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Long-awaited repress of this Japanese jazz album
Japanese pressing, comes with obi, limited edition.

This is their second album, recorded about a year after “Scenery”.

The delicate yet emotionally rich performance is still there, but this album has more power, and the world that Fukui depicts comes closer with a clearer outline and a sense of three-dimensionality. The sweet and sad melody of “Mellow Dream” and the dynamic and fast-paced “Horizon” are among the dazzling performances. In addition, this album has three original songs, compared to only one in the previous album, and it is a pleasure to enjoy Fukui’s musicality even more. In light of its maturity and richness of content, it can be said to be a masterpiece that surpasses the first album. Sadly, Ryo Fukui passed away in 2016. His delicate touch, rich tone, and beautiful musicianship. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the “earthly dreams” he showed me. (From the manufacturer’s information)

Long-awaited repress of this Japanese jazz album
Japanese pressing, comes with obi, limited edition.

Ryo Fukui is a famous pianist born in Hokkaido. His fresh and delicate playing has attracted many listeners, and his first album, “Scenery”, has been highly acclaimed worldwide.

Fukui, who started playing piano at the age of 22, recorded this album at the age of 28. The earnest performance of his youthful days shakes the emotions of the listener in a pleasant way. The swinging “It Could Happen To You,” the exhilarating and joyful “Early Summer,” and the late-autumn night air of “Scenery” are just a few examples.

"When Losing a Dream To Reality" is the debut album from Swedish alto saxophonist and composer Hannes Bennich. Bennich is one of the most interesting new voices on the Scandinavian scene and presents all-original compositions for his first outing written for his band of pianist Britta Virves, double bassist Tomas Sjödell and drummer Emil Norman. Special guest vocalist Helen Salim joins for one track.

"Sisu" marks the beginning of a new chapter for esteemed Estonian pianist and composer Kristjan Randalu - as his first large ensemble project recording. It"s also the debut outing for the New Wind Jazz Orchestra conducted by Wolf Kerschek and features special guest trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and guitarist Ben Monder.

Recorded in just one day, Tripwire is the latest album from saxophonist and composer Will Vinson.Realising a long-held ambition to record a chord-less trio album, Vinson is joined here by bassist Matt Penman, one of today"s most adventurous bass players, and drummer Eric Harland, known for his impressive work with the world"s jazz luminaries.Special guest tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana also joins for two tracks. The record captures the energy of returning to the studio and playing for the first time since the Covid-Pandemic lockdowns, and further cements Vinson"s reputation as a virtuosic risk-taking leader.Tripwire skilfully brings together Vinson"s vision of freedom and collaboration into a cohesive album that documents the highly charged reunification of musicians, masterfully captured during a one-off recording session.

"Spirit To All" is the latest record by Polish bassist and composer Wojtek Mazolewski and his famed Quintet (WMQ), Mazolewski"s distinctive voice and vision are highly lauded and widely recognised for his contribution to the resurgence in Polish jazz and improv music on a global, crossover scale.

“There is a German satellite falling to earth!” a woman’s voice urgently announces. “She says, what if it hits me? Welcome to anxiety group.” A dense cloud on the horizon heralds a fresh onslaught from that infamous swarm of free jazz killer bees, a new project from self-described “conceptual kleptomaniac post digital free jazz outfit” Drone Operatør. Riding hard along the line between experimental electronics, blockbuster sound design and the loosest jazz improvisation, this rogue’s gallery of players, headed up by art world provocateurs Paul Barsch and Tilman Horning, take the fevered pulse of the relentlessly flattened now and note down four key observations which presented together make up Welcøme TO Anxiety Group. Coaxing lively theatricality from a continually provoked altercation between acoustic instrumentation and synthetic sound, each of the project’s four tracks provides a new perspective on what it means to improvise through technological mediation. “Here we are now,” write Drone Operatør. “22 after 2k. mp4 flex to 32bit float. The sax - the heart. The quadcopter - the brain. Duo d'Allemagne not wasting a life time learning jazz standards.” To open proceedings, our faithful operatør whips up exquisite dissonance with ‘Bot Møther’, smashing together squalls of saxophone and ripples of percussion with the sounds of sci-fi artillery, like an amphetamine-fuelled, midnight jam hammered out oblivious to an ongoing alien invasion. Slowing to a furtive creep for ‘German Satellite’, picking out keenly felt anxiety in suggestive plucks, stuttering clacks and strained wails, their cosmic warning signalling a neurotic climax before settling back into a post-coital skitter, flourishes of keys, both digital and analogue, harmonising with Drone Operatør’s weary welcome to the group. Eschewing the electronic completely for the cacophonous gallop of ‘Røhrstøck’, we’re invited to hold on for dear life during a mad scramble towards the ‘The Vessel,’ a staggering sequence of tumbling synthetic chimes, embellished with peals of ornate sax that flare up and out to illuminate the track’s irregularity, alternately submerged and retrieved through a subtle manipulation of filters. It’s a session that has to be heard to be believed, crammed with as much difficulty and as much revelation as any good therapy should. As Drone Operatør describe: “From iconic spamming to intellectual nonsense. Always never predictable, never not cheesy. Battery life cycles full of joy. You say you like free jazz. We don’t believe you.” Welcøme to Anxiety Group will be released on July 29th, 2021 by Participant, on limited edition clear red vinyl, and digital download via the Participant Bandcamp. The release will be accompanied by a series of films by Drone Operatør, featuring editing, FX, and CGI by digital artist Darío Alva. Text by: Henry Bruce Jones Participant is a record label and creative studio run by filmmaker William Markarian-Martin and conceptual artist Richie Culver

There is the contemporary music tradition, and then there is Dan Samsa. Seamlessly blending classical, techno, jungle and jazz, the musical pioneer joyfully imagines his debut album Contours as a genre-defying exploration far beyond the borders of sound as we know it.

Local jazz scenes keep evolving into new interesting variations, and this album by Copenhagen collective Jiyu, is no exception. A dusty brass opening, old as the sun, followed by a guitar/flute theme, driven by a lazy boom-clack beat, quickly outlines this hybrid-jazz sound, blown in from the future. The blend of dreamy, mellow jazz, hip hop, downbeat, bossa nova vibes, and cinematic electronic soundscapes, has caught the listeners attention worldwide, and the digital singles “So Many Moons to Go”, “King of Mañana” and “Parallel Dreams”, have made it to some serious jazz playlists on Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal. The album have been supported by radio dj’s in UK, DK, IT, ES and more… Jiyu is produced by guitar player and composer Emil Jonathan Søegaard A.K.A Low Pressure and former Stereo Deluxe recording artist EMO. The fellow musicians are, Bo Rande on trumpet, Lukas Rande on flute and sax. Carsten Skov on Vibraphone. Lennart Ginman on upright bass. Kinck on vocal, Thomas Dietl on drums, and AC. Woodman on Wurlitzer-piano.

Die Verbindung Mensch und Maschine, Körper und Geist, Analoges und Digitales in unsere Musik
zu bringen, hat auf uns immer schon eine Faszination ausgeübt und uns auf eine gemeinsame
Reise geschickt, bei der wir nie genau wussten, wohin sie uns führt.
(Cats & Breakkies)
Cats & Breakkies wirbeln die Stile durcheinander. Club trifft Techno, flirtet mit Jazz, erinnert sich an Art Rock
und Fusion. Es ist Musik für Publikum, für Menschen, die sich in Clubs bewegen. Und die Spaß haben an
der Nacht, an Beats, die ihre Magie über lange Distanzen entwickeln. Wer hören will, darf tanzen. Wer
zuhören will, kann sich in die Details vertiefen, in den eleganten Studiosound der Band und die vielen
Assoziationen für die Spezialisten, die Vintage-Synthie-Klänge und fein flirrenden Gitarrenfiguren, in den
präsenten Flow des Schlagzeugs und den funky souveränen Bass. Es ist eine Musik mit vielen Wurzeln,
ganz entspannt im Hier und Jetzt, offen für die Ideen von morgen.
„New World“ ist Album Nummer drei des Berliner Quartetts. Alles fing an in den frühen Zehnerjahren, als der
Gitarrist Benedikt Schnitzler, der Keyboarder Johannes Gottschick und die Rhythmus-Brüder Bastian und
Raphael Kaletta beschlossen, ihre Musik an dem zu orientieren, was sie selbst gerne hörten. Und das war
eine urbane Mixtur aus jazzgetönten Beats, die man nachts in Clubs oder auf den Plattentellern von Bars
hören konnte. Die Herausforderung war, diesen Sound nicht mit Festplatten und DJ-Controllern, sondern mit
Instrumenten und eigenen Kompositionen umzusetzen. Von 2013 an wurde die Idee konkret, zwei Jahre
später entstand das erstes Album in Zusammenarbeit mit Produzent David August und dem
programmatischen Titel „Organic Electro“.
Das Konzept funktionierte. Es gab ein Publikum, das Laptop-Sets satt hatte, Acoustic Techno aber mochte.
Die Presse zog nach, Cats & Breakkies wurden 2016 für den Bremer Jazzpreis 2016 in der Kategorie „Jazz
& Electronics“ nominiert. Vor allem aber wurden Veranstalter auf das Quartett und dessen fulminante Shows
aufmerksam. Man lud sie ein, in heimische Gefilde zum Festival Berlinistanbul, in die Club Kantine des
Berghains, auch europaweit bis nach Tallinn. Cats & Breakkies veröffentlichten 2018 ihr zweites Album
„Spectral“, kooperierten mit Sänger Stephan Noë und spielten über die Jahre hinweg mehr als 300 Gigs. Sie
verfeinerten die eigene Klangsprache durch die Arbeit auf der Bühne und es wurde Zeit für „New World“, der
Quintessenz aus ihrer gemeinsamen "musikalischen Reise“, die nun seit über einer Dekade andauert und
Ihren Blick auf das Vergangene, das Gegenwärtige und Zukünftige freigibt.
Inzwischen sind sie auch nicht mehr allein. Techno-Crossover floriert in vielen Variationen und Cats &
Breakkies haben sich rechtzeitig ihre Pole Position im Rennen um die Aufmerksamkeit gesichert. „New
World“ ist ihre Definition der musikalischen Gegenwart mit dem Anker in der Zukunft. Sieben Songs, in den
Arrangements noch kunstvoller gebaut als früher, ausgeweitet im kontrastreichen Miteinander von
Electronics, Geräuschen, analogen Instrumentalsounds und künstlerischer Dramaturgie. Manches hat Nähe
zum Trap, anderes zu Fusion-Soundgebäuden und zur avancierten Clubmusik mit Konzertsaalqualitäten.
Pressetext_2024_Cats&Breakkies_New World_Ralf Dombrowski.pdf
Man hört den Jazz im Stammbaum, in der Entwicklung der Songs und der ausgefeilten Dramaturgie der
Lieder. Improvisationen und klare Songstrukturen ergänzen sich, die Musiker fliegen weit, aber verlieren sich
nicht. Denn Cats & Breakkies lassen sich von den Möglichkeiten zwischen den Stilen inspirieren und
verknüpfen verschiedene Hörwelten zu ihrer „New World“. Man kann hören und tanzen, schwelgen und
entrücken. Es ist hypnotische Musik mit dem Link über die eigenen Sphären hinaus.

A few miles away, in their studio fired up by analog funk, the Muscovites had been put back on the Nilovic track by multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee. A few passionate discussions later, and the desire for a joint album was already lighting up the amps, making the bass strings shiver and the drum skins tighten. Initiated by the coming and going of scores, the collaboration finally continued in studio for a real exchange, instantly bouncing off proposals, developing ideas in a live group dynamic that distance would have made impossible.