Grafonola

VARIOUS - J Jazz Volume 3: Deep Modern Jazz from Japan (BBE) Since the first volume in February 2018, the J Jazz compilation series has showcased some of the most creative, inspired, and sought-after jazz recorded in Japan during a golden period spanning the 1960s to the 1980s. Illustrating the richness and versatility of the composers and musicians on this collection, the music spans a wide yet coherent range of styles: samba, funk fusion, modal, spiritual, post-bop, and bossa all combine to present an aural portrait of a jazz scene that was constantly moving and shifting its multiple musical centres of gravity. Mastered at the Grammy-nominated Carvery studio in London, many of the tracks featured are reissued for the first time, including mega-rare private press cuts from the YasuhiroKohno Trio, Masaru Imada Trio, and Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet. There’s heavy post modal bop by J Jazz legends Kohsuke Mine and Koichi Matsukaze; samba heat from Tatsuya Nakamura, Hideo Shiraki and Seiich...

J.H. Guraj - Introspection / Migration ( Maple Death Records ) From an ocean of black, sometimes there is a slim chance you might emerge clean and translucent, with another life chapter under your belt and a renewed story to tell. J.H. Guraj, our favorite wandering bird, is back with his first proper opus on Maple Death: Introspection / Migration. Sometimes records lead off into an unknown path that never considers release schedules or the outside world, inhabiting the abysses of the artists’ mind and dropping a hefty anchor in the murky waters. Dominique Vaccaro, stage name Guraj in homage to an old sage picker from the Albanian rocky landscape, started Introspection / Migration on a two-day recording spree in 2014 using a resophonic guitar, a distinct unifying songbook theme, and his usual freestyle wizardry … then the dust settled. In between releasing Underrated Glances At The Edge Of Town (Maple Death, 2016), Steadfast On Our Sand (Boring Machines, 2018), touring with Be My Delay...

JILALA - Jilala ( Rogue Frequency Recordings ) Until Now, Jilala has been a much sought-after phantom in relation to their better-known musical and spiritual contemporaries, The Master Musicians of Jajouka. Culled from three and a half hours of 1965 recordings by writers/artists/poets Brion Gysin and Paul Bowles, the first batch of Jilala recordings were released on a 1965 LP that was scarce even upon its initial release. The second batch of Recordings, which this LP has drawn from, came in the form of a CD by Baraka Foundation in 1998, which is also now long out of print. In the original liner notes Ira Cohen provides a breakdown of the Jilala ensemble: "The instruments used are the shebaba, a long transversal cane flute, which leads the way; the bendir, a handheld drum resembling a tambourine without cymbals; and the karkabat which is a double castanet made of metal. On this record, there are usually three flutes, six drums, and one pair of castanets." In conjunction with t...

TNT ROOTS - Supreme Dub ( África Mãe Do Leão Brazil ) [AML1002] TNT Roots is the mysterious dubplate anthem provider who operated in the shadows and became revered for supplying some of the toughest Soundsystem tunes for Aba Shanti-I for many years, and he has been slinging tunes in DIY style via CDs over the last decade or two until more recently he reared his head on wax via our friends Bokeh Versions and via a fine, unexpected linkup with John T. Gast. But ultimately, the vibe is – no fuss, no hype, just music – and this music happens to be some of the most cantankerous, charged steppers noise we’ve ever heard. This unexpected 10″ here for Brazilian label África Mãe Do Leão suits the DIY style of TNT to go along with what feels right at the time, and these cuts somehow combine that overdriven bassbin UK dub sound with a hint of grimey / Brazilian percussive rhythm in there somewhere (even if we’re just imagining that by association now – it kind of makes sense). Supreme is the k...

George Mukabi - Furaha Wenye Gita ( Mississippi Records) George Mukabi is a mythic figure across East Africa, known for his incredible fingerstyle guitar and hard living. Mukabi invented a solo technique in which melody, rhythm and bass lines all merged in two hands on one guitar. Combined with his gentle raspy voice, wood and glass percussion, and the harmonies of his companion Jack Malenya, he created a sweet and thriving “omutibo” music that belied his tough reputation and untimely death. An imposing man who was both respected and feared, he sang of the tumults of marriage, morality and life in Kenya on the cusp of independence. He sold hundreds of thousands of records in East and Central Africa before his murder in 1963, leaving behind just a few dozen beautiful songs and a complicated legacy. This is the first comprehensive release of his music outside of East Africa. We traveled to Kenya to meet Mukabi’s surviving son Johnstone, as well as a generation of the artists he inspire...

Heisei No Oto: Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996 (digital version) by Various Artists VA. - eisei No Oto: Japanese Left​-​field Pop From The CD Age, 1989​-​1996 (Music from memory) Music From Memory is excited to announce a special compilation that they’ve been working on for some time now; MFM053 – VA – Heisei No Oto – Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996). Compiled by long-time friends of the label, Eiji Taniguchi and Norio Sato, Heisei No Oto delves into a world of music released almost exclusively on CD and brings together a fascinating selection of discoveries from a little known and overlooked part of Japan’s musical history. The last ten or so years have seen a global wave of interest in Japanese music encompassing ambient, jazz, new wave, and pop records from the 1980s, some of which is increasingly considered the most innovative and visionary music of that time. Although some music from this period, in the form of ‘City Pop’ or ‘rare groove’ rec...

MEGA WAVE ORCHESTRA - Mega Wave Orchestra (Libreville) The music on this compilation was, for the most part, originally released privately in Geneva as a box set containing five LPs by The Mega Wave Orchestra and five prints by the artist Richard Reimann. The Mega Wave Orchestra, the brain-child of musician, mathematician, and composer Christian Oestreicher, was conceived as a multi-media electronic music orchestra. Mega Wave Orchestra by Mega Wave Orchestra It was comprised of seven keyboard players Christine Schaller, Vincent Barras, Jacques Demierre, Olivier Rogg, Rainer Boesch, Roger Baudet, and Benoit Corboz, with Oestreicher as arranger and producer. The Mega Wave Orchestra created a piece of new hybrid music. It was music with roots in the jazz and classical traditions, but one which also drew on the sonic freedom of musique concrete and the kind of total experience offered by psychedelia. The diverse backgrounds and specialisms of each of the band leaders/writers r...