Back catalogue: All genres

Review: BBE, known for its groundbreaking J-Jazz and J-Jazz Masterclass series, now shines a light on an inerasable gem in Japan's national discography: the debut LP Rainbow Love by Orquesta Del Sol, the country's first authentic salsa band. Salsa's roots in Japan trace back to the post-WWII era, with groups like Tokyo Cuban Boys, but it was the 1977 Fania All-Stars tour that initiated wider interest. Percussionist Masahito "Pecker" Hashida, influenced by New York's salsa scene, formed Orquesta Del Sol on his return. Their debut, put out in 1981, blends compositions in Japanese, Spanish, and English, while working in a cover of Noro Morales' 'Rumbambola'. Produced by Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami, the album's bold sound was a product of Japan's studio scene and the band's connection to the Nuyorican salsa style. This reissue includes seven bonus tracks from the band's later years, remastered for a new generation.

Review: Prepare yourself for a wry chuckle, as we impart the fact that the compilation you see hyperlinked before you was not at all prepackaged, with work cut out for its curators. Rather, it came from the source, having first manifested as a pile of Ghanaian highlife LPs buried at the bottom of DJ Jerry Frempong's wife's garden. Frempong is the son of one of one of the most prominent former Ghanaian-British label owners, Anthony Roberts Frempong of Asona Records, whose founding movements in the South East London district of Peckham proved highly popular helping disseminate highlife music in the English capital. BBE Music owner Pete Adarkwah caught wind of the serendipitous discovery and approached Jerry to discuss the reissue of this historic catalogue, which you hear here. The sweetest of early and untrodden highlife highlights are heard here, including sparklers by Kantata, Jewel Ackah, Sam Yeboah, Mr Cee and even Thomas Frempong himself.