JOSIAH STEINBRICK | HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE | AVISHAI COHEN | LUEDJI LUNA | BLACK THOUGHT + SCHOOLBOY Q | HAAI | AZMARI | WALDO’S GIFT | SARATHY KORWAR + UPAJ COLLECTIVE | ACTRESS

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.

In the week that the UK experienced an ‘African Heat Bulge’ (not, apparently, a dodgy 70s blue movie) 45 RPM returns with 10 tracks that are sure to get you hot under the collar.

This week’s Future Jazz Offensive features new music from Actress, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Sarathy Korwar and Black Thought + ScHoolboy Q.

We’ve also got some tracks you might not have heard from and Aussie DJ whose genre I’ve dubbed ‘psycho’delia and a Belgian sextet who are probably being chased down by a pretty psychopathic person named ‘Ari’ as we speak.

And so, my friends, if you any of that provokes bulges of a strictly non-meteorological nature, then, by all means, here more here: Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud.

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RECONNAISANCE

– 00:00 –

JOSIAH STEINBRICK – FULL BLOOM

HANDS IN THE DARK
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American composer, Josiah Steinbrick returned this year with the excellently titled album “Liquid / Devotion & Tongue Street Blue”. ‘Full Bloom’ is a beautiful mix of polyrhythmic percussion and 80s bass sounds that people under the age of, like, 33 simply won’t get.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Sad Nudes’ by Group Listening.

– 02:28 –

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE – INDIGO

PHEELCO RECORDS
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To paraphrase a very wise man (Ian Wright), if the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble were a human being, they’d be John Travolta walking down the road in Saturday Night Fever. And now the seven brothers from the south side of Chicago return with their sixth studio album ‘Bad Boys of Jazz’, from which ‘Indigo’ comes.
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If you like this check out my review of Reacher by HUMMUCIDE.

– 07:08 –

AVISHAI COHEN – A MOMENT IN TIME

NAïVE
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Israeli bass player Avishai Cohen combines jazz and the distinct melodies of his home country on the energetic stand-alone single, ‘A Moment in Time’. It’ll be one of my favourite tracks to drum to once I can work out what bloody time signature it’s in.
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If you like this check out my review of Moth by Cassowary.

– 10:25 –

LUEDJI LUNA – AIN’T I A WOMAN?

SELF RELEASED
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Cheeky rhythmic shifts, dub sensibilities, a great vocal performance and a hint of good ol’ Latin sass comes out on ‘Ain’t I A Woman?’ – another superb slice from Luedji Luna’s latest record ‘Bom Mesmo É Estar Debaixo D’Água’.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Source’ by Nubya Garcia.

– 13:55 –

BLACK THOUGHT + SCHOOLBOY Q – STEAK UM

UMG RECORDINGS
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Black Thought combines with German-born, LA-based ScHoolboy Q on ‘Steak Um’ – a track from The Roots’ rapper’s new album ‘Streams Of Thoughts Vol. 3: Cane and Abel’. Heavy vibes combine with heavy diatribes and vocal dexterity.
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If you like this check out my review of The Gates by Aesop Rock.

– 17:21 –

HAAI – HEAD ABOVE THE PARAKEETS

MUTE
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I like to describe Aussie DJ and producer, Teneil Throssell (AKA Haai)’s music as ‘psycho’delia. Trippy music for people who enjoy pulling the legs off insects. One-by-one. ‘Head Above the Parakeets’ comes from her second Mute EP of (pretty much) the same name.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Forwaradism’ by Rival Consoles.

– 23:57 –

AZMARI – FAT ARI

SDBAN ULTRA
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Belgian sextet, Azmari were already a heady mix of ethiogroove, dub, psychfunk and eastern sounds BEFORE they spent 10-days in Istanbul in which they had their “ears [opened] to the Turkish sounds and rhythms from the 1960s”. So we can expect the album that has resulted from said sabbatical – ‘Samā’ī’ (to be released 22 January) – to be pretty far out. ‘Fat Ari’ is the first single to be released from the record and, what it lacks in nomenclative charm, it more than makes up for in musical charisma.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Future Flora’ by Black Flower.

– 29:18 –

WALDO’S GIFT – THE HUT

BLACK ACRE
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Waldo’s Gift first came to my attention a few months ago when their track ‘Bergson’ was released on the Worm Discs Compilation, “New Horizons; A Bristol Jazz Sound”. Follow-up, ‘The Hunt’ (from an EP of the same name) shows the band reaching similarly epic proportions, channeling their inner Mogwai, Roni Size and GoGo Penguin into a cosmic ball of frenetic, fantastic rage.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Deep Blue’ by Têtes de Pois.

– 32:49 –

SARATHY KORWAR + UPAJ COLLECTIVE – ELEPHANT HANGOVER

NIGHT DREAMER
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Night Dreamer’s ‘Direct-to-Disc’ Sessions are always a treat. But never more so that when they feature one of the finest and most in-form musicians of the era, London drummer Sarathy Korwar and his Upaj Collective. If ‘Elephant Hangover’ sounds like the sort of name they came up with on the spot, that’s probably because the entire session was completely improvised and recorded in one take. And all the energy and imagination of the event has been committed to tape here.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Inner Space’ by Danalogue + Sarathy Korwar.

– 37:40 –

ACTRESS – PUBLIC LIFE

NINJA TUNE
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Wolverhampton electronic artist Darren Cunningham’s latest album under the guise of Actress, ‘Karma and Desire’ is a challenging listen in all the right ways; one that is always on the edge of accessible without ever sacrificing it’s vision and sheer audacity in the quest for tunes. ‘Public Life’, featuring Italian pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell, is a good ‘way in’ for this must-hear album.
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If you like this check out my review of ‘Like’ by Duval Timothy + Vegyn.

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 –