Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz

Review: Nicola Conte is one of the central figures in the Schema story, and his nu jazz and broken beat partnership with Gianluca Petrella has yielded some golden music in recent years. Nigeria originally came out in 2018, and then last year popped up on the duo's People Need People LP, but now it's getting a proper remix treatment which sees Tall Black Guy twisting the track out as a heady disco house roller for sundown moments when you need a little jazzy flair in the proceedings. That version comes in vocal and instrumental versions, and then the mighty Andres steps up for one of his simmering groove escapades as he delivers an extended remix of 'African Spirits'.

Review: African Spirits is the coming together of musician and producer Nicola Conte with his friend and colleague Gianluca Petrella, who is an ECM and Blue Note associate and internationally renowned talent who emerged from the Italian jazz scene. Their recent album found them exploring a wide range of music in our globalised world with nods to Detroit, disco, house, and jazz. Now Berlin-based New York don Fred P offers up two of his reinterpretations. They are of course long, deep, spiritual and moving in both physical and emotional ways.

Review: Last year, Mother Tongue Records released Madre Lingua, an album of all-star collaborations between broken beat and deep house musicians and producers helmed by Verona-based Brit Patrick Gibin. This 12" updates two of the tracks from the set, with Gibin once again to the fore. On side A, he joins forces with long-time friend and studio buddy Kaidi Tatham to remix EDB and Gary Superfly's 'Pressure'. Their tack is bouncy and synth-heavy, with spacey, out-there lead lines and intergalactic-sounding pads rising above a Maurice Fulton-as-Syclops style bassline and loose-limbed house drums. On the flip, Marc De Clive-Lowe remixes his own collaboration with Gibin and Tommasso Capelleto, 'Apollo', brilliantly joining the dots between spacey jazz-funk and ambient on a superb, beat-free 'Dreamscape' mix.

Review: Impossibly powerful and soul fuelled sounds from Gabriels,who have headlined a fine list of all the major musi events, not least Glastonbury with a stirring performance that took them to all new levels. 'Love & Hate In a Different Time' is their most hard hitting tune but still comes with plenty of sweetness and sits at the centre of this 12" of the same name with an alternate version also included next to dusty and lo-fi soul gut wrenchers like 'The Blind' and the intimate vocals, swooning strings and finger clicks of 'In Loving Memory.'

Review: A new four-track EP reflecting ever-expanded horizons for the band, 'Bloodline' is the latest output from loose-limbed, soul-stirring funk band Gabriels. Quickly finding fans in the likes of Elton John, Celeste, Paul Weller, Benji B, and Gilles Peterson, Gabriels should soon find plenty more on a record that could soundtrack a David Lynch epic; such is its drama, its suspenseful, late-night orchestral ruminations. Capped by frontman Lusk's voice - a weapon that swoops through the octaves breathlessly - Gabriels have that rare ability to make you re-evaluate music, and what it can do, in a heartbeat. Whilst Lusk provides the wow factor with that ridiculous larynx, Gabriels are very much a close-knit trio. Producer, keyboardist (and full-time video director) Ryan Hope hails from Sunderland but calls LA home. Fellow producer-composer and violinist Ari Balouzian, a man with endless musical projects on the go at any one time, gives Gabriels' songs a real 'feel' to them. Sultry, soulful mood music certainly isn't the band's modus operandi, but this new experimental EP should paint an altogether more rounded idea of where Gabriels are at today.

Review: Long based sax supremo Nubya Garcia's debut album was a real thing of beauty so it only makes sense it now gets revisited by a team of super remixers for this special Record Store Day release. Presented on limited edition turquoise marbled vinyl it opens with Makaya McCraven's airy and floaty light remix of 'Source' before DJ Tahira layers up 'Stand With Each Other' with ethno-grooves that are loose and off kilter. That tumbledown vibe continues on the scruffy deep house version of 'Together Is A Beautiful Place To Be' by Shy One before big jazz house feels from Mark De Clive-Lowe close things down.

Review: In The Dark is a new EP from The Gaslamp Killer that features a series of remixes of the title track. It appeared on his debut album Breakthrough back in 2012 and was a real standout so to get these alternative perspectives is welcome indeed. These have never been heard on vinyl before and are sure to blow up the dancefloor as well as your brain cells. Mono/Poly, Drumetrics, and The Heliocentrics all step up with tunes that previously were only available on digital formats and get reissued now to mark the 10th anniversary of the aforementioned debut album.

Review: Groovin' Records has returned to the seemingly bottomless well that is Glenn Underground's back catalogue and picked out two more gems to get the reissue treatment. Naturally, they're both must-have cuts. On the A-side there's a chance to get reacquainted with 'Afro Gente', an in-demand 2009 jam that sees the Chicago legend pepper an infectious, richly percussive, Afro-Latin house groove with jammed-out electric piano riffs, spacey synth doodles and some killer organ solos. It's near eleven-minutes of heavyweight, life-affirming dancefloor heat from the Ron Trent school of deep house excellence. Over on the flip you'll find 2012 rarity '7th Trumpet', a shuffling, sunset-ready slab of languid deep house brilliance smothered in evocative, Latin-tinged synthesised trumpet solos.

Review: This naive street soul gem is so rare, that - prior to its repress here by Heels & Souls - it was barely accessible anywhere save for a potential L500 re-flogging on eBay. Luckily, those with their best interests at heart do the glorious work of repressing the tracks 'Over You' and 'Shining Through' - as well as their slightly different dance mixes - to EP-length wax. You're lucky to be in the presence of some quintessential street soul here, featuring detuned vocals, crude plodding drums and digital strings that evoke shafts of evening light on city concrete. And if you're ever suffering a bad breakup, 'Over You' is the harsh remedy.

Review: Matthew Halsall's Gondwana label is seeing a busy August what with the imprint flooding our jazz charts with reissues and, of course, new releases such as this wonderful collaborative effort from The Gondwana Orchestra and Dwight Trible. Trible's voice is like silk, running up and down the delicate waves of melodies from the collective, with "Colors" and "The Creator Has A Master Plan" both capable of making the toughest of audiences feel utterly uplifted. On the flip, "Love Is Everywhere" shines bright amid a flurry of flutes and intricate drum percussions, while "You've Got To Have Freedom" rides off a much smoother, deeper sort of vibe that's got a little funk at its core. Wicked.

Review: The DFA debut of longstanding member Jayson Green also signals the revival of the classic DFA twelve-inch format, so you might playfully suggest it stands for Dying Formats Always. Jay has lent his vocals to various bands such as Panthers, Violent Bullshit, Cheeseburger, and the renowned hardcore group Orchid, always showcasing his wit and humor without veering into cynicism. Assuming a bandleader role, he presents a classic A-side here with the low slung funk of 'Local Jerk,' which was recorded during a lively party. It has tight disco drums, resounding claps and a groove-inducing bassline with big horns. On the B-side, 'I Need Love' unfolds as a darkly humorous nightlife satire.

Review: Following the success of her debut album Man Made this year, here's a reissue of London artist Aria Wells aka Greentea Peng's Rising EP from back in 2019 on Different. She worked with different producers on this one such as Fred Cox, Kiko, Samo and Earbuds who lent their various talents. Peng's soothing vocal delivery is accompanied perfectly by hypnotic polyrhythms on songs like 'Risin', the blunted urban blues of 'Inna City', and the broken beat neo-soul of 'Liberation' being just some highlights on this terrific EP.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Following the success of her debut album Man Made this year, here's a reissue of London artist Aria Wells aka Greentea Peng's Rising EP from back in 2019 on Different. She worked with different producers on this one such as Fred Cox, Kiko, Samo and Earbuds who lent their various talents. Peng's soothing vocal delivery is accompanied perfectly by hypnotic polyrhythms on songs like 'Risin', the blunted urban blues of 'Inna City', and the broken beat neo-soul of 'Liberation' being just some highlights on this terrific EP.

Review: Groove Chronicles are as legendary as it comes when you're talking about garage acts. They have such a rich legacy and it dates as far back as 1997. The dup known as Noodles & Dubchild are now back with another 12" that is going to fly off the shelves and offer up their much sought-after Brokenstep edits. These have been getting big time plays from influencers like Gilles Peterson and Bradley Zero and take in sax-led good time grooves, bustling broken beats and blissed-out instrumentals.

Review: Mother Tongue sure knows how to serve up some beautifully escapist and Balearic sounds and that's exactly what we have here with this seductive new 12" from Tiombe Lockhart feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow. This welcome return to the label from Lockhart comes as a teaser ahead of her new album Going Forth By Day. On this evidence, it's going to be a real doozy because 'An Osirian Dream' is utterly angelic. The vocals soar to the heavens next to celestial melodies over a gentle rhythm. Also included a beatless version and a couple of T's takes which get more jazzy.

Review: Sound Signature kick off the new year with a pleasing reissue of some smoky soul from Theo Parrish's outlet for his most jazzy tendencies. On "Seasons Of My Life" Billy Lo croons over a muted trumpet while a surprisingly rough stomp gets hammered out of a live kit. It's a dreamy, sunkissed jam with all the loose, free-flowing elements you would expect from something with Parrish's stamp on it. Marcellus Pittman helps out on "Feedback", as a sparser, meandering groove does the nasty with some restrained keys. For that Detroit beatdown flavour away from the dancefloor, this is as good as it gets.