Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: This release is a story of serendipitous stars aligning. Having released Bala Desejo's anthemic single, 'Baile De Mascaras', back in May 2023, Mr. Bongo could sense that they had a summer classic on their hands. The label always thought that it had the potential to find fans in a dance music audience; and in a further twist of fate, the sensational DJ, producer, and radio presenter Jamz Supernova recently graced their Great Escape in-store event with a phenomenal DJ set. After some feverish digging and emailing to her team, Bongo discovered that she was a fan of the original song and had made a personal edit to play in her DJ sets. Gilles had heard Jamz spinning the edit and asked for a copy, and by sheer coincidence and good fortune, it all fell into place. The track is a beast of an edit that gets heavier and deeper as it progresses.

Review: The Beat Broker's debut 45, El Barrio Strut, is the Latin-infused heat your sets have been craving. Side A brings the fire with its uptempo 60s-style boogaloo banger, blending punchy horns and lively keys into a dancefloor-ready groove. On the flip, you'll find Bass By Dope Demand, a beat-tape gem that nods to King Bee's classic hip-hop before diving into heavy psych-funk territory. Then there's Steppa's Delight, a deeper, looser groove featuring Latin funk percussion, squelchy blaxploitation guitars and horns. Both tracks are short but impactful, leaving you wishing for extended versions.

Review: Bedroom beat producer Blank Check has teamed up with Honolulu's Aloha Got Soul and Tokyo's Grand Gallery for this majestic new six-song EP which comes on tidy 10" vinyl. It's mega limited with only 300 copies produced and it showcases loop-based music that evokes a floating sensation, which is reminiscent, say the accompanying notes, of Tommy Guerrero's world view. The instrumental sound features a dub-like quality that perfectly captures an urban mellow vibe that feels both original and authentic. Essentially it serves as a soundtrack to a short film that immerses you in atmospheric and cinematic soundscapes.

Review: Those two little letters GU are always enough to get us excited. They are of course an alias of Glenn Underground, the masterful Chicago house producer, musician and DJ who still has a much lower profile than his talents deserve. Here he adds a Mix Mashup to Bobpstar's 'Mayday/Captured Restless Soul Mixes' and the result is a bubbly, mellifluous deep house cut with warm and liquid synths, chopped-up vocal fragments and a gooey sense of romance. It is another crucial offering from the Windy City mainstay, even if it is a one-sided 12".

Review: Over the past decade, Cory Champion has navigated multiple musical dimensions. As a composer, drummer, and bandleader, he has led the Clear Path Ensemble through two albums of celestial, dance-infused jazz under Cosmic Compositions and Soundway Records. Simultaneously, as Borrowed CS, he has crafted dubby techno, minimal electro, and soulful jazzy house. His second Borrowed CS release, Rise n Shine via Planet Trip Records, expands on his "Mystic Shuffle" sound and is a brilliant new blend of futurist machine funk, post-disco, and future soul with some fine features from the one and only Steve Spacek and smooth crooner Mara TK who help deliver grooves that shimmer and snap with rhythmic precision.

Review: The legendary UK acid-jazz innovators Brand New Heavies dropped many a classic sounds and none more so than their iconic album 'Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1. More than three decades after first release it remains an influential work that blends UK club jazz with US hip-hop. Featuring collaborations with artists like Main Source, The Pharcyde, Gang Starr, and Black Sheep, the album marked a groundbreaking fusion of genres back in its heyday and now two standout tracks from the album, 'Soul Flower' featuring The Pharcyde and 'It's Gettin' Hectic' featuring Gang Starr make their way to 7" for the first time and sounds as good as ever.

Review: Brand New Heavies have long had their legacy assured. They played a vital role in establishing the Brit-funk sounds of the 80s and 90s and are one of the most enduring acts on Acid Jazz. Now, their standout album Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1 has two of its finest cuts singled out and pressed up to this Bonafied Funk reissue on P-Vine Japan. The tunes are a blend of their signature sounds with some top-level featured guests including hip hop royalty Main Source and the one and only Grand Puba. Timeless dance floor delights, for sure.

Review: Bread & Souls is a new project dreamt up by Italian entrepreneur and music lover Franco Fusari. For this he invited Mark de Clive-Lowe to direct and produce his roving vision: a series of collaborations with the cream of boogie and jazzdance's best performers and instrumentalists, including the likes of Bembe Segue, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, Tommaso Cappellato and more. Under the banner of Bread & Souls, these eight originals and six remixes hit hard yet smooth, sliding down the proverbial aural gullet like a well-made Manhattan.

Review: Bread & Souls emerges as an exciting new venture from Italian music enthusiast Franco Fusari, who has enlisted the expertise of Mark de Clive-Lowe for this collaborative project. This latest release, Chapter 4, continues to explore diverse musical landscapes with contributions from a stellar lineup of artists including Bembe Segue, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, and Tommaso Cappellato. The opening track, 'Working On It,' draws inspiration from bossa nova rhythms, featuring Rich Medina's introspective lyrics that delve into life's intricacies, complemented by Bembe Segue's rich vocal tones. Vanessa Freeman takes the spotlight on 'Together,' delivering an uplifting soulful house track that radiates timeless charm. Domu returns with a new remix of 'Little Did I Know,' this time infusing it with a broken beat twist that promises to energise the dancefloor. The final track, remixed by Neroli's Volcov, offers a 4/4-driven take on 'Anybody Out There,' catering to fans of rhythmic precision and groove.

Review: Bread & Souls is an ensemble of musicians, singers, DJs, producers and, most of all, long term friends: a globally-spread family re-gathered by Franco Fusari - entrepreneur, music lover and dreamer. 'Find The Beauty' is the project's 7" preview track (preceding the full project), featuring Detroit-based Paul Randolph on vocals, Tommaso Cappellato on drums, Marcus Machado on guitar and Taku Hirano on percussion, all directed by eclectic project leader and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe, the pianist and true electronic-jazz pioneer. A remarkably well-rounded disco-jazzdance sprawler full of glitzing swing and synthetic ornaments, there's something in 'Find The Beauty' for all the family.

Review: Broken Keys is a multi-talented musician and producer based in Los Angeles. His cut 'Assorted Colors' has become a real underground house classic that now lands on wax for the first time as a special extended 12" remix that really locks you into the languid grooves. The legendary Galcher Lustwerk steps up to add his own distinctive take on the original and infuses it with a techy yet atmospheric groove. Broken Keys explores a different facet of his sound with three distinct cuts on the flip that range from blunted beats and sun-kissed Balearic to chilled-out future soul. They make for a diverse package perfect for the after-club or Sunday morning listening.

Review: Byron The Aquarius is one of deep house's most vital innovators. The man with the background making hip-hop for the stars as really excelled in recent times with his always richly musical jams. This new outing is no different: 'Free' (feat Teddy Bryant) lays down solid deep house beats and salts them with soft focus chords and smoky vocals. 'We Still Slaves Out There?' has a dubby groove and more exquisite chords and soulful vocal coos, while two further teriffic tracks 'Slaves Of Reality (feat MDMA)' and 'Lonesome Road We Livin' round out a heartwarming and timeless deep house offering that is cuddly and life-affirming.

Review: Byron The Aquarius has the sort of mad skills on a keyboard that evade all too many house producers. He has also spent years making beats for hip-hop artists so has plenty in his arsenal. His fantastic EP 'Gone Today Here Tomorrow' is a still standout collection of cuts on Kyle Hall's Wild Oats label that now gets reissued on limited orange vinyl 12". It is a superb showcase of his skills that traverse lithe deep house, cosmic grooves, plenty of mellifluous melodies and seductive late-night sounds. 'Moments In Life' is a particular favourite here.

Review: Serious jazz dance fusion from 1974, Norman Connors' cover of Carlos Garnett's "Mother Of The Future" drives with shamanistic fury before the firing keys, heaving horns and deep soul vocals fly into the mix. For a more contemporary jazz take, flip for Bembe Segue's emphatic live version. Lavished with her distinctively rich vocals and stern spoken word and complete with wild bass runs and a thick bed of percussion, it's an instant show-stopper. Two incredible covers, one special 10".

Review: Expansion's focus right now is on reissuing classic tracks alongside a newer version of it. They are all coming on tidy 10" eco vinyl in mad limited numbers and next up is Norman Connors and Bembe Segue. Connors dropped his superb 'Mother of the Future' in 1975 and it is a mad jazz dancer with layer upon layer of Afro drumming, loose percussion and expressive vocal ad-libs. Flip it over and we're taken to 2008's live version of the same tune by Bembe Segue. It's a little less intense but no less busy, with silky jazz grooves and new vocals layering in some future soul.

Review: Stefano De Santis kicks off Ten Lovers' new 'Best Of Various' release with 'Murk'; as the name suggests, this is indeed a dark workout from Rome's finest. The tone is set thereout for a thoroughly varied V/A, blending every curious hallmark from jazzdance, G-funk, Chicago house and progressive. The opener is a muted but no less expansive start, establishing the broken, one-beat-eliding, live-drummy mood that is then heard throughout. Batavia Collective's 'Rearview' thematically harks after an unconscious joy, considering what can only be implied, not stated, by way of a gorgeous, what sounds to be largely live, modal synth squeezer on which the slowdown is the real highlight. Future Jazz Ensemble's 'Over The Rainbow' is by far the most challenging, blurring any woulda-been established lines popularly splitting 'live' and 'electronic' with a reverb-drenched generative fill workout, while closer 'Outer Heaven' from Takahiro Fuchigami, hailing from Fukuoka, rounds things off on a note of Hancockian jive.

Review: Simon Greene aka. Bonobo is set to put forth yet another album from his own personal ether; 'Fragments' was born from actual sonic 'fragments' that were later repurposed into twelve full 'sonic affirmations'. A later escape into the wilds of California's deserts formed the bulk of this album's downtempo magnum opi; watch out for collabs with a foray of world-downtempo electronica acts including Jamila Woods, O'Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. One of his most heartfelt albums, expect all from lilting future garage ('Rosewood') to rave-nostalgic slow builds.

Review: Rome label Maledetta Discoteca Records encouraged a bunch of talented local musicians to get together and play live, embrace spontaneity and do their improvised best. What results is this new record, which is funk at its core, but which is coloured by so much more around the edges. Recorded in the historic Auditorium 900 studios with sound engineer Fabrizio Piccolo, the record takes in everything from 70s instrumentals to progressive funk, Hispanic rock and more with all manner of wah wah guitars, synths and organ bringing each groove to life in tiles fashion.