Aquarii Vinyl & CDs

Review: After making plenty of heard turning releases on other labels, the super talented Joe Armin Jones launches his own new imprint Aquarii Records. He is joined on the tidy 10" by Morgan Simpson of Black Midi on drums, and Luke Wynter of Nubiyan Twist playing bass. His own gorgeous keys lead the way with 'Pray' being a busy cut awash with splashing cymbals, joyous chord progressions and tight rolling rhythms. There is a more chilled-out and downtempo vibe to the loose hip hop beats of 'Nothing Move' on the reverse. Both are brilliant.

Review: The talented Joe Armon-Jones has been at the centre of some of London's most exciting musical developments in the jazz world in recent years, not least as co-founder of the mighty Ezra Collective. He is a prolific creator, keyboardist, singer and producer who draws on dub, pop, hip-hop and electronica to foment his own style and once again that shines through with this, the first part of his new album on his own Aquarii Records. It is full of standouts like the Afro-leaning drums and summery melodies of 'Kingfisher (feat. Asheber)' with life-affirming lyrics. 'Show Me' has a darker downtempo energy with crashing hits and drums and 'Hurry Up & Wait' ends on a tender note with introspective keys and feathery drums.

Review: Jazz maestro and Ezra Collective founding member Joe Armon-Jones presents his most ambitious solo project to date, released on his own fledgling imprint Aquarii Records. After a six-year gap since his last solo album, Turn To Clear View, Armon-Jones has spent his time touring, building a studio, and collaborating with icons of UK jazz, including Liam Bailey, Fatima, Prince Fatty, and Mala over a string of politically-charged EPs. Now All The Quiet promises an august jazz opera in two parts, and so coming complete with an interval, crossing twixt jazz, funk, dub, hip hop, and soul, the album is entirely written, produced, and mixed by Armon-Jones himself, and manifests as the first of a two-part album, featuring guests Nubya Garcia, Oscar Jerome, and Goya Gumbani.

Review: Saxophonist Joe Armon-Jones teams up with vocalist Hak Baker and saxophonist Nubya Garcia for a fresh EP paying homage to the dub music tradition in the UK. 'Wrong Side Of Town' homes in on this titanic genre, riffing off the trademark 'horns cut' that would appear on the B-sides of roots reggae EPs in the 70s and 80s. With Hak's vocals effortlessly evincing a South London drawl, it's clear from the outset that usual, prejudiced ideas of what the wrong side of town would normally be is flipped on its head; truly, it's the area outside Bank station and the Royal Exchange that's the real no-go. Note: B-sider 'Nubya's Side Of Town' was also played by legendary UK sound system founder Jah Shaka in one of his last sessions before his sad passing in April 2023.

Review: Joe Armon-Jones returns with Ceasefire, the second in a series of dub releases on his own Aquarii label, following the release of 'Wrong Side Of Town' featuring Hak Baker earlier this year. Teaming up with legendary deejay Ranking Joe and fellow Ezra Collective cadre James Mollison, 'Ceasefire' is an uncompromising call for peace at a time of heightened global conflict. Credibly one of the few artists who've dared to comment on the present fiascos on and around the Sinai, this EP is both explicit and implicit in its call for a ceasefire. In one instance, it makes obvious reference to the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, but in another - and with the prior EP held firmly in mind - it inveighs a more warding indirect to the systemic forces of the world that would also make such explicit horrors possible; economically, discursively, ideologically. The mood nonetheless is one of demure hope, one unfazed by strife; closer 'Rhodesfire' especially is proper digital shower power, as Armon-Jones' righteous cause, for want of instantiating wider change, is sublimely redirected into the keys.

Review: Joe Armon-Jones brings a fresh layer of depth to his ever-evolving sound with 'Sorrow', a track that takes its time to breathe, much like a slow unfolding narrative. The piece moves with a deliberate grace, weaving together his distinctive jazz-infused piano work with an underlying electronic pulse. It starts subtly, slowly layering textures that push the track into deeper emotional terrain. The interplay between live drums and ambient synths creates a fluid yet focused atmosphere, reflecting the introspective mood the title suggests. With 'Sorrow', Armon-Jones proves once again that he is unafraid to let his ideas mature at their own pace, leading listeners through a rich, captivating experience.

Review: Thrumming with conceptual aplomb, jazz mastermind and Ezra Collective co-founder Joe Armon-Jones's new album All The Quiet is finally revealed to us. Residua of jazz, funk, dub, hip hop and soul abound on the second chapter of a two-part Aquarii Records release, which Jones founded. With guest features from the likes of Greentea Peng, Yazmin Lacey, Hak Baker and Oscar Jerome, the record complements Jones and Aquarii's stated mission to blend genres and cross stylistic streams, from atmospheric electronica to dub, while building and subverting tropes of apocalypse, prophecy and redemption.

Review: Even before you hear the first beat, there is something incredibly exit about seeing the names Male - a pioneering beat master and pivotal figure in the early emergence of the dubstep sound - with Joe Armon-Jones, talented musician and master keys man. A Way Back comes on Aquarii, Armon-Jones's own label with him on keys and synths, Mala on drums and bass and Maxwell Owin featuring on 'Oh Lord'. It brings back memories of the golden dubstep years with cavernous bass and heavy weight drums all finished to perfection with Armon-Jones top lines.

Review: By now, it should be more than well-known that Joe-Armon Jones and Maxwell Owin are two of UK's jazz's most prominent and deserving fixtures, with the former having made a name for himself as part of outfits like Ezra Collective, and the latter for his unique blend of jazz and future garage. Together, they have an unmatched synergy; not staying too rooted in the potential quagmire of jazz alone, Archetype is a critical exploration of genre, as both Armon-Jones and Owin segue through explorations of their favourite non-jazz genres (dub, funk, garage, hip-hop) as "archetypes", paying homage to their infleunce on the music they make now. Guest features from Mala, Fatima, Lex Amor and O The Ghost cement this notion of tribute and versatility, making for a serene and virtuosic albu that best falls under the category of "jazzifyer".