CHIP WICKHAM | DERRICK HODGE | LIV.E | OTIS SANDSJÖ | KEPLER IS FREE

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.

On the week that the historic English town of Leicester got locked down all on its own, despite being geographically practically bang centre in the middle of the country (poor buggers), 45 RPM returns with five new future jazz tracks that will never be contained.

And so, my tortured link for introducing each of this Offensive’s selections will celebrate all that Leicester is famous for… yes, this was the most research-intensive part of my work this week.

Kicking us off like famous large-eared footy player and Walkers crisp fanatic, Gary Lineker is Chip Wickham. The Mancunian reedsman serves up some trad jazz with all the finesse of Lineker’s on-pitch activities (but less of the public defecation) on Route One. That’s your Charm Offensive choice.

As brutal an assault on the eardrums as a pork pie is to the tastebuds on Christmas morning, seasoned bass player Derrick Hodge provides your Military Coup. The track in question is the awesome jazz-blast that is Color of Noise.

Hiding greatness under its ASDA car-park exterior – just like good ol’ Dicky 3 – is Dallas artist Liv.e. Her track, Lessons From My Mistakes… But I Lost Your Number is a schooling in the fast-forming new tradition of jazz/rap and that’s why it’s your Peaceful Protest.

More complicated than discovering DNA fingerprinting, but just as essential is your Guerrilla Warfare selection this week. That comes from Swedish superfreak Otis Sandsjö and his mixed-up melange of jazz, electronica and much besides, Tremendoce.

And finally, taking us to the stars in an even less tangible way than Leicester’s National Space Centre has ever managed to do is Greek jazz collective Kepler is Free. Their track Cluster 3 is, quite simply celestial magical.

And so, my friends, if any of those descriptions tempt you to break social distancing etiquette with these tracks, feel free to…

HEAR MORE HERE

CHIP WICKHAM: ROUTE ONE
DERRICK HODGE: COLOR OF NOIZE
LIV.E: LESSONS FROM MY MISTAKES… BUT I LOST YOUR NUMBER
OTIS SANDSJÖ: TREMENDOCE
KEPLER IS FREE: CLUSTER 3

CEASE-FIRE

You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the Future Jazz Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

Until next time, love and noise.

– SV –