According to the legendary Studio One Records Bandcamp site, “Geraldine “Jerry” Jones arrived in Kingston in May of 1970 to perform at the Miss Jamaica International Model Pageant held at the Hotel Kingston. She would also appear at the House of Chen, VIP Club, Hotel Flamingo, Runaway Bay Hotel and Continue Reading
Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen – The Bass in the Background
Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen was a phenomenal jazz bassist originally out of Roskilde, Denmark. He was good enough to be drafted by Count Basie’s touring band but had to reject it due to age restrictions. Imagine working with pianists like Kenny Drew, Tete Montoliu, Lee Konitz, Dexter Gordon, Palle Mikkelborg, Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916-30
Ian Nagoski’s stunningly and consistently impressive Canary Records releases a giant collection of songs from immigrants of the, by then, collapsing Ottoman Empire. These songs span the time period between the First World War and the Great Depression, and are lovingly transferred and curated by Nagoski, whom you can hear Continue Reading
Merema – Kezeren Koiht (Ancient Custom)
Out beloved friends at CPL-Music have released another fascinating album of Russian folk music! Merema hail from Saransk, which is the capital of Russia’s autonomous Republic of Mordovia. The music is beautifully documented by CPL Records and the documentary work of professor Ekaterina Modina. The tones of the voices are Continue Reading
Bester Quartet – Piazzolla Angels
Poland’s For-Tune Records have been consistently releasing high-quality jazz and improv music for some time now, but their latest has a special place for me. This collection, with the exception of Por Una Cabeza (composed by Carlos Gardel) was composed by the inimitable Ástor Piazzólla and arranged Bester Quartet leader Continue Reading
Taphephobia & IDFT – Kandu
For the Halloween season, our friends at Reverse Alignment Records (now run by the Unexplained Sounds Group Empire) out of Sweden and Italy have released an album which has roughly the same spirit as such post-Industrial/dark ambient musicians as Lustmord or Steve Roach. Taphephobia is the brainchild of Norwegian composer Continue Reading
Circuit des Yeux – -io
The name Circuit des Yeux has come across the laptop several times over the past year, and each review and interview (see this one at The Quietus) raved about her work, so I decided to give it a listen. It was, undoubtedly, a rewarding experience. Haley Fohr is the singer Continue Reading
Various Artists – NYP Records: Mukambo presents Global Afrobeat Movement 2
The first time I had the pleasure of hearing Afrobeat was in Skopje, Macedonia, of all places. There isn’t a lot of variance to the music on this comp, though there are a few gems on this comp, but I have to be honest – how do you better Fela Continue Reading
Fallen – Ljós
Italian artist Lorenzo Bracaloni composes under the name The Child of A Creek / Fallen, and this release on ROHS! Records is quite a treat for fans of ethereal music. It reminds me deeply of when Harold Budd collaborated with the Cocteau Twins, but in an instrumental form. A truly calming Continue Reading
Flora Yin-Wong – Holy Palm
After coming across an interview over at The Quietus with the London based composer Flora Yin-Wong, I wasn’t quite sure of what to make of her work. The new album they discussed, Holy Palm sounded fascinating, less so by the interviewer’s rather tepid questions but more so by the evocative Continue Reading