New 20th anniversary edition of Soul Jazz Records’ long out-of-print ‘Miami Sound: Rare Funk & Soul from Miami, Florida, 1967-74’. The album has been unavailable for more than 15 years and is newly remastered.

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Miami Sound’ features rare and classic funk and deep soul from Miami, Florida between 1967 and 1974. The album brings together million-selling artists such as Gwen McCrae, George McCrae and Timmy Thomas alongside artists little known outside of the sunshine state such as James Knight and The Butlers, Frank Williams And The Rocketeers and All The People.

Miami funk, soul and disco was dominated by TK Records, founded by Henry Stone in the early 1970s. Through myriad associated record labels such as Alston, Blue Candle, Dash, Glades, Cat and more, TK Records made international artists out of Gwen McRae and her brother George McRae, Betty Wright and KC and The Sunshine Band, all in the mid-1970s crossover period between soul and disco.

The music on this compilation shows the roots of this Miami sound. All the artists and musicians on this album worked together throughout the heyday of TK Records, when it produced hit after hit on an almost daily basis. The house band (the equivalent to Motown’s Funk Brothers) included songwriters such as Clarence Reid (AKA Blowfly, the adult comedian), Casey Finch (KC from KC and The Sunshine Band) along with musicians Little Beaver, Frank Williams and Robert Moore. As well as being the in-house band, most of these artists also ran successful solo careers, making Miami one of the most musically creative hot spots in the USA.

The artists on this compilation include Helene Smith, Miami’s first lady of Soul, Frank Williams and The Rocketeers (featuring a very young Little Beaver on vocals), George McRae’s rare groove classic ‘I Get Lifted’ (written by Casey Finch), Timmy Thomas’ truly experimental track ‘Funky Me’, Gwen McRae’s classic ‘90% Of Me Is You’, as well as a host of practically unknown Miami artists who never managed to make it outside the city borders.

TRACK LISTING

All The People - Cramp Your Style
Helene Smith - You Got To Be A Man
George McCrae - I Get Lifted
James Knight And The Butlers - Funky Cat
Gwen McCrae - 90% Of Me Is You
Little Beaver - Funkadelic Sound
James Knight And The Butlers - Save Me
Joey Gilmore - Do It To Me One More Time
Helene Smith - A Woman Will Do Wrong
James Knight And The Butlers - Fantasy World
Timmy Thomas - Funky Me
The New Clarence Reid - Cadillac Annie
Frank Williams And The Rocketeers - The Spanish Flyer
Della Humphrey - Don’t Make The Good Girls Go Bad
Frank Williams And The Rocketeers - You Got To Be A Man
Joey Gilmore - Somebody Done Took My Baby And Gone
Little Beaver - I Love The Way You Love

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Holy Church of the Ecstatic Soul - A Higher Power - Gospel, Funk & Soul at the Crossroads 1971-83’ draws upon the extensive links between black American gospel music and soul music, showing how the sensibilities of gospel artists such as Shirley Caeser, Dorothy Norwood, Andrae Crouch and others crossed over into secular soul music during this period.

The album was first available as a long-sold out coloured vinyl edition for RSD 2023 and is now available on black double vinyl and for the first time on CD.

Many of the most successful soul artists - from Aretha Franklin to Al Green, The Staple Singers to Sam Cooke - all drew upon their upbringing in the church for their musical inspiration. This album discusses how important the links between the black church and soul music were in creating soul music and spotlights some of the many important (and also little-known) gospel artists who walked this line between sacred music and soul, funk and disco in the 1970s and early 1980s.

‘Holy Church Of The Ecstatic Soul’ shows how sacred gospel music was at home with Stevie Wonder, Blaxploitation-style funk, and produced music celebrated both in New York’s underground discos (The Paradise Garage, Studio 54, etc) and later sampled by the likes of Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Mary J Blige.

“Curated with an obvious passion and sense of history, ‘Holy Church Of The Ecstatic Soul’ serves as the perfect intro to the funky spirituals that once served as the foundation for various schools of sound (Philly R&B, disco, soul) over the last 50 years.” - The Wire

TRACK LISTING

Andraé Crouch & The Disciples - Satisfied
Shirley Caesar - Jesus Children Of America
The Meditation Singers - Trouble's Brewin'
The Clark Sisters - You Brought The Sunshine
Dorothy Norwood - Let Your Feet Down Easy
Shirley Caesar - Jesus Is Coming
Swan Silvertones - If You Believe Your God Is Dead
The Alvin Darling Ensemble - Is There Anybody Here?
Roscoe Robinson - There's A Creator
Destiny - Nothing Can Stop Me Now
The Meditation Singers - Good Old Gospel Music
Keith Barrow - Everything Is Gonna Be Alright
Roscoe Robinson - Elijah
Dyson's Faces - Till I've Got This Feelin' Of Love
The Violinaires - The Upper Way
Leomia Boyd And The Gospel Music Makers - Higher In Jesus' Love
Keith Barrow - The Right Road Now

You are about to embark on a new intergalactic journey into black space, fuelled by funk, powered by computers.

Soul Jazz Records’ new second collection of twisted hyperspace electro / funk ‘Space Funk 2: Afro Futurist Electro Funk in Space 1976-84’, continues its intergalactic journey. Featuring rare and off-the-wall space funk and electro rarities and obscurities, all released on small independent USA record labels in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Artists on this release include Alien Starr, Bobby Demo, Maggatron, Mid-City Crew, Tribe, Junie, Rich Cason and the Galactic Orchestra, and many more intergalactic space warriors.

The CD / 2LP comes in striking deluxe artwork featuring the radical African American model Pat Evans, who graced numerous album covers for The Ohio Players in the 1970s.

The space shuttle program has been altered, there are no star wars - only electro jam joyriders in space! Reactors are reacting, boosters are boosting, the countdown has started. This is space age bionic funk, programmed to make you dance.

TRACK LISTING

Alien Starr - Music-A-Lizer
Chance - Master Groove (Instrumental)
The Bobby Deemo Band - More Ounce Rap
Mack Simmons - Skin Tight
Maggotron - Computer Pop
Tribe - Vulcan Voyage
Command Performance - Breakdance
Junei - Let's Ride
The Graingers - Shine Your Light
Mid City Crew - Get Right
Chapter Three - Smurf Trek
X-Ray Vision - Video Control
Rich Cason And The Galactic Orchestra - Year 2001 Boogie
Frank James And Shadow - Summer Time

One-off Soul Jazz Records’ collectors Punk 45 pressing. Comes in fold out paper sleeve and specially silk-screened Punk 45 outer sleeve.

Electric Chairs’ ‘So Many Ways’ is post-punk / funk at its height in 1979 - tough rhythms, avant-garde, addictively hypnotic and hypnotic. Two hard to find bomb tunes.

Superb exact reproduction of this excellent postpunk / funk mini masterpiece by the Electric Chairs, who were Wayne / Jayne County and the Electric Chairs until Wayne / Jayne County, true to their own song, ‘Fucked Off’. The Electric Chairs included in their line-up Henry Padovani, who joined the group after being chucked out of a new band called The Police (replaced by Andy Summers).

However, it’s the production skills of David Cunningham that sets this apart from most punk / post-punk singles. At the time Cunningham was working with a stunning array of avant-garde artists including This Heat, Michael Nyman, David Toop and his own ‘experimental pop group’, The Flying Lizards.

Electric Chair’s ‘So Many Ways’ features on Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Punk 45: I’m A Mess’.

TRACK LISTING

So Many Ways
J’Attends Les Marines

Out of print for over 40 years, this is a true rare 12” party hip-hop classic, reissued by Soul Jazz Records.

Absolutely stunning very rare old school party disco rap 12” performed by members of the Chicago public high school, Carver High.

Originally released in 1982 on their own private press label, Challenger Records.

The track is the opening highlight of Soul Jazz Records’ recent ‘Yo! Boombox’ collection and is featured here in its full glorious seven and a half minutes and comes complete with exact replica of the striking original hand-drawn artwork.

TRACK LISTING

Get Live ’83 (The Senior Rap)
The Carver Senior Song (Class Of ’83)

Soul Jazz Records release a new expanded version of ‘Studio One 007 - Licenced to Ska: James Bond and other Film Soundtracks and TV Themes’, originally only available as a long deleted 7” RSD box set.

This new edition is fully remastered and expanded to a massive 18 super rare and killer cuts from the Studio One empire.

Featuring The Skatalites, Lee Perry, Jackie Mittoo, Bob Marley, The Wailers, Roland Alphonso and The Soul Brothers - rare and classic tracks from Jamaica’s no.1 record label, Studio One.

Extensive sleevenotes discuss the connections between James Bond, Jamaica and Ska music. Jamaica was the setting for ‘Dr. No’, ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ and the recent ‘No Time to Die’, and the home for Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming. There is also an extended essay on The Skatalites and their post modern love and ska-ification of all styles of music, from classical music to TV themes, from detective movies to ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.

Aside from the James Bond-related cuts, this album also includes killer tracks from the secret agent 1969 spoof, ‘Our Man Flint’, the Clint Eastwood-starring Spaghetti Western, ‘Hang ‘Em High’, the Brazilian movie masterpiece, ‘Black Orpheus’, and more besides.

TRACK LISTING

Jackie Mittoo And The Soul Brothers - James Bond
The Skatalites - Dick Tracy
The Soul Brothers - James Bond Girl
The Skatalites - Guns Of Navarone Roland Alphonso And The Studio
One Orchestra - From Russia With Love
The Soul Brothers - Thunderball
Jackie Mittoo - Hang 'Em High
The Soul Brothers - Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Soul Brothers - 007
Lee Perry And The Wailers - Pussy Galore
The Soul Brothers - Mr. Flint
The Skatalites - Ball Of Fire
The Soul Brothers - James Bond Danger Man
The Soul Brothers - Lawman
The Skatalites - Black Orpheus
The Skatalites - Exodus
The Skatalites - Dr. Kildare
The Soul Brothers - Fiddler On The Roof

This incredible new release follows a path along the electronic skyways first created by the German Krautrock electronic pioneers of the 1970s, such as Cluster, Ash Ra Tempel, Roedelius and Michael Rother.

Hawksmoor is James McKeown. He first created Hawksmoor five years ago as an imaginary hauntological soundtrack, inspired by the six Hawksmoor churches in London. Further releases have followed on Environmental Studies, the cassette-only label Spun Out of Control, Castles in Space and The Library of The Occult.

For his debut on Soul Jazz Records, Hawksmoor has created a fascinating blend of these two sensibilities – a love of German electronic music of the 1970s alongside the British retrofuturism and cultural memory bank aesthetic of hauntology - Ghost Box, Mount Vernon Arts Lab, Advisory Circle, Focus Group, etc.

Using strictly modular synths (Moog Sub37), electronic drum rhythms and guitars, Hawksmoor creates an electronic landscaped music world that is both new and old, immediately identifiable and yet utterly unique.

TRACK LISTING

Cycloid
Nuclear Kites
Praxis
Telepathic Heights
Athanasia
A Neural Interval
Synesius
The City Ships Of Alpha
Dream Logic
Abstract Machines

‘Studio One Classics’: Spanning 40 years of the legendary label, this album is a celebration of the music of Studio One Records and features a who’s who of Jamaican Reggae: Bob Marley, The Heptones, Horace Andy, Sugar Minott, Don Drummond, Prince Jazzbo and more. Comes in the striking ‘Wailers’ sleeve.

‘Studio One Ska Fever’: A blistering collection of ska tunes from Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s legendary Studio One Records, Jamaica’s foundation label of reggae music. Featuring classic cuts from the originators of Ska - The Skatalites, The Wailers, Lee Perry - alongside a heavy dose of superb rarities from the mighty vaults of 13 Brentford Road.

Super cool one-off collector’s pressing in a fold out paper sleeve and specially silk-screened ‘Punk 45’ outer sleeve.

Exact reproduction of this excellent two-sider (double B-side) ‘The Only Sound’ / ‘New Musical Express’, the debut punk single by Dansette Damage from Birmingham, originally released on the tiny Shoestring Records in early 1978.

The tracks were produced incognito by Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. “Robert put all needles in the red which is why it sounds so raw! Also, we couldn’t sing and you can hear Robert’s high falsetto at the top end, trying to keep us lot in tune!” said the band.

Original copies of this record sell for over £100, so here is a chance to see and hear what all the fuss is about.

Dansette Damage’s ‘NME’ features on Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Punk 45: I’m A Mess’.

TRACK LISTING

The Only Sound
New Musical Express

‘Mind Maze’ is the new album by Trees Speak on Soul Jazz Records.

‘Mind Maze’ is, amazingly, Trees Speak’s fifth album to be released on Soul Jazz Records in the space of little over two years - an output matched only by the intensity of their music created during this short time.

As with all their previous releases, ‘Mind Maze’ is a mind-boggling tightrope walk across an array of musical influences that seamlessly create the unique present-day world of Trees Speak.

The band’s sound is characterized by a combination of German Krautrock motoricbeat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound, both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries.

Trees Speak are a musical duo based in Tucson, Arizona, composed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz. Their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona, creating a unique and captivating sound that is both experimental and innovative. ‘Mind Maze’ was recorded in Brooklyn, New York with special guests Gabriel Sullivan, Alex Pope, Craig Dreyer, Ben Nisbet and Stephani Guilmette.

Here you will find the myriad sounds of 1970s German electronic music (everything from CAN to Cluster, Popul Vuh to Tangerine Dream); 1980s New York post-punk and synthcore (from No Wave to Suicide); John Barry’s 1960s movies, John Carpenter’s 1970s horror. You will also hear the influences of French and Italian progressive rock (Magma, Goblin) as well as cosmic, new age and experimental space soundscapes … an almost endless list of diverse influences that ebb and flow like an ocean of sound, in the process creating a truly unique soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.

The name Trees Speak reflects their interest in the concept of using future technologies to store information and data in trees and plants, with the idea that trees communicate collectively. This interest in nature and technology, combined with their passion for experimentation, has led Trees Speak to create a truly one-of-a-kind listening experience that is both unique and engaging.

If you ever wanted to hear CAN, Neu!, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid, Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrète and Mars in one band, then this is it! Trees Speak are a band that defies categorization and offer an eclectic listening experience, both exciting and memorable.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Despite their blistering work rate, Trees Speak manage to consistently come up with the goods for 'Much More Known For A Great Compilation' behemoth Soul Jazz records. Their latest treads similar ground to the past few for the label but as ever branch out beautifully into a few subsidiaries of their extremely well-heeled kosmische groove.

TRACK LISTING

Mind Maze
Minotaur
Syndrome
Sospetto
Illusions
Scanner
Burner
Rare Earth
Pathways
Skip Breath
Odyssey
Passage
Signals
Black Phone
Mirror
Stone Tape

Bonus 7” (SJRLP527 Only)
Seraphim
Orpheus

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Space, Energy & Light’ is a collection of music by early electronic and synthesizer pioneers (from the 1960s through the 1970s), mid-1970s proto-new age gurus and 1980s guerrilla DIY cassette-era electronic artists, spanning in total over a near 30-year time frame. These artists used electronic advancements in music technology as a means of exploring not only space and the idea of the future but also of looking inwards to the soul and of creating music in harmony with the natural world.

From computer software and hardware experimentalists and sound pioneers such as Laurie Spiegel and Kevin Braheny, as well as Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company - the first synthesizer ensemble created in collaboration with Robert Moog - through to the earliest musique concrète experimentation of Tod Dockstader, the album shows how technological advancements and creative artistic expression went hand in hand.

In the mid-1970s artists Steven Halpern and Iaxos were instrumental in creating proto-new age music, experimenting in both the healing properties of sound and its relationship with the natural world. These artists also pioneered a new self-contained and underground DIY approach to music, creating their own record labels, forming new distribution networks (with albums sold in meditation centres, health food stores and ashrams) far away from the commercialism of the mainstream music industry. In the early 1980s after the revolution of punk, these DIY attitudes and ideas appeared once more in the growth of the distinctly anti-commercial and underground cassetteonly careers of artists such as Germany’s Stratis and Carl Matthews in Britain.

Album artwork includes some of the earliest photography of the Plieades star cluster dating from the 1880s.

“Listening to ‘Space, Energy & Light’ in one sitting is a bit like experiencing constellations exploding within constellations inside your brain.” - Record Collector

TRACK LISTING

J.B. Banfi - Gang (For The Rock Industry)
Michael Garrison - To The Other Side Of The Sky
Iasos - Lueena Coast
Carl Matthews - As Above, So Below
Tim Blake - Midnight
Stratis - By Water
Laurie Spiegel - Improvisation On A ‘Concerto Generator’
Mother Mallard’s Portable
Masterpiece Company - Ceres Motion
Michael Stearns - In The Beginning
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Ever New
Richard Pinhas - Variations VII Sur
Le Thème Des Bene Gesserit
Tod Dockstader - Piece #1
Kevin Braheny - Ancient Stars
Steven Halpern - Starborn Suite (Part 1)

18 years on from its original release, ‘Studio One Funk’ remains one of Soul Jazz Records’ most in demand Studio One titles.

‘Studio One Funk’ is made up of rare and unreleased reggae funk from the vaults of Studio One. Ever since the birth of funk in America, the sound has been an ever-present ingredient in the melting pot of Studio One’s musical output.

The music on this release is a combination of originals, US covers and versions of existing Studio One cuts. Jackie Mittoo shows his appreciation for Booker T and The MGs, the studio group at Memphis’ famous Stax Records, with ‘Hang ‘Em High’, itself a cover of a film soundtrack by Dominic Frontiere. Incredibly this version has never before been released. Booker T’s super funky ‘Melting Pot’ is also covered by the little-known Underground Vegetables.

Other versions include Isaac Hayes’ classic Blaxploitation soundtrack ‘Shaft’, again by Cedric Im Brooks, another unreleased gem, straight from the tape master. Motown gets a look in with Alton’s stripped-down version of the Spinners classic, ‘It’s A Shame’, written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta.

James Brown is apparent in spirit with the JBs-inspired groove on the super rare cut, ‘Now’, by Lee Arab. Lloyd Williams similarly does a fine Kingston-style version of the hardest-working man in showbusiness on ‘Reggae Feet’.

Version-wise, we have ‘Idleberg’, Cedric Im Brooks’ tough instrumental cut on Horace Andy’s seminal ‘Skylarking’. The little-known Prince Moonie gives us a rare DJ cut of another Horace Andy classic, ‘See A Man’s Face’.

Pablove Black’s cut of Sidewalk Doctor (aka Poco Tempo) is one of a handful of Studio One releases featuring Augustus Pablo’s trademark instrument, the melodica, played by Black himself.

Add to these original cuts from Studio One’s heavyweight session players, including Leroy Sibbles, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Eric Frater, Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, Richard Ace, Vin Gordon and more, and you have one of the finest selections of reggae and funk you will ever hear.

“An absolute treasure trove for the collector as well as being great for the ears and feet. Jackie Mittoo's 'Hang Em High' is worth the price of the album on its own.” - Echoes

“A superb collection that shows how much many Jamaican musicians were influenced by the heavy funk belting out of American studios from the early seventies onwards.” - Touch

“The most satisfying listening experience so far in the Studio One series.” - The Wire

TRACK LISTING

Cedric Im Brooks - Shaft
Alton Ellis - African Descendants
Pablove Black - Poco Tempo
Lloyd Williams – Reggae Feet
Jackie Mittoo - Hang ‘Em High
Cedric Im Brooks - Idleberg
Prince Francis - Beat Down Babylon
Lee Arab - Now
Soul Bros - 007
Prince Moonie - See A Man’s Face
Im And Sound Dimension - Love Jah
Leroy Sibbles - Do Your Thing
The Sharks - Music Answer
Underground Vegetables - Melting Pot
Devon Russell - You Found Heaven
Vin Gordon - Steady Beat
Alton Ellis - It’s A Shame
Roy Richards - Another Day
Delroy Wilson - Funky Broadway

Count Ossie is the central character in the development of Rastafarian roots music, nowadays an almost mythical and iconic figure. His importance in bringing Rastafarian music to a populist audience is matched only by Bob Marley’s promotion of the faith internationally in the 1970s.

Count Ossie’s drummers performed on the first commercially released single to integrate Rastafarian traditional music with popular music: the vocal group The Folkes Brothers’ groundbreaking song ‘Oh Carolina’, recorded for producer Prince Buster in 1959. In 1966 his drummers greeted the momentous arrival of Haile Selassie at Kingston airport.

His legendary jam sessions up in his Rastafarian compound in the hills of Wareika, Kingston, are famous for the many Jamaican musicians who attended including The Skatalites players - Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Lloyd Knibbs - and many others.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari formed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970, a union of Count Ossie’s Rastafarian drummers - variously known as his African Drums, Wareikas or his Afro-Combo - and the saxophonist Cedric Im Brooks’ horns group, The Mystics.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are the defining group in bringing authentic Rastafarian rhythms into the collective consciousness of popular music, their unique music is at once rooted in the deep traditions and rituals of traditional drumming and chanting alongside a forward-thinking, even avant-garde, artistry influenced by the likes of John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders and other pioneering African-American jazz artists radicalised and charged by the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

TRACK LISTING

Sam's Intro
Tales Of Mozambique
Selam Nna Wadada (Peace
And Love)
No Night In Zion
I Am A Warrior
Wicked Babylon
Let Freedom Reign
Lock, Stock & Barrell
Nigerian Reggae
Run One Mil
Rasta Reggae
Samia

Initially released in a deluxe vinyl-only edition (now totally sold out), Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Punk 45: I’m A Mess!’ is now released in standard double album vinyl (and for the first time on CD).

Soul Jazz Records’ long lasting ‘Punk 45’ series are high quality editions of early punk 45s. While previous editions have focused on the early days of punk in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Akron, France, and proto-punk, this new edition focuses on mainly do-it-yourself, or self-released 45s, all made in the UK in the early days of punk.

While only a handful of Punk 45s were released in 1976, the following two years produced an avalanche of them. Aside from the few punk bands who signed to major labels, many of these singles were self-released private press 45s or independent label 45s. With limited distribution and access to the media, many of these sunk without trace and were lost in history. This album features many of these independent punk 45 gems, lost nuggets of gold from the sea of time.

The bands featured here come from all across the United Kingdom. Here you will find The Drive, Scotland’s answer to the New York Dolls, Dansette Damage from Newcastle, Stormtrooper from the Isle of Wight and many more - a snapshot of some of the finest private press 45s ever made. Other bands include Cybermen, The Exile and Neon, as well as the early punk incarnations Johnny and The Self-Abusers (who later became Simple Minds) and The Killjoys (led by Kevin Rowland, who later formed Dexy’s Midnight Runners).

These are all one-off and super rare releases from bands that you have probably never heard of - totally hidden gems from the wastelands of the early days of punk. Totally in keeping with the spirit of the time, this is high octane and righteously independent.

TRACK LISTING

The Art Attacks - I Am A Dalek
The Drive - Jerkin
Johnny And The Self Abusers - Saints And Sinners
Trash - Priorities
The Carpettes - Help I'm Trapped
Stormtrooper - I'm A Mess
The Electric Chairs - So Many Ways
Social Security - I Don't Want My Heart To Rule My Head
Neon Hearts - Venus Eccentric
The Cybermen - Cybernetic Surgery
The Killjoys - Naive
The Reducers - Things Go Wrong
Johnny Moped - No One
Neon - Bottles
V2 - Speed Freak
The Exile - Fascist DJ
Lucy - Feel So Good
Machines - True Life
Dansette Damage - N.M.E.

Soul Jazz Records’ long out of print classic ‘Studio One Women’ collection is being re-released as a new 18th Anniversary edition.

18 years on from its original release, ‘Studio One Women’ remains one of the ‘Studio One’ series’ most in demand titles and, like all the earlier special coloured editions, is sure to sell out fast.

Ska, rocksteady, funky reggae, roots, dub mixes, disco mixes - they’re all here from the queens of the Jamaican music scene - ‘Studio One Women’ features a wide mix of classics and obscurities from the finest female voices in reggae.

Until now most of these tracks have only ever been available as extremely hard to find Jamaican 7” and 12” singles, and even if you were lucky enough to find them, they’d cost you a small fortune.

Marcia Griffiths and Rita Marley (here with her first group, The Soulettes, whose iconic image features on the cover) are two of Jamaica’s most famous female singers, hugely popular today. Both artists became internationally famous as The I - Threes (along with Judy Mowatt), Bob Marley’s backing singers alongside The Wailers. Also featured are Hortense Ellis, sister of Alton, who cut many smash hits on the island, and Jennifer Lara, a lady who had a long career with Studio One, singing on countless sides.

‘Studio One Women’ refers not just to the small selection of artists featured here but also to those who took integral roles throughout the Studio One empire, starting with Doris Darlington, mother of Clement Dodd. Sir Coxsone’s Downbeat Soundsystem, which ruled the dancehalls of Kingston throughout the 1950s and 60s, started off as the musical entertainment for customers of Mrs Darlington’s Nannys Bar.

Clement Dodd often referred to his mother as ‘Jamaica’s first female DJ’, as she would play records at the bar whenever he was on trips to the US, hunting down R&B records. Other important women behind the scenes included Norma Dodd (wife of Clement), whose sleevenotes featured on many Studio One releases, and Enid Cumberland who, as well as being a successful artist (half of the duo Keith and Enid), taught harmony in the studio and ran the studio shop.

It would also be impossible not to mention Sister Ignatius, who ran the infamous Alpha Boys School for over 50 years, encouraging students which included Tommy McCook, Johnny ‘Dizzy’ Moore, Lester Sterling and Don Drummond, Theo Beckford, Cedric Brooks, Johnny Osbourne and countless other musicians and artists to excel at music, and many of whom became integral to the success of Studio One.

TRACK LISTING

Claudette McLean - Give Love Another Try
Jennifer Lara - My Man
The Soulettes - A Deh Pon Dem
Della Humphrey - Dream Land
Jennifer Lara - Consider Me
Denise Darlington - War No Right
Hortense Ellis - I’m Just A Girl
Angela Prince - No Bother With No Fuss
Jerry Jones - There’s A Chance For Me
The Soulettes - King Street
Jennifer Lara - Tell Me Where
The Tonettes - I’ll Give It To You
Marcia Griffiths - Tell Me Now
The Jay Tees - Come To Me
Angela Prince - You A Fool Boy
Jennifer Lara - I Am In Love

New special one-off pressing gold CD / gold vinyl edition of this deep spiritual jazz classic.

Drummer legend extraordinaire, Vietnam conscientious objector, ex- Black Panther, Steve Reid has played with everyone from James Brown to Sun Ra, Fela Kuti and Miles Davis, was a friend of John Coltrane, worked at Motown and, in the latter part of his career, worked extensively with Kieran Hebden, following his path of a radical, revolutionary music up until his untimely death in 2010.

Soul Jazz Records are re-releasing this rarest release of deep heavyweight jazz by Steve Reid and The Master Brotherhood, entitled ‘Odyssey of the Oblong Square’, first released over thirty five years ago on Steve Reid’s own Mustevic Sound record label (where it came out in an edition of 1000 copies) and has been a serious collector’s album ever since.

Steve Reid became known worldwide for his radical collaborations with Kieran Hebden after they first recorded together on the Steve Reid Ensemble album, ‘Spirit Walk’, released on Soul Jazz in 2005, releasing five joint releases together in the following years.

Steve Reid is steeped in musical history and a true pioneer of US deep leftfield jazz. He played in Sun Ra’s Arkestra, was a Motown session drummer and backed James Brown at the Apollo. He was a Black Panther, imprisoned during the Vietnam war as a conscientious objector and lived in Africa in the early 1970s. Reid worked with Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Ornette Coleman, Lester Bowie, Fela Kuti, Leon Thomas, Miles Davis and many more in his long illustrious and groundbreaking career.

TRACK LISTING

1. Odyssey Theme
2. Deacon’s Son
3. Odyssey Sweet
4. Ginsameng

‘Disco Reggae Rockers’ features wicked reggae disco versions of funk, soul and disco classics.

This new album follows on from Soul Jazz Records’ earlier highly successful ‘Hustle: Disco Reggae’ and features reggae covers of classic songs by Earth, Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, Candi Staton, Curtis Mayfield and more, as performed by Derrick Harriott, Devon Russell, Hortense Ellis, Glen Adams, Dave Barker and others.

The most straightforward definition of ‘Disco Reggae’ is to describe it as American disco and soul songs covered by reggae artists. But the relationship is binary – this is no mere subservient island appreciation of North American dominant culture but instead an example of the interweaving thread of Jamaican and American music that travels back and forth between the major cities of Kingston, London, Toronto, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

TRACK LISTING

Devon Russell - Move On Up
Crashers - Flight To Jamaica
Valerie Harrison - Fool’s Paradise
Bill Campbell - For The Love Of You
Risco Connection - It’s My House
Dave Barker - Glow Of Love
Derrick Harriott - Caught You In A Lie
Hortense Ellis - Young Hearts Run Free
Ed Watson And Brass Circle - Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Devon Russell - We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue
Seventh Extension - Reasons
Derrick Harriott - Brown Baby
Ed Watson And Brass Circle - Let’s Groove
Pete Campbell & The Sunshine Girls - Don’t Let Love Get You Down
Webby Jay - In The Rain
Glen Adams Affair - Just A Groove

Our favourite industrial-dancehall machine tweaker, Krikor rolls out a bass flexing mutant dancehall rhythm on the A side with some deep hypnosis synth action on the flip. Stupendously limited, full flex action on Soul Jazz. Krikor's one of a kind. If you know you know - big tip! 

TRACK LISTING

Biceps Brachii
Epicranial Aponeurosis

Collection of the lost recordings of Fast Eddie, one of the most exciting live bands of the early 1980s Rhythm ‘n’ Soul-fuelled Mod Revival.

From Billericay, the band followed in the wake of Thames Delta Blues pioneers Dr. Feelgood, originally playing raw, authentic R&B before expanding their sound to incorporate club soul and a broader palette of influences and sounds.

Originally produced and managed by legendary label man and broadcaster Eddie Piller, founder of Acid Jazz, who released their first single on his first own Well Suspect marque in 1982.

An exciting collection of Mod-Revival-era tunes, and an important document of the wider Mod Revival and Acid Jazz Records story.

TRACK LISTING

Shake A Tail Feather
I Don’t Need No Doctor
Sugar Coated Love
Sweet Sensation
Turn On Your Love Light
Vicinity
My Babe
Ninety-Nine & A Half
Out Of Sight
Fever
Keep Your Hands Off It
Teenie Bit Of Your Love *
Barefootin’
Hit The Road Jack
36-22-36
Homework
Treat Her Right *
Land Of 1000 Dances *
Little Suzy (Instrumental) *
Help Me *
* = CD Only Track

One of three monster New Orleans Funk 45s rereleased by Soul Jazz Records.

Only ever exclusively available on the Soul Jazz Records site and long out of print, these new 45s are pristine loud dancefloor fillers housed in a Soul Jazz recycled card house bag.

Inell Young’s searing vocal performance backed by the unbelievably funky James Black’s seriously awesome second-line syncopated drumming. The three funkiest drummers in the world are the Meters’ Zigaboo Modeliste, James Brown’s Clyde Stubblefield, and James Black.

An awesome Eddie Bo arrangement and production. 100% essential.

TRACK LISTING

The Next Ball Game
Part Of The Game

‘Black Pride’ is the seminal Lovers Rock tune from Brown Sugar, pressed loud for the first ever time on this new one-off press edition 12” on Soul Jazz Records.

Brown Sugar formed in London in 1976, made up of teenagers Pauline Catlin, Caron Wheeler and Carol Simms. After Brown Sugar, Caron Wheeler became known worldwide as the vocalist in Soul II Soul, and Carol Simms launched a successful solo career under the name Kofi. 

‘Black Pride’ was originally released on the Lovers Rock label, a fledgling reggae label formed by musicians Dennis Bovell and John Kpiaye and producer Dennis Harris. Brown Sugar were unique - not only were they one of the most important of the first wave of lovers rock groups, they were also the only group who managed to successfully blend together a reggae roots consciousness with a lovers rock sensibility. The classic ‘Black Pride’ perfectly reflects this unique sound.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: As lover's rock fever takes over one of the seminal hits of the genre is given a timely repress from the good folks at Soul Jazz

TRACK LISTING

A. Black Pride
B. Proud

Stone-cold classic - the ultimate Studio One tune and the ultimate rhythm & blues / soul to reggae cut, as Dawn Penn vamps on Bo Diddley and Willie Cobbs. Floorshaking, speaker-busting seminal tune.

First time ever on 12”.

Cut super loud, and with a killer dub version on the flip.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: THE ORIGINAL RIDDIM!!! Depending on your age and however you got to this tune (there are many covers, but I'm sure The Fugees might be one of the most recognized) you may not have heard Dub Specialist's monumental (and earth shaking) dub. A timeless and as powerful a slice of dub as anything the genre has produced. It's one of those, every-home-needs-one records.

TRACK LISTING

Dawn Penn - No, No, No
Dub Specialist - Creator Version (No, No, No Dub)

Trees Speak are Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz from Tucson, Arizona and their music often draws on the cosmic night-time magic of Arizona’s natural desert landscapes. ‘Trees Speak’ relates to the idea of future technologies storing information and data in trees and plants - using them as hard drives - and the idea that Trees communicate collectively.

Trees Speak’s new album ‘Shadow Forms’ is a blend of 1970s German electronic and ‘motorik’ Krautrock instrumentals (think Harmonia, Can, Cluster, Popul Vuh, Neu!), haunting and powerful 1960s and 1970s soundtracks (think Italian prog rock Goblin and John Carpenter horror movies, Morricone and existential John Barry spy movies), together with a New York no wave electronic synth and guitar analogue DIY-ness (think Suicide, anything on Soul Jazz’s ‘New York Noise’ series or Eno’s ‘No New York’). Trees Speak segue together all these elements into ‘Shadow Forms’, which follows on from their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Ohms,’ released on Soul Jazz Records less than six months ago.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: 'Shadow Forms' is a perfectly balanced juxtaposition of grooving, angular kosmische and haunty, soundtrack sort of business. We get little bursts of jazzy instrumentation and smooth-flowing psychedelia, all brought together with a deftness of touch and a keen ear for melody.

TRACK LISTING

‘Shadow Forms’
Large Array
Tear Kisser
Those Who Know
Transforming
Automat
False Ego
Communication
Crystal System
Agonize Signal
Magick Knives

Bonus 7” (SJRLP457)
Outtake
Transmitter

Soul Jazz Records’ new album ‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ brings together many of the ground-breaking artists involved in the new jazz scene that has developed in the UK over the last few years.

Soul Jazz Records release an exclusive one-off pressing double-headed 12” single featuring Theon Cross and Pokus on the same day as the ‘Kaleidoscope’ album release.

Exclusive to independent retailers.

TRACK LISTING

Theon Cross - Candace Of Meroe
Pokus - Pokus One

Soul Jazz Records’ new album ‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ brings together many of the groundbreaking artists involved in the new jazz scene that has developed in the UK over the last few years.

Featured artists include Matthew Halsall, Yazmin Lacey, Ill Considered, Tenderlonious, Theon Cross, Emma-Jean Thackray and many, many more in this ground-breaking release.

As well as sharing a pioneering spirit in these new artists’ approach to frontier-crossing musical boundaries, a further theme of this album is that many also share a determination to independent practices – and most of these artists’ recordings featured here are either self-published or released on independent labels. While the attention of this new wave of jazz artists up until now has been London-based, this album shows how this movement is spread across the whole of Britain (and indeed beyond).

‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ shows that while there is commonality in these artists’ approach to music, there is a wide variety of styles – from deep spiritual jazz, electronic experimentalisation, punk-edged funk, uplifting modal righteousness, deep soulful vocals and much more.

STAFF COMMENTS

Emily says: It’s been a breathless few years for British jazz, with essential new artists appearing by the day on a plethora of labels up and down the country. Thankfully Soul Jazz are here to help us keep track, taking stock of the scene on this bumper triple vinyl collection.

TRACK LISTING

A
1. Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra - When The World Was One (7.38)
2. Yazmin Lacey - 90 Degrees (4.16)
3. Hector Plimmer - Communication Control (3.04)

B
1. Ill Considered - Long Way Home (Live At The Crypt) (8.03)
2. The Expansions - Mosaic (6.58)
3. Chip Wickham - Red Planet (5.44)

C
1. Levitation Orchestra - Odyssey (9.26)
2. Emma-Jean Thackray’s WALRUS - Walrus (2.47)
3. Tenderlonious And The 22a Arkestra - The Shakedown (6.18)

D
1. Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin Featuring Nubya Garcia - Tanner's Tango (4.48)
2. Collocutor - Gozo (6.02)
3. Makaya McCraven - Untitled (3.14)

E
1. Nat Birchall - Ancient World (9.50)
2. Ruby Rushton - Moonlight Woman (9.05)

F
1. Ebi Soda - Dimmsdale (3.11)
2. The Cromagnon Band - Thunder Perfect (5.12)
3. SEED Ensemble - Mirrors (7.38)

BONUS 7" SINGLE (With Indies Exclusive Vinyl Only)
A. Vels Trio - Yellow Ochre (Part 1) (3.04)
AA. Ishmael Ensemble - Kito's Theme (4.15)

"Studio One Freedom Sounds" is the new collection from the nation's favourite one-stop shop, focusing on the intense period in the second half of the 1960s when Studio One’s vast and unbeatable output of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae made it literally one of the hottest musical empires in the world.

During this highly successful period, Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd released hundreds and hundreds of superlative singles seemingly on an almost daily basis, in the process making huge stars out of Jamaican singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Wailers, Slim Smith, Jackie Opel and many more.

Powered by the finest in-house musicians working in Jamaica, whether it was The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo’s Soul Brothers, The Sounds Dimension or The Soul Vendors, Studio One functioned as hit factory on the scale of Motown in the USA, shaping and defining reggae music for decades to come.

Singlehandedly Studio One’s founder Clement Dodd was able to create the most successful vertically-integrated record company that Jamaica had ever known with pressing plant, printers, studio, shops and sound systems all running at once, with over 50 employees and hundreds of artists working with Studio One during this time.

"Studio One Freedom Sounds" tells the story of Studio One in the 1960s with a stunning set of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae killer tunes as well as informative sleevenotes and track-by-track info by Noel Hawks.

TRACK LISTING

Don Drummond & The Skatalites - Rain Or Shine
The Gaylads - Morning Sun
Delroy Wilson - Just Because Of You
Alton Ellis - Sunday Coming
Jackie Opel - I Am What I Am
Peter Tosh - I Am The Toughest
Delroy Wilson - Get Ready
Mr. Foundation - Timo-Oh
Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers - Provocation
Leroy & Rocky - Love Me Girl
Slim & Delroy - Look Who Is Back Again
The Skatalites - Spread Satin
Barrington Spence - Contemplating Mind
Ernest Ranglin - Psychedelic Rock
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Destiny
Roland Alphonso - Reggae In The Grass
Zoot Simms - We Can Talk It Over
Jackie Mittoo - Hi Jack

Soul Jazz Records’ latest album ‘Yoruba! Songs & Rhythms For The Yoruba Gods In Nigeria’ is newly recorded in Lagos, Nigeria. The album is co-produced by Soul Jazz Records label head Stuart Baker and Laolu Akins (founding member of the legendary 1970s Nigerian Afro-Funk/Rock group Blo).

‘Yoruba!’ features an array of local master drummers led by Olatunji Samson Sotimirin and singers (featuring the lead vocals of Janet Olufanmilayo Abe) performing heavyweight Afro-rhythms, with talking drums, Bata and Dundun drums and a mass of percussion in these deep spiritual and sacred songs used to honour and worship the traditional and ancient Yoruba gods in Nigeria, West Africa.

The enormous impact of Yoruba and West African music and culture is worldwide - from the first Afro-centric explorations of African- American jazz musicians in the 1950s such as Art Blakey, Randy Weston and Dizzy Gillespie, the explosion of Nu Yorican Latin music in New York City starting in the 1960s - Mambo, Boogaloo, Latin funk and soul - through to the sacred and powerful Afro-derived music of the religions of Santería in Cuba, Candomblé in Brazil and Voodoo in Haiti, which all came into existence on account of the Atlantic slave trade which began over 400 years ago. On a wider scale West African music remains the primary root of all African-American musical forms - from New Orleans jazz to Bronx rap, gospel, soul and more.

This album features songs honouring the Nigerian gods of the Yoruba traditional religion - Yemoja, Obatala, Ogun, Sango and others - as well as a selection of instrumental cuts focusing on the Bata and Dundun drums.

The album comes complete with extensive text and photography. 40- page outsize booklet / gatefold double vinyl and inners showing the influence of Yoruba culture throughout the world and the social and historical context for the music contained here.

TRACK LISTING

Homage To Yemoja
Homage To Esu
Sakara Instrumental
Ensemble
Homage To Obatala
Eulogy To Amila
Homage To Sango
Agbe Gbe-Wadele
Eulogy To Ori-Ola
Bata Drums Ensemble
Homage To Osun
Eshere
Dundun Instrumental
Ensemble
Homage To Ogun

Featured here is a new collection spanning Studio One’s dancehall period - singers and deejays on classic Studio One rhythms, studio and electronic wizardry from the Brentford Road headquarters, lots of rare 12” singles, all effortlessly brought together to nice up the dance.

When Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd first ruled the dancehalls of Kingston in the 1950s, fighting off the soundsystem competition of Duke Reid, King Edwards and others, few could imagine how far the reign of Studio One would last. However, the emergence of dancehall as a distinct style of reggae at the end of the 1970s, as upstart competing producers began recording vocalists and deejays performing over replayed classic Studio One rhythms, in many ways made the influence of Clement Dodd’s vision more omnipotent than ever before (and lasting to this day).

Not surprisingly, Clement Dodd’s creativity and business acumen made him quick to respond to this musical phenomenon - he soon began voicing the new stable of Studio One singers and deejays, such as Sugar Minott and Lone Ranger, over original classic Studio One rhythms recorded in the late 1960s - by producing some of the most innovative, time-bending and creative music of his career.

This album comes as CD with slipcase, super-loud, super-heavy triple vinyl with free download code.

TRACK LISTING

Ernest Wilson - Why Oh Why
Johnny Osbourne - Lend Me The Sixteen
Windel Haye - Haunted House
Green Tea & Chassy - Ghetto Girl
Johnny Osbourne - Time A Run Out
Lone Ranger - Noah In The Ark
Devon Russell - Thanks And Praise
Brentford Disco Set - Rebel Disco
Doreen Schaffer - I Don’t Know Why
Slim Smith - Lonely Lover
Field Marshall Haye - Roots And Herb Style
DJ Dawn & The Ranking Queens - Peace Truce Thing
Jim Brown - Cure For The Fever
Sugar Minott - Peace Treaty Style
Lloyd Robinson - It Deep
Barry Brown - Far East
Windel Haye & Captain
Morgan - Flood Victim
Ernest Wilson - Pick Them Up

Kevin Martin (aka The Bug / King Midas Sound) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) have put together a unique project bringing together new, exclusive and in demand digital music by electronic futurists Harmonic 313, Diplo, Roots Manuva, South Rakkas Crew,The Bug and more, alongside a killer selection of Jamaican digital and electronic scientific dub and dancehall. Exclusive new tracks and mixes by Harmonic 313, Stereotyp, Federation; in demand tracks from the likes of Roots Manuva, Diplo and South Rakkas Crew; the toughest digital and twisted rhythms from legendary producers King Jammy, Steely and Clevie, Sly Dunbar, Prince Jazzbo, King Tubby, Firehouse Crew and more all feature on this unique release.

The double album comes in special edition heavyweight deluxe hardcover 2CD card casing complete with a deluxe graphic novel by Italian comic book designer Paolo Parisi (whose books include subjects as diverse as John Coltrane and Chernobyl). This specially commissioned graphic novel is a science fiction vision of the future of digital music, featuring King Tubby, Steely & Clevie, Jammy, Jazzbo, complete with Alien Sound Lord Abductors, Aural Freedom Fighters and Digi-Dub Voyagers.

TRACK LISTING

CD ONE:
1. Steely & Clevie ‘Streetsweeper’
2. Lenky & Sly ‘Now Thing’
3. Ricky Ranking Ft. Roots Manuva ‘Doogoo Dub’
4. Dave Kelly ‘The Return’
5. Annex Crew ‘Summerbounce’
6. Federation Sound ‘Flatlands (Brooklyn Dub Mix)’
7. Lenky ‘Diwali Riddim’
8. Team Shadatek ‘Yoga Riddim’
9. Stereotyp Ft. Alley Cat ‘Modern Times’
10. The Grynch Ft. Tippa Irie ‘Electro Agony In Dub’
11. Fira ‘Hummer Version’
12. Diplo ‘Diplo Rhythm’
13. Harmonic 313 ‘Bazooka Riddim’
14. Ward 21 Productions ‘Pit Bull’
15. Redlight ‘M.D.M.A’.
16. The Bug ‘Aktion Dub’

CD TWO:
1. Fat Eyes ‘Clothes Pin Rhythm’
2. Steven Ventura 4 Kings Of Kings ‘Throw Your Hands Up Version’
3. Sly Dunbar And Christopher Birch ‘Corners Boy’
4. David Jahson ‘King Of Kings Dub’
5. Fat Eyes ‘Steel Plate’
6. South Rakkas Crew ‘Red Alert’
7. Parara And McCoy ‘Them Can’t Hold Yuh Gal Version’
8. King Tubby ‘Fat Thing Version’
9. World Beat ‘Gold Mine’
10. Andre ‘Suku’ Gray (Jammys) ‘Sign Rhythm’
11. Henfield And Shadowman ‘Babatunde’
12. Firehouse Crew ‘No False Hair’
13. Computer Paul ‘World Talk’
14. Fat Eyes ‘Overdose’
15. Prince Jazzbo ‘Great Stone Version’
16. Kickin’ Productions ‘What You Gonna Do’
17. Pliers (Bonner Productions)’ I’m Your Man Dub’
18. Wiz Kidz ‘Team In My Heart Version’
19. Jammys ‘Jam 2’ James (Jammys) ‘Peenie Peenie’