• Music

    Various Artists – The Congregation – Jazz Alliance International

    February 21, 2024 - By 

    Right Tempo Records is celebrating 30 years of existence, putting out some of the swankiest jazz imaginable, finely represented by the Easy Tempo and Tempo Jazz compilations, considered to be classics by connoisseurs of finer music.  Imagine my shock to see that the label was finally releasing material on Bandcamp, and hitting a home run on the first digital platter, which will be available on March 1. Currently, four tracks are available for listening, are all are sublime.  Starting with Yellowtail feat. Mark Murphy – Seasons In My Mind (Patchworks Version), an unreleased track featuring Murphy in lounge mode, making…

  • Music

    Nicola Conte – Umoja

    June 8, 2023 - By 

    My friends, mark your calendars for June 30, 2023.  This is the date that Italian DJ/bandleader/impresario and all-around man of good taste Nicola Conte releases his latest album under the banner of  Far Out Recordings, who have never let me down on a single release all these years. As Nicola’s music spreads to all corners of the globe, rather than having me describe it to you, let us start with who’s on this platter: Zara Mcfarlane – Lead Vocals On Arise/life Forces/freedom & Progress Bridgette Amofah – Lead Vocals On Dance Of Love & Peace/soul Of The People/flying Circles Myles…

  • Music

    John Patton – Soul Connection

    April 25, 2022 - By 

    Big John Patton was a legendary jazz keyboardist and master of the Hammond B-3 organ.  This session, released by Nilva Records originally, was criminally hidden away, but thanks to Jazz Room Records, it’s getting not only a second life, but it’s led to a further appreciation of Patton’s abilities.  A killer groove-laden album, indeed.

  • Music - Uncategorized

    Various Artists – Mainstream Funk: Funk, Soul, Spiritual Jazz 1971-1975

    January 28, 2022 - By 

    From the label’s Bandcamp site: Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad’s formidable label Mainstream Records, to present a selection of 12 turntable-friendly tracks recorded between 1971 and 1975 and showcasing the label’s superb blend of Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Soul by the likes of Buddy Terry, Sarah Vaughan, LaMont Johnson and Johnny Coles. Most of the tracks are released on vinyl for the first time since their original release in the early 70s. What makes this comp so incredibly tasty is the heavy spiritual jazz vibe crossing wires with Melodie’s that easily evoke singers like Marvin Gaye’s most crucial…

  • Music

    Evgeny Ponomarev Quartet – Clockwise

    December 14, 2021 - By 

    I can’t say for sure if Evgeny Ponomarev’s 2021 release, Clockwise, counts as spiritual jazz, but it is holding it’s own as one of the best jazz releases of the year.  Ponomarev plays piano, and is solidly supported by a large cast, incuding: Andrey Polovko — tenor saxophone (1-6), soprano saxophone (2) Grigory Voskoboynik — double bass Peter Mikheev — drums (1-6), percussion (1,4) Pavel Ilushin — guitar (4) Peter Vostokov — cornet (2) Anton Gimazetdinov — trombone, tuba (2)

  • Music

    Various Artists – Pyramid Pieces 2

    November 10, 2021 - By 

    This is a comp we won’t have to wait too terribly long for.  The Roundtable is a record label out of Melbourne, Australia which documents some phenomenal jazz from down under.  Apparently, the first installment of Pyramid Pieces was a tour-de-force of Australian spiritual jazz, and the comp sold briskly, introducing the world to Jazz Co/Op, the Brian Brown Quintet, the Alan Lee Quartet and others.  In this installment, new names such as Allan Zavod (whose track is the only one available to sample currently), The Charlie Munro, Out To Lunch and several others.  My limited exposure to Aussie jazz…