Jazz de Ville

Emma-Jean Thackray - Rain Dance

Over the past few years Emma-Jean Thackray has come up as part of the new London jazz scene that also includes groups like Ezra Collective. Two years on from her debut EP Ley Lines, Thackray now kicks off her new label Movementt with a four-track set of her own material. Across the Raindance EP we find Thackray often producing and playing all of the instruments herself as well as directing a larger ensemble at points in order to produce work of amplified magnitude far surpassing genre tags.

Raindance’s A-side is taken up by the near-eight-minute jam ‘Raindance / Wisdom’. This epic number serves to act almost as microcosm of Thackray’s sound as a whole. Beginning with a cerebral haze of keys, the track soon blooms into a low-slung hip-hop-influenced joint not dissimilar to Karriem Riggins. Around halfway in ‘Raindance / Wisdom’ changes gear, ramping up into a free freakout that channels the upstart energy of Thackray’s scene affiliates Moses Boyd and Joe Armon-Jones.

>span class="s1">Ambitious, expressive and vibrant, the Raindance EP reinforces Emma-Jean Thackray’s position as a new jazz creator of some repute.

Be PM - Beats & Impro

Be PM is a fresh band formed by four young musicians from Santiago. They are crafting beats with live instruments and improvising on themes they loved.

This first release on My Bags is a live recording took at the University of Art and Science of Santiago. It will be followed by a LP this year.

Dr Rubberfunk - My Life at 45

Dr Rubberfunk might not be medically trained, but he does know a thing or two about treating your ears, as he returns with his fourth album "My Life at 45". 2018 saw Dr Rubberfunk step back into the limelight to release the first in a series of four'My Life at 45" limited 7” singles - each of which have promptly sold out and won praise & support from the likes of Bandcamp, BBC 6 Music, Fatboy Slim and Blue and Soul Magazine. Having established himself in funk, soul, blues and jazz circles with a ton of high calibre releases, the good doctor holds a reputation for quality productions, with a hands-on approach, both in front of, and behind the mixing desk, as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and producer. The new album brings together stunning vocals from John Turrell, Izo FitzRoy and Stephanie Whitelock, whilst the instrumental tracks, showcasing the talents of long-time collaborators Jim Oliver, Jonathan JAmes and Ben Castle , make it clear just what a crack production outfit the Doctor has put together.

Horatio Luna - Yes Doctor

‘Yes Doctor’ is the debut LP from Henry Hicks AKA Horatio Luna. The eclectic Melbourne shape-shifter solidifies his place within ‘house music’ on Yes Doctor as Dub, Jazz & Bruk bleed into one another - stretching further the thread that binds one to the other whilst mapping and exploring the space between. 

From Horatio: 
"I have always played music that is a fusion of styles and as ‘Horatio Luna’. I always want there to be a connection to House music. I was exploring the parallels between every style I could think of and mixing it with house. I was pushing aesthetic boundaries, things I felt I hadn’t heard before, searching for new music, 'Not box-able music'. Yes Doctor is a coming of age record. I was pushing myself to the limit musically and challenging myself in every aspect of life".

The Preacher Men - Live at the Bimhuis

Three men, three instruments.
Saxophone, organ & drums.
Air vibrating, creating jangle, rumble & pulse.

These sounds blend
and become music
in the ear of the listener.
The synergy between musicians
and audience
brings music to life.

Live music played at one of
The finest music venues in the world;
the BIMHUIS.
A home to jazz music for more than 45 years.

‘LIVE AT BIMHUIS’

(Efraim Trujillo)

Nightmares on Wax - Smokers Delight (25th anniversary edition)

In our anything-goes age, it is worth remembering that the music Nightmares On Wax made in the 90s was radical for the way that it spliced together sonic styles with aptitude. Smokers Delight, Nightmare On Wax’s 1995 sophomore LP, is one of the finest examples of the project’s boundary-pushing sound. This record was well ahead of its time for the way that it mixed trip-hop, hip-hop breaks, Latin percussion and downtempo electronics. As well as being highly innovative the record is also effortlessly cool, its low-end theory on cruise control throughout its 72-minute runtime. Along with the likes of Coldcut, DJ Food, Massive Attack and Beck, Nightmares On Wax created a bold vision for the post-genre future here, one that still exerts great influence over many contemporary artists.

When a classic album like Smokers Delight is primed for reissue, it is common to find rare cuts from around the time of the original release included as bonus beats. However, this new edition of Smokers Delight sees Nightmares On Wax doing something a little different. Two of the four additional tracks here, ‘Let’s Ascend’ and ‘Aquaself’, are in fact completely new numbers which have been created with the same instruments, studio equipment, processes and techniques that were used when Nightmares On Wax came up with Smokers Delight all those years ago. As such, these cuts form a delightful bridge between the old and new Nightmares on Wax aesthetics, combining the languid breaks of old with that textural richness which has characterized more recent LPs like Shape The Future. We are also graced with a new funk mix of ‘Dreddoverboard’ and a luxurious, sprawling live take of ‘Nights Introlude’ taped in Chicago in 2014.

Warp and Nightmares On Wax celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of the project’s seminal, inventive trip-hop joint Smokers Delight LP with a reissue that comes bolstered by new beats, a live take and an alternate mix.

Oveous - Hyper Soul: Fire

Poet, singer, producer and DJ OVEOUS joins forces with BBE Music for the first of a series of three interconnected EPs on the label, titled FIRE, HEART and MEDICINE.

Crafting his ‘Hyper Soul’ sound since 2007, OVEOUS first made waves with a guest appearance on Osunlade’s “Mirror Dance”, followed by his own production “I Apologize”, which was released on Yoruba Records with remixes from Ezel and Atjazz. OVEOUS has since gone on to work with Roy Ayers, Louie Vega and Boddhi Satva, earning himself well- deserved recognition from the global community as a truly original new voice in House and electronic music.

Three new original EPs on BBE; ‘FIRE’, ‘HEART’ and ‘MEDICINE’, together will complete a musical story that traces the artist’s personal growth, relationships and his “journey through the wonderful, curious maze that is love over the last decade”. As OVEOUS puts it, the project “showcases how I’ve matured in relationships and how I’ve learned to navigate my ego and my heart when times have been dark.”

So we begin with first EP ‘FIRE’, which represents the beginning, the flame that sparks a relationship. Opening track ‘Unfrozen’ was written in 2010, at a time when OVEOUS was recovering from a deep depression. Energetic and intense, the song represents rebirth, recovery: becoming unfrozen.

‘Yoga Flame’ is a dance-floor heater and one of the most popular tracks in OVEOUS’ live sets over the last year or so. Inspired by the feeling of meeting that special someone who’s “able to captivate my heart and open me up to the possibilities of love again”, the warmth and jubilation contained here are highly contagious.

Featuring Australian multi-instrumentalist Julian Steel, ‘Rotten APPLZ’ closes out the first EP in glitchy, soulful style, creating an irresistible groove with lyrics exploring that universal, joyful moment in a new love affair, when other suitors are still trying their luck, but deep down you know you’re the chosen one.

Nina Simone - Fodder on my Wings

A lesser-known but important part of Nina Simone's musical history, Fodder on my Wings contains deeply personal songs, including the aforementioned "I Sing Just To Kno That I'm Alive" and "I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them", as well a searing lyrical improvisation about the death of her father on "Alone Again (Naturally)". At the time she recorded the album, Simone was living in France and extremely lonely: her mental illness was worsening and her family life was fractured. It;s out of this despair that one of the many album standouts, the near title track was birthed. As Pitchfork wrote in their list of 33 of Simone's most iconic songs, the composition "captured with startling intimacy the pain of this period, and she returned to it frequently through the next decade, cutting another studio version three years later (the synth-heavy take on Nina's Back!) and including it on several live albums, including an awe-inspiring performance on 1987's Let It Be Me, continuing, Simone's vocal makes a song of weariness and defeat carry an air of defiance, a wise word from someone who survived to tell the tale".

Shabaka & the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here by History

The Project was formed in early 2017, leading to their debut album later that year "Wisdom of Elders", a document of sessions combining Hutchings with a group of South African jazz musicians he'd long admired. His connection to the group was Mandla Mlangeni (bandleader of the Amandla Freedom Ensemble), whom he'd flown there to play with over the past few years.

"We Are Sent Here by History" is a meditation on the fact of our coming extinction as a species. It is a reflection from the ruins, from the burning. A questioning of the steps to be taken in preparation for our transition individually and societally if the end is to be seen as anything but a tragic defeat. For those lives lost and cultares dismantled by centuries of western expansionism, capitalist thought and white supremist structural hegemony the end days have long been heralded as present with this  world experienced as an embodiment of living purgatory.

Laila Biali - Out of Dust

For nearly every major triumph, a highly return to jazz, winning the Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, touring the world, the singer-songwriter has faced private debilitating crises. In just a few short years, Biali lost a close friend to cancer, mourned a family member's suicide, and was diagnosed with two auto-immune disorders that threatened her career. It was a period of change and heartache, but it was also a season of great inspiration and hope. The result is Biali's deeply personal new album: Out of Dust.

DJ Maestro at Soho House

The Reflex at Hotel Arena

Grand opening of a series of clubnights at Hotel Arena Amsterdam. First night featuring the great disco producer The Relfex. Other dj's: Sascha Hair, Guy Gravier and Maestro.

Capetown International Jazz Festival

Cape Town International Jazz festival celebrates it's 20th! edition on March 29 and 30

Jazzahead Bremen

RCO Club Night & DJ Maestro

Op 18 april 2020 is er weer een Concertgebouworkest Club Night! Net als de vorige keer vindt de Club Night plaats op een bijzondere locatie, deze keer Lil' Amsterdam Central Station, in de Amstelpassage van het station. Hier kun je de musici van het Concertgebouworkest in een intieme en informele setting horen. Speciale gast is de veelzijdige altvioliste Tabea Zimmermann, dit seizoen artist in residence bij het Concertgebouworkest

Tijdens de Concertgebouworkest Club Night krijg je twee sets kamermuziek op topniveau door leden van het Concertgebouworkest. Na afloop kun je blijven hangen voor een borrel of dansen op de muziek van DJ Maestro.

Smoove & Turrell, Kraak & Smaak and Maestro

Leopolis Jazz Fest

Montreux Jazz

No text needed ;-)

North Sea Jazz festival 2020

The annual biggest jazz festival in Holland. Do we need to say more?

Black Sea Jazz