Jazz | Fusion 340 Items

Nucleus's Elastic Rock is undisputedly a milestone in Jazz-Rock. A beautiful and vital debut album, it was first released on Vertigo in 1970. Original copies are now very tricky to score and, like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well. This Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.

Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has kept relevant. To steal a line from a review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.

The very title Elastic Rock could be regarded as the group's MO, describing a melting point between their rock and jazz impulses. Indeed, housed in a memorable gatefold jacket designed by Roger Dean, the die cut molten teardrop shape on the front sleeve opens to reveal a fiery volcanic crater. On the back, Dean's drawing has Carr with saxophonist Brian Smith, guitarist Chris Spedding, drummer John Marshall, bassist Jeff Clyne and sax, oboe and pianist Karl Jenkins in a circle, the central core of a movement and the basis for its activity.

Recorded over four days in January 1970, Elastic Rock didn't sound like any other British jazz album. Exploding out the gate, "1916" opens with Marshall's frantic pounding before melancholic horns enter. The smooth title track, "Elastic Rock" is just a gorgeous electric blues track. Light drums, gentle melodic horns, piano and a solid bassline serve as the perfect bed for Spedding's graceful bluesy guitar melodies. The serene "Striation", a Clyne and Spedding collaboration, is led by bowed bass and is the epitome of calm before the late night laid back vibe of "Taranaki" breezes along sweetly and smoothly with great trumpet and tenor.

The truly emotional "Twisted Track" is elegant with horns, while guitar is gently played with drums and bass. Initially deeply soothing, it gradually builds with various solos and duets. "Crude Blues (Part 1)" features an excellent oboe part by Jenkins with laconic guitar helping out. "Part 2" is livelier, with a heavy backbeat and great wind parts. "1916 (Battle Of Boogaloo)" features a steady bassline and great call and response parts from the horn section.

The highly-charged centrepiece of the record, the mesmeric epic "Torrid Zone" features an hypnotic bassline and hi-hat with some of the ensemble's best soloing. Brilliantly encapsulating the jazz fusion aesthetic so desired by the group, the rhythm section is rock-influenced but magically retains a laid-back jazz vibe. Just perfection. Spacey jazz in the style of In a Silent Way, the semi-ambient "Stonescape" features smooth, muted brass, warm, smokey keys and a barely-there rhythm section. Heavenly.

The bubbling, fragile restraint of "Earth Mother" partially utilises the "Torrid Zone" bassline but takes the energy in a different direction with Marshall's frenetic drumming and Spedding's unpredictable riffing. Next comes the very idiosyncratic drum solo track by Marshall in the appropriately-titled "Speaking for Myself, Personally, in My Own Opinion, I Think." The album closes with the raucous "Persephones Jive", a track that ends the album frantically, riotously, just as it began.

This Be With edition of Elastic Rock has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Cicely Balston's cut at AIR Studios to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The stunning die-cut gatefold sleeve has been restored in all its molten glory.

180g pressing

Standard LP on black vinyl. The collective's debut album 'Papara' is an inviting mouthful of afro rhythms, funk, and prog jazz, combined with the spacey soundscapes of the Brussels metropole, as they look to Fela Kuti's afrobeat style for inspiration.

Standard edition on black vinyl. Dans Dans is back (already), with their most unfiltered, most spantenous, most 'punk' album to date. Three musicians, three days in the studio, one burst of energy.

The world is more elusive than simple cause and effect imply, more typically, life circumvents causation in favor of an unknowable correlation. It seems like the more we know, the less we know. On this first volume from ZOH Amba and Francisco Mela, the duo brings their regional traditions, from Tennessee and Cuba respectively, and musical inclinations to the cause and effect behind their own life stories. Causa y Efecto, Vol. 1 is an ode to the unknown, transporting audiences between the New York studio where it was recorded and the mist-shrouded mountains where each musician grew up. On tracks like “Dos Vidas'' and “Serenata,” Mela builds a textured, percussive foundation that Amba interrupts with breathy tenor saxophone and her distinctive flute. On “Maria,” dedicated to Mela’s mother, simple hand drumming provides a gentle rhythm, overlaid by Amba’s delicate flute and Mela’s full baritone voice, delivered in the unassuming style of the campesino. Causa y Efecto, Vol. 1 is an ode to the countrysides that both musicians came from, decades apart, and the experimental, improvisational pursuit for which they've joined in New York.

Freestyle Records reissue a DIY 7" from 1980 by short-lived all-female group Spoilsports. Existing at the intersection of post-punk, jazz-rock and modern soul - these two political yet playful numbers were laid down by a band formed from a range of players active in London's feminist and improvised music scenes at the time, and represent the groups only recordings.

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Spoilsports began in 1979 with the aim of having an all-female band that could be actively feminist and playful at the same time, with an eye toward gaining an appeal beyond that of the wider women's lib movement of the time. The line-up originally consisted of Carole Nelson on keys, Angele Veltmeijer on saxophone, Sheelagh Way on drums, Lesley Shone on bass, Isabel on congas and with Laka Koq providing vocals. After a short while this would become just Carole, Angele & Sheila - with Ruth Bitelli being brought in on bass, and Barbara Stretch topping things off on vocals. The band played at Gay Pride '79 in Hyde Park, a Women's Music Festival in Neimegen, Holland; lots of benefits, and maintained a weekly residency at The Earl of Aberdeen in Mile End (now sadly demolished).

Unfortunately the group lasted only 18 months or so all in all, and this is their first and last record - in fact, they intentionally laid it down to tape in order to provide a memory of the group before they called it a day, and we are so glad they did! Recorded in Pimlico's Archipelago Studios in the same year that Elvis Costello would record his album Get Happy there, the original 7" gained a review in the NME, whom dubbed it "a cross between Steely Dan and The Joy of Cooking".

Originally issued as Stere-O-Craft #16
Subsequently reissued by Hi-Life Records as HLS 55

The Shirley Horn Trio
Shirley Horn (piano & vocals), Joe Benjamin (bass), Herb Lovelle (drums).
Lewis Packer, bass, and Harry Saunders, drums, replace Benjamin and Lovelle on "Day by Day"
Recorded in New York City, 1960

Back-liner notes written by Mort Fega
Jazz Unlimited, WEVD, New York City
Recording produced by Buddy Smith

180 Gram Newly Remastered Vinyl Reissue of the original Stere-O-Craft #16 Limited edition in Solid carton sleeve

Bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) launches new collaborative project with saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands)

Vega Trails is a new project from double-bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founder member of Portico Quartet, who has also performed with the likes of Nick Mulvey and Jono McCleary and features saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc) in a richly powerful duo bringing together two powerfully charismatic musicians. The project which takes its name from Carl Sagan's science fiction novel 'Contact' (a book about signals of new life detected from the Vega system) andwas born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the foreground in their rawest form and Fitzpatrick explains that he deliberatelychose the stripped back approach.

Following the release of his exhilarating recent album Bring Backs, London based producer, pianist, bandleader and MC Alfa Mist today announces news of an upcoming EP, Two For Mistake alongside the track 'Bumper Cars'. The EP, out via Anti-, will be available digitally on 17th November before getting a physical 10" vinyl release on 18th March 2022. Alfa's upcoming tour will be starting in November in the UK and starting Janaury for mainland Europe. The run will be the first time fans will be able to hear tracks from Bring Backs, and Two For Mistake, in a live setting. Bring Backs marked Alfa's first release for the label Anti- and is also the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form, one which has resonated with audiences to the tune of 7.5 million culuated streams to date. The album's nine tracks of groove-based intricacies, lyrical solipsism and meandering fragmentations are tied together by a remarkable poem written by Hilary Thomas expressing the sensuous realities of building community in a new country. Entirely written and produced by Alfa, the album was recorded in London with a core band of longtime collaborators including Jamie Leeming (guitar), Kaya Thomas-Dyke (bass and vocals) and Johnny Woodham (trumpet).

Reissue of the Belgian milestone jazz album originally released in 1975.This is groundbreaking, experimental and funky jazz fusion!

"Tenor saxophonist Harold Land and trumpeter Kenny Dorham make for a potent front line on this session, a superior hard bop set. With an obscure and quietly boppish rhythm section (pianist Amos Trice, bassist Clarence Jones, and drummer Joe Peters) giving suitable backup, Land and Dorham stretch out on five selections, most notably Cole Porter's "So in Love," "On a Little Street in Singapore," and Land's "O.K. Blues," which was dedicated to producer Orrin Keepnews. A fine effort that serves as a strong example of Harold Land's early work." Scott Yanow -All Music Guide

With 'breakout', Echoes of Zoo push their adrenaline fueled jazz sounds to thrilling new levels.Echoes of Zoo is a band with a unique sound, under the high tension of Middle Eastern rock music with the striking complexity of West African percussion and a few Dub flavors, all in the service of psychedelic jazz played with a punk attitude.

"Although often reissued under Eric Dolphy's name, this reissue gives the leadership back to pianist Mal Waldron. The seven originals not only feature altoist Dolphy (who makes a rare appearance on clarinet during "Warm Canto") but tenor-saxophonist Booker Ervin, Ron Carter (on cello) and Waldron. With bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Charlie Persip giving alert support, the complex music (which falls between hard bop and the avant-garde) is successfully interpreted. Worth checking out." Scott Yanow -All Music Guide

Strut present the first ever compilation bringing together classics and rarities from the seminal spiritual jazz and conscious soul label Black Fire, covering 1975 to 1993. Formed by DJ and record producer Jimmy Gray in Richmond, Virginia, and following in the footsteps of other influential black-owned independent labels like Strata-East and Tribe, the foundation of Black Fire coincided with saxophonist James "Plunky" Branch returning to the city from New York to form Oneness Of Juju. The band's 'African Rhythms' album in 1975 was the perfect fusion of jazz, deep African polyrhythms and empowering lyrics and bassist Muzi Branch, a trained artist, created the first of many Black Fire hand-illustrated sleeves for the label's debut release.