Category: Nu jazz
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Living In The Moment album review – Prince Sampson
The somewhat cheesy album cover suggests the songs on this disc are of the “smooth jazz” variety — a much-maligned genre that’s regrettably heard when, let’s be honest, you’re at your most exasperated: bored in a lounge, on hold on the phone, trapped in an elevator. But fusion — as it’s also known — is […]
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4hero presents EXTENSIONS – various artists (4hero)
When an artist records someone else’s song in the pop world, it’s called a “cover”; the same thing in dance circles is a “remix”. Now, judging by this release, there’s a third category: an “extension”. Strictly speaking, it’s neither a cover nor a remix because the original artists — in this case, Marc Mac and […]
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The New Continent album review – Lars Bartkuhn
Some say material on this album sounds a bit like Pat Metheny. They’re mistaken. There’s material on this album that sounds a lot like Pat Metheny. All those “eee yaaahs” and “bah deee baaahs” can be heard on late ’80s Metheny LPs like Still Life (Talking) and Letter From Home. If you own them, buy The New Continent. You […]
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…broadcasting album review – various artists (Karen P)
Compilations are like movies. Most are the musical equivalent of blockbusters, serving up songs people already know; others are like arthouse films, endeavouring to educate their listeners. There are, of course, exceptions that do both — and that’s what Karen P tries to accomplish with …broadcasting. On this album, the former colleague of DJ Gilles […]
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Guaranteed Niceness album review – Sonar Kollektiv Orchester
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, jazzy Berlin label Sonar Kollektiv has released a collection of old tunes that sound remarkably new. A lush blanket of strings and horns transform songs that were once enveloped in electronic wizardry. Jazzanova faves No Use and Run have been stripped of their club-friendly oomph and replaced with a live, […]
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Rf Presents Opolopo album review – Opolopo
Fans of nu jazz tread a different path from the rest of the pop-besotted world. They love the idiosyncratic scene, with its choppy rhythms and oblique melodies. But with their passion comes frustration, as they struggle to convince their aurally challenged peers of the merits of neo soul or broken beats. Such an uphill task […]