22a Vinyl & CDs

Review: Lorenzo Morresi and Tenderlonious are back to build on the success of their first collaboration, last year's 'Cosmica Italiana.' This new single comes ahead of a forthcoming debut album later in the year and features a couple of gorgeous tunes. 'Acqua' is a joyous tune with a steady 6/8 groove that is loaded with flutes, sax lines and arpeggiated synthesizers. On the flipside is 'Tema Cinque' which comes as an electro ballad, powered by hypnotic drums and sweeping pads with lush and moody sopranos. On this evidence, the upcoming album is going to be an utterly perfect musical escapism.

Review: The Ruby Rushton gang is one of contemporary jazz's finest. They pull a wide range of influences into their music and have had an instantly recognisable sound since busting onto the scene with their still classic debut album Two For Joy. They reach the same heights again here with Giden's Way. 'Spanish Raga' was inspired by an evening out in Madrid in 2019 and floats on dreamy flutes while 'Fall From Grace' is lead by some virtuous sax and florid drum work. The flip side offers two more brilliantly busy but accessible, upbeat and sunny jazz jams.

Review: Ruby Rushton's latest offering presents a vibrant exploration of rhythm and texture, breathing new life into contemporary jazz fusion. On the title track, 'Stapodia,' an infectious groove shifts effortlessly between time signatures, creating a dynamic backdrop for striking solos on saxophone and trumpet. 'Kalo Livadi' bursts forth with a whirlwind of flute, trumpet, and synth bass, only to wind down into a hypnotic hip-hop groove, its keys solo lingering like an unexpected afterthought. The interplay of improvisation and structure feels both daring and deliberate, capturing the energy of a band constantly in conversation with itself.

Review: Tenderlonious has been turning out a diverse range of brilliant sounds with all sorts of projects in the last few years from his band Ruby Rushton to classical music with Pakistani quartet Jaubi and even deep house and ambient when he goes solo. Here, four years after his On Flute mini-album back in 2016, he serves up another album of his signature flute-lead sounds on the 22a label with elements of Detroit house, p-funk, synth grooves and more all featuring. 'Isaac's Theme' is a gorgeously deep and reflective flute solo while 'Neptune's Mood' ride on a broken beat. 'Still Flute' is a brilliant jazzy house tribute, presumably, to the St Germain classic.

Review: During a trip to Lahore, Pakistan in April 2019, multi-instrumentalist and all-rounder jazz musician Tenderlonious set about a storied collaboration with local quartet Jaubi, laying down a set of six full, original instrumental ragas form a single one-day recording session. The result is the record you hear here; the emanative sounds of Indian and Pakistani classical music, acting as a framework for a spiritual interdiction between Tenderlonious on flute and soprano sax and Jaubi band members on tabla, vocals, sarangi and guitar. A determinant synth drone, lent to the euphony by Polish composer Marek Pedziwiatr, underlies the entire suite, lending this six-pack a not unfuturistic mood of brooding. Four years in the post-productive making, Ragas From Lahore is a pristine, on which the boughing lops of the tabla, the effortless flurries of the sarangi and apical vocal, and the arch-mood of overcoming and perseverance through strife, are felt with full sway. A deeply foreboding, but rewarding contemporary raga album.

Review: Tenderlonoius has long been at the heart of the nu-jazz and broken beat sound that has proliferated over the last five for so years, as has his 22a label. They have both been prolific sources of new school sounds and old school influences and You Know I Care is another full length statement of skill from the man who has often worked in collaboration or with his Ruby Ruston band. It is a widescreen offering that ranges from brooding ballads to epic modal delights which will appeal to all sorts of jazz heads old and new. All the tunes are standards by some of Tender's favs including Jackie McClean, Clifford Jordan, Wayne Shorter and Duke Pearson.

Review: Tenderlonious returns with a standout 12" vinyl, delivering three tracks that blend deep house with lush, jazzy textures, limited to just 200 hand-stamped and signed copies. Kicking off with 'Underworld,' the A-side offers a ten-minute groove of rolling 808s, atmospheric synths, and sweeping stringsia dancefloor essential. Side B opens with 'Wild Horses,' a mellow, bass-driven journey marked by rich analogue pads and a touching piano solo, followed by 'Ur Love,' a nod to the London club scene with its layered rhythms and melodic twists.