BBE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: So many of the compilations that BBE put out are vital history lessons as well as great listening experiences. This one is another case in point as it finds music historian, DJ and daytime party promoter John Armstrong - who has put together more than 200 compilations - digging deep to offer up an alternate take on the famous bubblegum sounds that came out of Black South Africa towards the end of the apartheid years. Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid's Dying Years is a superb showcase of diverse sounds created by the youth of the day as a means of escape. There is already talk of a second volume, which we're very much ready for after hearing this one.

Review: Almost entirely ignored at the time of its original release, Nigerian drumming maestro Remi Kabaka's legendary original LP Son Of Africa has gone down in legend as the defining solo statement of an incendiary drummer, whose contributions to music across the jazz and rock spectrums is credited and felt strongly to this day. A founding member of Afro-jazz band Osibisa, Kabaka is credited for his work with many a Rolling Stone and Beatle, but it's his solo work on this Afro-funk rare gem that really gets the least easy to please among us going. An Afrofuturist statement to the core, its jubilant vocal chants and defiant trumpet lines are but mere pepperings over the boxy, banging body that is Kabaka's live Afrobeat quads.

Review: BBE unearth another batch of rare and underexposed disco cuts on Off Track Vol 3. Compiled by the crate digging New York/Boston based duo Kon & Amir, the release gives an authentic representation of Brooklyn’s ghetto, funk and afro music scenes. Sophisticated tracks for real music heads

Review: You might know Airto Moreira and Flora Purim as the King and Queen of Brazilian Jazz and for good reason. They have spent more than the last half decade putting out some of their homeland's finest and most richly rewarding jazz albums as well as playing exhilarating live shows all over the world. They have found favour with jazz lovers everywhere as a result, from Japan's concert halls to the UK's jazz-funk scenes. If You Will was their last album back in 2022 and it got a Grammy, and now A Celebration: 60 Years - Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories brings together some of their best work from over the last 60 odd years. Essential stuff.

Review: Having re-released Rim Kwaku's long lost Rim Arrives album, BBE follow it up with more dusty disco treasures from the Ghanaian hit maker's repertoire. From the blistering horns and thundering drum rolls of the near-nine-minute romp "Shine The Ladies" right the way through the looser, more Afrobeat-focussed "Peace Of Mind" by way of the emphatic Stevie Wonder-style showmanship of "I'm A Songwriter" it's a collection that still sparkles with soul 30 years after they were recorded. If you're unaware of Rim's story, you'd be wise to check it; from Quincy Jones endorsements to homelessness in the space of 24 hours, Rim's tales are as serious as his music is funky.

Review: The Jazz Room is a hotly curated selectors' V/A compiled by jazz expert and BBE label owner Paul Murphy. Following the success of the original comp first released in 2019, this one comes up after a full four years' worth of curating and mulling, and aims to represent the full range of both classic and contemporary jazz sounds, from New Orleans to Latin jazz, in quick succession. Consisting of contemporary jazz versions of the likes of Fela Kuti, Raul Monsalve and, for some reason, The Human League, said contributions by the likes of Cruisic and Clare Fischer aim to trace the - yes, the - comprehensive throughline of jazz from past to present, all while refusing to abstain from BBE's trademark eclecticism. Highlights include 'Rebel No. 23' and Fast 3's Hammond-organ-injected 'Don't You Want Me'. Most importantly, no track goes without a driving, bright-bursting mood of energy.