Jazz de Ville

Cliff Nobles | Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks - My Love Is Getting Stronger | The Bold

With their latest release, "Matasuna Records" brings together two songs from 1966 that were originally released on "JV/Atlantic Records" & "ATCO Records". Now officially reissued for the first time on 7inch vinyl. Aside from the same release year, the two songs - a Northern Soul joint by "Cliff Nobles" and a Mod Jazz tune by "Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks" - seem to have little in common. However, both are delicacies for any dance floor and combine an irrepressible energy. The two songs thus fit perfectly together on this hot & fiery 45!

"My Love Is Getting Stronger" by "Cliff Nobles" on the A-side is not only a super rare soul gem whose original single cost at least $700 dollars. The song can also be considered one of the best (Northern) soul tunes. A grooving bass, infectious drums & bongos meet great orchestrated horns driven by Nobles' raw yet sweet voice. A smokin' soul cut for any dance floor. 

The instrumental "The Bold" by "Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks" on the B-side brings out the same irrepressible energy. The deep bassline, drumbreaks and funky guitar riffs introduce this terrific song. A deep organ joins in perfect interplay and enchants the listener. A great groover that shouldn’t leave any record box! 

"Cliff Nobles", born in 1944 in "Groove Hill" (Alabama) got into singing in his high school choir in "Mobile" (Alabama). He also became the lead singer of a popular local group called "The Delroys". After school, he moved to Philadelphia to work on his career. He recorded 3 songs for "Atlantic Records", which went unnoticed. He later formed the band "Cliff Nobles & Co" in "Norristown" with "Benny Williams" (bass), "Bobby Tucker" (lead guitar) and "Tommy Soul" (drums). 
Through demo tapes, Nobles came to the attention of producer "Jesse James", who began to write songs for the band and helped them get a contract with "Phil L.A. Of Soul" Records. The first release bombed, but the second single, "Love Is All Right/The Horse", brought success. Ironically, the instrumental B-side "The Horse," which Nobles didn't even perform on, became a huge hit. It reached #2 on the charts, sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold record by the R.I.A.A.. 

However, subsequent releases failed to match his success, and he retired from the music business in the early 1970s. Nobles died in October 2008 at the age of 67 in "Norristown", Pennsylvania. 

Karlos Boes Quartet - All In One

Actually, they just wanted to show their boss Maxim Illion (founder and band leader of Club des Belugas) how to play real jazz ...

Under the direction of saxophone player Karlos Boes, who wrote and produced all tracks, the musicians of the Club des Belugas live band recorded a terrific instrumental jazz studio album in the bebop & swing style of the 50s & 60s.

The other side of "Club des Belugas" !!!

Club des belugas - How to Avoid Difficult Situations

European nu-jazz band Club Des Belugas - with a storied history on Chinchin Records - take up residence on the somewhat mysterious Glamjazz label. Be they an orchestra, sextet, live band or in the studio, the multi-talented cast all meet on a sound somewhere between lounge, swing, Latin flair and American black soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies. This album in particular takes reference from that classic space pop sound of the '50s in "Set Fire To It All" - featuring that classic quote 'how to avoid difficult situations' - next to a cavalcade of big band horns in numbers like "Quitting The Bad Habits". With flurries of jazz-funk next to more mediterranean sessions in "Casually", find clubbier vibes in "Hazy (Club Des Belugas remix)" alongside full musical soundtracks in others like "Don't Stumble". An album that really touches on that cool Morcheeba sound that's in tune with a fanfare of global jazz.

Rashied Ali Quartet - New Directions In Modern Music

Avant-garde jazz drummer Rashied Ali played with John Coltrane up until his death in 1967, appearing on final recordings like The Olatunji Concert and Interstellar Space.After Coltrane’s death, Ali soon formed his own quartet, with Fred Simmons on piano, Stafford James on bass violin and Carlos Ward on alto sax and flute. The quartet’s first release, New Directions In Modern Music, released on Ali’s own Survival Records in 1973, exploded onto the free jazz scene, influencing the likes of Don Cherry, Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp (as well as many outside the jazz idiom), becoming a kind of manifesto for avant-garde music of the period. From this point, until his death in 2009, Ali was at the heart of the New York’s experimental music scene, collaborating in the mid-nineties on a project called Purple Trap, with Japanese guitarist Keiji Haino and Bill Laswell.

Nat Birchall - Ancient Africa

Available now!

Tony Burkill - Work Money Death

Available again!

Who is Tony Burkill? 

A stalwart of the Leeds music scene for the best part of 3 decades, Tony Burkill has so far maintained a low profile nationally, choosing to favour continued study and development on the instrument over attainment of success or recognition within the music industry. Working as a sideman for hire on the local circuit, he has impressed audiences with his powerful and gutsy approach to improvisation, and has been a well kept secret amongst both musicians and audiences in the north of England since the 1980s. 

Recently featuring as a guest soloist on the debut album by The Sorcerers, Tony has been on the radar of ATA Records since the inception of the label. Impressed by his exuberant and earthy performance style they decided to embark on the writing and production of what was to become “Work Money Death”, choosing to frame his playing in the context of the performers that have helped to shape his sound, most notably the spiritual jazz of the 60s and 70s. 

Featuring on the record are Drummer Sam Hobbs (The Electric Doctor M and Producer of Matthew Bourne’s Moogmemory), Bassist Neil Innes (The Sorcerers, Eddie Roberts’ Roughneck), Pianist George Cooper (Abstract Orchestra), Percussionist Pete Williams (The Sorcerers) and features a guest performance from Pianist Matthew Bourne on the track “Beginning and End”. 

Album opener “Third Of All Numbers” begins the LP with a Brubeckian jazz waltz that organically shifts between 3 and 6 time throughout, providing an ever shifting base for Tony’s thematic development of the main melody. “Out Of Sorts With The World” swaps piano for Farfisa organ and lays out a percussion-heavy Ethio-jazz groove that acts as the perfect foil to Tony’s bruising John Klemmer inspired performance. The tempo takes a step down on “Out Of a Shooting Star” (a reference to Tony’s unusual choice of Saxophone for this recording: A 1960s student model - the Conn Shooting Star) with George Cooper’s understated piano playing echoing the tender melody over a constantly evolving bed of flute, bass clarinet and percussion. 
“Work Money Death” is constantly propelled forward by Sam Hobbs’ agitated drumming and George Cooper’s McCoy Tyneresque piano playing, allowing for Tony to channel John Coltrane and Gato Barbieri. The final track “Beginning And End” features Matthew Bourne on piano over a hypnotic pulse of handclaps, bells, drums and bass, evoking Sun-Ra’s and Pharoah Sanders’ more cosmic output. 

Brian Brown Quintet - Carlton Streets

Composer and saxophonist Brian Brown produced some of the most refined Australian jazz recordings during the 1970s. A versatile musician whose distinct impressionist music melded modern jazz with the outer limits of free experimentation. Considered to be his greatest work was the 1975 concept album Carlton Streets, an ambitious recording that romanticised the sights, sounds and the nostalgia of this once-bohemian Melbourne neighbourhood. Differing from his eco-jazz composition Wildflowers heard on the recent Roundtable compilation Pyramid Pieces, Carlton Streets explores the polar opposite, offering jazz impressions of the urban environment. Comparable to other pioneering jazz-rock groups such as Ian Carr’s Nucleus and mid-period Soft Machine, the album is a mosaic of ecstatic jazz-rock groove, spirited free improvisation and expanded experimental textures. A potent fusion that owes as much to Australian 20th-century avant-garde composers as it does to the influence of the electric jazz innovators, specifically early Weather Report and Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi. The Roundtable are pleased to showcase this important artist and offer a new edition of this landmark Australian jazz recording. Restored from the original master tapes and presented in a gatefold sleeve including liner notes and rare photos.

Joshua Henry - Grow

Joshua Henry’s debut album Grow is available today via BMG. This album is a kaleidoscopic spectrum of sounds that showcases Joshua’s powerhouse vocals and versatile talents. Joshua’s brand new composition “Checking In” features his beautiful falsetto absolutely shining throughout the song, layered over a gorgeous arrangement of strings and stirring back-up vocals. “Checking In” reminds us of the importance of staying connected while allowing the space to move on from the past.

Grow combines the theatrically trained power of his voice with his heart-on sleeve songwriting. The music showcases his immaculately intelligent storytelling  background and his full voice - from low to high, crooning to rapping. Grow is sure to satisfy Joshua’s longtime fans as well as those looking for a new soulful collection of dynamic confessions.

Lewis Taylor reissue

Lewis Taylor self-released self-titled 1996 album is often spoken of as his masterpiece. It remains a modern classic more than a quarter of a century later as it stylishly and effortlessly mixes up neo-soul, pop and laid back funk. Original copies are incredibly hard to find let alone affordable so this is another timely reissue form Be With. The music has shades of every from Price to Gaye to Hendrix. It can be intimate and vulnerable as well as bold and empowering and is always hugely sensitively charged at all times. Highlights include the likes of the swinging, sombre funk of 'Whoever' and bittersweet feels of 'Betterlove.'

Ill Considered - Loosed

Free-wheeling live improvisers Ill Considered announce a new chapter with their first fully produced studio album 'Liminal Space' forthcoming on November 12 via New Soil.  Released today is first single 'Loose' which finds the band trading Fela Kuti-esque saxophone salvos and cosmic jazz flutes over the funkiest of grooves.

Having exploded onto the scene with 9 self-released albums between 2017 and 2019, UK-based outfit Ill Considered are breaking new ground with their first fully produced studio album and an interactive audio/visual performance residency at Southbank Centre's Purcell Room, this autumn.

Capturing a moment of transformation for the group, Liminal Space not only features a new core line-up of Idris Rahman (saxophone), Liran Donin (bass) and Emre Ramazanoglu (drums), but also sees Ill Considered bounce their live-wire style off a range of collaborators such as Collocutor’s Tamar Osborn, Steam Down saxophonist Ahnanse, tuba player Theon Cross and percussionist Sarathy Korwar.

In fact, far from taming the untethered improvisation of the group’s live shows - which have garnered them a cult following and sold out every one of their nine records along the way - Liminal Space represents an expansion in scope, framing their intuitive approach to performance within the structure and arrangements of the studio environment.

RCO Club Night

More info soon

Jazz & Wine Festival

Maestro feat. Susanne Alt

RCO Club Night

In co-operation with the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra