Review: Released in 1977 on Buddha Records, Norman Connors' heartfelt number 'Once I've Been There' is a lush piece of honest-to-goodness soul music that's long been held in high regard by diggers. It features a powerful vocal performance from Prince Phillip Mitchell, warm orchestral instrumentation, and a gentle groove arranged by Jerry Peters. Blending elements of classic r&b with jazz sophistication, the track has a timeless, cinematic feel. It's a standout in US drummer Connors' catalogue. Released in the same year, 'Captain Connors' is a loose and limber soul-jazz workout, with energetic horns and deinty keys riding over a sprawling arrangement. Well worth adding to the collection.
Lost Girl (Marc Hype & Jim Dunloop Late Night rework) (3:24)
Special Technique Of Love (Jim Dunloop Shaolin Soul edit) (3:08)
Review: Dusty Donuts return with another heavyweight 7" of hip-hop gold, this time journeying from Queensbridge to Staten Island. Side A delivers a bouncy, chopped-up rework featuring a Lost Girl once heard on a legendary QB mixtape and it is guaranteed to ignite any dancefloor. Flipping over, the vibe shifts to Shaolin with a raw and soulful reinterpretation of a classic that pays tasteful homage to Staten Island's finest. With tight edits and a deep love for golden-era hip-hop, this release hits hard on both sides and is another great example of the craftsmanship, nostalgia and party-starting energy the Dusty Donuts crew always deals in.
You Don't Want My Luvvv (Beatin' Hard version) (5:42)
Review: Brooklyn producer Gerard Young aka Ge-ology has always championed intricacy in his original house productions, preferring to survey and purpose-build from the ground up, not prefabricate. His Versions series through Hot Biscuit has been going since 2025, with a higher-than-usual number of deep cuts (usually six in total for each 12") all given names like "Extended FeelTheFire Mix", "From SideToSide", "CapricornTribe Mix" and "Raw Stripdown Version", evidencing a sense of literary licence and playing on otherwise boxed-in remix titling traditions. Janky sampled refuse of disco-soul and gospel replay over 'Keeep The Beat' like trash-humped radio components larked from wreckage - our fave track here by far.
Review: Born and raised in Chicago, Durty Truth Records founder Darryn Jones delivers a couple of corkers for North-East England re-edit imprint Hot Biscuit Recordings. A-side 'In The Bush' is a thrillingly heavyweight jam - an Afro-funk meets Afro-disco version of a track made famous by US disco and boogie outfits, which Jones has expertly extended and rearranged in all the right places. B-side 'In The Know', meanwhile, is a take on a more classic-sounding slab of Afro-disco that boasts a superb "walking bassline", extended electric piano solos, sultry strings and a fine male lead vocal.
Review: It would be fair to say that Rahaan's Chicago Club Culture series, which here reaches its second instalment, is something of a passion project, inspired as it is by - in his words - "the golden age of Chicago club culture". Our reading of that is the 1970s and 80s, with all of the tracks on show being versions of cuts big on Windy City dancefloors in that period. The double-pack is heavy on tried-and-tested treats, from the expansive, Clavinet-sporting disco rush of 'Do You Like It' and the delay-laden, percussion-heavy brilliance of 'Columbian Dance' (all chanted vocals, punk-funk sax sounds, heavy electronic bass and layered Latin beats), to the crispy and crunchy, Chic-influenced excellence of 'Jealous For No Reason' and the low-down disco hustle of closing cut 'Can't Shake Your Love'.
Review: No one's edits and disco bombs slap quite like Rahaan's. The US master of all things soulful and funky can tap right into your core with his work and this new EP on Hot Biscuit is the latest example of that. 'Get Up' opens with retro disco favours, funky guitars and lung-busting vocals that bring the heat. 'Zombies' sinks into a nice silky sound with sliding cymbals and hi hats and knotted bass, then 'How' slows it down a bit for a more playful and seductive disco sound with nice horns and squelchy bass. Three real heaters.
Review: Skeme Richards of New York pioneers Rock Steady Crew returns to the Redropped series with a tour-exclusive 7" packed with two raw-edged flips. For this release, he's unearthed a pair of cosmic disco and jazz-funk originals from his bottomless crates and retooled them with heavier low-end and tighter edits built for modern rigs. The result? Deep cuts reimagined for today's selectors, shaped by Skeme's seasoned touch as both a dancer and DJ. Ahead of a confidently slated Skeme Richards x Oonops tour across Germany in May 2025, 'Galaxy Amonst The Stars' is truly a riotous cosmic soiree, made unforgettable by its kazooing sax and brilliantly bright beat novae.
Review: Two popular tracks from the highly rated and MURO-curated compilation Diggin Victor: Deep Into The Vaults Of Japanese Fusion / AOR are now made available for the first time on their own standout 7". Originally released as a limited item at an anniversary event, these rare gems are magically escapist sounds that blend library music, jazz, soul and Balearic mindsets into a pair of tropical heaters. The Kumi Sasak A-side is a real melodic noodler with meandering bass and a whimsical, carefree spirit as it heads nowhere in particular in hypnotic fashion. Side-B has 'Kimono' by Tetsuo Sakurai, which is a more rhythmic sound with funky bass riffs and 80s broken beats and a lush vocal.
Review: Geordie one-man production line Smoove's Multitrack Reworks series consistently delivers the goods, with the popular funk, soul, breaks and disco DJ/producer dropping fine, Reflex style revisions of both classic cuts and lesser-celebrated gems. He begins volume ten by reworking Steely Dan's 'Peg', a cut beloved of hip-hop DJs thanks to its killer drum-break and use in De La Soul's 'Eye Know'. His version makes great use of the multi-track stems, teasing out the break and slowly building the instrumental elements before unleashing the vocals. It's a genuinely great rework, as you'd expect. Over on the flip, he gives 'Baby Be Mine', with its' crispy drums, glistening disco guitars and squelchy synth-bass, a similar treatment, before successfully chopping up a heavy, percussion-laden deep AOR soul number ('This Time').
Review: Fusion five-piece Aldorande are no fustians when it comes to full-length LPs. These self-styled groove adventurers remain radically open to the sound, thanks to their stylistic touchstone, 70s funk, and its diachronic conduction of future styles. Recorded on tape in a top Parisian studio, their third record Trois brims with trifect textures, bold phrasing, and soaring choral waves. Mathieu Edouard's precise drumming is glued to the spot by Erwan Loeffel's plaited percussion, all the while Laurent Guillet's fingertips and Florian Pellissier's splayed hands make the best uses of Fender Rhodes, axe and Minimoog.
Review: The UK's Robin Lee is one of the members of much-loved disco gang Faze Action but also he's behind Andromeda Orchestra who return here with an album that offers a cosmic fusion of jazz-funk and disco. It's been put together with Moogs, clarinets, Rhodes and rich analogue textures that make for a mix of nostalgia and sonic richness that sinks you in deep. Blending nostalgia with innovation, Lee creates deep, immersive soundscapes. There are widescreen odysseys like 'Mythical', loved-up bunkers such as 'Thinking About Your Love' and a rare Nick The Record remix of 'Get Up & Dance' that overflows with cosmic melodies and lush, life-affirming strings.
Last Summer In Rio (feat Jean Paul 'Bluey' Maunick) (8:36)
Review: It has been a full half a century since legendary Brazilian outfit Azymuth made their debut and their new album, Marca Passo, reaffirms their place as legends of jazz-funk. It was recorded in Rio and produced by Daniel Maunick and is the group's first album since drummer Ivan "Mamao" Conti's passing, with bassist Alex Malheiros now the sole founding member. He's joined by Kiko Continentino and new drummer Renato Massa to continue Azymuth's tradition of blending samba soul, funk and cosmic jazz. Highlights include a tribute to Conti, 'Samba Pro Mamao,' and a refreshed take on 'Last Summer In Rio.' The album is a vital, heartfelt continuation of Azymuth's enduring legacy.
Johnny Hammond - "Los Conquistadores Chocolates" (6:01)
Bill Summers - "Brazilian Skies" (4:30)
Roy Haynes - "Quiet Fire" (8:11)
Willis Jackson - "Nuther'n Like Thuther'n" (7:27)
Louie Bellson & Walfredo De Los Reyes - "Sentido En Seis (Six Feeling)" (7:33)
Flora Purim - "Vera Cruz (Empty Faces)" (4:12)
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes - "Visions Of A New World (Phase II)" (3:41)
Pleasure - "No Matter What" (4:49)
Fatback Band - "Njia Walk" (4:07)
Johnny Lytle - "Gunky" (4:31)
Patrice Rushen - "Jubilation" (5:54)
Cal Tjader - "Mambo Mindoro" (3:46)
Tania Maria - "Yatra-Ta" (4:21)
Dom Um Romao - "Braun-Blek-Blu" (4:50)
Review: Chris Bangs' varied and eclectic musical journey is a key reason he was chosen to curate a compilation for Ace. With a background ranging from space rock with The Mighty Om to DJ residencies across London, Bangs' career spans numerous genres, from jazz, funk, to soul. Bangs' DJ sets and parties - in such time-honoured venues as Special Branch in Brentford, London - were seminal in the evolution of the acid jazz genre alongside Gilles Peterson, where "acid jazz was never meant to be more than a pisstake". His foray into production, such as the proto-acid jazz classic 'Psychedelic Jack' with Peterson on vocals, cemented his legacy, but it's curation highlights such as this that really get our gears going. Hold tight as we scour early acid jazz brilliants from Gunky to Vera Cruz to Brazilian Skies to Jubilation.
La Condition Masculine (English extended version) (4:32)
Quand Le Soleil Est La (alternate Drum Machine version) (3:02)
Ganvie (3:55)
Kikadi Gromo (3:48)
Immigration Amoureuse (4:10)
Where Are You? I Love You (4:14)
Dash, Baksheesh & Matabish (3:40)
Je Vous Aime Zaime Zaime (alternate Drum Machine version) (3:00)
Agatha (alternate version) (3:53)
L' Amour Malade Petit Francais (3:09)
Ndolo (3:04)
Chant D'Amour Pygmee (3:47)
Funky Maringa (4:13)
Crocodile - Crocodile - Crocodile (4:03)
L'Ile De Djerba (2:31)
Kitibanga (4:24)
Asma (alternative Tape version) (3:42)
Savannah Georgia (alternative version) (3:08)
Review: Tresor Magnetique is a treasure trove of unreleased tracks by the late great Francis Bebey-an international artist whose visionary work defies time and continues to add standout energy to eclectic DJ sets everywhere. These recordings have been digitised from fragile tapes found by his son and restored at Abbey Road Studios and blend pygmy flutes, drum machines, folk guitars and electronic textures in daring, genre-defying ways. Rather than a retrospective, this feels like an ongoing conversation that keeps Beby's work urgent and vital and prove Bebey wasn't just ahead of his time, he transcended it, from the lo-fi drum track magnificent of 'Quand Le Soleil Est La' to the raw, textured tropical funk of 'Where Are You? I Love You.'
Review: The Blackbyrds, Washington Direct-Current pioneers of jazz-funk from the early 70s, overloaded the jazz circuit with City Life, a hair-frying album renowned for its flowing, fulminous rhythms. Core tracks 'Happy Music' and 'Rock Creek Park' set the stage for a long sampling legacy: the latter was famously sampled by both De La Soul and Nas, on 'Bitties In The BK Lounge' and 'Fried Chicken' respectively. This reissue, cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, reupholsters the Blackbyrds' debut worm-catching funk pecks for the world's ears to witness once more.
Review: Don Blackman's 1982 self-titled debut is an underrated jazz-funk gem that fuses soul, funk and jazz-fusion into a sophisticated groove-laden journey that was produced by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen for GRP Records. The album showcases Blackman's keyboard wizardry and soulful vocals across standout tracks like 'Heart's Desire' and 'Holding You Loving You.' With playful cuts like 'Yabba Dabba Doo,' it balances polish with joyful experimentation and though not a commercial hit, its influence has quietly grown and ir has been sampled by hip-hop greats and revered by collectors alike. This reissue reaffirms its status as a cult classic and a crucial slice of 80s funk.
Review: Calibro 35 recalibrate with Exploration, a fresh dive into cinematic jazz-funk marking their first full-length LP on the independent since 2023's Nouvelle Aventures, continuing the path set by last year's 'Jazzploitation' EP. Yarning vintage soundtrack stylings with contemporary groove, the Milan group balance reverent covers - like Roy Ayers' 'Coffy' and Bob James' 'Nautilus' with bold, golden originals. Lead tune 'Reptile Strut', not to mention 'The Twang' and 'Pied De Poule', twine round taut rhythms, lush horn lines, and evocative cinematic textures. The band tips its hat to touchstones like Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, and Italian great Piero Umiliani, whose 'Discomania' appears on the accompanying limited clear blue 7" single, backed with 'Jazz Carnival'.
Review: An exceptional, almost entirely unreleased jazz-funk LP from Roland Haynes Jr., previously known only for a single 45 released in 1983 (included here). If you're thinking undiscovered James Mason, you're on the right track. This LP is huge, even by the highest standards. Until now, that rare single was the only material trace of Haynes and his band. However, Haynes meticulously documented his musical journey, recording both packed-out live gigs and studio sessions. The tracks on this release come directly from Haynes' personal archive, offering an incredible glimpse into his unreleased, carefully crafted studio work.
Review: Wewantsounds continues its deep dive into Algerian music with the first-ever reissue of Les Abranis' sought-after-by-those-who-know 1983 long player, Album No. 1. Originally recorded in Paris and privately pressed in small quantities, the album, which is also known as Id Ed Was, fuses Kabyle rhythms with funk and touches of reggae. This reissue has been curated by Cheb Gero (of recent Sweet Rebels compiling fame) and features remastered audio, though it retains the original artwork. It's a great line document of Algeria's diasporic groove with a two-page insert featuring fresh liner notes by journalist Rabah Mezouane.
Review: Bobby Lyle's 1977 classic jazz-funk album showcases his well-renowned keyboard mastery with standout tracks like the inventive title cut, 'The Genie,' which is a wild groove-driven journey through multiple shifts. His rendition of 'Night Breeze,' previously recorded by Ronnie Laws, is another highlight and the mystical 'Mother Nile' features deep rhythms while the dreamy mid-tempo roller 'Pisces' soothes. Up-tempo 'Magic Ride' and atmospheric 'You Think Of Her' showcase Bobby's rich vocals and a stellar lineup including Roland Bautista, Babatunde, Victor Feldman, Ernie Watts, and Donnie Beckhelp make this it's a definitive jazz-funk fusion gem.
Can't Stop This Fire (feat Carlton Jumel Smith) (3:25)
When We Roll (3:58)
Homebound (3:33)
Review: Germany's funk collective expand their sound on this release, recorded live at the MPS studio in the Black Forest. The raw, break-heavy foundation remains, but the album ventures into jazz, soul, and psychedelia, capturing an organic energy that feels both spontaneous and precise. Tracks like 'Open The Gate' blend punchy brass with intricate rhythms, while 'Spinning' layers folk-psych guitar and cinematic horns, creating a fluid dialogue between the musicians. 'Back And Better' highlights Nichola Richards' soulful vocals, adding depth to the sparse beats. The album also explores playful experimentation, with 'Sparks of Joy' embracing a swampy groove, and 'Phantom Power' introducing an electric phin, nodding to world jazz influences. Carlton Jumel Smith's performance on 'Can't Stop This Fire' and the gospel-tinged 'Homebound' anchor the album, grounding its expansive journey. The result is a cohesive and evolving soundione that truly captures the clearly audible joy of collaboration.
Review: Originally released in 2008, Manifesto captured Canada's The Souljazz Orchestra in full stride i locked into deep Afrobeat, but stretching further into spiritual jazz, militant funk and raw soul. It's one of their most focused records, recorded live with no overdubs, and it still hits hard. Tracks like 'Parasite' and 'People, People' feel especially relevant now, tackling inequality, media spin and class struggle with sharp lyrics and a driving sense of purpose. There's fire in the horns, urgency in the rhythm, but also a feeling of hope and collective strength. The band has offered plenty of highlights since, but Manifesto remains a standout i lean, direct and full of intent.
King Solomon (Nii Mantse) - "Dzen Ye Kokloo" (3:58)
Okyerema Asante - "Ateaa" (5:20)
George Darko - "Medo Menuanom" (LP version) (9:27)
Osei Banahene - "Woanwaremea" (6:06)
Osei-Osarfo Kantaka - "Mansa" (Special) (9:27)
King Solomon (Nii Mantse) - "Dzoohee" (4:53)
Classique Vibes - "Sankofa" (5:02)
Osei Banahene - "Odo Nye Me Sa" (6:21)
Obibini Takyi - "Ohia Sei Abrantie" (6:33)
Padmore Oware - "Menkowu" (4:44)
Review: Kalita returns with the third instalment of its Borga Revolution! series, continuing its deep dive into the sound of Burger Highlife, a genre born of traditional Ghanaian melodies, synths, drum machines, and disco groove-matics. Emerging in the 1980s during a time of great political turmoil, public strife and mass emigration, the style evolved as Ghanaian musicians abroad began blending their roots with the digital tools of their new homes. Volume 3 showcases rare and elusive cuts by the likes of Obibini Takyi, Osei Banahene, and Okyerema Asante, as well as keystone figures George Darko and Lee Dodou. The collection paints a fuller picture of a moment where innovation thrived in exile, and highlife was reshaped through transcontinental influence and technological experimentation.
Review: Following the success of their standout single 'Feel The Rush,' Zaimie returns with Black Velvet, a lush new long player that blends jazz, funk, soul and global rhythms that all expand on the group's signature sound while remaining rooted in groove and emotion. Each track showcases Zaimie's refined musicianship and evolving songwriting, from silky basslines to soaring melodies on 'New Life' to more horn-led celebrations like 'Weekender Breeze' and sunny vocal charmers like 'Can't Do Without It'. Black Velvet feels timeless and contemporary and makes for a confident step forward for Zaimie, who are ever more polished and full of soul.
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