AMBIENT JAZZ ENSEMBLE | JANELLE MONÁE | SNAZZBACK | RICK SIMPSON | AFEL BOCOUM | BOB MOSES | IGOR KOGAN | CHARLIE BEREAL | MARIA CHIARA ARGIRÓ + JAMIE LEEMING | EYOT

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.

In the week that Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson reminded us all about the ‘Joy of Six’ (and now that book will never be the same again), 45 RPM gathers up 10 tracks (all socially distanced, of course) so sexy, they’re practically promising to show you everything except their mouths. The sluts.

This week’s Future Jazz Offensive contains new music from Janelle Monáe [pictured], Maria Chiara Argiró and Bob Moses.

We’ve also got some songs you might not have heard from a Serbian prog-jazz band with a slightly worrying case of atrial fibrillation, a(nother) Bristol-based band who are very tasty indeed and a track that could potentially make Radiohead fans happy (as much as anything does, eh?)

And so, my friends, if you any of that sounds like a musical Kama Sutra to you, by all means, here more here: Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud.

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RECONNAISANCE

– 00:00 –

AMBIENT JAZZ ENSEMBLE – BREAK THE NIGHT WITH SILENCE

HERE AND NOW RECORDINGS
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The BBC Concert Orchestra & The City Of Prague Philharmonic conductor, Colin Baldry releases the first single from an upcoming album. ‘Break the Night with Silence’ is insanely epic, intensely energetic and crammed full of rich African flavours, echoing Everyday-era Cinematic Orchestra (and there can be no greater praise).
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If you like this try ‘Blend’ by Submotion Orchestra.

– 4:20 –

JANELLE MONÁE – TURNTABLES

BAD BOY RECORDS
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My favourite female in all of music (ignore the Maria Chiara Argiró stuff written below) returns with a single taken from a new Amazon series on voter suppression and, as we all know, Ms. Monáe is never better than when she’s angry. ‘Turntables’ is full fat attitude without losing any of her signature style.
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If you like this try ‘Made It’ by Teyana Taylor.

– 7:02 –

SNAZZBACK – YUM YUM

WORM DISCS
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Who knew Bristol was such a hotbed of fresh new jazz bands? Well, local label Worm Discs did and that’s why they put together the compilation album, “New Horizons; A Bristol Jazz Sound” from which, this is the second track I’ve featured. Eight-piece, Snazzback manage to cram all sorts of Middle-Eastern vibes, electronica influences and nu-soul cool into the genre-blasting smorgasbord that is ‘Yum Yum’. And yes, (inevitable pun incoming) it’s fucking delicious.
–
If you like this try ‘Bergson’ by Waldo’s Gift.

– 14:20 –

RICK SIMPSON – EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

WHIRLWIND RECORDS
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Few albums have been as influential on my musical tastes as Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ so, when I heard that pianist and composer Rick Simpson was making a jazz version of the seminal electronic LP to mark the 20th anniversary of its release I was simultaneously excited to hear the tracks done in a fresh way and also fucking terrified that they could be destroyed. I needn’t have worried; lead-off single ‘Everything in Its Right Place’ retains the original’s melodic thrust while pushing the song in new directions. Pretty sure it’d even (nearly) make Thom Yorke smile and all.
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If you like this try ‘No Church in the Wild’ by Mike Casey.

– 17:04 –

AFEL BOCOUM – DAKAMANA

WORLD CIRCUIT RECORDS
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Malian songwriter and guitarist Afel Bokoum released his album ‘Lindé’ last week. One of the singles is this piece, a plea to his countrymen to unite (the country has been brought to its knees in recent years by jihad, poverty and tribal war) accented tastefully by trombone of Vin Gordon. For fans of Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté.
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If you like this try ‘South Sudan’ by Gordon Koang.

– 21:22 –

BOB MOSES – OUTLIER

DOMINO
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The usually summery Canadian electronica duo Bob Moses present a new single that is something of an ‘outlier’ in their own catalogue – a track that’s darker than the night and twice as deadly. It comes from a new EP which is called ‘Desire’ and is being touted as “a concept record for the club”. If only I held any hopes of ever being allowed back into a nightclub ever again, I’d be looking forward to experiencing said EP in its natural environment.
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If you like this try ‘UN Sanctions’ by Pluralist and Rex Domino.

– 26:09 –

IGOR KOGAN – QWERTY AKA FALSE START

SELF-RELEASED
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My wife tells me the music I like is too ‘busy’ for her. I don’t know what she could possibly be referring to. Anyway, ‘Qwerty AKA False Start’ hails from a debut studio album by Igor Kogan called ‘In a Big City’ which features all the hustle and bustle of the Russian, Isreali and American metropolises in which the bass player grew up. Special mention to drummer Matthew Baker here… have a listen and you’ll know why.
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If you like this try ‘Fuck’M’ by QNA + Theo Croker.

– 33:43 –

CHARLIE BEREAL – WALK THE STREETS OF LOVE

BEREALENT
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I don’t know how to pronounce this lad’s last name (‘be real’? ‘berr-ee-al’?); all I do know is that he makes the sort of old-school soul that Raphael Saadiq, Mayor Hawthorne and about a million of your favourite 70s artists make. ‘Walk the Streets of Love’ is the latest and tastiest new track from the Pastor-Funk prodigy.
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If you like this try ‘Something Keeps Callin’’ by Raphael Saadiq.

– 37:05 –

MARIA CHIARA ARGIRÓ + JAMIE LEEMING – KŌSETSU

CAVALO RECORDS
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My favourite female in all of music (ignore the Janelle Monáe stuff written above) returns with a second collaboration with guitarist Jamie Lemming (if you like this, definitely check out the first, a chilling cover of James Blake’s ‘Retrograde’). ‘Kōsetsu’ is Japanese for “falling snow” and rarely has a name been so evocative of that which it depicts. Damn it, now I can’t wait for it to be winter! The track is taken from the duo’s upcoming debut album ‘Flow’ which is due for release October 16th.
–
If you like this try Nautilus by Maria Chiara Argiró.

– 41:30 –

EYOT – HEARTBEAT

ROPEADOPE
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Serbian jazz band, Eyot describe the 5/8, 7/8 and 9/8 time-signatures that litter their new album 557799 (out October 23) as being “the basics of the Balkan traditional music” and therefore (more poetically, I suppose) their “heartbeat”. Of course, if you had an actual heartbeat so irregular, you’d probs wanna see a doctor about that! Saying this, that psych-prog-rock outro gives me heart palpitations in all the right ways!
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If you like this try ‘Flood’ by Snarky Puppy.

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 –