On our previous show in February we played Farnell Newton’s first single “Peace + Love” featuring Jarrod Lawson & Tony Ozier of his new “Ready to Roll” album.
The trumpeter out of Portland has been touring around the world with renowned artists like Bootsy Collins and Jill Scott, but some how found time to work on this solo project as well. There’s some additional vocals on here by Ashley Jayy, Donyea Goodman and Cleveland P Jones. We decided to pick out our favorite two tracks, Peace + Love and “You Gotta Move”, and stream them below for your listening pleasure.
Farnell Newton’s soulful eleven track Jazz album is available in its entirely on iTunes now, so act accordingly.
Not that long ago I came across the name Alex Isley and gave her music a quick listen. Yesterday I re-discovered this creature of pure beauty.
Daughter of Ernie Isley (yes of the Isley Brothers) was destined to be a musical greatness if you ask me. She discovered her passion for performing at an early age and it is no wonder she decided to pursue a career as a musician. Alex Isley majored in Jazz Studies at UCLA and during her college years, she began writing songs, drawing from her own life experiences. She wrote most of what would later become her first self-written and produced debut EP, “The Love/Art Memoirs“, which was released back in 2012. She also collaborated on Brandon Williams’ album and that’s how I rediscovered this pretty songbird.
Her latest song “La Brea” was named after La Brea Ave. (pronounced ‘Luh-BRAY-yuh’) in Los Angeles and was clearly inspired by the lovely ladies of KING. Breathtaking music that will be on Alex’s upcoming “Luxury” project, set to release later this Spring. Purchase the single on iTunes and be amazed…truly!
Without even knowing the new single Illa J is exactly what we’ve been waiting for! The song called “Strippers” was produced by Potatohead People and Kaytranada and is taken from Illa J’s forthcoming self-titled solo album.
When you go from ‘pimp put on muscle from macking that hoe’ to a smooth line like ‘this one is for the ladies’, you know crack me the hell up. Personally I think J owns this joint and the production is simply bananas. By far one of the best Hip-Hop cuts I’ve heard this month! Oh and big up to all the strippers shakin’ their tail feathers.
Look for the album to drop this Fall on Bastard Jazz, but until then cop the single right here.
Those who have been following us for a while, might remember Faraji Heritage Experiment‘s “A/R/T” project from 2012.
The Bandcamp demo was a mere taste of greater things to come and the time for this coming is upon us. The Moroccan composer is back on the set with a brand new project, entitled “Nafsi“, which means soul or being in Swahili. Hussein Ibn Faraji discovered his grandfather’s name was not Arabic, but Swahili. This inspired him to bring together musicians of various backgrounds and have them use swahili nicknames. The same way Herbie Hancock and other Jazz men did back in in the seventies.
It also might be the best fusion of contemporary Jazz-Funk and Soul on one album albums to come out this year! Much respect to Cosmonostro for releasing this April 20th and for giving us the opportunity to premiere this amazing “Ode To Wattstax” track. Pre-orders available here!
Yesterday I got super excited again. You may ask yourself why, but just let me reply with a brand new Hiatus Kaiyote song!!
Anything that comes out of Nai Palm‘s mouth sounds angelic really, but the new Hiatus Kaiyote track called “Shaolin Monk Motherfunk” in particular. Probably for the fact that I’ve been looking forward to hearing more material of the best album to come out this year. A lot of people might believe Kendrick Lamar is most likely to win this title. I think differently though. Ever since their debut album I’ve been a fanboy and from what I’ve heard so far this is going to be breathtaking.
Pay attention; “Choose Your Weapon” is set to release early May on Flying Buddha Records (Sony). It will be well worth your money, so please start pre-ordering on iTunes.
Pat Van Dyke is the newest member of the Jakarta Records family. He is a multi-instrumentalist from New York who dips into Jazz and Reggae influences to concoct his super organic sound. You might have heard his “Forest St. Blue” cut on the Winter In Jakarta compilation.
His album “Right On Time” is about to be released on the April 17th and the new track called “Science Fiction” is something else. This little Reggae inspired Hip Hop joint sets the perfect mood and we for one are very excited to hear what the full release is going to sound like.
Pre-order the album on the Jakarta Records Bandcamp page and make sure you follow Pat Van Dyke on Soundcloud!
Hir-O is a beatsmith coming out of the Motor City who combines elements of Jazz and Funk into his music. His music is not new to us, but last month DOC Mastermind first introduced us to Hir-O’s new “Emissary” album, which is a prequel to his previous instrumental soundtrack “The Voyage Home“.
We fell in love with one track, “Lovely Day on Dagoba“, in particular featuring The Elements Band. We played this song on our last radio show and it’s the most amazing and uplifting song to come out recently.
Enjoy this funky little ride that is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face. Shout out to Mellow Orange for letting us premiere this gem on Soundcloud and make sure you purchase the entire album on iTunes.
Parker Madicine is a producer from Milan who releases his “Layers” EP on Bastard Jazz today. He’s shares our passions for vinyl records and runs a small label called Contemporary Theories (CT-HI).
Parker Madicine fuses Detroit Boogie with Electronic Future Beats while expressing his love for golden age Hip-Hop at the same time. On his Layers EP he declares his love for eighties music with tracks like “Mazimuth” and “Carnival Into Space”. The first was remixed by Vancouver-based producer Mosaic and the latter by Australian Funk lord Inkswel.
In the past Parker released music on Carl Craig’s Planet E imprint, but for his latest work he finds refuge at Brooklyn’s finest, Bastard Jazz. Snatch up a free download of Mosaic’s remix on Bandcamp and order the rest of the EP if you like the way it sounds.
Last month we were sent a few early cuts from X&G (Xian & Gaszia) with the news that Trapdoor Records was going to release their EP.
Today Thump officially premiered the second track, “Home” featuring Kida, released of their forthcoming “4am” project. It’s a collection of five tracks of which a few were released on Soundcloud last year. Still pretty exciting music for those that haven’t heard their material yet. The American duo seems to blend various styles into one cohesive hot mess that forms their own distinct style.
The full X&G EP will be available April 13th on iTunes, so peep it.
Some of you might be getting used to our ‘Werk Space‘ project by now. For those that haven’t heard about it, let me break it down.
Each month we invite a Dutch producer to showcase his artistry and challenge him to work in an amazingly fruitful environment being the Red Bull Studios Amsterdam. Last month it was AJ Beats from Enschede who visited the studio. He worked on some proper Funk and went all out the percussion. Check out this interview on The Find, in case you’d like to know more about AJ Beats.
We mainly had fun, but actually finished the track “Lets Cruise” in the process. Gerson Rafael from Rotterdam danced his way into the recording booth and laid down some smooth vocals. Many thanks to Edoardo Marin for mixing down the final result.
Another big shout out to the lovely Serena Indigo for creating the artwork and big up to Lexflex81 for the fresh logo!