトラック

Rewind to 1975, Brazilian supergroup Azymuth hit their richest creative vein with this self-titled full-length. Just as the band remain so themselves, this is still hugely relevant and ridiculously on-point considering it's 40 years on the clock. Proof can be found on every track from the sedative harmonic charms of the opener "Linha Do Horizonte", the raw slap bass funk, velvet keys and soaring synths on "Seems Like This" and the frenetic, almost techy mentality of "Wait For My Turn". An essential addition to any collection, this would have blown minds to pieces back in 1975.

After a sling of instantly sold-out 45s through his Bandcamp (we're talking minutes here), it's tempting to say that Soul Supreme got a Midas touch. But that doesn't do justice to his hard work and carefully crafted reinterpretations of music by A Tribe Called Quest, Madvillain, Mos Def & others. The newest addition: not one but two 45s around Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla.The Amsterdam-based keyboardist/producer takes on 'Let's Ride' (Q-Tip) and 'Runnin' (The Pharcyde) on the first donut. This other 45 contains a medley of 'The Official' (Jaylib) and 'Fall In Love' (Slum Village), and two unsung Jay Dee beats: 'Still Shining,' as produced for Busta Rhymes, which has never seen the light of day as an instrumental. Another never-before-released Jay Dee beat is 'Feelin' Good', an essential case of Dilla's unparalleled ear for swing. Sidetrack: look up the Bling47 Breaks video later with House Shoes's story on giving Jay Dee the Frank Cunimondo Trio record, with a VHS video of T3 and Baatin going crazy in Detroit's The Shelter to Jay Dee's 'Feelin' Good' flip. Pure gold.The Detroit visionary reimagined 'groove' and sampling. On his turn, Soul Supreme takes on Dilla's timing, rhythms, and harmonies. Think of how in the final part of "Runnin'," the keys start to follow the well-hidden, heavily filtered sample on The Pharcyde's original, instead of the main melody. Or how there's punch to J-Zone's drumming on "Let's Ride" as there's punch to the MPC3000. How Jonny Murray improvises on trumpet rather than replaying the sample. The marriage of Rhodes and synths on "Fall In Love" resemble Soul Supreme's trademark sound as showcased on last year's self-titled LP. Built on top of that, the two 45 releases (sold separately) are all-original takes on Jay Dee-produced classics.

The musical partnership between vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and tenor saxophonist Harold Land fully blossomed on the 1970 album San Francisco, which found the musicians moving into fusion territory with relentlessly grooving tunes like “Goin’ Down South” and “Ummh” counterbalanced by exploratory pieces like the mesmerizing “Prints Tie.”This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.