Jazz de Ville

Mulatu Astake & the Black Jesus Experience - To Know Without Knowing

Recorded between Addis Ababa and Melbourne and melding Astatke’s dexterous improvised stylings and Black Jesus Experience’s penchant for transcontinental and cultural exploration, To Know Without Knowing sees Mulatu Astatke and Black Jesus Experience (or BJX) expand on their unlikely yet formidable partnership, combining illuminating original compositions and exciting new arrangements of Ethio-jazz classics.

Mark de Clive-Lowe & Bembe Segue - The Politik

Released in 2007, The Politik's eponymous debut album sees producer Mark de Clive-Lowe behind the beats and vocalist supreme Bembe Segue on the mic, taking their collaborations on MdCL's Tide's Arising to a whole new space with their joint moniker and this album. Showcasing the duo's love for hip hop and headnod, with a touch of broken beat, the album also features cameos from Blu, Bahamadia, Waajeed, Replife, Jason Yarde, Daz I-Kue and here complete with bonus tracks: the Japan-only 'Next in Line' and a dancefloor remix courtesy Maddslinky aka Zed Bias.

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin'

A never-before-released studio album by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack, New Jersey studio on March 8, 1959, and featuring the legendary drummer, along with trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt. The 6-song set includes 2 previously unissued compositions: “Quick Trick” and “Jimerick.”

Jimi Tenor - Sugar & Spice

Finnish multi-dimensional artist Jimi Tenor is back with a new 7" on Philophon to announce the upcoming album Aulos, which is going to be released in October.On Sugar And Spice he reunited with Ghanaian drummer Ekow Alabi and German producer Max Weissenfeldt. 

Sugar And Spice is the perfect summer hit for Jazz, Boogie, Soul and Afro-Beat lovers. A bouncy bass with hip chords, some sharp horns and a sweet voice are driven forward by Ekow's rolling beat. On Lover's Bridge Jimi creates some reminissence to the classic Sun Ra compositions from the 50s and early 60s. A singing organ calls some heroic horns, carried away by a rhythm section, which practice the power of repetition formula par excellence.

Asher Gamedze - Dialectic Soul

On The Corner Records is delighted to announce the release of Dialectic Soul, the debut album from one of Cape Town's most cutting-edge, visionary artists and musicians, drummer Asher Gamedze.

This is Jazz at its most spiritual, most progressive and most appealing form. As Asher himself says: Dialectic Soul is about motion and a refusal to remain static or stay still. It’s the commitment to be continually moving’.

Recorded live over two days at the Sound and Motion Studios in Cape Town with renowned musicians (Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Buddy Wells (tenor sax), Robin Fassie-Kock (trumpet) Nono Nkoane (voc)), Dialectic Soul is breathtaking in its musical vitality and expression of soul seeking truth. By incorporating the concept of the Total Art for this project, it fits perfectly within On The Corner's aesthetic of music, art and vision for creative innovation.

Early support comes from OkayAfrica, The Vinyl Factory, Aquarium Drunkard and NPR, who listed Gamedze among their The Best New Artists Of 2020 (So Far)

SoulStateJazz - Annwn

The latest album from Bristol's increasingly eclectic Banoffee Pies label is an intriguing proposition. It comes from long-time Leif collaborator and Freerotation member Tom Ellis, who has joined forces with deep house producer Mark Hand, saxophonist Michel Renger, and experienced live performer Dave Elson to form a new jazz-focused band, Soulstate Jazz. With the help of numerous other artists connected to the Freerotation-related Malt Barn studio, Ellis and chums have created a set of musically rich, life-affirming tracks that fuse live jazz drums and instrumentation with elements of jazz-funk, deep house, ambient and downtempo grooves. It's kind of a house-head's take on the contemporary jazz sound of Ishmael Ensemble, and that's a very good thing indeed.

The Roots Solo Sessions

Sly5thAve has teamed up with Denitia for a special rework of "With You" for episode 7 of The Roots Solo Sessions. The lockdown edit features a new saxophone interlude from the multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer.

Returning with his first new music since his critically acclaimed project ‘The Invisible Man: An Orchestral Tribute to Dr. Dre’, this session follows the release of singles "More Or Less feat. Marlon Craft", "The Night feat. Melissa McMillan" and "With You feat. Denitia".

All tracks are taken from his upcoming album 'What It Is' (out 18th September).

Thelonious Monk - Palo Alto

The summer of 1968 looked like the summer of 2020. Americans were in the streets protesting racism, among other things. And a high school student in Palo Alto, Calif., got in on the action by enlisting the help of a jazz legend. Danny Scher came up with the idea to book Thelonious Monk to play his school's auditorium and now, a professional recording of this concert will be released publicly for the first time on July 31. The album is called Palo Alto.

The fact that the concert was recorded at all is almost "by happenstance," says WBGO and Jazz Night in America's Nate Chinen. "The day before the event, Danny was approached by a school janitor, who said: 'If you let me record the concert, I'll get the piano tuned.' So Danny (who, remember, is a teenager), was like: 'Uh, sure!' "

Wheelup - Ndebele

Following on the success of his debut EP “Bulawayo” on CoOperation Records, and singles “Self Healing Machine” and “Vitruvian Man” on Tru Thoughts, Danny has cemented the WheelUP name as part of the new school of bruk – garnering approval from respected radio and club DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Toddla T & Jamz Supernova.

Thumping EP opener “Ndebele” see’s Danny pay homage to his heritage: “Ndebele people were the tribe of my father, originally from Zimbabwe, and part of the Zulu’s. He explained to me, as I am the oldest son, I have a spiritual role to my extended family in the tribe.” The cosmic-spacious ambience of “Life On Mars” is a tribute to Danny’s friends in China who were starting to slowly re-open their clubs in April 2020 during the initial lifting of sanctions during COVID-19 pandemic (at the time of writing). While the syncopated rhythms in “People” is one for the bruk heads “it’s more of a nod to the classic bruk from Plastic People times”, Danny explains. The EP closes with “Girl” a relentlessly hypnotic-hook, embodying dark-dancefloor vibes for the end of the night.

Stance Brothers - Resolution Blue

Drummer-producer Teppo Mäkynen's celebrated alias The Stance Brothers returns with a properly groovy 7"/digi single 'Resolution Blue / Where Is Resolution Blue?' on We Jazz Records.

Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen found on their self-titled 2019 We Jazz LP.

True to We Jazz style, the 7" comes with an old school heat-pressed labels and a generic brown paper sleeve. The labels were made by Mäkynen in true cut & paste style.