Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Germany's Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band's profile skyrocketed in 2024 when their hypnotic steel pan cover of 50 Cent's 'Pimp' became a surprise emotional core in the Oscar-winner Anatomy Of A Fall. So pivotal was the track that steel pans would here make their first ever Academy Awards orchestra debut. But for longtime heads, 'Pimp' first turned heads in 2008, where it was pressed on Bjorn Wagner's Mocambo label and was often mistaken afterwards for a 50s sample source. The 'Big Crown Vaults' series now swoops in to save and preserve the group's best contributions to the music world, in addition to and in excess of the 'Pimp' version. A true archive-delving if we've ever heard one, the tracks so preserved include Bob James' breakbeat classic 'Nautilus' and a thunderous take on Khruangbin's 'Maria Tambien'. Then there's the B's funked-up flips of the Jackson 5 and Billy Jones, plus one original, 'Kaiso Noir'.

Review: Nick Bike has been at it again, crafting high-grade club cuts that always make an impact. These two have already been well road-tested with great effect. 'Party People (Night & Day)' is the first and is a brilliant collision of some funky, soulful disco classics into one new and strident sound with irresistible claps and vocal hooks. On the flip is the scorching 'Every Night (Hold Me Tight)' which is just timeless and super smooth disco-funk with a persuasive charm. Two no-brainers here that will bring next-level fun to any set.

Review: The latest deep dive into Galaxy Sound Co.'s Black Hole series is another carefully dug out delight featuring three essential jazz-funk-psych cuts. Joe Pass' 'A Time For Us' opens with beautiful cinematic strings, sparse drums and ghostly guitar that has been famously sampled by J Dilla and the Slum Village crew, and sounds powerful in situ here. Milt Jackson & Ray Brown's 'Enchanted Lady' follows with hypnotic modal swing, again famously flipped, this time by Pete Rock, De La Soul and Knxwledge. Closing out is Archie Whitewater's 'Cross Country', which is a funky, soulful groove with brass and keys that have been immortalised by Kanye and Common, but remains a burner here in its original form.

Review: Even if it's a point worth making, sometimes it needs to be made several times over before it lodges itself in the brain. Whoever was behind this original cosmic disco cut, it hammers home the principle of not stopping the music with such repetitive intent that we have to wonder whether we truly would want to stop the music had we not been inculcated as such. And though we're unsure of its origin, 'Don't Stop The Music' and its loving rerub from Leeuwarden, Netherlands DJ and producer Pete Blaker hears the artist dare not forsake the Northern English interest in such sounds by leasing his wares again to Newcastle label Hot Biscuit. Backed by a suspensory glaciation on the B, 'Ice Cold' with fellow producer Dionisos, you can be sure yet some other aspect of disco gold has also been reliably preserved here.

Review: The first official reissue of Brooklyn People's rare 1975 soul-funk classic 'Peace and Love / Wreck' arrives courtesy of Selector Series for Record Store Day 2025. Originally released on Cheri Records half a century ago, this sought-after 7" has fetched prices of around L50 on the collector's market. It's one of those true crate-digger gems with its perfect mix of soulful, spiritual deepness and driving, dynamic drum grooves that never quit. 'Wreck' has atmospheric crowd sounds as well as jazzy keys and horns to really take things up a notch.

Review: Minnesota's Shaun LaBelle returns with two collaborative cuts that shimmer with West Coast class. On 'Mon Cher Amour', Maysa's effortlessly fluid delivery rides plush piano chords from Bobby Lyle, whose presence elevates the arrangement with vintage jazz-funk elegance. Lyle's involvement i rare and usually reserved i speaks volumes. Flip to 'Your Love Kept Calling My Name', a slower burn that shows off LaBelle's syrupy synth bass and clean guitar touches, anchored again by Maysa, this time joined by Stokley. The track's groove is thick but graceful, helped along by contributions from Jeff Lorber, Patrick Lamb and Maurizio Metalli. While there's a polish that veers towards the adult contemporary side of soul-jazz, both tunes have the kind of melodic strength and studio richness that make sense of their Billboard and UK Soul Chart success.

Review: American songwriter and composer Patricia Barber's marked her breakthrough with Modern Cool, an album driven by her captivating take on The Doors' 'Light My Fire.' Her performance of the album at The Jazz Standard caught the attention of Blue Note's Bruce Lundvall and lead to a celebrated run of releases and international acclaim. Modern Cool became an audiophile favourite thanks to Jim Anderson's meticulous recording and Barber's sharp songwriting and artistry, and it still sounds super here as reissued by Impex on VR900-D2-pressed 180-gram vinyl. It's the perfect way to enjoy a real jazz classic.

Review: Game-changing samba king Jorge Ben's 1963 debut album Samba Esquema Novo marked the beginning of a legendary career in Brazilian pop. Featuring the iconic tracks like the oft-imitated but never bettered 'Mas Que Nada' and 'Chove Chuva,' the agenda-setting album showcases Ben's early blend of vibrant bossa nova rhythms, rich choruses and his distinctive minor-key guitar style. While not yet embracing the Afro-rock influences of his later work, this release highlights a light yet energetic sound with big-band arrangements adding punch to the infectious melodies. It's a timeless album that remains a joyful and essential listen and captures the roots of a unique musical voice destined to shape Brazilian music for decades.

Review: Recorded live at Brooklyn’s Glasshaus in front of just 100 guests, Live at Glasshaus captures a one-night-only performance from Philadelphia-born vocalist Bilal, reinterpreting material drawn from a two-decade discography. Backed by an ensemble comprising his long-time creative circle, the set revisits early breakthroughs like 1st Born Second, cult favourite 'Love For Sale' (still never officially released), and later highlights from Airtight’s Revenge and his collaborations on Common’s Like Water for Chocolate and Resurrection. At 78 minutes, the session moves between stripped-down soul and expansive jazz-schooled improvisation, with appearances from Questlove and Common woven in. ‘Soul Sista’, ‘All Matter’ and ‘Funky For You’ get fresh treatment, while interludes lend a loose, intimate feel. First pressing gone; second underway with global shipping across 15 territories.

Review: The New Jersey-born pianist returns to the studio here for the first time since the sudden loss of bassist Scott LaFaro, whose death in 1961 marked a devastating rupture for one of jazz's most intuitive trios. Now joined by Chuck Israels on bass, Evans leads with a newfound clarityiless conversational, more contemplative. Recorded in 1962, this was the group's first step into a quieter but no less daring phase. 'Re: Person I Knew' (an anagram of producer Orrin Keepnews) sets the tone: ghostly, elliptical, and harmonically dense. 'I Fall in Love Too Easily' and 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams' drift by in breathy half-light, while 'Very Early', a waltz penned by Evans, closes the set with delicate finality. In the absence of LaFaro's dancing counterlines, Evans doesn't fill the space, but lets it speak. The result is a study in restraint: American post-bop pared down to its emotional core. Not a debut, nor a reinvention, this is a quiet reckoning and a beautifully unresolved response to loss.

Review: The Blackbyrds, Washington Direct-Current pioneers of jazz-funk from the early 70s, overloaded the jazz circuit with City Life, a hair-frying album renowned for its flowing, fulminous rhythms. Core tracks 'Happy Music' and 'Rock Creek Park' set the stage for a long sampling legacy: the latter was famously sampled by both De La Soul and Nas, on 'Bitties In The BK Lounge' and 'Fried Chicken' respectively. This reissue, cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, reupholsters the Blackbyrds' debut worm-catching funk pecks for the world's ears to witness once more.

Review: Bobby Montez was a key figure in West Coast Latin jazz and brought colourful energy and rich musicality to the scene in the late 1950s and early 60s. A multi-instrumentalist from a musical Arizona family, Montez settled in Los Angeles, where he balanced accounting by day (!) with leading his vibraphone-driven band at night. His sound is reminiscent of Cal Tjader but fused jazz with cha-cha and pachanga rhythms. With standout albums like Jungle Fantastique and Viva!, Montez's work offered fiery interpretations of Hollywood and Broadway themes in Latin styles. Though he retired from performing by the late 60s, his legacy remains lively and essential, not least through the magic of this record.

Review:  Liv.e is an LA-based, Dallas-born artist who this summer has a reimagined version of her acclaimed sophomore album Girl In The Half Pearl served up after collaborating with Dallas-based producer Ben Hixon. Together, they transform the original tracks into an energised, feel-good experience that symbolises resilience and recovery after heartbreak. Hixon's innovative approach to each song adds a wholly different perspective on Liv.e's introspective lyrics with genre-blending production traversing, trap, broken beats, deep house and and blissed out grooves all with the vocals unifying the sounds with an otherworldly edge.