Category: Archive

  • Summertime Chi. album review – Micki Miller

    Summertime Chi. album review – Micki Miller

    Overlooked LP for musos who like their neo soul sprinkled with jazzy, left-field harmonies Outside of a clique of musicians such as Mark de Clive-Lowe and K15, few have heard of Indiana-based keyboardist Tarrah ‘Micki’ Miller. And that’s a criminal oversight. Her 2016 album Summertime Chi. is one of the best neo soul LPs of […]

  • Brownswood 10 album – various artists

    Brownswood 10 album – various artists

    Jazz, neo soul and electronica collide on this compilation celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Brownswood label Back in 2006, Gilles Peterson launched the Brownswood label. By this point in his career the London-based DJ was wise to the ways of the music biz: he’d already worked with recording behemoth Phonogram via his Talkin’ Loud […]

  • Worth the Wait (Mark de Clive-Lowe remix) – Nils Wülker

    Worth the Wait (Mark de Clive-Lowe remix) – Nils Wülker

    Jazz trumpeter’s low-key ballad gets an uptempo overhaul Outside dedicated jazz circles, Nils Wülker isn’t particularly well known. However, this remix of the German trumpeter’s track might change that. Keyboardist Mark de Clive-Lowe, who’s worked with such talented folk as Omar and Bémbé Ségué, is on remix duties giving the balladry original an uptempo overhaul. […]

  • 24 Hours in Lapa album – Tamil Rogeon

    24 Hours in Lapa album – Tamil Rogeon

    From tragedy comes a poignant recording mixing bold strings with Latin beats Back in 2009, Australian violinist Tamil Rogeon, with composer-vocalist Ryan Ritchie, released Score, a well-received LP of strings and hip hop beats that featured the rather splendid Funeral Wedding and Space Between Thoughts. Rogeon’s first solo album, 24 Hours in Lapa, isn’t short […]

  • Escapee album – Daniel Casimir

    Escapee album – Daniel Casimir

    Mini album from an up-and-coming bassist whose songs will appeal as much to neo soul fans as jazz heads Having performed with many notable musicians, including pianists Lonnie Liston Smith, Julian Joseph and fellow Jazz Re:freshed labelmate Ashley Henry, bassist Daniel Casimir takes centre stage with a five-track debut album. The graduate from the Trinity […]

  • Two Way Here One Way Go EP –  Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks

    Two Way Here One Way Go EP – Tatham, Mensah, Lord & Ranks

    Third instalment of “London boogie” since the UK quartet released their celebrated 2012 album The collaboration between Kaidi Tatham, Akwasi Mensah, Matt Lord and Dego is one of the most polished combinations the 2000Black label partakes in. Music along the broken beat-boogie spectrum often sounds like the creation of lone individuals beavering away in home […]

  • How jazz inspired hip hop – video

    How jazz inspired hip hop – video

    Short video explaining the symbiotic relationship between jazz and hip hop Website Jazz Night In America:NPR Back in the early ’90s, outfits such as the Digable Planets tried to meld jazz with hip hop by rapping over improvising musicians. Almost 20 years later, however, it’s clear that producers such as J Dilla — who created […]

  • Trope 5ive album – Trope

    Trope 5ive album – Trope

    Jazz, soul and a hint of prog rock from a UK quintet that’s not afraid to experiment With amiable, catchy tunes increasingly drowning out more challenging fare, it’s difficult to see how Trope’s voice will be heard amid a sea of sameness. The output from this progressive five-piece is ambitious, inventive and devoid of any […]

  • The Self feat. Jordan Rakei single – Richard Spaven

    The Self feat. Jordan Rakei single – Richard Spaven

    Single from the upcoming album by a drummer who’s worked with The Cinematic Orchestra, Flying Lotus and 4hero Fortunate singers or saxophonists might get the chance to release solo albums, but drummers are rarely afforded such opportunities; theirs is usually a life of back-to-back session work. Percussionist Richard Spaven, however, is on to his third […]

  • Cure single – Moonchild

    Cure single – Moonchild

    Serene neo soul from the forthcoming album by the LA-based trio It seems apt that as the northern hemisphere ushers in spring, the summery vocals of Moonchild’s Amber Navran would make an appearance on the trio’s new single. Cure is taken from the LA-based group’s forthcoming album Voyager, their third long player. Following a harmonic […]