Crucial Material – Best Releases Of The Week (February 16th, 2019)

Too much music too little time.

Thankfully, our Crucial Material is slowly but surely becoming one of the best weekly recaps in the world scanning the hundreds of new releases and sharing only the cream of the crop.

So here we go. Dive in!

NEW ALBUMS & EP’S

Theon Cross “Fyah”

Genre: Jazz
Label: Gearbox Records

As a member of Moses Boyd’s Exodus, Sons of Kemet, SEED Ensemble, and many other groundbreaking groups, Theon Cross is one of the most prominent musicians coming out London’s jazz scene. His highly-anticipated debut album ‘Fyah’ successfully blurs the lines between jazz and dance music, with a high-energy mix of early New Orleans-styled tuba-based brass grooves fused with driving saxophone melodies, synths, and modern-day grime rhythms.
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Nubiyan Twist “Jungle Run”

Genre: Jazz / Soul / Global Grooves
Label: Strut

The London-based collective releases their second full-length, and most adventurous outing to date. For their first album on the Strut label, the 10-piece ensemble mixes their blend of groove-oriented music, with soulful vocals, jazz inspired improvisation, dub influences, and funky African rhythms. The record also features a number of guest artists, including legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke.
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Ishmael Ensemble featuring Yazz Ahmed “The River”

Genre: Jazz
Label: Severn Songs

The Bristol-based Ishmael Ensemble is joined by celebrated British-Bahraini trumpet player Yazz Ahmed on the third and final Severn Songs release. Led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Pete Cunningham, the 7inch single features two versions of “The River,” a powerful composition that pays tribute to the well-known Indian river Ganges, blending together jazz and celestial percussion grooves, with electronics, field recordings, and atmospheric tones.
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Lucas Arruda “Onda Nova”

Genre: Brazilian / AOR / Jazz Funk / Boogie
Label: Favorite Recordings
Purchase Link

Another excellent album from Brazilian musician Lucas Arruda, continuing his love affair with jazz funk, boogie and increasingly the AOR, or west coast sound, also much loved by Ed Motta, but with a longer history in Brazil, going back to the likes of Marcos Valle and Leon Ware’s collaborations on “Estrelar” and“Rockin’ You Eternally”. So much to love here, but on first listens, it’s the the instrumental title track that sounds destined to make this record a firm dancefloor favourite.
– Selected by Oli Brunetti

REISSUES & ARCHIVAL

Tata “It’s A Mess”

Genres: Afro / Synth / Boogie
Label: Sharp-Flat
Purchase Link

Tata Sibeko’s second solo 12-inch, recorded in ’85, is given new legs via Sharp-Flat Records (South Africa). ‘It’s A Mess’, with it’s catchy hook, persistent synth-bass pattern and intermittent mini-solo riffs can be viewed as rather simple if considered piece by piece, but the magic is created when these elements come together in the way that they do. Add to that Tata’s earnest vocal delivery and it’s no wonder this record has been in such high demand. For added bonus, ‘Afro Breakdance’ serves as a nice dance floor primer with the perfect amount of funk & sleaze to entice ‘em to move.
-Selected by Jake Stellarwell

Aaron Broomfield “Boomerang”

Genres: Soul / Funk / Disco
Label: Crown Ruler
Purchase Link

Crown Ruler delivers unreleased Aaron Broomfield track by chance discovery of the sole remaining Test Pressing. Recorded in ’79, Broomfield never released the track, thinking his fans were not yet ready for the futuristic style of the song. He pressed two test copies, one destroyed by fire in ’96, the other discovered by record digger Arun Brown. This is truly a unique piece of digger history and it proves that the time spent in dirty basements and dusty bins can pay significant dividends to the world’s musical landscape.
-Selected by Jake Stellarwell

Yuji Toriyama “Choice Works 1982-1985”

Genres: Jazz-fusion / Boogie / Disco
Label: Time Capsule
Purchase Link

Kay Suzuki’s new label highlights the best of the best from Japanese soundtrack composer Yuji Toriyama. On the release, five works are selected from a 4-year period, ’82 to ’85. Jazz, boogie, funk, disco, and even a slow vocoder ballad round-out the compilation. ‘Maze’, taken from Yuji’s “A Taste Of Paradise” LP from ’85 has been in the want list for some time now, so I’m pretty happy to now have it along with 4 other beauties I was not yet aware of.
-Selected by Jake Stellarwell

Steve Reid featuring The Legendary Master Brotherhood “Nova”

Genre: Spiritual Jazz
Label: Soul Jazz Records
Purchase Link

Soul Jazz Records has just reissued (for the second time), legendary drummer Steve Reid’s 1976 spiritual jazz-funk masterpiece ‘Nova.’ Reid, who has performed alongside Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, James Brown and numerous others, originally released the 1976 recording on his own Mustevic Sound label following the formation of the group The Legendary Master Brotherhood. The first 1,000 copies of this well-crafted reissue comes on orange colored vinyl.
– Selected by TJ Gorton

Sonny Sharrock “Ask The Age”

Genre: Hard Bop, Free Jazz, jazz rock
Label: Hive Mind
Purchase Link

First time on vinyl for this legendary recording. Free jazz guitarist, Sonny Sharrock’s final recording, featuring Pharoah Sanders on sax and Elvin Jones on drums, produced by Bill Laswell. Plenty of high-octane free jazz that will surely blow away all the cobwebs, but balanced with moments of deep, contemplative and beautiful melodicism, such as on “Who Does She Hope to Be?”.
– Selected by Oli Brunetti

Various “Modern Jazz Dance Classics Volume 1”

Genre: Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop, Jazz-Funk, Funk, Latin Jazz
Label: Staubgold
Purchase Link

Superb compilation of fresh & diverse, dancefloor tested jazz from all over the globe – Brazil, France, Greece, UK, USA, etc., all unavailable or hard to find on vinyl, especially selected by Jeff The Fish to entice the jazz dancers. Big names such as Hermeto Pascoal (at least on the vinyl) and Hajime Yoshizawa, sit next to less familiar names, leaving me wanting more. All killer, no filler and with obvious appeal to a much wider crowd than the discerning jazz dancers.
– Selected by Oli Brunetti