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SOUL JAZZ

Cover of Yoruba! Songs & Rhythms For The Yoruba Gods In Nigeria by Konkere Beats.

Konkere Beats

Yoruba! Songs & Rhythms For The Yoruba Gods In Nigeria

Soul Jazz

    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.

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    Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Music 1972-83 by Various Artists.

    Various Artists

    Soul Jazz Records Presents Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Music 1972-83

    Soul Jazz

      Soul Jazz Records’ new 2018 edition of their long out of print classic first ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Music 1972-83’ is “a near-definitive guide to some of the world’s most extraordinary music” - The Guardian.

      The album features a stunning line up of groups including Cluster, Can, Faust, Popol Vuh, Neu!, Amon Düül, Harmonia, La Düsseldorf and Tangerine Dream, as well as a host of lesser known groups such as Kollectiv, Ibliss, Between and many more. This new edition is fully remastered and features all the original artwork and tracks.

      The first seeds of German rock and experimental electronic music were planted in 1968, as students and workers in Paris, Prague, Mexico and throughout the world demonstrated against mainstream society, the war in Vietnam, imperialism and bourgeois values. The birth of a counter-culture, drug experimentation and social change expanded musical worlds. Germany experienced its own cultural revolution fuelled by these worldwide student and worker revolts and by a generation’s desire to rid itself of the guilt of war.

      German rock and experimental electronic music grew out of this worldwide counter-cultural revolution of 1968. The objectives were to create new music, ‘free’ from the past, with many German youth turning their back on mainstream society. From the opening of the first collective / cooperative, Kommune 1, in Berlin, to the formation of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group and the bombings, kidnappings and killings of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (RAF), young Germans sought out new values and a lifestyle outside of ‘the system’.

      These cooperative and communal experiences led to a number of new collective German bands forming, such as Amon Düül, Faust, Can (all featured here) and others and these ideals drove this new movement. A music that gave seed out of the cultural ‘nothingness’ that young Germans felt as a consequence of Germany’s role in the Second World War. A generation who grew up stifled by the recent history of Nazi atrocities, the guilt of their parents’ generation and their disillusionment at the reintegration of old Nazis into mainstream society.

      Influenced equally by the electronic experimentalism of Stockhausen, the progressive rock of Pink Floyd and the black American jazz and soul music played at the occupying armed forces bases, young German artists seamlessly created out of this a new unique music with its own unique identity.

      FORMAT INFORMATION

      2xLP 1 includes MP3 Download Code.

      2xLP 2 includes MP3 Download Code.

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      Cover of The Red Notes by Hieroglyphic Being.

      Hieroglyphic Being

      The Red Notes

      Soul Jazz

      New Jamal Moss album. ALWAYS a pleasure, never a chore. As always the revered Chicagoan treats us to glimpses of the future beamed back through his own spiritual synthology. This is his third album for Soul Jazz and his umpteenth album for us universal beings and I have to say without hyperbole, possibly some of his finest work to date. Opening with some typically Afrikans With Mainframes style dirg, "Youth Brainwashing And The Extremist Cults" instantly lets you know you're listening to a Jamal Moss record, no question or doubt. Soon though we're wallowing in the gentle caress of "The Melody Lingers", a beautiful, hang drum based piece that hints at the producer opening up his feminine side to us. Side A finishes with "The Seduction Syndrome", a squelchy stomper with unrelenting piano licks and fat-ass kick drum. "Awake And Energize" kicks off side B suspended on celestial pads and with star aligned keyboards. Simple house rhythms gentle permeate the fug refracting 25 years of history and lineage but never quite reaching their logical climax, keeping us hanging on tenterhooks. "Video Jazz" ensures one last dance before we have to change the disc, a frenetic glider not a million miles away from a K Hand production with its toy box perc and lazer bleep riffs. No HB LP would be complete without an interstellar epic, and he happily obliges on side B with the title track "The Red Notes". Obviously an ode to our closest planetary neighbor, the track simmers and bubbles with Marsian synths and space gloop, a true piece of alien sonic flora that begs you to get lost in. "The Emotional Listener" takes us deep into his hardware mechanics, Moss teasing out malfunctioning rhythms from the depths of his equipment, incarnating them with his own soul. Two tracks left, the equally space-age hymn of "The Red Notebook" and finally, just when you thought he'd forgotten you, some proper filthy acid squeal on "The Tone Bather". Honestly folks, I thought I had all the Jamal Moss records I needed by now but boy gone knocked this one out the park! So, so very good this shows just how a long playing electronically charged album should ride out; cruising through styles and flavours like a wormhole pilot. Fully endorsed!

      STAFF COMMENTS

      Matt says: Cosmic techno stalwart, Chicago dance archivist and general underground demigod Jamal Moss returns to Soul Jazz for some of his best work yet - serious!

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      Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents - Brasil by Various Artists.

      Various Artists

      Soul Jazz Records Presents - Brasil

      Soul Jazz

      ‘Brasil’ was recorded in Rio de Janeiro in 1994 with a host of legendary Brazilian musicians including Sivuca, Raul de Souza and singer Joyce Moreno and has remained one of the key defining early releases from the Soul Jazz record label. Out-of-print for over 20 years, the album has now been fully digitally re-mastered for this new 2018 edition.

      The album was recorded at the height of the first wave of interest in Brazilian music in London in the 1990s. Joyce and a group led by husband, drummer Tutty Moreno, had just been brought to the UK for the first time ever by Gilles Peterson and Brazilian music obsessive Joe Davis (and future head of Far Out Records) to perform in front f over 2,000 new young fans.

      Singer-songwriter Joyce had been a living legend in her native Brazil ever since the Bossa Nova movement of the 1960s and had made her first record when she was just 20 and she was described by Antonio Carlos Jobim as “one of the greatest singers of all time.”

      Joyce Moreno agreed to be involved in the project to record an album in Brazil produced with a UK sensibility and Tutty Moreno’s group signed up as the house band for the project. Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records) and Joe Davis then flew to Rio de Janeiro, searching out studios and rehearsal spaces.

      During this time in Brazil more artists signed up for the project, including legendary figureheads of the Brazilian music Sivuca (who brought his own group) and trombonist Raul de Souza. Other key figures included singer / guitarist Celia Vaz, who worked extensively as arranger with the legendary Quarteto Em Cy and drummer Dom Um Romao; Wanda Sá, who played in Sergio Mendes’ original seminal bossa nova group Brasil 65 (during which time she married the artist Edu Lobo) and legendary saxophone / flautist Teco Cardoso, whose bio reads like a who’s who of Brazilian music and includes work with Edu Lobo, Dori Caymmi, Baden Powell, Joao Donato, Carlos Lyra and others.

      The final piece to this Brazilian jigsaw was the addition of percussionist Pirulito, whose stunning display of self-made instruments allowed him to magically create the massive sound of Rio’s Samba Schools live inside the studio. The album was recorded over one hot summer, mixed in London and then released at the end of 1994.

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      Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3 by Various Artists.

      Various Artists

      Soul Jazz Records Presents: Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3

      Soul Jazz

      This latest instalment in Soul Jazz Records’ successful ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik’ series delves deeper into the German nation’s vaults to bring a fascinating new collection that again brings together a selection of classic German electronic and rock groups, including Neu!, Cluster, Popol Vuh, La Düsseldorf and Agitation Free, alongside a host of rare tracks by lesser known artists such as Michael Bundt, Bröselmaschine, Dronsz and Achim Reichel.

      The music of ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3’ ranges from the introverted pastoralism of Hans Joachim Roedelius and Bröselmaschine to the angular and futuristic electronic experimentations of Klauss Weiss, Pyrolator, Deuter and Michael Bundt, to the proto-punk of La Düsseldorf and the heavy space, progressive and cosmic rock of Missus Beastly, Niagara and Dyzan.

      The music on ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3’ was recorded in the 1970s up to the early 1980s, at a time when forward-thinking German electronic and rock groups were searching for a new musical identity in order to separate themselves from both the cultural legacy of post-World War II Germany as well the ‘cultural imperialism’ of USA and UK rock. In this process, German groups created some of the most unique and inspired music, the defining motorik beat alongside a host of ethno-musical influences from far afield - including Turkey, India, Brazil - as well as the musical and futurist possibilities of developments in electronics and technology itself.

      ‘Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3’ is released as a deluxe double CD pack, heavyweight triple LP and digital download album. The new extensive sleevenotes are by David Stubbs, who is the author of the acclaimed book ‘Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany’ (Faber & Faber).

      STAFF COMMENTS

      Barry says: Yet another superb outing for this already mindblowing string of releases on the ever-reliable Soul Jazz. Cosmic Krautrock, swirling synths and arpeggiated octaves, crackling filters and determined, marching percussion all round. If you've not heard of the 'Deutsche Elektronische Musik' series before, now is your chance. If you have, you already want this anyway.

      FORMAT INFORMATION

      3xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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      Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents - Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture by Various Artists.

      Various Artists

      Soul Jazz Records Presents - Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture

      Soul Jazz

        Soul Jazz Records are releasing a new 2017 edition of their classic album ‘Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture’. This long-out-of-print collection is now available as a double CD and triple vinyl. The album is a lightning-flash collection of all-time classic and definitive dancehall classics as well as a stellar selection of more obscure tracks. Featuring Yellowman, Tenor Saw, Sister Nancy, Ini Kamoze, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Michigan & Smiley, Super Cat, Cutty Ranks, Eek-A-Mouse, Gregory Isaacs and more, this album features non-stop floor-filling party tune rockers throughout. ‘Dancehall’ is released to coincide with the new 2017 edition of the stunning 400+ photos deluxe coffee table book ‘Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture’, featuring Beth Lesser’s amazing ‘Dancehall’ photography (also newly published by Soul Jazz Records). This book has become the definitive cultural reference book for Jamaican dancehall and features hundreds of killer photographs, extensive text and interviews with many of the artists. 

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Patrick says: Soul Jazz can always be relied upon to pack a comp full of heat, and this dancehall collection has all the greats on here. Yellowman, Sister Nancy, Ini Kamoze, Super Cat – you name ‘em, they’re on here. Plus, we get “Murder She Wrote”. Mega!

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        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents - Studio One: Black Man's Pride by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Soul Jazz Records Presents - Studio One: Black Man's Pride

        Soul Jazz

        ‘Black Man’s Pride’ is the striking new Studio One collection of deep righteous reggae, featuring Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, The Gladiators, Sugar Minott, The Heptones, Freddie McGregor, Cedric Brooks & more.

        While the righteousness of blackness is at the heart of the Rastafarian faith, this collection illustrates how black pride remained a central theme, if not the defining essence, at the very core of all the music created at Studio One Records under the direction of Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd.

        In order to understand the centrality of black identity in the music created at Studio One, we need look no further than Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd who created the first black-owned record company in Jamaica.

        In similar fashion Alton Ellis’s defining ‘Black Man’s Pride’ brings up emotions that are at the heart of many of these uplifting songs. Alton Ellis’ birthplace was the Trench Town ghetto of Kingston, also the birthplace of The Wailers, Ken Boothe and many other Studio One luminaries.

        Clement Dodd established a musical empire firmly rooted by the core musicians working at Studio One, many of whom came out of the Alpha School for Wayward Boys, essentially an orphanage run by Roman Catholic nuns, whose luminaries include Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, Cedric Brooks, Vin Gordon, Tommy McCook & more.

        Many of the songs featured here come from the transitory phase in reggae at the start of the 1970s, after the exhilaration of Ska and following the cooling down of Rocksteady.

        While reggae awaited the arrival of roots, Studio One’s vocalists were already producing some of the moodiest music imaginable.

        Here are 18 heavyweight tunes, both classic cuts and super-rare tunes.

        FORMAT INFORMATION

        2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Soul Of A Nation by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Soul Jazz Records Presents: Soul Of A Nation

        Soul Jazz

        Soul Jazz Records’ new release ‘Soul Of A Nation: Afro-Centric Visions In The Age Of Black Power - Underground Jazz, Street Funk & The Roots Of Rap 1968-79’ is released in conjunction with a major worldwide art exhibition, ‘Soul Of A Nation: Art In The The Age Of Black Power’, which takes place at the Tate Modern, London, UK (July-Oct 2017) and The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA.

        The album shows how the ideals of the civil rights movement, black power and black nationalism influenced the evolvement of radical African-American music in the United States of America in the intensely political and revolutionary period at the end of the 1960s following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and the rise of the Black Panther party.

        Featuring ground-breaking artists such as Gil Scott-Heron, Roy Ayers, Don Cherry, Oneness Of Juju, Sarah Webster Fabio, Horace Tapscott, Phil Ranelin and many others, ‘Soul Of A Nation’ shows how political themes led to the rise of ‘conscious’ black music as new afro-centric styles combined the musical radicalism and spirituality of John Coltrane and radical avant-garde jazz music alongside the intense funk and soul of James Brown and Aretha Franklin and the urban poetry and proto-rap of the streets.

        The ‘Soul Of A Nation’ exhibition draws on the links between Black art forms - art, music, poetry - and how they came together during the civil rights and black power era as part of the wider black arts movement across the United States.

        Iconic African-Amercian revolutionary figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Angela Davis, John Coltrane and Muhammad Ali all appear in the radical artworks of Barkley L. Hendricks, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Lorraine O’Grady and Betye Saar.

        Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records) will appear on the panel for a ‘Soul Of A Nation: Art In The Age Of Black Power’ discussion at the gallery as part of the show.

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Barry says: This really is a fascinating and varied look into the start of an international appreciation of hip-hop, soul and funk. With more mellow afrobeat pieces segueing beautifully into more traditional fare, and even including some highly politically charged spoken-word accompaniments, this is yet another win for the Soul Jazz camp.

        FORMAT INFORMATION

        2xLP Info: Double gatefold vinyl album format comes with full colour inners and bonus download code and full sleevenotes / photography.

        CD Info: CD comes with extensive sleevenotes and exclusive photography in a large 36-page outsize booklet and slipcase.

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        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Space, Energy & Light by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Soul Jazz Records Presents: Space, Energy & Light

        Soul Jazz

        Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘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 cassette-only careers of artists such as Germany’s Stratis and Carl Matthews in Britain.

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Patrick says: You always know you're onto a winner with a Soul Jazz comp, and their latest collection traces the history of electronic compositions from the early days of ambience right through to the dawn of the new age movement.

        FORMAT INFORMATION

        3xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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        Cover of Declaration Of Rights by The Abyssinians.

        The Abyssinians

        Declaration Of Rights

        Soul Jazz

        The Abyssinians are a Jamaican roots reggae group, famous for their close harmonies and promotion of the Rastafari movement in their lyrics. "Declaration Of Rights" was the group' second single (following the Rasta hymn - "Satta Massagana") and featured featured Leroy Sibbles on backing vocals, and like their first single, was a huge hit in Jamaica, (and subsequently in the international market) and has been covered several times since. Another essential reissue from Studio One.

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        Cover of Boombox 2 - Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro And Disco Rap 1979-82 by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Boombox 2 - Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro And Disco Rap 1979-82

        Soul Jazz

        Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Boombox 2’ is a new selection of early rap music from the period 1979 - 83, with barely a household name in sight. Featured here are some the earliest hip hop records that came out of New York City following the enormous commercial success of the first ever rap record, ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugarhill Gang, in September 1979. Artists and producers alike tried to jump aboard the new commercial possibilities of hip hop. By the end of the year there were 30 hip hop singles, all released by independent New York labels. The following year there were over 100 more and so on.

        ‘Boombox 2’ tells the story of how hip hop went from its evolutionary roots in the Bronx through DJs Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa through to its second phase where veteran music producers - Paul Winley, Peter Brown, Joe Robinson and others - all based in Harlem, began to put rap on vinyl for the first time.

        Harlem is also where the separate worlds of disco and hip hop met through the styles and influence of earlier ‘uptown’ DJs - DJ Hollywood and Eddie Cheba. In similar fashion these veteran Harlem-based producers instinctively tapped into a long lineage of African-American rhythm and blues, soul and disco.

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Patrick says: "Well I went to the hat store today and I bought myself a hat! Ha ha ha ha!" Soul Jazz take us to Harlem with a second survey of the nascent hip hop scene. It's lino time!

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        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Present: Original Ska Sounds FromThe Skatalites 1963-65: Independence Ska And The Far East Sound by Skatalites.

        Skatalites

        Soul Jazz Records Present: Original Ska Sounds FromThe Skatalites 1963-65: Independence Ska And The Far East Sound

        Soul Jazz

        The Skatalites brought the sound of Jamaica to the world. At the start of the 1960s, in the space of just a couple of years Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Ernest Ranglin, Johnny ‘Dizzy’ Moore, Lloyd Knibbs, Lloyd Brevett and others defined the exciting beat of ‘Ska’ as the sound of newly independent Jamaica.
        As the house band at Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s newly launched Studio One Records at 13 Brentford Road, the group comprising the finest jazz musicians on the island played on literally 1000s of recordings – Bob Marley and The Wailers, Toots and The Maytals, Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and many, many more.
        During their existence (1963-65) The Skatalites also recorded 100s of their own songs, released either under their own name, or The Studio One Orchestra, or that of band members Drummond, McCook etc.
        This is the first collection on Soul Jazz Records to bring you some of their finest material – from classics such as ‘Guns of Navarone’, ‘El Pussy Cat Ska’, ‘Christine Keeler’ through to some serious rarities such as Dizzy Johnny and The Studio One Orchestra’s ‘Sudden Destruction’ and Don Drummond’s ‘Coolie Boy’.
        The Skatalites’ ska sound brought together aspects of jazz, latin, rhythm and blues, proto-Rastafarianism (tracks such as ‘Full Dread’, ‘Beardsman Ska’) and more. The intensity and energy of their sound was matched by the experimentation of the troubled genius of Don Drummond whose ‘far east’ modal trombone sound added a complex melancholy to the music of the Skatalites (the group split-up after Drummond was charged with murdering his wife, dancer Margarita Mahfood). This album was originally released as a limited-edition Record Store Day collectors 7-inch box set (now deleted) and is now available for the first time as a double LP edition, CD and digital release complete with 10 extra bonus tracks and new extensive sleeve notes.

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        Cover of Asha by The Lloyd McNeill Quartet.

        The Lloyd McNeill Quartet

        Asha

        Soul Jazz

        New edition of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album first released as a private-press album in 1969 on flautist Lloyd McNeill’s own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. First reissued on Soul Jazz Records’ Universal Sound sub-label in 2011 (long deleted) and now available remastered on Soul Jazz Records main label in a limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide. Lloyd McNeill is an African-American flautist, painter, poet, and photographer born in Washington, D.C., in 1935. His multi-disciplinary creative life led to encounters and friendships with Nina Simone, Picasso, Eric Dolphy, Nana Vasconceles and other legendary cultural figures. McNeill grew up through the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. ‘Asha’ was the debut album by the Lloyd McNeill Quartet released on his own private-press record label, echoing the Civil Rights and African-American themes of the era - black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency – as well as a beautiful spirituality to the music. In the mid-1960s he moved to France where he became friends with Picasso, working with a number of émigré-jazz musicians whilst living in Paris. In the late 1960s he taught jazz and painting workshops at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington. In the 1970s he travelled throughout Brazil and West Africa studying music and taught music anthropology in the US.

        - Stunning flute-led spiritual jazz album with piano and upright bass. Bit more accessible than the deranged Pyramids but with just as much raw energy. Breathtaking interplay between musicians and some really gorgeous arrangements. A beauty!


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        Cover of Studio One Soul 2 by Various Artists.

        Various Artists

        Studio One Soul 2

        Soul Jazz

          "Studio One Soul 2" takes us further into Jamaican music's fascination with American soul and funk music. Featuring a host of classic reggae artists – Horace Andy, The Heptones, Ken Boothe, Hortense Ellis, Devon Russell, Jackie Mittoo, Jacob Miller and many more covering equally classic American soul and funk songs by the likes of Curtis Mayfield, The Five Stairsteps, Marvin Gaye, The Stylistics, Lee Dorsey, Al Green and Syl Johnson. This selection features a mixture of classics, super-rare and unreleased tracks from Studio One – few of which have ever been on CD before – all lovingly digitally re-mastered for this release.

          FORMAT INFORMATION

          2xLtd LP Info: Limited edition remastered vinyl - super loud, super quality edition with download code.

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          Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Nigeria Soul Power 70 by Various Artists.

          Various Artists

          Soul Jazz Records Presents: Nigeria Soul Power 70

          Soul Jazz

            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2017 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

            Soul Jazz Records’ Record Store Day exclusive 7” box set comprising five heavyweight 70s Afro- Funk, Afro-Disco and Afro-Rock 7” singles with unique bespoke label artwork and all digitally remastered.

            Seriously rare, killer and classic Nigerian 70s Afro- Funk, Afro-Disco and Afro-Rock tunes bought together here in this unique one off Record Store Day box set edition.

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            Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Soul 70 by Various Artists.

            Various Artists

            Soul Jazz Records Presents: Soul 70

            Soul Jazz

              THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2017 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

              Soul Jazz Records’ Record Store Day exclusive 7” box set comprising five fantastic 70s soul 7” singles reproduced here in exact replica bespoke label artwork and all digitally re-mastered.

              Seriously rare, killer and classic soul tunes brought together here in this unique one off Record Store Day box set edition.

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              Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Studio One Hi-Fi Special by Various Artists.

              Various Artists

              Soul Jazz Records Presents: Studio One Hi-Fi Special

              Soul Jazz

                THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2017 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                Unique Soul Jazz Records Record Store Day 7” collector’s box set comprising five separate singles featuring ten killer rare tracks from Studio One Records, featuring ska, roots, rocksteady, dub and more from the greatest reggae label of all time.

                Seminal, rare and classic tunes collected together here for the first time ever.

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                Cover of Washington Suite by The Lloyd McNeill Quartet.

                The Lloyd McNeill Quartet

                Washington Suite

                Soul Jazz

                A new edition of this very rare deep spiritual jazz album (currently £400 on certain internet auction sites for an original copy), first released as a private press album in 1970 on flautist Lloyd McNeill’s own Asha Record label in Washington, DC. First reissued (and long deleted) on Soul Jazz Records’ Universal Sound sub-label in 2011 and now available as a newly digitally remastered edition on Soul Jazz Records’ main label.

                Lloyd McNeill is an African-American flautist, painter, poet and photographer born in Washington, DC in 1935. His multi-disciplinary creative life led to encounters and friendships with Nina Simone, Picasso, Eric Dolphy, Nana Vasconceles and other legendary cultural figures. Lloyd McNeill’s hypnotic ‘Washington Suite’ was originally commissioned as a piece of music for the Capital Ballet Company in Washington, DC.

                McNeill grew up through the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and his life and work is a reflection of those ideals. In the mid-1960s he moved to France where he became friends with Picasso, working with a number of émigré-jazz musicians whilst living in Paris.

                In the late 1960s he taught jazz and painting workshops at the New Thing Art and Architecture Center in Washington. In the 1970s he travelled throughout Brazil and West Africa studying music and taught music anthropology in the US.

                FORMAT INFORMATION

                LP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents - Vodou Drums In Haiti 2: The Living Gods Of Haiti by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Soul Jazz Records Presents - Vodou Drums In Haiti 2: The Living Gods Of Haiti

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records’ new album features the truly intense, hypnotic and fascinating Vodou drums of Haiti, a stunning collection of trance-like rhythms and beats traditionally used to induce spirit possession in the Vodou religion.

                Soul Jazz Records first journeyed to Haiti in 1996 to record a series of three albums about Haitian Vodou music and culture. One of these, ‘Voodoo Drums’, featuring the drum rhythms used to bring about spirit possession, struck a striking chord with listeners and amazingly went on to become one of their best-selling albums. “I haven’t heard anything quite like this; the rhythms are very deeply orchestrated yet it also sounds like improvisation. There are tonalities and textures coming from this album like I’ve never heard. A great album by Soul Jazz, very well recorded. Some of the sounds I have no idea how they are getting them! This album is bending my ear and setting off the dancing devils in my soul!! Unreal!” - The Guardian

                In 2016 Soul Jazz Records returned to Haiti once more to record a new second volume of the same intense Vodou drumming. Recorded in the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, some 20 years after their first visit, this album also features the very same musicians, the Drummers of the Société Absolument Guinin.

                “This record, which consists entirely of recordings of vodou drumming made in Port-Au-Prince, is one of a series of Soul Jazz releases exploring Haitian music, all of which are worth your attention. Nonetheless there’s something about the intensity and virtuosity of this particular drums-based album that’s particularly transportive. It captures the extraordinary complexity and sophistication of these ceremonial rhythms, which shift, interlock and switch angle of attack with a logic that’s near-indecipherable as a listener unable to see visually how they unfold. These drum rituals are central to Haitian vodou, their power to awe and mesmerise isn’t dimmed through being relatively unfamiliar with the traditions that underlie them; these recordings are dynamic and riveting in their intricacy and power.” - The Quietus

                Like the first album, these new recordings somehow manage to walk the line between serious ethnological authenticity and a connection with the energy and intensity of the dance rhythms of techno and house music that make them quite unique.

                STAFF COMMENTS

                Patrick says: Calling all archivists of deep musica, owners of baffling outerwear and fans of out of body experiences, Soul Jazz take a trip to the heart of Voodoo-land and head home with a killer compilation of hypnotic rhythms

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                Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents Hustle! Reggae Disco: Kingston, London, New York by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Soul Jazz Records Presents Hustle! Reggae Disco: Kingston, London, New York

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records finally give all the collectors a break and reissuer their long-out-of-print album "Hustle! Reggae Disco" in a new expanded 2017 edition which now features five extra tracks. This ground-breaking album features non-stop killer reggae versions of original funk and soul classics in a disco style. Reggae disco updates of seminal classics by Anita Ward (‘Ring My Bell’), Chaka Khan (‘I’m Every Woman’), Michael Jackson (‘Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough’), Sugarhill Gang (‘Rappers Delight’, here performed by Derrick Laro and Trinity for producer Joe Gibbs) and more, all showing the hidden but inseparable link between the dance floors of New York, Kingston and London.  New bonus tracks to this collection include Derrick Harriott’s funky take on Eddie Drennon’s "Do It Nice & Easy", the classic disco reggae of Risco Connection’s take on McFadden and Whitehead’s ‘Ain’t No Stopping Us Now’ (Loft classic alert!) and the London rare groove lovers rock take on Barbara Acklin’s soul classic ‘Am I The Same Girl’. "Hustle! Reggae Disco" has been one of Soul Jazz Records’ bestselling releases since its first release 15 years ago (and subsequently featured heavily in the early Grand Theft Auto games). This new fully re-mastered and expanded edition now comes as triple vinyl album (with digital download code), CD and digital album.

                “The effect of American R&B and soul music on Jamaican reggae is well documented, but the story doesn't stop there, for disco (and more so now for rap and hip-hop) have also been subsumed into the reggae mix, and while one might suspect that the resulting hybrid would die of its own implausibility, the feral mix of disco with reggae rhythms is so darn infectious that it hardly matters. Once you take your brain out of the frame and just let your feet go, this collection is a dancer's delight all done up in full-blown disco style, but with huge dub-style rhythm tracks… if you're looking for an impossibly infectious dance collection, this is it.” - All Music

                STAFF COMMENTS

                Patrick says: It's time to thank all your respective Gods or rabbits feet, Soul Jazz have reissued their long out of print reggae disco selection in expanded form. Alongside the fly versions of the likes of "Ring My Bell" and "I'm Every Woman", we now get a nice hi-fi pressing of Risco Connection's "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" along with another 4 new killers. Ace!

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                Cover of Celestial Vibration by Laraaji.

                Laraaji

                Celestial Vibration

                Soul Jazz

                Originally released in 1978 under the name Edward Larry Gordon, "Celestial Vibration", the debut album from Laraaji was first reissued by Soul Jazz in 2010. Re-entering the collective musical consciousness around the same time that Iasos and Ariel Kalma beamed back through our dream catchers, that reissue prompted a widescale re-evaluation of all things new age and ambient. Now Soul Jazz remaster and re-release this hypnotic piece once again, this time on both formats (CD & vinyl) as a fullscale Laraaji release. "Celestial Vibration" is a cosmic journey which sounded unlike anything else when it was first released in 1978. Laraaji’s album was first issued in New York as a private-pressing record with only very minimal distribution. His distinctive use of the harp-like open-stringed zither and kalimba creates a hypnotic trance like musical landscape. Laraaji first came to fame in the 1980s as a worldwide ambient artist working with Brian Eno on EG Records. At this time Laraaji worked with a wide range of experimental musicians - Jon Hassell, Harold Budd, Michael Brook, Bill Nelson, Roger Eno, Nana Vasconcelos and Bill Laswell.  Today Gordon continues his unique musical and spiritual path, performing his music mainly for meditation at yoga global retreats. He runs his own Therapeutic Laughter Workshop where he coaches people in the mindful use of laughing for its health benefits.

                STAFF COMMENTS

                Barry says: New-age ambient maestro Laraaji comes back in this week with a reissue of his long-out-of-print debut album 'Celestial Vibration'. Swooning ambience, swirling pads and two tracks of epic proportions. Listened to in full, it's a trip you'll never forget.

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                Cover of Black & Noir by KaS.

                KaS

                Black & Noir

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records present a collection of lost recordings by French mutant experimental synth group KaS Product, all originally recorded in the period 1980 - 83.

                KaS Product feature on Soul Jazz Records’ recent ‘Punk 45 Les Punks: The French Connection’. Mainly recorded on early tape, synth and drum machines, KaS Product’s mixture of Spatsz’ hypnotic, electronic and angular hard-edged beats matched to the spiky vocals and guitar of Mona Soyoc have led to comparisons with Suicide, Liliput/Kleenex and Cabaret Voltaire, as well as to the group being forerunners of the cold wave / synth wave movement.

                The recordings are taken from their early releases on the local Punk label from Nancy, France, at the start of the 1980s that were first put together on CD by the French Fan Club label in 1990.

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                Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents: Studio One Rocksteady Volume 2: The Soul Of Young Jamaica by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Soul Jazz Records Presents: Studio One Rocksteady Volume 2: The Soul Of Young Jamaica

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records’ new journey into the mighty vaults of Clement Dodd’s Studio One steps once more into the fertile musical environment of Jamaican music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, from the sweet harmony vocals of seminal 1960s Rocksteady right up to the nascent birth of Reggae and Roots music at the start of the 1970s.

                Sleevenotes to this album are by Steve Barrow, author of ‘Rough Guide To Reggae’ as well as Soul Jazz Records’ own ‘Reggae Soundsystem Cover Art’ books.

                While Ska at the start of the 1960s had taken American Rhythm & Blues as its main influence, Rocksteady focused on the emergence of American Soul music - with Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, John Holt & The Paragons, Carlton & The Shoes showing a particular fascination with the close harmonies of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions and other US Soul acts. Here even The Heptones feature with a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘I Shall Be Released’.

                The influence of Soul music on Jamaican Rocksteady and Reggae is almost palpable, so much so that one wonders how much more successful singers like Delroy Wilson, Alton Ellis, Slim Smith and John Holt would have been had they been born in Chicago, Detroit or Memphis.

                Artists such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson and Owen Gray defined the era - a slowed down beat as Jamaican political and social heat slowly increased when the 1960s progressed into the start of the 1970s - and the music evolved further from Rocksteady into Roots Reggae.

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                Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents - New Orleans Funk 4: Voodoo Fire In New Orleans by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Soul Jazz Records Presents - New Orleans Funk 4: Voodoo Fire In New Orleans

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records’ latest crate digging excursion into the Crescent City vaults delves deep into the roots and history of the voodoo world of New Orleans funk and as ever features a stellar selection of killer rare funk and soul. The album is jam packed with serious break heavy heavyweight funk tunes from classic New Orleans artists including Eddie Bo, Betty Harris, Dave Bartholomew, Johnny Adams and Eldridge Holmes (with the ever-present Allen Toussaint and The Meters as always behind the scenes). There is also a host of rare cuts from a number of lesser known second line New Orleans artists, whose fame rarely reached past the walls of the city, including Gus ‘The Groove’ Lewis, James K-Nine, Norma Jean, Bob French, Chuck Colbert, Zilla Mayes and Joe Haywood. In the 1960s the syncopated beat of New Orleans funk developed out of a gumbo mix of New Orleans local flavours rhythm and blues, Mardi Gras Indians, the street percussion Second Line Of The Jazz Funeral And Marching bands, Caribbean rhumba and mambo rhythms, all of which are in full effect. Even Zydeco, the rhythm and blues offspring of Louisiana Cajun music, had 'the funk', groovily illustrated by Clifton Chenier, 'The King Of Zydeco', here.
                New Orleans music and Voodoo both have their roots in the African American free black and slave gatherings held at Congo Square from the 18th Century onwards. Here Voodoo king Doctor John (the original one) and Voodoo queen Marie Levaux held court over their followers and here also could be heard the first sounds of New Orleans jazz music. Soul Jazz Records’ latest album describes how these two cultural forms are inextricably interrelated. The album traces the path of funk from the very first glimpses of the style - Dave Bartholomew’s super tight ‘The Monkey’ (recorded in 1957) and James Waynes’ junkie jailbird anthem ‘Junco Partner’ (1951, later covered by Dr John, Professor Longhair, James Booker and The Clash) through to the 1970s heavyweight boogie funk of Chocolate Milk’s rare groove classic ‘Action Speak Louder Than Words’ and The Baron’s ‘Making It Better’.
                Also featured is a selection of hardcore classic funk productions from the legendary Eddie Bo (James K-Nine, David Robinson) and the genius of Allen Toussaint (Eldridge Holmes, Gus ‘The Groove’ Lewis, Lou Johnson). There are also a number of super rare independent New Orleans’ one off 45 single funk productions from the likes of Chick Colbert and Bob French. And lastly, New Orleans funk female vocalists are in full effect with tracks by Betty Harris (whose ‘Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul’ has just come out on Soul Jazz Records), Zilla Mayes and Norma Jean.

                FORMAT INFORMATION

                2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                Cover of The Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul by Betty Harris.

                Betty Harris

                The Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul

                Soul Jazz

                Betty Harris’ ‘The Lost Queen Of New Orleans Soul’ collects together the steady stream of amazing soul and funk singles issued by Betty Harris from 1964 to 1969, under the musical guidance of legendary composer, musician and producer extraordinaire Allen Toussaint, a collection which truly captures the heart and soul of the city of New Orleans during this era.
                 
                Betty Harris’s powerful, fiery soulful vocals found a perfect accompaniment with the New Orleans’ players that Toussaint put together to back her which, by the time of her funk classic ‘There’s A Break In The Road’, were the legendary super tight, super funk New Orleans group The Meters. With the extraordinary songwriting skills of Allen Toussaint alongside the powerful, soaring, confident and emotive singer and the groove of The Meters, you have an unbeatable combination. That Harris never in fact lived in New Orleans (she flew in from Florida for all her sessions with Toussaint’s local in-house players) seems almost an irrelevance, a geographical aside to the defining New Orleans sound captured on the recordings featured here. 

                All of these singles featured here were released on Allen Toussaint and his business partner Marshal Sehorn’s local New Orleans label Sansu, widely distributed in the Southern city but in only limited quantities elsewhere. As a consequence, Betty Harris’ music failed to achieve the commercial success of other New Orleans artists such as Lee Dorsey (who she recorded with) and The Meters (who backed her). At the end of the decade she stopped recording and retired from the music business to raise her family in Florida. This is no reflection of the stunning musical quality of all these songs which encompass everything from southern soul, heavy funk, deep soul ballads and Northern Soul.

                Betty Harris has been a cornerstone of Soul Jazz Records’ ‘New Orleans Funk’ and ‘New Orleans Soul’ compilations. Always soulful and always funky, Betty Harris’ music contains the essence of New Orleans music. This collection is released on CD, heavyweight gatefolddouble LP vinyl (with digital download code) and digital download album and comes complete with full biography, original label artwork. 

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                Cover of Night Illusion by Tee Mac Feat. Marjorie Barnes.

                Tee Mac Feat. Marjorie Barnes

                Night Illusion

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records release Tee Mac’s ‘Night Illusion’, a lost classic Nigerian Afro-soul meets disco-boogie-funk album originally released in Nigeria in 1980 as a private press release of 1000 copies on the enigmatic artist’s own label. Impossibly hard to find, the record remains practically unknown outside of Nigeria. Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger and features on Soul Jazz Records’ recent collection "Nigeria Soul Fever: Afro Funk Disco & Boogie" alongside Joni Haastrup, Christy Essien and others, as well as on a recent compilation "Nepa Oh Nepa" released on Hot Casa earlier this year). The timelessness of this soulful, ground-breaking funk jazz lost masterpiece "Night Illusion" leads to comparisons with James Mason’s legendary lost classic album "Rhythm Of Life", with his unique individualism and intensity hinting at the boogie funk of groups such as Mass Production and Slave, so loved by artists such as Moodyman and Theo Parrish.
                While Fela Kuti is now a cultural icon of Nigerian music throughout the world, the recent crossover success of William Onyeabor shows just how much undiscovered Nigerian music remains waiting to be explored outside of the country. Tee Mac was born in Lagos, the son of a Nigerian princess and a Swiss diplomat. He picked up the flute at age seven and ten years later was studying classical musical in Switzerland under his uncle the composer J.J. Direndirger. Returning to Lagos, Nigeria in 1970 he formed the heavyweight afro rock group Tee Mac & Afro Collection (which included Johnny Haastrup on keyboards and The Lijadu Sisters on vocals). This band were famously joined by the legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker, who came to Nigeria to play with them in 1971 (captured in the film ‘Ginger Baker In Africa’). At age 24, Tee Mac moved to Germany where he co-wrote and recorded with the European disco group Silver Convention (whose ‘Fly Robin Fly’ became number one in the USA charts). This enabled him to return to Nigeria where he formed his own label SKJ Records to release his self-financed ‘Night Illusion’ album, as well as buying two nightclubs and also investing in a number of mineral mining companies. Tee Mac continues to live in Lagos today and travels the world as a composer – one of whose pieces is ‘The City Of Mer Kailash’ (2009), a two-hour ballet featuring over 60 dancers and a 100+ piece orchestra.
                Soul Jazz Records are releasing this lost classic Nigerian album as an exact replica artwork reproduction LP (plus sleeve notes and digital download code), CD and digital album 


                STAFF COMMENTS

                Patrick says: Holy Smokes! After featuring the one and only Tee Mac on their recent "Nigeria Soul Fever" release, Soul Jazz go back in with a full scale reissue of his 1980 LP, thankfully reproduced with replica artwork!

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                Reduced Cover of Greedy G / Love Jah by Brentford All Stars / Im & The Sound Dimension.

                Brentford All Stars / Im & The Sound Dimension

                Greedy G / Love Jah

                Soul Jazz

                Digitally remastered classic essential recordings from the greatest reggae label in the world.

                This is the first in the next Soul Jazz series of seminal reggae releases on 7” vinyl from the iconic Studio One Records. Here we get the super-funky all time B-boy / B-girl breaks classic, 'Greedy G' by the Studio One in-house band Brentford Road All-Stars (Vin Morgan, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Bagga Walker, Cedric Brooks, Pablove Black etc). Flip for the 1972 rootical offering by Cedric 'Im' Brooks & The Sound Dimension, 'Love Jah'.


                FORMAT INFORMATION

                7" Info: Just found a couple of copies of this!

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                Cover of Venezuela 70 - Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Venezuela 70 - Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Venezuela 70’ is the first ever album of its kind to take a look at the ground breaking experimental rock music made in Venezuela and created in the 1970s, during a time when the country was both a modern cultural and economic powerhouse in Latin America on account of wealth from its vast oil supplies. Venezuela lies at the northern part of South America, with neighbouring Colombia to its west and Brazil to its south. The north coast borders the Caribbean.

                Whilst much of 1960s Venezuelan rock music emulated British and USA styles, the 1970s saw the evolution of a new generation of creative artists such as Vytas Brenner, Angel Rada, Pablo Schneider and Miguel Angel Fuster, who all explored the possibilities of mixing together rock with elements of electronica, funk, jazz and Latin rhythms simultaneously exploring their links with Venezuelan roots music.

                These Venezuelan artists looked to the future while exploring their country’s own musical heritage to create a new cultural identity. Similarities can be drawn with then contemporary movements around the world, such as the Trópicalia and post-Trópicalia 1970s scene in Brazil of Os Mutantes, Novos Baianos, Secos e Molhados (all of which feature on Soul Jazz Records’ earlier ‘Brazil 70’).

                A similar parallel can be made in Europe with the experimental German groups of the 1970s (Can, Amon Duul, Harmonia, Neu, all featured on Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Deutsche Electronische Musik’), who deconstructed and reconstructed the links between rock music and electronics to define a new German cultural identity.

                Most of the artists featured on ‘Venezuela 70’ remain practically unknown outside of Venezuela’s borders and yet their progressive, forward-thinking music is some of the most sophisticated in the world - a stunning ‘melting pot’ mix of underground rock, synthetic electronics, funk, jazz and Latin American rhythms, all of which explored new sounds and broke down musical boundaries to create a distinct and unique Venezuelan music and cultural identity.

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                Cover of Studio One Dub Fire Special by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Studio One Dub Fire Special

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Studio One Dub Fire Special’ brings together 18 heavyweight dub cuts, all recorded at 13 Brentford Road in the 1970s.

                Featuring a stellar selection of dub cuts to classic and foundation songs recorded at Studio One with music from the legendary in-house bands - The Sound Dimension, New Establishment, Soul Defenders and Brentford All-Stars, featuring the likes of reggae’s finest musicians - Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Cedric Brooks, Freddie McGregor and more.

                These fresh dub sounds employed the mighty mixing desk skills of The Dub Specialist aka Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd, Sylvan Morris and Scientist to full effect.

                ‘Studio One Dub Fire Special’ features the latest chapter of raw, stripped-down bass and drum sounds direct from Studio One, ‘The University Of Reggae’.

                Released as CD with slipcase or heavyweight double vinyl with free download code.

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                Cover of Man From Higher Heights by Count Ossie & The Rasta Family.

                Count Ossie & The Rasta Family

                Man From Higher Heights

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records are releasing Count Ossie & The Rasta Family’s long lost reggae album ‘Man From Higher Heights’ (originally released in 1983), digitally remastered and with full original artwork.

                This release follows on from the earlier release of Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari ‘Tales of Mozambique’ (1975), also by Soul Jazz Records.

                Recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, it remains unclear whether this album is a mixture of original recordings overlayed with additional players, or Ossie’s post-Mystic Revelation players remaining true to the spirit of Count Ossie (who had died in a car crash in 1976). Either way, it is a fascinating and successful blend of heavyweight Rastafarian roots rhythms and drumming alongside deep jazz improvisation and tripped out psychedelic fuzz guitar. · Count Ossie is the central character in the development of Rastafarian roots music, 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 made the first ever song to integrate Rastafarian traditional music into popular music - The Folkes Brothers’ song ‘Oh Carolina’, recorded for producer Prince Buster in 1959. In 1966 his drummers greeted the arrival of Haile Selassie at Kingston airport.

                His Rastafarian compound in the hills of Wareika, Kingston, hosted jam sessions between his drummers and Jamaica’s finest musicians, Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore and others.

                Count Ossie and the group’s ‘Man From Higher Heights’ remains one of the most elusive of his highly progressive Rastafarian inspired recordings, the final release in Count Ossie’s career.

                FORMAT INFORMATION

                LP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                Cover of Boombox 1 - Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro And Disco Rap 1979-82 by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Boombox 1 - Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro And Disco Rap 1979-82

                Soul Jazz

                Soul Jazz Records' new 'Boombox' features some of the many innovative underground first-wave of rap records made in New York in the period 1979-82, all released on small, independent, of ten family-concern record companies, at a time when hip-hop music still remained under the radar. This first exuberant wave of innocent, upbeat,'party on the block' rap records were the first to try and create the sounds heard in community centres, block parties and street jams that initially took place in the Bronx in the mid-1970s. But where Flash, Kool Herc and Bambaataa were back-spinning, mixing and scratching together now classic breakbeat records like The Incredible Bongo Band's 'Apache' or Babe Ruth's 'The Mexican', these first rap records were all made using live bands, often replaying then current disco tunes, whilst MCs rapped over the top, creating a unique sound that later became known derisively as 'oldschool'. And while hip-hop started in the Bronx, rap on vinyl began in Harlem where long-time established rhythm and blues producer-owned record companies such as Joe Robinson's Enjoy Records, Paul Winley's Winley Records, Delmar Donnel's Delmar International and Jack 'Fatman' Taylor's Rojac and Tayster were the first off the mark to realise the commercial potential of rap music-releasing early ground-breaking records that all quickly followed in the wake of the first rap record, The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rappers Delight', a million-selling worldwide hit. This collection celebrates these first old-school rap records, bringing together rare, classic and obscure tracks released in the early days of rap.

                Deluxe double CD-pack comes with slipcase, 40-page outsize perfect-bound booklet,extensive notes, exclusive photography and original label artwork. Triple heavy weight vinyl includes full artwork, text and notes as well as free download code.

                FORMAT INFORMATION

                3xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents New Orleans Fun - New Orleans: The Original Sound Of Funk by Various Artists.

                Various Artists

                Soul Jazz Records Presents New Orleans Fun - New Orleans: The Original Sound Of Funk

                Soul Jazz

                  THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2016 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.




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                  Cover of Soul Jazz Records Present: Original Ska Sounds FromThe Skatalites 1963-65: Independence Ska And The Far East Sound by The Skatalites.

                  The Skatalites

                  Soul Jazz Records Present: Original Ska Sounds FromThe Skatalites 1963-65: Independence Ska And The Far East Sound

                  Soul Jazz

                    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2016 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                    Unique Soul Jazz Records’ Record Store Day seven-inch box set comprising five separate singles featuring ten killer tracks from the first and greatest ska and reggae band of all time.

                    Seminal, rare and classic tunes collected together here for the first time ever.

                    Limited to 500 copies.

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                    Cover of Feel So Good / Rightful Rebel by Denise Darlington / Tyrone Taylor.

                    Denise Darlington / Tyrone Taylor

                    Feel So Good / Rightful Rebel

                    Soul Jazz

                    Four brand new Studio One 45s from Soul Jazz Records. Digitally remastered classic, essential, in-demand recordings from the greatest reggae label in the world. These are the second four in Soul Jazz Records’ new series of seminal reggae releases from the iconic Studio One Records, back to back classic and rare tracks from Horace Andy, The Gaylads, Dub Specialist, Denise Darlington, Jackie Mittoo, Alton Ellis, Sound Dimension and more.

                    On this 45 we have another rarity from Denise Darlington, the sweet 1960s rocksteady song 'Feel So Good'. This is backed by the altogether more rootical 70s 'Rightful Rebel' by Tyrone Taylor.

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                    Cover of New York Noise - Dance Music From The New York Underground 1977-82 by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    New York Noise - Dance Music From The New York Underground 1977-82

                    Soul Jazz

                    This is the new 2015 edition of Soul Jazz Records’ long out of print first ‘New York Noise’ collection, subtitled ‘Dance Music From The New York Underground 1977-82’.

                    ‘New York Noise’ is the story of the intersection between experimental dance music and art in downtown New York. This ground-breaking release gave rise to a series of three albums featuring the likes of Snatch, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Sonic Youth, Ut, Jim Jarmusch and many more downtown figures as well as a deluxe photography book that featured everyone from David Byrne to Madonna (now out-of-print).

                    This new 2015 edition features classic New York post-punk, punk-funk, disco-not-disco and no wave tracks from Arthur Russell / Dinosaur L, James White & The Contortions, The Theoretical Girls, Mars, Konk, Material, Bush Tetras, Lizzy Mecrier Descloux as well as new tracks by Alan Vega (Suicide), Chain Gang and ImpLOG.

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                    Cover of Tales Of Mozambique by Count Ossie And The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari.

                    Count Ossie And The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari

                    Tales Of Mozambique

                    Soul Jazz

                    Soul Jazz Records release Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation’s seminal 1975 album 'Tales of Mozambique' in an expanded double album format, fully remastered and with the inclusion of two bonus rare single-only tracks, full sleevenotes, exclusive photographs and interview.

                    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 in his Rastafarian compound up 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 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. Tales of Mozambique is a truly unique and fascinating ground-breaking album.

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                    Cover of Studio One Showcase by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    Studio One Showcase

                    Soul Jazz

                    ‘Studio One Showcase’, subtitled ‘The Sound Of Studio One In The 1970s’, brings together a new fine selection of classic tracks from Horace Andy, Freddy McGregor, Johnny Osbourne, Lone Ranger, Sugar Minott, The Heptones, Wailing Souls and other seminal reggae artists all recorded at Studio One in the 1970s.

                    By the start of the 1970s, Clement Dodd’s Studio One record label was at a crossroads. The previous two decades had given the producer and record label more success than most aspired to in a lifetime. From the mid-1950s on, the Downbeat Soundsystem had conquered all opponents - from Duke Reid to Prince Buster - and shaped and led the musical landscape of the dancehall. In the 1960s the establishment of Studio One Records at 13 Brentford Road in Kingston, Jamaica, had led to a Ford Motors-esque production line of hits that similarly defined reggae music.

                    The 1970s were to be Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s most challenging and yet ultimately most creative decade of all. Like the most zealous and resourceful of pioneers, Studio One was about to embark on a stunning era of reinvention, adaptation, stripping down and versioning, each step of which marked new musical developments in reggae music - roots reggae, deejay, dancehall, rub a dub and more.

                    This album presents an overview of this exciting and ground-breaking decade of the 1970s at Studio One, during an era where, despite challenges from new producers, political turmoil and almost constant musical and technological innovations in reggae, Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd was able to maintain his position as the pioneering leader in reggae music and to maintain Studio One as the number one sound in reggae music.

                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                    2xLP includes MP3 Download Code.

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                    Cover of Truth & Rights / Crabwalking by Johnny Osbourne / Prince Jazzbo.

                    Johnny Osbourne / Prince Jazzbo

                    Truth & Rights / Crabwalking

                    Soul Jazz

                    The final edition of four killer Studio One 45s from Soul Jazz Records. Digitally remastered classic essential recordings from the greatest reggae label in the world.

                    These are the first in a new series of seminal reggae releases from the iconic Studio One Records, starting with four monster singles.

                    Back to back classics from The Skatalites, Johnny Osbourne, Horace Andy, Prince Jazzbo, The Heptones, Jackie Mittoo and more.

                    This 45 features Johnny Osbourne's sublime 1979 roots anthem 'Truth & Rights' (the original Studio One album it's taken from will set you back £30+). On the flip we get Prince Jazzbo's 1972 cut 'Crabwalking', which has Jazzbo adding deejay rap to a dub of Horace Andy's 'Skylarking', with live studio drop outs etc. Superb.

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                    Cover of Coxsone's Music - The First Recordings Of Sir Coxsone The Downbeat 1960-63 by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    Coxsone's Music - The First Recordings Of Sir Coxsone The Downbeat 1960-63

                    Soul Jazz

                    ‘Coxsone’s Music’ is a stunning new 3-CD / two separate double LP collection featuring over two and half hours of early Jamaican proto-ska, rhythm & blues, jazz, rastafari and gospel music - charting the earliest recordings produced by Clement Dodd, in the years before he launched the mighty Studio One Records, brought together here for the first time ever.

                    Clement Dodd’s Sir Coxsone The Downbeat Soundsystem ruled Kingston’s dancehalls during this era and these recordings strongly reflect the influences of American rhythm and blues and jump jazz on Jamaican music fans. · By the time the new record company formed in Brentford Road, Kingston in 1963, the young Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd had already managed to release an incredible wealth of recordings by the talented musicians and artists on the island of Jamaica and this collection reflects just that:

                    Featuring Don Drummond, Roland Alphonso, Derrick Harriott, Owen Gray, Clancy Eccles, Count Ossie, Monty Alexander, The Blues Busters, Ernest Ranglin, Rico Rodriguez and many, many more all captured here in their formative early years.

                    Before Studio One, Clement Dodd released this music on a variety of his early record labels such as Worldisc, All Stars, Coxsone, D Darling (named after Coxsone’s mother, who received a production credit on the label), Muzik City (named after Dodd’s record store on East Queen’s Street), Port O Jam, Supreme and Sensational.

                    Sleevenotes to this collection are by Studio One authority Rob Chapman, author of the Never Grow Old and Downbeat Special books cataloguing the many recordings of the label.

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                    Cover of 100% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk In Jamaica (Remastered Edition) by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    100% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk In Jamaica (Remastered Edition)

                    Soul Jazz

                    This is the new digitally remastered 2015 expanded edition of Soul Jazz Records’ biggest ever selling release, ‘100% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady & Funk In Jamaica’.

                    Since the album’s original release nearly 20 years ago, ‘100% Dynamite’ has become a cornerstone of reggae: 18 killer tracks that show the influence that American jazz, funk and soul music had on Jamaican reggae.

                    The proximity of the West Indies to the USA meant that many Jamaican musicians were influenced by American styles of music whilst at the same time defining new styles of their own such as ska, rocksteady and dub.

                    ‘100% Dynamite’ features some serious Jamaican funk by Jackie Mittoo, The Upsetters and Toots & The Maytals, the cream of Jamaica's jazz musicians such as Tommy McCook, Cedric Brooks and Lennie Hibbert. Also included here are heavyweight reggae versions to soul classics by Marlena Shaw’s ‘Woman Of The Ghetto’, Aretha Franklin’s ‘Rocksteady’, Syl Johnson’s ‘Is It Because I’m Black’, William DeVaughan’s seminal ‘Be Thankful’ and more.

                    ‘100% Dynamite’ also features revolutionary tunes such as Johnny Osbourne’s ‘We Need Love’, Sound Dimension’s ‘Drum Song’ and Lloyd Robinson’s ‘Cuss Cuss’, songs that helped define a unique sound for Jamaican music in the 60s and 70s.

                    These influences went both ways - check Brentford All Stars’ massive ‘Greedy G’, the basis for Boogie Down Productions’ ‘Jack of Spades’, or Willie Williams’ ‘Armageddon Time’, later covered by The Clash.

                    This new expanded edition features seminal tracks from the greatest Jamaican producers - Clement Dodd, Lee Perry, Winston Riley (Techniques) and many more.

                    STAFF COMMENTS

                    Philippa says: From vibrant ska and funky breakers to slower rocksteady and soulful roots reggae, this Soul Jazz collection is just jam(aica)-packed with Caribbean goodness!

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                    Cover of Disco 2 - A Further Fine Selection Of Independent Disco, Modern Soul And Boogie 1976-80 (Record A) by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    Disco 2 - A Further Fine Selection Of Independent Disco, Modern Soul And Boogie 1976-80 (Record A)

                    Soul Jazz

                    This is a second selection of independent disco records featuring rare and classic tracks originally released in the USA between the halcyon years of 1977 and 1985.

                    This release features only the finest disco, modern soul and boogie and is compiled by Disco Patrick who last year put together the mighty ‘Disco: An Encyclopedic Guide To The Cover Art Of Disco Records’ 400+ page deluxe book for Soul Jazz Records, as well as the first installment of ‘Disco: A Fine Selection Of Independent Disco, Modern Soul And Boogie.’

                    This album is released as a double CD and two separate double vinyl LPs (plus free download codes).

                    This album features rare, classic and in demand tracks from the mighty vaults of labels such as New York’s Salsoul and Miami’s TK Records - which, during the main disco era, became the main competitors to the major established record industry - through to killer virtually unknown tracks released on tiny bespoke one-off labels now impossible to find either in the history books or record shops of the world.

                    Before its mainstream consumption in the late 1970s, disco first emerged from independent record companies run by lovers of this new sound: Patrick Adams and Peter Brown, the powerhouse musical partnership based up in Harlem, New York; Henry Stone at TK, a man with a 30-year old career distributing black music; or the Cayre brothers at Salsoul, linking Latin roots with the deep, soulful music emerging from Philadelphia and New York.

                    In fact, as we can see on this album, Harlem was to prove a fertile ground of nascent independent disco with numerous young producers, alongside leaders of the pack Patrick Adams and Peter Brown, hustling to release oneoff or a couple of singles on their own independent labels.

                    All the music on this album has been sonically and digitally remastered with love and is presented complete with sleevenotes, original label artwork and full length extended disco editions.

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                    Cover of Nu Yorica! Culture Clash In New York City by Various Artists.

                    Various Artists

                    Nu Yorica! Culture Clash In New York City

                    Soul Jazz

                    This is the 20th anniversary 2015 expanded edition of one of Soul Jazz Records earliest definitive releases: ‘Nu Yorica: Culture Clash In New York City’, a stunning and groundbreaking collection of music, bringing together Latin, Soul, Jazz, Funk and more from the melting pot of New York City in the 1970s.

                    Out-of-print for more than ten years, this new edition has been fully digitally remastered with new tracks, additional photography and is released as a deluxe 2CD pack with large outsize booklet, as well as a new edition of two super-loud super-heavy separate volumes of double vinyl. 

                    ‘Nu Yorica!’ is one of Soul Jazz Records most critically acclaimed albums of all time.

                    The album features seminal Latin artists such as Eddie Palmieri, Joe Bataan, Machito, Ocho, Grupo Folklorico, Cortijo, Ricardo Marrero, Cachao and many more.

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                    Cover of Disco: An Encyclopaedic Guide To The Cover Art Of Disco Records by Disco Patrick & Patrick Vog.

                    Disco Patrick & Patrick Vog

                    Disco: An Encyclopaedic Guide To The Cover Art Of Disco Records

                    Soul Jazz

                      This 360 page deluxe hardback book - a massive 12x12” - features the amazing artwork of thousands of disco record cover designs from the 1970s up to the mid-1980s. The record cover designs amount to a unique visual history of disco culture. Featuring over 2,000 album cover designs
                      (including many full-size covers) as well as over 700 12” sleeves, this book is truly an encyclopaedic document of disco music and its industry.

                      As well as being a comprehensive visual document on the era, the book comes complete with interviews of a number of important disco figures, histories, biographies and discographies of all the major disco record companies. Sections on Roller Disco sleeves, Disco Instruction albums, 12” sleeves and a scrapbook of disco ads are all brought together in one stunning and stylish package.

                      Artists featured include Chic, Grace Jones, Salsoul Orchestra, Musique, Cerrone, The Blackbyrds, Giorgio Moroder and thousands more. Interviews and label profiles include Ken Cayre (Salsoul Records), Henry Stone (TK Records), Casablanca Records, Marvin Schlacter (Prelude Records) and Mel Cheren (West End Records).

                      Editors Disco Patrick and Patrick Vogt have previously put together the book ‘Disco Patrick Presents: The Bootleg Guide To Disco Acetates, Funk, Rap And Disco Medleys’.

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                      Cover of 90 Degrees Of Shade: Image And Identity In The West Indies - 100 Years Of Photography In The Caribbean by Paul Gilroy / Stuart Baker.

                      Paul Gilroy / Stuart Baker

                      90 Degrees Of Shade: Image And Identity In The West Indies - 100 Years Of Photography In The Caribbean

                      Soul Jazz

                        Calypso, Voodoo, Sunshine, Communism, Reggae, Colonialism, The Slave Trade, Rum, Revolution, Industry and Tourism 100 years of the Caribbean image and identity is captured in this deluxe new hardback photography book. The image of the Caribbean is as much a creation of the outsider as it is the complex identity of its people a melting pot of races created out of the participants in the 400 year slave trade enforced Africans, indigenous Americans and their colonisers French, Spanish, German, Dutch, English. The identity of the Caribbean stands at this intersection of tourism, the detritus of the slave trade, colonialism and tropicality. The regions politics span a hot bed of ideas and radicalism from Castros Cuba, communist thorn in the side of North America, to the violent right-wing dictatorship of Haitis Papa Doc in the 1960s; from Manleys Jamaica in the 1970s to Eric Williams Trinidad in the 1960s. This book is a deluxe large format hardback book featuring 100s of fascinating and unique photographs that span one hundred years of Caribbean history, culture, industry and more as well as the subsequent diaspora of its people to America, England and elsewhere. The photographs show the many ways in which the region is portrayed from luscious and tropical backdrop of tourism and hedonism, to colonial outpost and revolutionary threat within North Americas own backyard.

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                        Cover of No Seattle: Forgotten Sounds Of The North-West Grunge Era 1986-97 by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        No Seattle: Forgotten Sounds Of The North-West Grunge Era 1986-97

                        Soul Jazz

                        • Fantastically in-depth sleevenotes
                        • Band interviews
                        • Exclusive photographs
                        • All tracks sonically remastered.

                        Initially a marginalised phenomenon, the underground grunge scene of Washington had barely a handful of adherents, strung out in isolated towns across the vast state of Washington. In those early days bands who showed an allegiance to their roots of punk risked social ostracism and worse. And yet this community of outsiders produced the biggest band in the world in 1991. The unforeseen success of Nirvana turned the record label Sub Pop from an underground phenomenon into the key backstory of mainstream music's must-read tales of the 90s: it became a new Motown: substituting Seattle for Detroit. Kurt Cobain's death froze this saga into musical history forever more.

                        While taking nothing away from Nirvana or from Sub Pop, this release presents the complexity of the music scene of the North-West in its most infamous era. Rather than celebrating the (undeniable) talent of one band, one label, one city, this release ravels up the simple thread of music history and takes pleasure in its more tangled knots. In the late 80s and early 90s, the musical fire raging in Seattle burned so bright that no one could see pinpricks of light dotting the entire state of Washington. Beyond Seattle, the North-West skies were similarly ablaze with music and creativity.

                        This compilation features some of the divergent bands emerging out of the North-West during this era. Intensely researched and documented, it features bands who have now disappeared from history, after releasing maybe just a couple of singles, or an album, or never even making it onto vinyl - alongside bands who continue to this day.

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                        Cover of Studio One Dancehall by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        Studio One Dancehall

                        Soul Jazz

                        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.

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                        Cover of Inner City Beat! - Detective Themes, Spy Music And Imaginary Thrillers by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        Inner City Beat! - Detective Themes, Spy Music And Imaginary Thrillers

                        Soul Jazz

                        Soul Jazz Records new release 'Inner City Beat! Detective Themes, Spy Music and Imaginary Thrillers 1967-1975' is a CD / 2LP release that comes with an exclusive limited-edition specially created 60-page graphic novel (by the mysterious cult 1960s pulp fiction writer Mark 'Badly' Antringham).

                        The music on the album is a killer selection of funky, deep, rare, exciting and dancefloor heavyweight 'spy themes', 'detective music' and thrillers from the 1960s and 1970s. The music spans heavyweight break-beat funk, deep and heavy jazz, super-catchy mod themes, imaginary super-charged orchestral soundtracks and more.

                        These tracks are put together from British library music companies (DeWolfe, KPM, Conroy, Amphonic), all of whom supplied music regularly to television and films around the world during this period, often for use in detective and spy programmes, series and films. Many were never broadcast and have thus remained unheard, stored in the vaults for many years.

                        To accompany this unique album, Soul Jazz have also commissioned the creation of a special 60-page graphic novel which features the stunning artwork of the elusive illustrator John C. Patterson in partnership with the celebrated 1960s pulp fiction cult novelist Mark 'Badly' Antringham. The graphic novel is set in the imaginary seedy streets of East London in the 1960s in a world full of corrupt police, political intrigue and violent sadistic criminals. This unique limited-edition graphic novel comes free with the initial run of the album Inner City Beat.

                        As well as the CD release this album also comes as a heavyweight deluxe gatefold super-loud double vinyl release. This vinyl album also includes the full graphic novel

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                        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        Soul Jazz Records Presents Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society

                        Soul Jazz

                        Soul Jazz Records’ new album ‘Punk 45: There Is No Such Thing As Society’ is the second volume in their ‘Punk 45’ series, released to follow on from Soul Jazz Records’ recent massive deluxe 400 page ‘Punk 45s’ cover art book edited and compiled by Jon Savage (author of the seminal book on punk, ‘England’s Dreaming’) and Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records). While the first album in this series, ‘Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!’, focused on underground punk in America, this album charts the rise of punk and post-punk in Britain in the years 1977-81.

                        This new ‘Punk 45’ album features a collection of seminal, classic, obscure and rare punk and post-punk singles from the likes of The Art Attacks, The Mekons, TV Personalities, Swell Maps, and many more, charting the rise of independent music and Do It Yourself culture that exploded in Britain in the wake of punk.

                        The album comes complete with text, biographies on each of the bands, exclusive photos and original record artwork.

                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                        CD Info: The album is released on CD with outsize large booklet
                        and thick slipcase.

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                        Cover of Soul Jazz Records Presents Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! by Various Artists.

                        Various Artists

                        Soul Jazz Records Presents Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!

                        Soul Jazz

                        Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Punk 45’ album charts the rise of underground punk across the United States in the years 1973- 1980.

                        The album coincides with the release of Soul Jazz Records’ massive new deluxe 400 page ‘Punk 45s’ cover art book edited and compiled by Jon Savage (author of the seminal book on punk, ‘England’s Dreaming’) and Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records). The book includes text by Jon Savage, numerous interviews and articles from the likes of Richard Hell, Seymour Stein (Sire Records), Geoff Travis (Rough Trade), and Peter Saville (Factory), as well as exhaustive biographies, band lineups and more on the many hundreds of bands who feature in the book.

                        ‘Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young - Underground Punk In The United States Of America’ is the first in Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Punk 45’ series of album releases coinciding with the new book and will be followed at the start of next year by ‘Punk 45 Vol. 2 Underground Punk In The UK’.

                        The ‘Punk 45’ album features a collection of seminal, classic, obscure and rare punk and proto-punk 45 singles from the likes of Pere Ubu, The Zeros, The Randoms, Electric Eels, The Pagans, The Deadbeats, The Lewd and many more - a lightning rod journey across the states of America - Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Akron, New Orleans, Philadelphia - tracing the rise of punk music in these various towns and cities. The album comes complete with extensive text, biographies on each of the bands, exclusive photos and original record artwork.

                        FORMAT INFORMATION

                        CD Info: CD with outsize large booklet and thick slipcase.

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                        Cover of Punk 45: The Singles Cover Art Of Punk 1976-80 by Jon Savage & Stuart Baker.

                        Jon Savage & Stuart Baker

                        Punk 45: The Singles Cover Art Of Punk 1976-80

                        Soul Jazz

                          Soul Jazz Records’ massive new deluxe 400-page punk 45s cover art book edited and compiled by Jon Savage (author of the seminal book on punk, ‘England’s Dreaming’) and Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records).

                          Punk 45 is a revelatory guide to hundreds and hundreds of original seven-inch record cover sleeve designs--visual artifacts found at the heart of the most radical and anarchistic musical movement of the twentieth century. Spurred by the Desperate Bicycles' rallying cry "It was easy, it was cheap--go and do it!" and Mark Perry's "Here are three chords. Now form a band," thousands of new groups emerged in the wake of the Pistols, between 1976 and 1980. This politicized do-it-yourself ethic was applied to design as much as it was to music, and these lo-fi record sleeves declared politics ranging from anarchism to socialism, anticonsumerism, feminism and more. Spanning pre-punk to postpunk, Punk 45 is introduced and co-compiled by Jon Savage, author of the acclaimed, definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England's Dreaming, and the period's most pre-eminent historian. It features sleeves from bands such as the Adverts, Cabaret Voltaire, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Electric Eels, The Flamin' Groovies, The Human League, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, Plastic Bertrand, The Residents, X-Ray Spex and many, many others. As well as original artwork, the book also includes interviews and articles on designers such as Peter Saville, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett and Gee Voucher, and interviews with record label founders such as Geoff Travis (Rough Trade), printing pressers and more. Punk 45 is an exhaustive, thorough and exciting celebration of the stunning artwork of punk music, including everything from the most celebrated and iconic designs through to the stark beauty of the cheapest do-it-yourself lo-fi obscurities.

                          To coincide in with the book, Soul Jazz Records are also releasing a series of ‘Punk 45’ compilation albums starting with ‘Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young - Underground Punk In The United States 1973-80’, featuring tracks by Electric Eels, Pere Ubu, Flaming Groovies, Theoretical Girls, The Normals, The Urinals and many more.

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                          Cover of New Orleans Funk 3 by Various Artists.

                          Various Artists

                          New Orleans Funk 3

                          Soul Jazz

                          Soul Jazz Records returns with their most successful series to date, ‘New Orleans Funk’. This new instalment, subtitled ‘Two-Way-Pocky-Way, Gumbo Ya Ya & The Mardi Gras Mambo’ features more classic New Orleans funk in all its forms.

                          The syncopated percussion beat of the second line jazz parade bands, the secret language and dances of the Mardi Gras Indians, the mambo and Latin rhythms of Professor Longhair and the city’s many piano players help make New Orleans a unique musical melting pot.

                          New Orleans long musical heritage begins at Congo Square with the creation of jazz, the original Creole culture clash of African heritage and European instrumentation. In the 1960s and into the early 1970s add to this the creative powerhouses of Allen Toussaint, The Meters, Eddie Bo and others alongside the famous musical families of the city - the Nevilles, the Marsalis, the Lasties - and we find ourselves at the birthplace of the original sound of funk.

                          A seemingly endless line of amazing singers - Lee Dorsey, Betty Harris, Willie West and Eldridge Holmes, amongst many others - released a constant stream of stunning 45s, backed by the super funk Meters and produced by Allen Toussaint. The multi-talented Eddie Bo, similarly wrote and produced for an elite set of artists including The Explosions, Chuck Carbo and others. Limited local record distribution meant that most of these artists remained unknown outside of the city borders and as a consequence many of these records are serious collector’s items today.

                          Add to this the syncopated polyrhythm funk of Mardi Gras Indians with a rare version of the carnival classic ‘Two-Way-Pock-A-Way’, and the parade band jazz of the Rebirth Jazz Band (with their twisted take on the Blackbyrd’s rare groove classic ‘Do It Fluid’) and you have the latest instalment in Soul Jazz Records’ ‘New Orleans Funk’ series.

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                          Cover of Acid: Can You Jack? - Chicago Acid And Experimental House 1985 - 1995 by Various Artists.

                          Various Artists

                          Acid: Can You Jack? - Chicago Acid And Experimental House 1985 - 1995

                          Soul Jazz

                          Soul Jazz Records re-release "Acid: Can You Jack?", a double CD and two DJ-friendly super loud vinyl double packs presenting the definitive guide to the evolution of house and acid in Chicago. The album traces how the sound developed as clubs like Ron Hardy's legendary Music Box and Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse, along with radio mixes by the Hot Mix Five, put Chicago on the map. The album features all-time classic tracks such as Phuture's epic 12 minute "Acid Trax" and Sleezy D's "I've Lost Control" alongside many rare and experimental tracks such as Lil Louis's "Video Clash" and Marshall Jefferson's "Go Wild Rhythm Tracks". With sleevenotes by Tim Lawrence (who wrote "Love Saves The Day"), exclusive photos and interviews with Marshall Jefferson, Adonis, Tyree and more, the album shows how Chicago's unique culture and artists led to some of the most important music ever made.

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                          Cover of Acid: Can You Jack? - Chicago Acid And Experimental House 1985 - 1995 LP1 by Various Artists.

                          Various Artists

                          Acid: Can You Jack? - Chicago Acid And Experimental House 1985 - 1995 LP1

                          Soul Jazz

                          Soul Jazz Records re-release "Acid: Can You Jack?", a double CD and two DJ-friendly super loud vinyl double packs presenting the definitive guide to the evolution of house and acid in Chicago. The album traces how the sound developed as clubs like Ron Hardy's legendary Music Box and Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse, along with radio mixes by the Hot Mix Five, put Chicago on the map. The album features all-time classic tracks such as Phuture's epic 12 minute "Acid Trax" and Sleezy D's "I've Lost Control" alongside many rare and experimental tracks such as Lil Louis's "Video Clash" and Marshall Jefferson's "Go Wild Rhythm Tracks". With sleevenotes by Tim Lawrence (who wrote "Love Saves The Day"), exclusive photos and interviews with Marshall Jefferson, Adonis, Tyree and more, the album shows how Chicago's unique culture and artists led to some of the most important music ever made.

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                          Cover of Reggae Soundsystem: Original Reggae Album Cover Art by Steve Barrow & Stuart Baker.

                          Steve Barrow & Stuart Baker

                          Reggae Soundsystem: Original Reggae Album Cover Art

                          Soul Jazz

                            A new deluxe 200 page hardback 12”x12” book featuring hundreds of stunning full size record cover designs that span the history of reggae music.

                            The book is compiled by the celebrated author and reggae expert Steve Barrow (‘Rough Guide To Reggae’ / Blood & Fire Records) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records).

                            Beginning in the 1950s, Jamaican music developed into one of the most important and influential music industries in the world. From its early Mento (Jamaican Calypso) beginnings through to the invention of Ska, Rocksteady, Roots, Dub and Dancehall, Jamaican music is also one of the richest and innovative veins in popular music.

                            This stunning hardback deluxe book is a timely look at the endless visually creativity of reggae record cover designs, iconic, classic, rare and unique artwork spanning sixty years of Jamaican sounds.

                            The book includes a fascinating introductory essay on the history of reggae by Steve Barrow and the book is edited by Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records and editor of the book ‘Dancehall’, and cover art books on Bossa Nova, Freedom, Rhythm & Sound and Studio One Records).

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                            Cover of Studio One Sound by Various Artists.

                            Various Artists

                            Studio One Sound

                            Soul Jazz

                            Soul Jazz Records continue their journey into the vaults of the mighty Studio One with this next instalment, featuring everything from classic ska and rocksteady to the deepest roots, heaviest dub and dancehall roots.

                            As ever, the album includes incredible reggae artists such as The Heptones, Ken Boothe, The Skatalites, Johnny Osbourne and Wailing Souls, all of whom launched their careers at Studio One, 13 Brentford Road, under the guidance of Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd.

                            This album features some of the most in-demand and collectible Studio One tracks over the years, all digitally remastered. The sleevenotes are by Rob Chapman, author of the celebrated books about Studio One Records, ‘Never Grow Old’ and ‘Downbeat The Ruler’.


                            STAFF COMMENTS

                            Philippa says: Soul Jazz Records continue their journey into the vaults of the mighty Studio One with this next instalment, featuring everything from classic ska and rocksteady to the deepest roots, heaviest dub and dancehall roots.

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                            Cover of Afro-Beat Soul Sisters by The Lijadu Sisters.

                            The Lijadu Sisters

                            Afro-Beat Soul Sisters

                            Soul Jazz

                            The Lijadu Sisters released a series of albums in the 1970s in Nigeria that blended heavyweight Afro-beat with psychedelic Afro-rock, high-life, disco and soul in a truly unique combination. These albums are impossibly rare to find and this collection brings together the best of those recordings.

                            The Lijadu Sisters were the most successful female group in Nigeria in the 1970s and managed to overturn many stereotypes and attitudes as they carved out a unique space for themselves in a predominantly male arena. Their influences ranged from female soul singers such as Aretha Franklin, The Pointer Sisters and Miriam Makeba to the Afro-beat of Fela Anikulapo Kuti as well as the juju music of IK Dairo and the highlife of Victor Olaiya.

                            The Lijadu Sisters - identical twins Taiwo and Kehinde Lijadu - grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria. They recorded their debut album for Decca Records in 1969. At the start of the 1970s the two singers joined ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker’s short-lived all-African group Salt (which also included future members of the Afro-Rock group Blo). This album brings together the best of their tracks from the four albums recorded for the Afrodisia label in Nigeria - ‘Danger’ (1976), ‘Mother Africa’ (1977), ‘Sunshine’ (1978) and ‘Horizon Unlimited’ (1979).


                            STAFF COMMENTS

                            Philippa says: Fuzz guitars, talking drums, funky rhythms and African vocal harmonies... What more could you want?!

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                            Cover of The Cover Art Of Studio One Records by Various Artists.

                            Various Artists

                            The Cover Art Of Studio One Records

                            Soul Jazz

                              Studio One is the legendary Jamaican reggae label that launched onto the world Bob Marley and theWailers. As iconic as Motown was to soul, or Blue Note for Jazz, Studio One was the creation of one great figurehead Clement Sir Coxsone Dodd. This deluxe hard-back book is the first ever to tell the story of Studio One and the many artists that it produced. The book features hundreds of stunning full size record cover designs of Studio One and original artwork as well as rare and exclusive photographs, original flyers and artist interviews. In the 1950s Clement Dodds Downbeat Soundsystem was the most important sound system in downtown Kingstons burgeoning dancehall scene, fighting off the competition of Duke Reid, Tom the Great Sebastian and others. Dodd began producing his own records in the late 1950s and in 1963, the year after Jamaican Independence, he launched Studio One. Described by Chris Blackwell as the University of Reggae, Studio One is by far the most important record label in the history of Reggae music, an A-Z of Jamaican music. It is where Bob Marley and theWailers, Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, Freddie McGregor, The Skatalites, Marcia Griffiths, Burning Spear, The Heptones, Toots and the Maytals and many more artists became stars. As Jamaica approaches the 50th anniversary of independence, this stunning deluxe book is a timely look at Reggae musics legendary record label and the artists and musicians that it made famous.

                              FORMAT INFORMATION

                              Hardback Book Info: Studio One is the legendary Jamaican reggae label that launched onto the world Bob Marley and theWailers. As iconic as Motown was to soul, or Blue Note for Jazz, Studio One was the creation of one great figurehead Clement Sir Coxsone Dodd. This deluxe hard-back book is the first ever to tell the story of Studio One and the many artists that it produced. The book features hundreds of stunning full size record cover designs of Studio One and original artwork as well as rare and exclusive photograp

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                              Cover of Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds by Various Artists.

                              Various Artists

                              Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds

                              Soul Jazz

                              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.


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                              Cover of Bossa Nova And The Rise Of Brazilian Music In The 1960s by Gilles Peterson And Stuart Baker.

                              Gilles Peterson And Stuart Baker

                              Bossa Nova And The Rise Of Brazilian Music In The 1960s

                              Soul Jazz

                                To coincide with the CD and album release of "Bossa Nova And The Rise Of Brazilian Music In The 1960s", Soul Jazz have published a book featuring a collection of bossa nova record cover artwork, including stunning modernist and revolutionary designs that reflect the radical and exciting idealism of Brazil at the start of the 1960s. This book is a unique collection of the cover art of Brazilian bossa nova music, containing hundreds of record covers complete with a history of bossa nova, biographies and essays on many of the artists involved in the movement.

                                FORMAT INFORMATION

                                Hardback Book Info: Deluxe 12”x12” large-format hardbook book.

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                                Cover of Future Bass by Various Artists.

                                Various Artists

                                Future Bass

                                Soul Jazz

                                Future music, future bass, post-dubstep, post-house, post everything! As the dubstep umbrella gets caught in the wind and turns inside out, dropping a myriad sub-genres on the floor, Soul Jazz Records have brought together some of the UKs most pioneering producers of the day to create an album that can only be defined as 'future music'. All new exclusive tracks from a set of artists all at the height of their respective careers alongside heavyweight new-wave producers. From the off-kilter hypnotic post-house bass music of Four Tet ("Nothing To See" is one of the most hyped tracks of late) to the boundary-pushing genre busting post-dub of VIVEK, Mala and Coki (the two halves of Digital Mystikz), complex beats by Untold and Ramadanman,  alongside truly uniques tracks such as Kevin Martin / The Bug’s latest incarnation, Black Chow. Future music! Future beats! Future bass!


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                                Cover of Freedom, Rhythm & Sound - Revolutionary Jazz In The USA 1965-80 by Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker.

                                Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker

                                Freedom, Rhythm & Sound - Revolutionary Jazz In The USA 1965-80

                                Soul Jazz

                                  This heavyweight deluxe hardback book is a unique collection of cover artwork of revolutionary jazz music between 1965-83, compiled by Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker, founder of Soul Jazz Records. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement of the 1960s loom large as self-determination, economic power and musical freedom led to revolutionary jazz artists finding new paths – both musical and economic. Concurrent with the emergence of the counter culture and underground rock movement in the 1960s and years before the DIY cultural revolution of punk in the 1970s, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, The Art Ensemble Of Chicago and others 'took control' of their own work by recording, releasing and distributing their own music themselves. The record sleeves of this era are as iconic and historically unique as the music itself and a striking reflection of the time; pre-desktop publishing, pre-internet, these small-run (sometimes as low as 500 copies), self-made sleeves are graphically bold and radical. 'Freedom, Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz Original Cover Art 1965-83' is the first ever collection of this fascinating goldmine of album art, which represents the first wave of inspired independent production within popular music. The book includes a large introduction contextualising the music and artwork as well as features on many of the people involved. Alongside the musicians mentioned above these include Rashied Ali, Steve Reid, Mary Lou Williams, Horace Tapscott, Lloyd McNeil, Tribe, The Last Poets, The Pharoahs, Philip Cohran, Black Artists Group and many others.

                                  FORMAT INFORMATION

                                  Paperback Book Info: a new flexibound paperback edition of their long out of print ground-breaking deluxe art book.

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                                  Cover of Can You Dig It? - The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1969-75 by Various Artists.

                                  Various Artists

                                  Can You Dig It? - The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1969-75

                                  Soul Jazz

                                  The Black Action Films of the early 1970s gave Hollywood its first African-American cinema – actors, directors, cameramen, editors and writers. These films discussed aspects of the African-American experience in the form of entertainment. Storylines interwove post-civil rights revolution with action stories, many involving pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers or private detectives. The films also featured the finest funk and soul black music of the time as stars such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch and Roy Ayers produced some of their finest work, with film budgets allowing for the addition of huge orchestral arrangements by jazz legends such as Quincy Jones, Johnny Pate and JJ Johnson. "Can You Dig It?" presents the best of the killer musical soundtracks to these films alongside analysis of the social and political conditions that helped create the films.

                                  FORMAT INFORMATION

                                  2xCD Info: Deluxe double CD comes packaged with a 100-page full colour booklet, mini-film poster postcards and stickers.

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                                  Cover of New York Noise Vol 2 by Various Artists.

                                  Various Artists

                                  New York Noise Vol 2

                                  Soul Jazz

                                  The new wave of New York art/rock groups under the DFA umbrella, or The Strokes, The Liars or Radio 4 all have their roots in the city's late 70s / early 80s no wave/post-punk scene. This is Soul Jazz's second look at the music from that era, and delves deeper than before. The music here ranges from the guitar-driven experimentation of Sonic Youth, Red Transistor and minimalism of composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca to the dubbed-out disco of Arthur Russell and Nicky Siano's Felix project and all female Pulsallama. This all sits alongside a healthy amount of punk-funk and disco-not-disco from the likes of Y Pants, Glorious Strangers, Mofungo, Vortex or proto-electro from Clandestine.

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                                  Cover of Box Of Dub - Dubstep And Future Dub by Various Artists.

                                  Various Artists

                                  Box Of Dub - Dubstep And Future Dub

                                  Soul Jazz

                                  This album is a unique project for Soul Jazz Records, featuring all-newly recorded exclusive tracks of future dub and dubstep from key artists in the scene. After two killer Digital Mystikz singles on the label last year and an amazing amount of publicity around the dubstep movement, this album clearly shows the influence of original electronic dub pioneers like King Tubby, Scientist and King Jammy on this new generation of artists and producers. Emerging out of south London, dubstep has grown from its roots in the grime and drum and bass scenes to create a whole new movement of artists - including Digital Mystikz, Skream, Scuba Kode 9 and Burial - all influenced by soundsystem culture as well as technology. With heavy basslines and complex drum patterns, this is dance music that also works for the mind, being both progressive and innovative.

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                                  Cover of Dub Echoes DVD by Various Artists.

                                  Various Artists

                                  Dub Echoes DVD

                                  Soul Jazz

                                    This film marks both the 40th anniversary of the invention of dub and the 20th anniversary of the death of King Tubby, the genius legend of this far-reaching musical revolution. "Dub Echoes" is an amazing newly produced documentary about dub and its influence on the development of contemporary electronic music worldwide. Three years in the making and featuring an incredible array of artists – both Jamaican legends (U Roy, King Jammy, Lee Perry, Sly and Robbie, Bunny Lee, to name a few), alongside a similarly awe-inspiring array of artists who have taken dub into new directions in electronic dance music in the 21st Century (Kode9, Roots Manuva, Howie B, Adrian Sherwood) and many more. Directed by Bruno Natal and released on Soul Jazz Records, this film has already received many awards throughout the world and is hotly anticipated – a killer film that can be watched again and again.

                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                    DVD Info: The DVD comes with loads of extras and a limited-edition free poster in first 1000 copies.

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                                    Cover of 400% Dynamite by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    400% Dynamite

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    More ace ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall from the vaults, brought to us by those people who know a thing about reggae dancefloor fillers, Soul Jazz. "400% Dynamite" originally hit the shelves in 2000, and includes must-have tracks by King Tubby, U-Roy, Paris Connection, Barrington Levy ("Under Me Sensi"), The Cimarons, Prince Buster, Tener Saw & Buju Banton ("Ring The Alarm Quick"), Toots & The Maytals ("54-46 Was My Number"), General Degree and many more (15 tracks in all), taking in reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub, roots and dancehall.

                                    Tracklisting
                                    1. Bongo Herman – Chairman Of The Board
                                    2. Tenor Saw And Buju Banton – Ring The Alarm Quick
                                    3. Prince Buster – Girl, Why Don't You Answer Me
                                    4. Barrington Levy – Under Me Sensi
                                    5. Cimarons – We Are Not The Same
                                    6. Lloyd Robinson – Cuss Cuss
                                    7. King Tubby – King Tubby Dub
                                    8. Honey Boy Martin – Dreader Than Dread
                                    9. Dennis Alcapone – Cassius Clay
                                    10. Toots & The Maytals – 54-46 Was My Number
                                    11. General Degree – Pot Cover
                                    12. Paris Connection – Who's That Lady
                                    13. Granville Williams – Hi-Life
                                    14. Lynn Taitt – Soul Food
                                    15. U Roy – Stick Together

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                                    Cover of A Matter Of Scale by Secondo.

                                    Secondo

                                    A Matter Of Scale

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Secondo is Italian / Serbian producer Radovan Scasascia. Born in Zurich in 1975, his super-funky minimal discofied electronic dance music has been appearing sporadically on Soul Jazz Records since 2003 and on his own minimal electronic label Dreck Records since 2000, where he also releases the music of artists such as AM/PM, Antonelli and Strategy. Secondo's love of disco and minimal European electronic music produces a unique funky-electronic cut up style that shows his close links with the micro-house sound of Germany's Kompakt label as much his love of the New York disco labels of the late 70s and early 80s.

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                                    Cover of New Orleans Funk - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960 - 75 by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    New Orleans Funk - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960 - 75

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Funk music as a style began to emerge out of rhythm and blues in the mid 60s. As James Brown pioneered this new style in New york, other groups from round the US emerged with their own slant on the sound, none more so than in New Orleans. This southern city's already unique fusion of traditional African ritual music with jazz was then assimilated into the new funk sound. Originally released in 2000, Soul Jazz reissue this definitive collection of New Orleans funk featuring acknowledged masters of the genre (The Meters, Eddie Bo, Professor Longhair) next to some of the earlier artists who shaped the meaning of the word funk. The album is also filled with many rare, sought after and undiscovered tracks. It covers the period from the emergence of New Orleans funk in the early 1960s through to the mid 1970s. For those in any way interested in funk this record is an essential part of anyone's record collection.

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                                    Cover of Soul Jazz Records Singles 2006 - 2007 by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Soul Jazz Records Singles 2006 - 2007

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Soul Jazz Records bring together 25 tracks from singles they released between 2006 and 2007. There's acid house from Capracara, dubstep from Kode9, Digital Mystikz and Skream, minimal / tech-house from Subway, Rekid, Tetine and Matias Aguayo, punk-funk from ESG, raggaclash by Ladybug and house from JBP, plus lots more.

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                                    Cover of Private Life by Private Lives.

                                    Private Lives

                                    Private Life

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Private Lives is an acid-house tinged Italo-disco-tech joint project between UK electro gurus Ed DMX (DMX Krew) and Chris Jeffs (Cylob) for Soul Jazz Records. Both artists have a love of instrumental electro, synth-pop and techno made on vintage equipment and this unique collaboration is a new musical development for the pair, who continue to regularly perform and record separately on various labels. This twelve includes extended mix, radio edit and remix.

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                                    Cover of Studio One Dub Vol. 2 by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Studio One Dub Vol. 2

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    This album collects some of the finest dubs of tracks like Marcia Griffiths "Feel Like Jumping", The Gladiators "Watch Out", Otis Gayle's "I'll Be Around" and many more alongside super-rare dub outings and classic versions. From the late 60s Sir Clement Coxsone Dodd began including an instrumental version on the flip-side of Studio One 45s, enabling soundsystem deejays to toast over original rhythms. Incorporating dub, echo, reverb and heavy on the bass and drums, these versions have come to be as collectible as many of the original tunes. At the start of the 1970s Coxsone Dodd (and sound engineer Sylvan Morris) also released a series of classic dub albums, featuring innovative dub and mixing techniques. These albums were originally released with very-limited special silk-screen covers, again making them treasured collectors' items. "Studio One Dub 2" brings together the best tracks from both these original albums plus many rare and classic versions from Studio One's original 45's.

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                                    Cover of Rumble In The Jungle by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Rumble In The Jungle

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    This ace Soul Jazz compilation shows how the ragga-jungle sound of the early - mid 90s was more than just a short-lived phase in the development of drum and bass, but actually part of the long-running reggae sound system movement in the UK. Starting off on straight-up reggae systems like Unity, Saxon and Sir Coxsone, MCs like Asher Senator and The Ragga Twins joined the emerging underground rave scene in the late 90s, forging a link between reggae and hardcore and creating a whole new sound. When the rave scene split into happy hardcore and dark breaks, the faster, reggae-influenced jungle sound emerged as well. Featuring all-time classic jungle anthems such as General Levy's "Incredible" and UK Apachi & Shy FX's "Original Nuttah" alongside some serious heavyweight ragga tunes like Cutty Ranks "Limb By Limb" and Congo Natty's classic re-make of Barrington Levy's "Under Me Sensi" this album also includes interviews, text and original photos of the artists.

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                                    Cover of The Dalston Shroud by Sand.

                                    Sand

                                    The Dalston Shroud

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Influenced by the New york no wave / post-punk / punk-funk scene of groups like Sonic Youth, Liquid Liquid, ESG, Swans and Glenn Branca this new record by Sand has produced one of their heaviest records yet. This new album brings in a number of guest vocalists – Norwegian experimentalist artist / singer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje as well as Austrian cabaret singer Louie Austen (Kitty Yo Records) who provides a chilling vocal on the Patrick Pulsinger produced "Doctor Crop".

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                                    Cover of Dynamite! Dancehall Style Volume Two by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Dynamite! Dancehall Style Volume Two

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Soul Jazz and 100% Dynamite return with a massive slice of Jamaican / JA-influenced sounds bringing together music from the past 25 years of dancehall. The collection (spread over two separate albums or one CD) mixes up classic and rare tracks from the 80s and 90s right up to brand new material from the likes of Ladybug and other leaders of the raggaclash / electronic scene. Volume two includes tracks by Fat Eyes, Shinehead, Cecile, Lady Saw, Anthony Red Rose, King Tubby, Michigan & Smiley, Wayne Wonder, Pompidou and more.

                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                    CD Info: CD contains all the tracks from volumes one and two of the vinyl version.

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                                    Cover of Universal Mother - Boonghee Music 3 by Hu Vibrational.

                                    Hu Vibrational

                                    Universal Mother - Boonghee Music 3

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    "Universal Mother" mixes deep Afro / tribal percussion and rhythms with electronica, spiritual jazz sounds and leftfield hip hop recorded in Los Angeles. Produced by West Coast leftfield hip hop / electronic / avant-jazz artist Carlos Nino (aka AmmonContact and producer for Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio, Build An Ark and the Go:Organic Orchestra), the album features Adam Rudolph, Hamid Drake (who've between them played and recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Don Cherry and many more) and Brahim Fribgane as well as special guest and deep jazz legend Yusef Lateef.

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                                    Cover of Tropicalia - A Brazilian Revolution In Sound by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Tropicalia - A Brazilian Revolution In Sound

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    As championed by the likes of David Byrne, Beck (who took the musical template of Os Mutantes and ran with it), The Bees, Kurt Cobain, Stereolab, Sean Lennon, Tortoise and many more, Tropicalia revolutionized Brazilian music in the late 60s, mixing up psychedelic rock, avant-garde musique concrete (tape loops and sound experiments), samba, funk and soul into a truly unique combination. Against the backdrop of the most violent and repressive days of Brazilian military dictatorship, the artists on this collection created a new style of music considered so radical that both Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were seen as such a threat by the ruling junta that they were first imprisoned then finally deported. This is the first album to bring together all the artists involved in Tropicalia, including Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Gal Costa and Jorge Ben.

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                                    Cover of Studio One Roots 2 by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Studio One Roots 2

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    This album delves deeper into the vaults of the legendary Jamaican reggae label and features rare and classic roots as well as an unprecedented seven unreleased tracks that up till now have never seen the light of day. Roots and rastafarian music was being recorded at Studio One by Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd from the early 1960s upto the 1990s and this album reflects the depth and diversity of roots music at the label. From the slow-ska of Dudley Sibbley, to the deep instrumental jazz cuts of Cedric Im Brooks over classic roots rhythms such as "Satta Massagana" or Winston Mathews stunning eerie version of Bob Marley and the Wailers "Sun Is Shining", this album has loads of goodies to offer. Featuring many of the classic Studio One artists – Willie Williams, Tommy McCook, Cedric Brooks, The Gladiators, Vin Gordon – as well as lesser known singers and players, the album collects together a host of musicians who benefited from Dodd's guiding hand at the mixing desk.

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                                    Cover of Seven Types Of Six by Bell.

                                    Bell

                                    Seven Types Of Six

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Four years in the making, Bell's second album delivers analog synthesizers and digital techniques to bring us robotic arcade-system electro, twisted electro-disco and classic 808 style acid house. With tracks ranging from unremittingly catchy to dark and moody, this LP is a truly formidable electronic album. Supporters of Bell range from Andy Weatherall to Carl Craig.

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                                    Cover of Studio One Dub by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Studio One Dub

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Coxsone Dodd was making 'soft wax' dub plates for his sound system as far back as the late 50s, but it wasn't until the late 60s / early 70s, with the improvements to studio technology, that dubs as we know them today (full of echo, delay, tape rewinds and drop outs) began to be created as exclusive tools for the swelling sound system / deejay market. Included on this LP are some of Coxsone, and Studio One engineer Sylvan Morris' best dubs for the label. As with all Soul Jazz releases, you get good liner notes too (interviews with Dodd and Morris).

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                                    Cover of Beautiful: Boonghee Music 2 by Hu Vibrational.

                                    Hu Vibrational

                                    Beautiful: Boonghee Music 2

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    Hu Vibrational could be described as the all-star team from the West Coast hip hop, avant-jazz and electronica communities, as underground legends such as Daedelus and Carlos Nino AKA AmmonContact play alongside Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake (who've worked and recorded with John Coltrane's natural successor Pharoah Sanders, jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Yusef Lateef, Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Don Cherry and many more). With previous releases on Scott Heren's Eastern Developments label, they're another outfit that make links between leftfield hip hop, experimental global fusion and avant garde jazz composers. With its use of African instruments such as udu, slit and talking drums, kalimbas, bamboo flutes etc, this LP is reminisiscent of early 80s work by 23 Skidoo, Eno & Byrne etc.

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                                    Cover of The World Of Arthur Russell by Arthur Russell.

                                    Arthur Russell

                                    The World Of Arthur Russell

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    A classically trained musician (who nearly joined Talking Heads), Russell was inspired by what he heard at The Loft and Paradise Garage in the mid to late 70s, and began creating some of the most experimental disco records around. As Dinosaur L and Loose Joints (with Steve D'Aquisto) he recorded (at Bob Blank's studio) and produced hundreds of TOTALLY improvised tracks, with continuous recording sessions of single tracks often lasting all day and night. Included in this ace Soul Jazz collection of Russell's productions (compiled by Nuphonic's Dave Hill) are Larry Levan's rework of Loose Joints' "Is It All Over My Face", Dinosaur L's "Go Bang!" and "In The Cornbelt" (also a Levan Mix), his work with Blank's wife Lola on "Wax The Van", Walter Gibbons' mix of Indian Ocean's "Schoolbell / Treehouse" and some of his mellower non-disco Balearic-frindly solo work (check out the 13 minue epic that is "In The Light Of The Miracle"!). Genius.

                                    STAFF COMMENTS

                                    David says: It's a little known fact that it's impossible to get a job in a record shop, unless you're an Arthur Russell fan. His experimentation with the music he'd been introduced to at Nick Siano's Gallery in the early eighties led to some of the era's defining moments as Loose Joints.

                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                    3xLP Info: CD comes with detailed and fascinating sleeve notes.

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                                    Cover of British Hustle - The Sound Of British Jazz-Funk 1974 - 1982 by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    British Hustle - The Sound Of British Jazz-Funk 1974 - 1982

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    For this brilliant compilation, Soul Jazz bring us a mix of crossover hits, LP tracks and rarities from the UK jazz-funk scene's golden era. Many of these acts formed in the early / mid 70s, influenced by funk, soul and jazz-funk coming out of the States, but eventually created a sound that was massive on both sides of the pond. Included here are Hi-Tension "British Hustle", Freez "Southern Freeze", Atmosfear "Dancing In Outer Space" (bet ya didn't know that they were a UK group did you!), Beggar & Co's mega-uplifting "Somebody Help Me Out", Imagination's house influencing piano stormer "Burning Up" and killers by Gonzalez, The Real Thing (the amazing "Children Of The Ghetto"), Heatwave, Light Of The World, Kandidate etc.

                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                    CD Info: As with all Soul Jazz releases, there's well researched notes in the booklet for this CD.

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                                    Cover of Step Off by ESG.

                                    ESG

                                    Step Off

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    The Scroggins sisters (and daughters!) are back with another brilliant LP - their first in ten years! I was worried that they might have gone all muso and polished on us, but needn't have bothered 'cos they still have a loose, funky, percussive sound (if a bit deeper and more stripped down) that's not a million miles away from their early 80s classics. In fact Martin thinks they sound more like an early 80s Factory label band than ever! Already one of my favourite LPs of 2002. I heart ESG!!!

                                    FORMAT INFORMATION

                                    2xLP Info: Limited edition LP is pressed on super loud-cut double vinyl.

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                                    Cover of Hustle! by Various Artists.

                                    Various Artists

                                    Hustle!

                                    Soul Jazz

                                    This compilation has gone straight into my bag to take home, and is sure to be at the front of my box for a very long time! Can you think of anything better than reggae cover versions of disco records? No, of course you can't! Recorded in Jamaica and England in the late 70s / early 80s, the tracks covered include "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "I'm Every Woman", "Upside Down", "Rapper's Delight", "Ring My Bell" and "Be Thankful For What You've Got". Brilliant!

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