Juno Recommends Brokenbeat / Nu Jazz Best of 2020

Review: Since some of We Jazz's most impressive seven-inch singles so far have come from drummer Teppo Makynen under his Teddy Rok and Stance Brothers aliases, there's a fair chance that 'On Top' will also be a must-check beast. It is, of course, with Makynen following his successful blueprint by delivering two contrasting versions of the same self-played and self-produced track. The A-side 'Guitar and Flute' version is a smoky, late-night treat, with Makynen providing jazz guitar flourishes and Timo Lassy flowery flute parts atop a head-nodding, hip-hop style groove. The track's atmospheric feel is heightened on the flipside 'Organ & Vibes' version, which reminded us of some of the more blunted and stoned trip-hop cuts that Ninja Tune released in the late 1990s.

Review: Emma-Jean Thackray is a real all rounder - she composes, producers, sings, leads a band and plays a wide range of instruments. Her work will move you inside and out thanks to its thoughtfulness and immediacy. The majestic a-side "Rain Dance/Wisdom" is Roy Ayers, Sun Ra, Kamaal Williams all rolled into one. The horns pull you one way while the keys rain down in another. The feathery drums are a perfect pillow to sink into and the mood changes often, and freely. This EP proves that Thackray is one of the most fascinating voices in the current jazz revival.

Review: When it comes to the jazzier, more Latin-focused side of GAMM's output, much of the best material has always come courtesy of Sugarloaf Gangsters - the re-edit alter ego of carnival house maestros Spiritual South. Here they return to the Swedish imprint for the first time in 14 years with a two-tracker that's every bit as sweaty and celebratory as their previous work. Check for example A-side "Temarasa", a brilliantly tweaked and subtly touched-up revision of a heavily percussive Brazilian workout laden with sizzling samba horns and heavy funk guitars. Equally as potent is flipside "Chor Gway", an epic African style drum track peppered with dub style electronic noises underpinned with a deliciously weighty, sub-heavy bassline.

Review: Reaching deep into the earliest foundations of his voluminous collection, Danny Krivit presents a psychedelic pop classic rearranged for today's sound systems and setlists. Recorded in the Beatles' Abbey Road studio at the height of the Summer Of Love, the Zombies' "Time Of The Season" is firmly linked in pop culture to the late '60s and the Vietnam era, although it almost never made it out to a wider audience. Ignored on its initial release, it was given a second chance by the label as the last gasp from a band that had officially split up a year before. This time around the song steadily gained fans and word-of-mouth plays in the U.S. and by the summer of 1969, two years after it had been recorded, "Time Of The Season" was ubiquitous and well on its way to being firmly enshrined as an emblem of the era.

Krivit's edit highlights the parade of lush sonic textures that ornament the hip composition, from the iconic, exquisitely echoed bass-clap-exhale riff that opens the song to the cascading Hammond organ solos of Rod Argent. Naturally, this MEU issue keeps the audio quality at its highest level, the better to appreciate these nuances. "It's a song from my childhood that really struck a chord," Danny says. "Over the years I often played a rough edit which always seemed to go over great. The song seemed to get better and better, and age like fine wine." We agree!

From flowers and incense, we move to glass and steel. "Theme For Great Cities" envelops us in a soaring, intense groove, as emblematic of the post-punk no wave style of 1981 as "Time of the Season" was to its own era. Produced by Gong's Steve Hillage, this futuristic instrumental is a bit like Bowie's wordless works with Eno, with an added downtown edge. "The original really struck me," Danny recalls, "especially at Roxy in the early '80s hip hop nights, on that Richard Long sound system... It really blew me away with its atmosphere!"

Danny's edit combines the lean and mean original with a trackier remixed version, cleanly lifting off on an epic ride that clocks in at nearly ten minutes. With the revised rhythm section and its quick-punched low end sandwiching the meat of the original's punishing drums and aggressive, picked bass line, Mr. K gives us the best of the expanded sonics of the remix without losing the atmospherics of the original take.

Review: New edit label on the block Jazz N Palms is back for a second round of super smooth sounds aimed squarely at the summertime vibe. First up is "Latin Rollercoaster", a wonderful undulating slice of jazz funk that doesn't hide its chops where they've stretched out the groove but still flows beautifully. "Flying Over Corcovado" is a more mellow, string-swelling affair with swooning moods to make you all misty eyed. "M Squared" locks down into a cool, sax-fuelled groove that you could get down to as easily as kick back and relax. "Stay A While" completes this sumptuous set with a seductive, slinky groove peppered with flutes, blissful keys and some sweet slap bass. Need we say more?

Review: Two killer tracks from the sultry and charismatic crossover vocals of one Gregory Porter here pressed on a handy 7 inch limited to 150 copies on white vinyl just for Juno....Jazztastic...

Review: Tru Thoughts has genuinely pushed the boat out for Record Store Day 2020, offering up a couple of extra-special 7" singles that are well worth your hard-earned cash. Perhaps the most visually startling of these comes from Los Angeles neo-soul trio Moonchild, who have selected two of their favourite remixes from the vaults and whacked them on a red and blue splatter pattern 45. On the A-side legendary decks-man Jazzy Jeff joins forces with Jeff Poysner to transform 'The Truth' into a woozy, head-nodding slab of soft-focus hip-hop soul, making great use of Amber Navran's lead vocal. Over on the flip, Eric Lau and Kaidi Tatham head towards the dancefloor via a hybrid hip-hop/jazz-funk/broken beat take on 'Run Away' that's as effervescent and vibrant as you'd expect.

Review: The Allergies' debut album introduced the world to the way they effortlessly fuse funk, soul, disco, hip-hop and breaks into dancefloor-ready nuggets of ear candy. Taking classic sounds and reshaping them for the modern age is the signature that won them plaudits across the globe. Not ones to rest on their laurels, it hasn't taken long for them to deliver more of the goods on their second full-length album. As well as taking the successful formula of the first record and expanding on their sound, the band enlisted two giants of underground hip-hop to bless mics on the album as well. After a hugely successful collaboration on their debut LP, once again the dynamic lyricism and production skills of the inimitable Andy Cooper (Ugly Duckling) are present and correct in this new collection.

Review: As fast-rising underground stars in their own right, you'd expect any collaborative album from soul-fired South London singer/songwriter/beat-maker Tom Misch and prolific jazz drummer Yussef Dayes (best known for his now long-running collaboration with Kamaal Williams) to be rather good. "What Kinda Music" is, with the pair mixing and mangling elements of soul, jazz-funk, electronica and jazz, a set that defies easy categorisation. Both musicians exceed themselves throughout, with tipsy electronics, sweeping strings, bass, effects-laden guitars, woozy synth lines and Misch's heartfelt, soul-flecked vocals offering a perfect foil for Dayes' loose-limbed, headline-grabbing drumming.

Review: Given that keyboardist and producer Kamaal Williams' 2018 debut album "The Return" was such a rip-roaring success critically and commercially, hopes are naturally sky-high for this delayed sequel. Happily, we can confirm that Williams has arguably excelled himself on "Wu Hen", once again blurring the boundaries between jazz-funk, seductive downtempo grooves, hazy space jazz, deep house influenced dancefloor workouts (see "Mr Wu", whose title references his other artistic alias, Henry Wu) and soft-focus soul - all with the assistance of an expanded line-up of guest musicians and vocalists. Perhaps the biggest impact is made by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, a composer whose string arrangements add an ear-catching new dimension to Williams work. Stunning stuff all told.

Review: Here's something to set the pulse racing: an impossible-to-pigeonhole full-length collaboration between South London beat-maker/singer/songwriter Tom Misch and prolific jazz drummer Yussef Dayes (best known for his now long-running collaboration with Kamaal Williams). Both musicians exceed themselves throughout, with tipsy electronics, sweeping strings, warm jazz-funk bass, effects-laden guitars, woozy synth lines and Misch's heartfelt, soul-flecked vocals offering a perfect foil for Dayes' loose-limbed, headline-grabbing jazz drumming. This "deluxe edition" not only comes with a trio of extra tracks, but also a booklet containing sheet music and a plectrum/guitar pick made from recycled plastic.

Review: Unstoppable house machine Javonntte is the second signing for Ten Lovers Music, and he's changing tack and bringing forth a mini-album of luscious jazz inflected grooves to be savoured as an album as much as a collection of DJ cuts. The vision and scope on this record is impressive to say the least - just cop the advanced chord progressions powering the wide-open vistas of "78 Universe", or the wild expression of every instrument coursing through "Galaxies". This is Javonntte going full-flight on his artistry and it sounds impeccable - not one to be missed.

Review: Thundercat's last album, 2017's "Drunk", is undeniably one of the greatest full-lengths of the past few years - a dizzyingly varied and mind-altering affair that mixed and matched styles to create thrilling new fusions of past and present sounds. He's at it again on this delayed follow-up "It Is What It Is", which was co-produced by Flying Lotus and includes an impressive cast-list of guests and collaborators (think Kamasi Washington, Ty Dolla Sign, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Lil B and Louis Cole for starters). Musically it's impossible to pigeonhole - think rubbery 80s funk meets spiritual jazz meets reggae meets hip-hop meets experimental beats meets... you get the idea - and that makes for inspiring listening. Whether it's quite as good as "Drunk" is debatable, but it's certainly superb.

Review: The 2000 Black crew is keeping tight-lipped about the details surrounding this release, describing the previously unknown Project X as, "a non-partisan group primarily operational in the late 20th century" whose "only confirmed action was creating and compiling previously unreleased music to highlight various events of the time". So far, so mysterious. Whatever the identity of those behind the project, the album is well worth a listen. Its shadowy creators flit between high-octane dancefloor jazz ("S-Kai", "Q To Start"), organic downtempo grooves (the sun-kissed "Grape Juice" and samba-soaked warmth of "The Lost Words"), synth-sporting takes on the heady Rotary Comnection sound ("Psych") and giddy jazz-funk ("The Recovery"). The real stand out though is "Brave Games", which sounds like a thrill-a-minute fusion of Batacuda, jazz-funk and dancefloor jazz.

Review: Even by their usual high standards, the Allergies new LP - their fourth in total - is a particularly kaleidoscopic, party-starting affair. It sees the popular Bristol duo join forces with a series of guest vocals and MCs, most notably regular rapper Andy Cooper and cheeky scene veterans the Cuban Brothers, to deliver a series of funk-fuelled workouts that variously mix and match elements of hip-hop, mambo, stomping Northern Soul, deep funk, jazz and horn-heavy 1970s soul. While the samples of old are still present, it's the tightness and weightiness of the live instruments and strong vocals that make "Say The Word" such a terrific listen. In our opinion it's their strongest collection of work to date, and that's saying something. Bravo!

Review: Here's a heavyweight package for jazz-loving tech heads to get inspired by. Billy Cobham, surely one of the greatest jazz fusion drummers of all time, gives his excellent Drum N' Voice series over to some scene-leading electronic innovators to remix, rework or simply pay untold respect to. You can sense Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer were in full reverential mode when they delivered their stunning, viscerally live version of "Stratus". Lexx brings the smooth funk to "Sensations", MCDE drops some feel-good vibes on "Shining Sun", and Khidja gets nicely wigged-out over "Psychologic". What's not to love about a fusion project like this one?

Review: When this album was initially released way back in 2008, it was Kaidi Tatham's first under his given name (previously, he'd released solo records as Afronaught and appeared on all manner of collaborative releases). Since then, he has of course gone on to greater critical and commercial success, but as this timely reissue proves, "In Search of Home" still hits home hard. Like much of his work, it deftly showcases his Herbie Hancock-like jazz and jazz-funk keyboard skills within tracks that variously join the dots between broken beat, hip-hop, deep house, Latin fusion and sumptuous slow jams. Colourful, rich, jazzy and impeccably performed throughout, the album remains one of the high points of Tatham's career and is well worth adding to your collection.

Review: Trombonist and producer Rosie Turton is the latest rising star of jazz to be offered a volume in Jazz re:freshed's 5ive series of EPs. Her volume, which like its predecessors boasts a quintet of original compositions, is very different to its predecessors, mixing bustling jazz instrumentation (drums, trombone and sax, piano, double bass) with wild and free violin solos, occasional electronics and the odd bout of spoken word poetry. There's much to enjoy throughout, with highlights including the lolloping, hip-hop influenced swing of "Butterfly", the gentle Latin rhythms, electric piano solos and languid bass of "Orange Moon", and the soundscape ambient jazz bliss of "Stolen Ribs". As solo debuts go, it's a bit of a doozy.

Review: It took Steve Spacek almost 13 years to deliver a follow-up to his acclaimed 2005 debut album "Space Shift". Happily, he's not made us wait nearly as long for "Houses", his sequel to 2018's brilliant, Eglo-released "Natural Sci-Fi". More importantly, it's arguably even better than its predecessor, with Spacek combining his weary, soft-focus and effortlessly soulful vocals with a rich, warm and woozy musical palette full of echoing Rhodes electric piano chords, sci-fi electronics, sub-heavy basslines and grooves that largely - but not universally - tend towards the deeper and more experimental end of the house spectrum. The results are every bit as inventive, enjoyable and forward thinking as you'd expect.

Review: It's only six months since The Heliocentrics released their last album, 'Infinity of Now', but boy how the world has changed since then. To reflect that, this new collection of songs is more intense, dark, paranoid, uncertain and, well, angry. It makes for a typically out there record that pulls together disparate worlds and defies familiar conventions. There are moments of sweetness and light such as "Space Cake" but also pixelated realms of jazz complexity that glisten and glean. This is an album that will lead you to strange, thought provoking places, but will also greatly reward any time you spend there.

Review: Those who've been followed the nu-jazz sound closely over the last two decades should already be familiar with the work of Italian trumpeter Gerardo Frisina; after all, this is the Schema regular's eight studio set since the dawn of the century. In our opinion, Moving Ahead is also one of the best, with Frisina expanding on his usual Latin-jazz inspired sound via tracks that variously incorporate elements of samba house, West and East African drum music, jazz house, dub and tropical-tinged jazz-funk. Yet for all the subtle eclecticism, there are constant threads that run throughout, specifically densely packed percussion and Frisina's haunting trumpet and sax solos.

Review: Just how much can be done with a mere three musicians at play? In the case of GoGo Penguin, here on their fifth album and with one Mercury Music Prize nomination under their belt, the answer seems to be 'as much as those three musicians want'. This new collection of jazz-electronic-classical work again showcases how commanding and innovative the trio can be. Combining Chris Illingworth's keys, Rob Turner's percussion and the mournful double bass of Nick Blacka, this self-titled outing is a genuinely epic journey that makes transitioning between styles seem easy, seamlessly nodding to post-rock, ambient, movie score and more. Technically phenomenal, conceptually innovative and destined to transport listeners with each and every note, if you've not explored these guys before now's the time to get involved.

Review: In honour of the Love Record Stores promotion Sam Shepherd has decided to offer up a new edition of his 2015 debut album as Floating Points, "Elaenia". While the bonus art prints included in the package are rather nice, it's the quality of the album - still one of his best solo releases, and that's saying something - that makes this edition a "must-have" for those who missed out first time around. Featuring a mixture of Tangerine Dream-inspired analogue synthesizer works, blissful ambient excursions, contemporary jazz compositions and hard-to-pigeonhole instrumentals that add deep electronic influences to this heady musical melting pot, it's an album that sounds as immersive, intoxicating and fresh on the 100th release as it does on the first. Basically, you need this in your life.

Review: Lascelle 'Lascelles' Gordon is the creative powerhouse behind Vibration Black Finger, and once again here he excels on a second album that furthers his magnificent jazz sound. Obscure spiritual sounds of the 70s are the melting pot from which he mostly draws, with plenty of like-minded collaborates all contributing their own skills to the mix. Collective empowerment and personal development all enrich the album and its progressive message, and it was all put together from old ideas on tapes and DATs that he had worked on over the years. Instrumental segues stitch together the thoughtful vocal pieces and moments of real gusto help it stick long in the memory.

Review: Some 30 years after rising to prominence via a now legendary NYC radio show, veteran hip-hop DJs Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia have finally made a debut album. It sees them join forces with specially created nine-piece combo The M19s Band to serve up fresh covers of a range of well-known and obscure "dance floor bangers" (as the accompanying press release puts it). There are some superb interpretations, with the Police's dub disco jam "Voices Inside My Head" becoming a sweet soul-jazz treat, the Clash's "Magnificent Dance" reborn as a Latin jazz number (complete with Rich Medina spoken word vocal) and Womack & Womack's "Baby I'm Scared of You" a seductive, shuffling Afro-Cuban jazz standard. In a word: brilliant.

Review: Astonishingly, eight years have passed since NYC soul man Jose James released the brilliant "No Beginning No End" album on Blue Note. He's released plenty of other impressive sets since, though few quite as effervescent and sonically perfect. This belated sequel is therefore hotly anticipated. Happily we can report that it's superb, with James offering up a suite of super-strong soul songs that variously join the dots between neo-soul, summery sing-alongs (see the catchy "You Know What It Do"), jazz-funk, flash-fired hip-hop-soul, slow jams and the kind of slick but bustling soul-jazz gems that he's always done so well. It's still only March, but we have no doubt this will be one of the soul albums of the year.