Malombo Jazz Makers
Down Lucky's Way (500 copies Ltd)

Juan Pablo Torres was one of the best trombone players in the Latin-jazz community of the second half of the 20th century.He was the director of Algo Nuevo and a member of Irakere, two of the leading exponents of Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1970s and 1980s. He has also directed various Cuban supergroups such as Estrellas de Areito and Cuban Masters.Almost all of his albums were made for Areito de La Habana, Cuba.‘Cuba Disco’ was the only album released in his name in Europe; recorded in Milan in 1984 and produced by Aldo Pagani. In Italy in the same year he participated in two records by Pino Daniele and one by Astor Piazzolla.Accompanied by his faithful Gruppo Algo Nuevo, with the addition of some guests such as the Italian jazz guitarist Angelo Arienti, his traditional Afro-Cuban vein is contaminated by disco and balearic moments; as in the case of the magnificent ‘Bermuda Triangle’ which anticipates the current atmosphere of Nu Genea.Limited edition. Released from the transfer of the original master tape.

Mauricio Takara and Carla Boregas have long been key players in the experimental and underground music scene in São Paulo, Brazil and have recently relocated in Berlin.Grande Massa D'Agua (Great Body of Water) is their second album as a duo and it sees them continue to explore themes related to water as they dive into uncharted musical depths. In discussing the duo's relationship with water, Mauricio said:“...In the beginning of the pandemic we decided to take a turn and move to a small beach close to São Paulo, and that's right in the middle of the rainforest, so by then water definitely took a major role in our lives. We were living right in between the ocean and a waterfall, it´d rain for days on a roll sometimes and it was an open house where we had the sound of rain 360 degrees around us... I kinda think our music has a little of those different dynamics of water in its different states. Also, it might seem strange but São Paulo is a city in the water too, and it has a very chaotic relationship with it.”The music itself is difficult to pin down, always kinetic and driven by Takara's fluid, nimble percussion; there's a freeness to the sound as a whole, but also an atmosphere of tight discipline as the pair harness and channel the elemental force from which they've drawn the inspiration for their works. At times the lines between Takara's skittish percussion and Boregas' idiosyncratic synth work and sound manipulation blur into flowing rivers or torrents of sound - here, both water and sound have the ability to awaken in us different memories, and emotional or physical states.If you're looking for precedents we could say their sound contains clear influences from jazz, the most heavily manipulated vintage dub or krautrock, the outer limits of what punk can be. Possible contemporaries might include Holy Tongue, Shackleton or Oren Ambarchi, but really you'll just have to listen and draw your own conclusions.Carla Boregas' other projects include Fronte Violeta and Rakta, as well as being a prolific solo artist and co-founder of AUTA, a venue dedicated to experimental music in São Paulo (2019-2020), and the record label Dama Da Noite.Mauricio Takara also plays with the bands Hurtmold and São Paulo Underground (with trumpeter Rob Mazurek from Chicago), as well as sitting in on live sessions with an array of improv / experimental / jazz figures such as Pharoah Sanders, Damo Suzuki, Yusef Lateef, Joe Lally, Naná Vasconcelos, Prefuse 73, Makoto Kawabata.

In a natural departure from their intoxicating signature new-wave-jazz-funk sound, reverberating with the essence of electro-street-soul in the UK, STR4TA’s ‘‘When You Call Me’ received early support from Rampage (BBC 1Xtra) and Deb Grant (Jazz FM) plus NTS, Mi-Soul, Solar Radio, KCRW (US), KEXP (US), Concrete Islands, CRACK Magazine, Nu-Funk (Spotify) also achieved Jazz FM playlist since its release in early April. Brownswood are excited to announce this release on 12” vinyl available instores on 8th July, with the B-side ‘Night Flight’ released digitally on July 1st 2022.In this celestial union, Peterson acts as the catalyst spurring Maunick into the studio with a handful of references from a bygone era, where the staple jazz-funkers of the late 70s like Freeez, Light of The World and Atmosfear collided with the rise of electro-funk production in the early 80s, the predecessor of the UK street soul sounds like Soul II Soul. A stalwart in the birth of UK street soul, Maunick produced some of the pioneers at the time, such as Steven Dante and Total Contrast. ‘Night Flight’ was inspired by Mike Collins’ Rude Movements and ‘When You Call Me’ was reminiscent of Loose Ends and Maunick’s mid-80s productions, he expresses; ‘That part of the 80s, where the drum machine kicked in, suddenly there was a sound that we who played soul, jazz and funk kind of understood and felt, but there was a coolness, a street element to it that really set it apart. That was down to its sparseness and the introduction of the drum machine, and it felt like the STR4TA story belonged to the 70s and the musical transition to the 80s.”STR4TA is the new wave jazz funk project pioneered by Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Long-time friends and collaborators, STR4TA sees them mine new musical possibilities inspired by a shared formative era. Their debut album ‘Aspects’ was released in March 2021 to a rapturous reception, in the first material that Maunick and Peterson have released together in over a decade. With standout tracks ‘We Like It’ achieving over 1 million streams on Spotify, ‘Rhythm In Your Mind’ exceeding 12 weeks on Jazz FM’s playlist, and a remix EP featuring Melé, Dave Lee, Greg Wilson, Dave Aju & more released at the end of 2021. Heavily supported by BBC 6Music, The Guardian, Wax Poetics, The Vinyl Factory, CLASH, Télérama (FR), Radio Nova (FR), Rolling Stones Italy & Japan. STR4TA are in the studio working on their latest body of work tipped for release later in 2022, with selected live dates scheduled over the summer.

Full stereo and remastered version of this classic Sun Ra album originally from 1969 - fantastic edition!

Takanayagi Masayuki's New Direction For The Art group were at the forefront of free jazz and improvisation in Japan. This recording is of a 1971 concert which took place at the Gen'yasai festival, and it captures a moment of confrontation between anti-establishment politics and avant-garde music which drew a hostile response from the crowd. The performance erupts in a cacophony of noise from the very first moment, and reportedly drew catcalls and eventually missiles to be launched from the audience in reaction to the no-holds-barred approach the musicians took. It's an uncomfortable experience Masayuki referred to as mass projection, in which time itself becomes illusory as the brain searches for footholds amongst the chaos.