Hiram Direct
Turn It Around / Love Flight

For his sophomore album, alto saxophonist Marcus Joseph, presents a project entitled Beyond The Dome, a body of work that explores themes of personal and external limitations, the idea of what binds us to who and where we are and the transcendence of perceived obstacles to become our authentic selves.

First official vinyl release of Freddie Hubbard's seminal and highly revered 1973 Concert recorded in Paris at the prestigious Maison de la Radio. Released in collaboration with INA in Paris (National Radio Archives) and Duane Hubbard. Including audio remastered by Colorsound, gatefold artwork designed by Raimund Wong plus liner notes by journalist Kevin Le Gendre (Echoes, BBC Radio 3, Jazzwise)

City of Mirrors is a bold new collection of music from Chicago-based alt-Latinx band Dos Santos, which is comprised of bandleader / singer / lyricst / guitarist / keyboardist Alex Chavez, drummer Daniel Villarreal, percussionist Peter “Maestro” Vale, bassist Jaime Garza, and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Nathan Karagianis.Cinematic in its journey, the album was produced by multimedia artist and long-time friend of the band Elliot Bergman (NOMO, Wild Belle), and reflects sounds from across the Americas combined with Chavez’s compelling poetic narratives. Its 13 tracks consolidate the band’s unique identities, creative and cultural roots, and their penchant for honoring traditional Latinx music with contemporary compositional expressions and production techniques.

For fans of Mayfield, Redding et al, this is an unmissable set of rough-edged soul. North Carolina's Lee Fields has had a long career with some dramatic pauses, but the last few years have seen him stronger than ever with LPs on Truth & Soul and now Big Crown Records. "It Rains Love" is his second LP with The Expressions, and it strikes a classic Motown note that sounds utterly timeless in its execution. The production definitely has some of the warmth and grit of Motor City classics from back in the day, but Fields' conviction and power in his delivery sounds bang up to date. For fans of Mayfield, Redding et al, this is an unmissable set of rough-edged soul.

These days, Hamad Kalkaba is a retired Army colonel and track and field athletics administrator in his native Cameroon. Yet back in the mid 1970s, he was a musician with dreams of potential super-stardom, trying to update traditional Cameroonian "Gandjal" music for the funk generation. To that end, he recorded a small number of singles and EPs alongside his backing band, the Golden Sounds. It's those thoroughly obscure and overlooked releases that make up Hamad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds, a retrospective of his pioneering work. Sitting somewhere between Afro-beat, Afro-funk and Afro-jazz, with a distinctively Cameroonian rhythmic swing, the music showcased on the album is undeniably special.