Epistrophe
Funk For You

Don't sleep on those contagious grooves!!!

The Los Angeles jazz underground would have sounded mighty different without Flight 17 - the first appearance on record of the legendary Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. the legendary band was famously lead by founder and mastermind, Horace Tapscott, and this seminal album is now finally back on wax for the first time in 40 years. The Arkestra brought totters the local creative community and gave them free rein to express themselves and boy did they do that. Tapscott's hard-swinging piano opens the reduced and there is no let up from there: this is hugely energised jazz from another dimension.

The Accra-born pianist and frontman, ROB, only released a few albums in small quantities, yet two of them are among the most sought-after records from 70’s Africa. This was the first.So what do we know? After learning his craft in Benin and playing with the likes of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, ROB returned to Accra to write his own material and find a sound.Hooked on the driving funk and raw soul of stars such as James Brown and Otis Redding, he would often imitate his heroes on his father’s piano during school holidays.The title track sets the pace with a JBs-like rhythm, ROB almost shamanic with his sparse yet commanding vocal. The organ and wahwah guitar spin us out before those imperious horns bring us back in.And what better way to close this set than with ‘More’, swept up in a call and response between Rob and his backing singers as a ‘Blow Your Head’ synth flares and the brass blasts. Good times guaranteed.As the man himself says, “Funky music is in my blood. What you hear is the coming out of my mind.” No one sounds like Rob, because there is no one like Rob.Replica original artwork. All songs licensed from Essiebons, except 'More' licensed courtesy of Analog Africa.

Linda FREDRIKSSONJuniperWe Jazz FinlandLinda Fredriksson (they/them) shares their debut solo album "Juniper" on We Jazz Records, 29 Oct 2021. Linda (of Mopo and Superposition) has been working on the compositions heard on the album for several years, composing them mostly on guitar, keys and by singing. Only later have they been arranged for the band heard on the album, including Fredriksson on saxes and various instruments, Tuomo Prättälä (of ilmiliekki Quartet) on rhodes, moog and piano, Minna Koivisto on modular synth, moog and OP, Olavi Louhivuori (of Superposition) on drums, and Mikael Saastamoinen (of OK:KO and Superposition) on bass, plus featuring the Swedish artist Matti Bye on piano.

Official reissue of Ryo Fukui’s only solo piano album recorded live, June 4-5, 1994 at The Lutheran Hall in Sapporo.A beautiful bop adventure with two compositions Ryo Fukui wrote for his beloved Hokkaido region, the fan-favorite “Nord” and “Voyage”, as well as alternate versions of his classics “Scenery” and “Mellow Dream”, and bewitching takes on Barry Harris, Sonny Clark, and Avery Parrish gems.Original release by Sapporo Jazz Create in 1994.