Juno Recommends Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz: June 2024

Review: The new album by Quantic - aka. multi instrumentalist, DJ, composer and producer Will Holland - is in many ways an evolution. Now twenty years into his career, Dancing While Falling is the British-born, New York-based artist's most live sounding, euphoric and, in his own words, grown-up release to date. Capturing the beginnings of every good person's revelatory movement from an individual to a collective spirit, Holland originally began the album in his Brooklyn studio, before realising that he didn't just want to make a record that reflected his 'singular pandemic wormhole', but rather one that tapped into the essential togetherness of the human condition. So too does this record explore themes of connection felt through, and made more intense by, the antagonistic bouts of loneliness that characterised COVID-19. Influenced by legendary artists in the scene like Bohannon and Larry Levan, Quantic wanted to make a disco -eaning album at first; "I'm really interested in Latin music and Afro Caribbean rhythms and I think there's a really amazing point in history where the emergence of those rhythms and its combination with American soul sparked what we now know as disco," he says. This PIAS extended edition comes one year on from its initial 2023 release, Quantic here expands on his work by adding a ream of extended versions.

Review: Italy's Jazz N Palms (aka. Riccio) is a procurer of a variety of tropical fruits, be they full-length albums (check out Ses Rodes) or glitzy edits, both of which ultimately serve as worthy succours for our style-famished times of need. Here we skew towards the latter ends of things, as Riccio serves up two quick and juicy hits for the thirsty dome. Beaming us right back to the hammock-over-sandy-beachside-view (however phantasmic this vision may be), A-sider 'Between' catches us between a dock and a slurred place, delivering a tipsy sundown mood of a certain downtempo disco variety. Then there's '4ever', an even slurrier beachfire of washed-out Rhodeses and retouched funk drums.

Review: Reel People Music breaks new ground, in more ways than one, with the launch of fresh compilation series Broken, Deep & Dope. A spin-off from acclaimed compilation brand Soulful, Deep & Dope - introduced back in 2015 - this new series sees the much-loved independent imprint pushing further at the boundaries of soulful music. All with that customary Reel People feeling. Broken, Deep & Dope 2024, the series' first instalment, unleashes 20 superlative examples of the soulful 'bruk' (broken beat), nu beat and nu jazz sound that has so innovatively informed contemporary dancefloors around the world since its inception back in late '90s West London.

Review: Roge emerges as the Samba Super Hero in 'Tropical Man,' an electrifying collaboration with producer Tommy "TNT" Brenneck. Their fusion of samba and soul music is a revelation, captured on the Tropical Man 12" EP. Recorded in one unforgettable night at Diamond West studios in Hollywood, Roge and the Menahan Street Band deliver infectious grooves and heartfelt lyrics. The EP features not only different mixes of 'Tropical Man' but also 'Mis Filos,' an excellent ode to Rog?'s children with a sweet blend of syncopated rhythms and soft-psych vibes. With its irresistible energy and seamless integration of diverse influences, 'Tropical Man' marks Rog?'s international debut in spectacular fashion, leaving listeners eager for more of his unique musical vision.

Review: Takuya Kuroda is a highly respected trumpeter and arranger from Kobe, Japan but now based in New York City. Midnight Crisp was his seventh studio album and now First World has had a selection of cuts from it remixed. 'Choy Soda' gets superb treatment in the form of Waajeed's Hi-Tech Jazz remix which jumbles the trumpet motifs with shuffling drums and future soul. On the flip, 'Dead End Dance' gets a signature Kaidi Tatham remix that brings the broken beats and sunny sounds to the fore with more languid jazz notes adding sultriness.

Review: Stefano De Santis echoes purple dubstep on this live-feeled new electronic jazz dazzler, all improvised synth fusion that works well both as a danceable cut and a timeout moment. Just two tunes, 'Santos 79' and 'Moon Over Rio' come across like the morning and evening sides of De Santis' lifeworld; the former is a warm, glitzing sonic waxing, full of tweezy approach notes and Simmons drum 'pows'; the latter is a crepuscular waning, contrasting to the other by way of twinkly chime cascades and deeper chromatic blues.

Review: Club Warme Deken & San Proper tease a new EP with this tidy new 7". As you would expect from the always left-of-centre San Proper this is a fresh pair of cuts with a notable pop influence. 'Night Susan' is a slow and raw beat with filtered vocals and whirring machine sounds, a low slung hip-hop edge and funky bass guitar riffs adding the hooky charm. 'Boom-A-Rang' on the flip is a great collage of sound made from ad-libbed vocals, percussive hits, deep drums and tanging hits. Two charming curveballs for sure.

Review: Big new jazzdance from Colin Curtis' new Earthsouls project, debuting for the UK's funk-soul-jazz outfit of the same name. Made up of Curtis in collaboration with Born74, ONJ and Mark Paul Norton, the Earthsouls permit an impressive range on an out-of-body leash, keeping us grounded whilst also laying down some essence, some gist, some spirit. From the opening jam of 'Cause & Effect', across which a deterministic drum daubing from Born74 takes centre stage and shines, to the mid-moment wonky-boxy disco charmer 'Desire For Hire' and the closing funk something-or-other that is 'Across The Tracks', this is a legitimately wicked new EP, one which should probably be suppressed for its propagation of such potent sonic alchemies - that is, if we lived in a more sensible world.

Review: This is the first pressing of Nickodemus' classic Sun People on translucent yellow vinyl and it comes from Wonderwheel. Originally released in 2009 by Thievery Corporation's Eighteenth Street Lounge label, the album features tracks inspired by Nickodemus' global travels and the people he met on the way. Known for his NYC summer soundtrack with Turntables On The Hudson and 20 years of worldwide tours, Nickodemus crafted songs for sun lovers and optimists here and as such listening toit leaves ou with a warming glow. Collaborators from Guinea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Romania, India, Turkey, the UK and NYC contribute to this vibrant album and make it a truly cultural affair with hits like 'N'dini,' 'Sun Children,' and 'The Love Feeling' all sounding great.

Review: Wah Wah 45s present Sun Dogs, the debut album from composer, songwriter and producer Jamie Finlay - a unique blend of electric soul, spiritual jazz and psychedelia. A deeply layered and personal album that explores themes of love, loss, grief, and finding strength through turbulent times, this curt selection of eight tracks sports a throng of talent on both production, instrumental and vocal duties, be these contributions from Ellen Beth Abdi, Caitlin LM or Kemani Anderson. All glued together by a crisp broken beat aesthetic and ultra-crisply mixdown standard, we hear an expansively uplifting album unfurl in the continuous inspirational spaces opened in by the dialogic legacies of greats like Lonnie Liston Smith and Pharaoh Sanders.

Review: Benny Sings' eighth studio album, Music, is a breezy and charming collection that showcases his knack for crafting catchy pop-soul tunes. Collaborations with artists like Mac Demarco and Emily King add depth to the album, highlighting Benny's songwriting strengths, while the album's sound gravitates towards blue-eyed soul and yacht rock, characterised by sunny melodies and hip-hop-infused beats. While Benny's songs exude a feelgood vibe, their lyrical content is special when particularly he is exploring themes of love. Standout tracks like 'Rolled Up' and 'Miracles' benefit from the infusion of personality brought by guest artists like Mac Demarco and Emily King, who add depth and dimension to Benny's compositions. The album's collaborations and Benny's signature style make for an enjoyable listening experience.

Review: Cool as you like jazz cats Badbadnotgood have more than done their bit in helping to shape the contemporary jazz revival with a number of great albums and even a fine compilation of their inspirations and influences. IV is one of their most acclaimed in recent times which is why it now gets a reissue on double white gatefold vinyl. Guests Sam Herring, Colin Stetson and Kevin Celstin amongst more all feature, as do plenty of the US group's lush broken beats and nu-jazz instrumentals. Well worth coping if you missed out the first time around.

Review: This is a limited edition translucent orange vinyl version of Jimi Tenor's first single from his upcoming Is There Love In Outer Space? album on home label Timmion. It brings to mind the 1980s cosmic sound of Nigerian keyboardist Mamman Sani with its psychedelic desert blues guitar solo which very much takes you to a cold Sahara dune and gazing off in the distance as the sun rises. The tune comes in two parts, both of which are fusions of cosmic moody and emotive sound sounds with superb playing from frequent collaborators Cold Diamond & Mink.

Review: Black Decelerant, a collaboration between Khari Lucas (Contour) and Omari Jazz, explores spiritual jazz through modern tones, weaving sonic reflections on Black existence, life and grief, expansion and constraint, and the personal versus the collective. Their eponymous debut album fosters a serene refuge amidst societal turbulence and aims to transcend fleeting moments. Conceived from an intuitive process, the album emerged from remote sessions spanning six months in 2020, bridging South Carolina and Oregon. Improvised instrumentals and sampled productions became conduits for their inner dialogues and offered solace during existential crises amid lockdowns and social unrest in the US.

Review: Renowned reeds player, composer, and producer Finn Peters unveils his latest offering Red, Green and Blue and it is a vibrant fusion of global influences condensed into three potent tracks of what Peters dubs 'ancient techno'. This solo endeavour continues Peters' sonic exploration and expands upon the palette he began with his Purple and Yellow EP nearly a decade ago. MPC3000 and SP12 percussion intertwines with cosmic flute choirs and transcendent saxophone, guided by analogue synths that bridge eras past and future. Inspired by dreams of the Miraculous Mandarin, an immortal mystic from the future, Peters crafts musical resonance here, awash with alchemy and timelessness.

Review: Arooj Aftab's Night Reign is a stunning trip into the depths of the night, where inspiration thrives. Departing from themes of loss in her previous work, Aftab crafts an album rich with renewal and romance. Collaborations with artists like Cautious Clay and Moor Mother add layers to the lush soundscape, creating a cinematic experience. Each track, from the haunting 'Autumn Leaves' to the soulful 'Bolo Na,' weaves together to form a narrative of surrender and transformation. Aftab's voice, accompanied by intricate instrumentation, guides listeners through the darkness, offering moments of introspection and possibility. Night Train is a chance to throw yourself into the beauty and mystery of deep music, emerging renewed and transformed.

Review: Pianist and composer Aaron Parks made his first Blue Note appearance as a member of Terence Blanchard's band; an outfit akin to The Jazz Messengers in its cultivation of future jazz greats. After appearing on the trumpeter's albums Bounce, Flow, and A Tale of God's Will through the early 2000s, Parks made his own Blue Note debut in 2008 with Invisible Cinema, a striking album that has only grown in its influence across the modern jazz landscape since its release. The band - a quartet featuring the pianist with Mike Moreno on guitar, Matt Penman on bass, and Eric Harland on drums - travelled across new sonic and rhythmic frontiers on this set of Parks' evocative original compositions which were imbued with a cinematic drama and drew inspiration from the likes of Wayne Shorter, Radiohead, Bjork, Meshell Ndegeocello, and more. This first-time vinyl release includes two bonus tracks previously only available in Japan.

Review: Stones Throw has tapped up the brilliant psychedelic jazz group Apifera for a second album to follow on from the greatness of their debut. That once came back in 2021 in the form of Overstand, which was a widescreen and cultural mix of all manner of weird and wonderful sounds. Now, Keep Teh Outside Open builds on that and finds keyboardist Yuval Havkin and Nitai Hershkovits, drummer Amir Bresler and bassist Yonatan Albalak all colliding Israeli folk, Afrobeat, post-rock and jazz into richly colourful and absorbing sound worlds full of lush broken beat grooves.

Review: Nashville-based experimental musician Rich Ruth's upcoming album, Water Still Flows, is a journey into immersive soundscapes and introspective melodies. Recorded at his home studio, this seasoned session player, who initally started making his own meditative solo material to help him get over a traumatic carjacking, weaves together crafty loops and drones with the help of collaborators like Spencer Cullum, Ruben Gingrich, Patrick M'gonigle and Jared Selner. The album, set to released via Third Man Records, reflects Ruth's struggles and triumphs as a working musician, capturing both the soothing calmness of solitude and the tense variability of his professional life. Tracks like 'No Muscle, No Memory' showcase Ruth's ability to blend spiritual jazz, synth-infused post-rock, and cosmic ambient into a cohesive sonic experience. With Jake Davis handling the mixing duties, Water Still Flows is Rich Ruth's most cathartic and introspective offering yet.

Review: Like a lot of touring musicians, Rich Ruth has spent a lot of time of late wracked with anxiety. Yet instead of letting it overcome him, he decided to use it for inspiration. The result is Water Still Flows, the Nashville-based experimentalist's third album. It's a genuinely unique and emotionally turbulent affair, with Ruth offering up tracks that not only draw inspiration from a disparate variety of styles (most notably spiritual jazz, new age ambient, Balearic soundscapes, the pretentiousness-free end of the progressive rock spectrum, and the growling paranoia of doom metal), but also veer between "it will be alright" positivity and doubt-riddled insecurity. It's a genuinely unique approach and one that guarantees interesting and entertaining listening.

Review: Rich Ruth is the recording alias of Nashville multi-instrumentalist Michael Ruth, and it is a project which he uses to craft immersive instrumental pieces that blend gleeful adventure with soothing meditation. Beginning with solitary mesmerising loops and drones, Ruth enriches his arrangements with a diverse array of collaborators. The resulting compositions meld spiritual jazz, synth-infused post-rock, and cosmic ambient into absorbing trips that captivate and elevate in equal measure. His latest album, Water Still Flows, is the third in a series of celebrated LPs and represents his most intense and cathartic work yet. Spanning seven tracks, the record finds Ruth pushing his creative boundaries while showcasing how songwriting serves as a deeply personal and grounding expression of artistry.

Review: Few artists nowadays set out with the intention to bewilder, perahps for fear of losing popularity, but Pale Jay is an exception. The oft misunderstood feeling is the central affective inspiration behind the eponymous new record from the masked London-based soul singer's latest album, which pairs washed-out, totally self-produced, downtempo tropical-sonics against starkly opposed themes of a family's gradual disintegration due to years of avoidance and miscommunication. A retroactive reflection on one artist's personal quest for an identity he could finally feel comfortable with, Bewilderment is, aside from the immediate resonance of its theme, also a testament to Jay's polyvalent talents as an instrumentalist and producer.

Review: They say that where there is repetition, there is unfinished business; that where there is a broken record, there is a will for that breakage to be attended to. So too does the eponymous alias of Jake Alias, The Brkn Record, know this. The Architecture Of Oppression Part 2 is Ferguson's next album for the righteous future jazz project; an earnest admixture of spoken word and slam poetry set against ambient jazzscapes and cinematic post-noir shades. Showcasing the manifold talents of wordsmiths the likes of Toyin Agbetu and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu, both of whom ponder the nature of freedom as it exists in its best articulated form today - the continued articulation of freedom being the driving force of history - The Architecture Of Oppression Part 2 deploys a righteous infrasound to deconstruct the edifices that impinge on this freedom, brick by brick.

Review: After his superb debut here, the great Julius Rodriguez is back with a sophomore long-player on Verve Records. The record features a mix of some fantastic and subtly evolved new original material as well as a fantastic cover of Dijon's 'Many Times'. Guest features throughout add further personality with Keyon Harrold, Nate Mercereau, and Georgia Anne Muldrow all contributing. The artist says that this record "embodies the meaning of "Evergreen." With the differing worlds that are presented by each track, I still aim to be fully honest myself in my expression--maintaining my voice in any variation of musical climate."