Ryo Fukui
My Favorite Tune

juno.co.uk: ...Formed in 2017, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet is fast becoming one of the leading lights in Greek jazz. Later in the year they'll be releasing a brand new album on Jazzman, from which this tasty double A-side is taken. "Almopian Etude" is a veritable humid summer breeze of a track: a loose and languid fusion of spiritual piano motifs, languid double bass, bustling drums and alternately snaking and intoxicating horn solos. B-side "Sevenates" is an altogether funkier proposition, with cyclical saxophone motifs increasing in intensity over a jumpy, piano-driven rhythm track. It's not exactly jazz-funk, but it's certainly travelling in that direction. Either way, it's ace.

Introducing Pachakuti and young.vishnu! “Semilla” is the first teaser from an exciting new project by multi-instrumentalist Pachakuti and producer young.vishnu.Although only 2:22 minutes short “Semilla” catches the listeners mind and soul completley and utterly. Over a laid-back rimshot groove chopped by young.vishnu, Pachakuti is having a conversation on rhodes & saxophone.“Semilla” can be labeled as jazz funk and we believe that beat lovers will dig it as well. At the same time, “Semilla” only shows one root of the musical vision of Pachakuti and young.vishnu who are fusing hip-hop, jazz, latin, funk and soul with strong messages about politics, identity, globalization and neocolonialism.

The Roundtable: ...Following the critical acclaim of the 2020 compilation Pyramid Pieces, The Roundtable return with a second offering of modernist jazz from Australia. Another vital document further examining the nation’s jazz scene during the late 1960s and 70s. A fertile period that witnessed the birth of an independent movement and the development of a distinct Australian jazz sound. While continuing to focus on the modal forms explored in Volume 1, this second edition shifts direction slightly, this time also surveying other post-bop modes representative of the scene including soul jazz, avant-garde ballet music and Eric Dolphy-inspired free jazz.Again featuring tracks from the esteemed independent imprints Jazznote and 44 Records, the collection also offers never before published pieces from less obvious Australian jazz groups. Compositions by internationally renowned musicians including Bob Bertles (Nucleus/Neil Ardley), Bruce Cale (The Spontaneous Music Ensemble/Prince Lasha) and Allan Zavod (Frank Zappa) alongside pillars of the local scene, Charlie Munro and Ted Vining plus the lesser-known yet formidable free jazz unit ‘Out To Lunch’. Pyramid Pieces 2 is another timely insight into the evolution of the incredible yet obscured Australian modern jazz movement.​

Stretch and Bobbito’s debut album No Requests explores the legendary club DJs’ vast musical knowledge with covers of songs directly from their record crates!Featuring the M19s Band, a live band of elite hand-picked musicians, the gatekeepers of ‘90s Hip Hop step outside their foundational genre base to produce Latin, Afro-beat, Samba, Jazz, Reggae, and Soul reinterpretations of dance floor bangers—ranging from popular to rare and obscure—which loosely depart expected structure and create new nuances to familiar tunes. The group also offers original compositions along the sonic journey. All tracks have one goal in mind: GROOVE!