New releases last four weeks: Jazz

Review: In celebration of 50 years in the performing arts, Idris Ackamoor presents Artistic Being for Record Store Day 2025-a powerful blend of jazz, spoken word and activism. Featuring the voices of acclaimed actor Danny Glover and stage legend Rhodessa Jones, this record captures highlights from the Underground Jazz Cabaret, which was performed during Black History Month 2024 at The Lab in San Francisco. Co-produced by Ackamoor's Cultural Odyssey, the release fuses poetic storytelling with evocative musical textures while reflecting on social justice, identity and resilience. Artistic Being is a profound statement from a visionary artist.

Review: Sensory Blending hears Finnish artist Jimi Tenor and Italian group Aura Safari team up for an impromptu studio shebang in Perugia, Italy, after Tenor's storied but clandestine performance at a Hell Yeah party. Despite no prior connection, the musicians quickly found common ground, forging a vivant fusion of jazz-funk, tropicalia and soul. Tenor's psychedelic style gelled Aura Safari's faster, intuited approach, resulting in such tracks as 'Bodily Synesthesia,' 'Bewitched By The Sea' and 'Lunar Wind', each of which connect seductive grooves and ghost noted keys. Possibly performed live at select events later in the year, the record is a perfect storm of recorded "live feel" Balearica.

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: Stanley Cowell, the Ohio-born pianist and co-founder of Strata-East Records, delivers a landmark solo recording that cements his reputation as one of jazz's most forward-thinking musicians. Recorded in 1974, this session finds him at a pivotal moment in his career, blending acoustic and electric piano to push the expressive boundaries of the instrument. Tracks like 'Equipoise' and 'Prayer of Peace' balance intricate phrasing with deep spiritual resonance, while 'Maimoun' channels his lifelong engagement with African and Eastern traditions. Both meditative and technically dazzling, this album remains a defining work in solo jazz pianoian essential document of Cowell's artistry and Strata-East's commitment to uncompromising musical vision.

Review: Upon its release in 1970, Donny Hathaway's latest album was met with critical acclaim but modest commercial success. The LP showcased Hathaway's extraordinary versatility, blending gospel, jazz, blues and soul into a cohesive whole. It was a rich tapestry of influences, marked by Hathaway's stunning vocal prowess and his ability to craft arrangements that felt both intricate and organic. The album also set the stage for his subsequent works, cementing Hathaway as one of the most important voices of his generation. Tracks like 'The Ghetto' and 'Tryin' Times' revealed his commitment to addressing social issues, while songs like 'Thank You Master' and 'Je Vous Aime' showcased his personal and spiritual depth. In the decades since its release, Everything Is Everything has grown in stature, celebrated as a cornerstone of soul music.

Review: An essential snapshot of late 60s British jazz, Off Centre snaps pianist and arranger John Cameron during a rare small group session, capturing a uniquely vivid, rhythmically complex album. Renowned for his soundtrack and library music work, Cameron brings that same cinematic flair to these tracks: 'Off Centre', 'Troublemaker' and 'Omah Cheyenne' are rowdily rich in texture, yet never overworked. His collaborators include the extraordinary Harold McNair, whose flute and tenor sax playing bring a kinetic energy that nods to his Roland Kirk influences, but with a cooler, more spacious edge. There's a strong modal undercurrent throughout, bringing the session a searching, propulsive edge, reflecting the sonic gemstone gleams that music magpie Gilles Peterson helped champion on his storied Impressed compilations.

Review: A new compilation which looks to celebrate the unheralded period of hugely successful Isle of Wight pop/funk band Level 42, named that after their cult funk days in the early 80s and their chart-topping victories in the middle and end of the decade. Music on Vinyl helps celebrate their 90s years with this compilation that spans the albums Guaranteed (1991) and Forever Now (1994). Originally released in 2007, this limited edition 2xLP set, pressed on vibrant 180-gram yellow vinyl, highlights the band's unique blend of funk, pop and jazz influences, with a mix of infectious grooves and introspective lyrics. The first side opens with the title track, 'Past Lives', a slick funk-driven number that sets the tone for the compilation, followed by the energetic 'Guaranteed' and the introspective 'Overtime'. Tracks like 'My Father's Shoes' explore deeper emotional landscapes, while 'Forever Now' explores the band's ability to craft smooth, soulful anthems. Side three is a ideal, featuring the infectious 'Model Friend' and the jazzy 'Romance'. Meanwhile, 'One in a Million' is a perfect example of the band's ability to blend pop hooks with sophisticated arrangements. Side four closes the compilation on a high note with 'If You Were Mine', a catchy, uplifting finale. The four-page booklet provides context for this fruitful period in Level 42's career, and the limited yellow vinyl adds an extra layer of collectible charm.

Review: Recorded at the storied Slugs' Saloon in Manhattan's Lower East Side, this unified collection captures the Charles Tolliver-led Music Inc quartet in blistering form. New York runs through the musiciits restlessness, density, sharp corners. Tolliver, a Brooklyn-born trumpeter with a militant edge and lyrical touch, fronts a group that helped define the forward-looking jazz of the early 70s. Beside him are Strata-East co-founder Stanley Cowell on piano, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jimmy Hopps, all embedded in the New York avant-garde at the time. On pieces like 'Felicite' and 'Wilpan's', they stretch out with blistering force, melting structure into raw, insistent groove. Even in quieter momentsi'Ruthie's Heart', or the shadowy 'Repetition'ithere's a tension that never quite releases, the sense that every note is carved in real time. This is the first time both volumes are presented as one continuous document, expanded with three previously unreleased tracks. It's a vital capture of a quartet thinking collectively, improvising with unrelenting intensity and total mutual trust. The sound, newly remastered, gives space to the grit and nuance of the live sessioniCowell's cascading runs, McBee's deep pull, Hopps' unpredictable propulsion. There's no studio polish here, just a direct line to the spirit of a time and place, when New York jazz burned fast, political and free.

Review: A second joining of forces from two celebrated Chicago acts, blending deep, organic rhythms with a minimalistic electronic pulse. With the novel but logical addition of Jason Stein on bass clarinet, the collaboration stretches even further, pulling together the spiritual fluidity of Natural Information Society and the electronic minimalism of Bitchin Bajas. The first single, 'Clock no Clock,' is a deep dive into hypnotic rhythms, with guimbri grooves intertwining seamlessly with electronic bursts, flutes and organs. The other three tracks are equally compelling, the music unfolding like a living organism, constantly shifting but always grounded. Expansive, intricately woven sonic delights.

Review: Pellegrino & Zodyaco's skillfully intertwine Neapolitan disco, funk, jazz and world music while channelling a spirit of creative escape of this new album, which is inspired by Henri Laborit's 'Eloge de la fuite'. It explores conscious escapism as a return to authenticity and seeks a "common language" through sound by merging Mediterranean melodies with global rhythms, vintage instruments and ethnic percussion that all bridge past and present. Four years after his last outing, Morphe, Pellegrino is still in top form here with a soulful, genre-blurring portrait of modern Naples that reflects the fact that, in the city, musical traditions meet modern experimentation.

Review: Gilles Peterson remains a man with his finger firmly on the pulse and this is another album to prove it: International Anthem is a special double compilation highlighting the renowned DJ and curator's deep connection with Chicago's celebrated contemporary jazz label. Featuring selections drawn from Peterson's BBC 6Music, Worldwide FM and syndicated shows, the collection showcases standout tracks from the label's first decade and also included is an exclusive, previously unreleased live recording from Worldwide FM. Pressed on "Frozen Lake Michigan" coloured vinyl, this Record Store Day exclusive is part of International Anthem's "IA11" series-celebrating 11 years by honouring their past while shaping the future of boundary-pushing global sounds.

Review: Two Is One (1974, now 2025) recaptures saxophonist Charlie Rouse at the peak of his rabble-Rousing powers, commanding the popular will (through steering clear of sonic demagoguery) through effortless funk, soul jazz, and post-bop, all while orbiting that distinctive cosmic ring-edge that defined the Strata-East catalogue. Best known for his long tenure alongside Thelonious Monk, Rouse steps into a new light here, leading a stellar ensemble made up of guitarists George Davis and Paul Metzke, Cal Scott on electric cello and Stanley Clarke on bass. Together they stretch out across a set both grounded and exploratory, with a spiritual undercurrent running through the grooves. Newly issued on 180-gram vinyl, the record comes packed in a tip-on gatefold with fresh liner notes from Syd Schwartz and rare archival photos, bringing fresh focus to one of Rouse's most compelling records.

Review: Scruscru and Los Protos hook up on the former's ever-reliable label for some more funk-fuelled and sample-heavy madness. This eight-tracker draws on the best of Library, jazz, hip hop and soul and collides elements of all of those together with some raw, and what sounds like, MPC beats, all tapped out with a lovably loose vibe. Some like 'Local Sugar Diggers' look up towards a sunny, cloudless sky, others like 'Dreams Of Sonora' are swaggering broken beat workouts with sensuous sax lines setting a steamy tone. 'Por Do Sol Em Shelekhmet' is another highlight with its aloof, angelic vocal tones.

Review: Stray Voltage is not for the faint of ear. This is triple-A rated Sun Ra at their best, namely audacious, aggressive and adventurous. Forget melodies or sing-along hooks-this collection dives deep into Sun Ra's unissued electronic explorations from the 70s and 80s when, using synths and keyboards as his tools, the one and only 'Ra didn't just play, he assaulted, provoked, and moulded raw sound into wild and unimaginable sonic landscapes. These are not songs in the traditional sense, but abstract journeys full of texture and tension that make for a thrilling glimpse into Ra's boundary-pushing experiments where structure gives way to sensation and the sheer power of cosmic expression.

Review: Spanning eight tracks of electronic and acoustic ingenuity, this compilation captures a transformative era in Japanese composition, where anime soundtracks became a playground for sonic exploration. This vinyl-only collection, curated by Time Capsule, bridges new age aesthetics with percussive traditions, blending synthesisers, gamelan influences and orchestral grandeur. At the heart of the compilation is Akira's electrifying 'Kaneda' by Geinoh Yamashirogumi, where the group's signature blend of Balinese gamelan and electronic textures defines the dystopian atmosphere. 'Yas-Kaz's Hei '(Theme of Shikioni), from Peacock King - Spirit Warrior, and Norihiro Tsuru's 'Farsighted Person', composed for The Heroic Legend of Arslan, transport listeners to distant landscapes, reflecting anime's thematic reach beyond Japan. Yoichiro Yoshikawa's Tassili N'Ajjer and Fiesta Del Fuego, composed for NHK's 'The Miracle Planet', embody an ethereal grandeur, merging environmental themes with lush, ambient layers. Meanwhile, Chumei Watanabe's 'Fushigi Song', performed by Korogi '72, delivers a hypnotic groove reminiscent of Don Cherry's 'Brown Rice'. Columbia Orchestra's 'Hearts Beats - Theme for Andrew Glasgow' shows Tokyo's jazz-funk session musicians at their peak, and Kan Ogasawara's Gishin Anki provides a dramatic, cinematic finale. More than a nostalgia trip, this compilation celebrates anime's role in shaping Japan's new age soundia period where innovation thrived, unbound by genre constraints.

Review: Norwegian pianist and composer Bugge Wesseltoft, a jazz innovator known for the diversity of his sound, is back with 'Am Are,' which is an expressive exploration of many sonic textures and dynamic contrasts. This album showcases Wesseltoft's inspiring collaborations with a constellation of superb musicians who bridge generations and styles. From sparse arrangements to complex layers of dubs and loops, Am Are highlights the power of human connection through improvisational interplay. Wesseltoft's curated selection demonstrates his passion for projects that spark creativity and celebrate the beauty of musical communication and make another fine addition to his catalogue.