Back catalogue: Funk Soul & Jazz

Review: Mahavishnu Orchestra, a believably metaphysical force in the alternate plane that is jazz-rock fusion, released Visions Of The Emerald Beyond in 1975, indicating an accessible and funk-influenced approach compared to their earlier works. Through sprawling fusion fugues and shorter, more structured pieces, the record is, despite its compositional variety, a fadeless, seamless connected suite. 'Lila's Dance' stands tall among the movements especially, though 'Eternity's Breath' and 'Cosmic Strut' also abound in their sooling psychic projections, demoing the radical result of the shaken-up, second Mahavishnu lineup, with Mahavishnu himself, sometime Miles Davis ensemble guitarist, John McLaughlin remaining at the helm.

Review: Carpet of Fallen Leaves serves as the luminous introduction to Eddie Marcon, a folk-pop project from Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon. The collection takes in more than two decades of intimate, self-released recordings that all bring fragile beauty and melodic grace from Japan's underground psych-folk scene. Gentle guitar, soft organ and deft bass interlace with pristine vibraphone, flute and pedal steel sounds to form sparse and spare yet intricate arrangements. Collaborators like Ikuro Takahashi and Shintaro Sakamoto add their own contributions, and so songs shimmer with a real emotional depth and Eastern charm. Highlights like 'Tora To Lion' and 'Shoujo' inspire quiet wonder while capturing fleeting moments of everyday life with a real tenderness and elegance.

Review: Charif Megarbane, the Beirut-based multi-instrumentalist and composer, stretches his sonic vocabulary on this sprawling new full-length, a genre-hopping journey that draws as much from the Lebanese coast as it does from the wider diaspora. Where his earlier work painted intimate portraits of local life, this one looks outwarditoward cultural entanglement, exile, and exchange. 'Hanadi' kicks things off with a sax-led, Somali-inspired groove, while 'Dreams of an Insomniac' drifts through hazy keys and fluttering violin. 'Al Dollarji' recalls his signature Mediterranean funk, full of ornate strings, but 'Al Bahriye' disrupts the flow with hip-hop motifs and vocal samples. Collaborations feel purposeful: 'Helia', with Swedish composer Sven Wunder and the Stockholm Studio Orchestra, layers lush cinematic strings into Megarbane's idiosyncratic palette. Even miniature pieces like 'Sfiha' or 'Preamble to the Conclusion' feel essential, punctuating the record's narrative of displacement with clarity and warmth. It's a collection that resists linearity, folding nostalgia and innovation into a rich, borderless soundian informal transmission between traditions, cities and moods.

Review: American triombonist Grachan Moncur III's Some Other Stuff (1964) heaved deeper into avant-garde jazz after his groundbreaking debut Evolution. Now with an all-star lineup - Wayne Shorter (sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) - his sophomore slay mapped a new, unsoiled territory in modal bop. The freeform opener 'Gnostic' sets an exploratory tone, while 'Thandiwa' swings a subtler tonal thurible, and 'The Twin' playfully shunts its rhythms before 'Nomadic' reintroduces them through the rise-and-fall drumming of Mr. Williams. Now reissued as part of the Blue Note Tone Poet Series, this edition delivers the record in the utmost audiophile quality.

Review: In 1976 Anthony Howarth produced a documentary film about the Badabi tribe in Southern Iran. Each spring, this indigenous group would make the difficult journey across the Zagros mountains and valleys to ensure their sheep had new pastures to graze. Led by Jafar Qoli, the movie chronicles this epic trek and various events along the way. Taking breathers only for weddings and mediation between contacts, and grappling with torrential rain and perilous terrain, among other challenges, it's an inspiring odyssey to say the least. The music fits the bill perfectly, bringing together the legendary Persian songwriter, editor and singer Shush? Guppy and revered English singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Gerald Thomas Moore, transporting us to a time, place and people long-since committed to memory.