Name: Moving Circles by Bastard Jazz
Duration: 2 min 41 s
Description: “Moving Circles” is a walk across the desert—a conversation between friends in the heat, where sharp guitar lines meet smooth trumpet tones. Producer-composer-instrumentalists Jack Barone and Andy Baxter (Robohands) dive into eastern-inspired psychedelia, fusing ancient scales with synths and modern techniques to create something both timeless and new.

Peace Lily

Stream 'Opium Lounge' now : https://bfan.link/opium-lounge-1

Wrapped in waves of smoke, Opium Lounge is an enchanting ballad where Rachel Kitchlew's harp beautifully merges with the brass and guitars of SHOLTO and Dave Bardon. This single, imbued with a cinematic atmosphere, combines complex improvisations and sophisticated arrangements, characteristic of her eclectic musical approach. The fluid, shifting rhythm evokes the gallop of a horse in the English countryside, creating a captivating atmosphere. With her work spanning from Glastonbury to film scores, Rachel blends an atmospheric ambiance with modern jazz influences.

Flirty Ghost

Opium Lounge

Rachel Kitchlew & SFJ (ft. SHOLTO & David Bardon) - Opium Lounge

Stream 'Mammone' now : https://bfan.link/mammone

Rachel Kitchlew unveils Mammone, the first single from her debut album, a haunting UK jazz ballad where melancholic harp and ethereal guitar weave a journey of mystery and nostalgia. Emerging from late nights at SFJ HQ (SHOLTO and Dave Bardon’s band), it captures raw spontaneity and self-expression, honoring personal memories and the beauty of playing music with friends. With Mammone, she pushes acoustic jazz into a deeply evocative, timeless realm.

Mammone

Rachel Kitchlew & SFJ (ft. SHOLTO & David Bardon) - Mammone

https://brintex-collective.bandcamp.com/track/3454-thoughts

Brintex Collective - '3454 (thoughts) feat. Ranie Ribeiro)'

Listen everywhere: https://idol-io.ffm.to/sholto-abase-david-bardon
Buy the 45 on Bandcamp: https://sholto2.bandcamp.com/album/sholto-a-ba-se-david-bardon-metropolis-the-right-orchid
Listen to the DeepMatter Catalogue: https://tinyurl.com/dm-catalogue


The Right Orchid

Listen everywhere: https://idol-io.ffm.to/yesterdays-princess-bygone
Pre-order the EP on Bandcamp: https://yesterdaysprincess.bandcamp.com/album/tomorrows-yearning
Listen to the DeepMatter Catalogue: https://tinyurl.com/dm-catalogue

Pre-order the EP

Bygone

“Moving Circles” is a walk across the desert—a conversation between friends in the heat, where sharp guitar lines meet smooth trumpet tones. Producer-composer-instrumentalists Jack Barone and Andy Baxter (Robohands) dive into eastern-inspired psychedelia, fusing ancient scales with synths and modern techniques to create something both timeless and new.

Moving Circles

This one was an unexpected treat. Two of our favourite contemporary musicians, Finn Rees & Sholto coming together and collaborating on a double dose of celestial, cinematic alchemy.

At Mr Bongo we are massive admirers of drummer, musician, and producer Sholto (Oscar Robertson). His two albums on Funk Night Records and DeepMatter Records, had both been highlights of their respective years. We’d gotten to know Oscar and sent him a few records. Included in the package was Australian pianist-composer Finn Rees’ debut album, Dawn Is A Melody, which was one of our favourite releases on Mr Bongo in 2024.

In Oscar's words 'For me it was a standout modern jazz record - encapsulating a spiritual / hazy dreamy soundscape which hugely resonated with me. Glissando keys and harp with lush melodies, I was instantly intrigued.”  

The pair started following each other online and as luck would have it, Finn was staying in London for the summer season, so they arranged to meet. The pair instantly clicked and said it felt like they'd known each other for years. After 40 minutes of chatting, they started to jam. 

'Love In Memory' and 'Bluebell' were recorded over two days - a track a day in Oscar's SFJ studios. Laid down on mostly analogue equipment, the pair utilised Wurlitzer’s, mellotrons, and ribbon mics through Oscar’s ‘70s Studer desk. Composed and crafted without any real intentions, other than a shared appreciation for the same style of music and approach, the tracks started to take shape. The results were as lush, nostalgic and textured as you’d expect from these two brilliant musicians, with a classical feel inspired by artists such as Piero Piccioni, Piero Umiliani, and Henry Mancini. 

For the beautiful string arrangements, the pair recruited the talents of Sholto's long-time friend and collaborator Clementine Brown (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) and Matthew Hayes of 30/70, Allysha Joy, Xpress Point, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange fame, was brought in to play bass on 'Bluebell'.

So here we have it, a chance collaborative project built on two musicians' mutual respect for each other's outputs. The result is truly breathtaking.


Finn Rees & Sholto - Love In Memory

The first single to be taken from СОЮЗ (SOYUZ)'s enthralling fourth album KROK, sees the release of the emotive and personal title track. “Krok” means “step” in Belarusian - and for Alex Chumak and his band this word comes with a lot of meaning. It’s a theme running throughout the album, reflecting the journeys the band has navigated in recent years. 
 
In early 2022, Chumak and original members, Mikita Arlou and Anton Nemahai, joined tens of thousands of Belarusians seeking safety from the political unrest in their homeland and the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Resettling in Warsaw, the band released Force of the Wind in October 2022, garnering widespread acclaim, a string of major European gigs, and led to Polish musicians Albert Karch and Igor Wiśniewski joining the band.
 
Embracing the uncertainty became both the inspiration and main lyrical theme for Alex Chumak, SOYUZ’ composer and arranger. ‘Krok’ was one of the initial songs written for the new album and was the first to feature lyrics. It paved the way for Chumak to find the new poetic language on the record - for the first time in his native Belarusian language. Chumak demoed the song whilst he was still in Minsk in early 2022, and then, as he and his band moved to Poland, he continued developing it. In September 2024, together with other songs, Alex took it on a trip to São Paulo, where he recorded it with the help of his longtime friend and collaborator Sessa and extraordinary musicians Biel Basile and Marcelo Cabral.
 
It is a song about transition and migration, in which this act is poetically reduced to “a step” – into the unknown and unexplored. While singing about it, Chumak also makes a step forward musically. He delivers his very atypical view on samba, which doesn’t pretend to sound Brazilian. A strict yet loose rhythm section is covered with layers of tense acoustic guitars, aleatoric piano lines, and a lush yet restrained arrangement for strings and flutes.
 
This ethereal opening track is taster of the magic to come from СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) new career-defining album.


Крок / Krok

'Dersen Cafe' & 'Give Nothing' taken from the album 'Roulette' - out on 3 October
Pre-order a copy via lnk.to/alfamist_roulette  

Dersen Cafe
Written by: Alfa Sekitoleko
Produced by: Alfa Mist
Recorded & Mixed at: Invada 
Mixed by: Alfa Mist 
Engineer & Additional mixing: Stuart Matthews
Mastered by: Guy at Electric Mastering 
Alfa Sekitoleko - Keys, Synths, String Arrangement, Production, Vocals
Kaya Thomas-Dyke - Double Bass
Samuel Rapley - Sax/Bass Clarinet
Johnny Woodham - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Jamie Leeming - Guitar
Jamie Houghton - Drums

Give Nothing 
Written by: Alfa Sekitoleko
Produced by: Alfa Mist
Recorded & Mixed at: Invada 
Mixed by: Alfa Mist 
Engineer & Additional mixing: Stuart Matthews
Mastered by: Guy at Electric Mastering 
Alfa Sekitoleko - Keys, Synths, String Arrangement, Production, Vocals
Kaya Thomas-Dyke - Double Bass
Samuel Rapley - Sax/Bass Clarinet
Johnny Woodham - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Jamie Leeming - Guitar
Jamie Houghton - Drums



Give Nothing

When The Expansions self released their first single in 2013, the laid-back jazz funk of Lavender, it quickly gained strong support from soul and rare-groove aficionados including Kenny Dope, Dom Servini, Patrick Forge and Andy Smith. A run of shows followed and before long, when someone was asking if there was a soul-jazz band around to play with, “The Expansions” was the answer. 

Although this popularity meant a hiatus in releasing music, the band have been constantly busy, playing around Europe with legendary British-Ghanaian soul singer, Andrew Ashong and the exceptional, upcoming talent Connie Constance. 

There has also been a breakout project from drummer Jonny Drop - the album Sub Plot gained massive support and love from BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne. While keys-man Dave Koor has been busy playing shows with Gilles Peterson favourite Hector Plimmer, Shaun Escoffery, and Ego Ella May, improvising with Yussef Dayes (Yussef Kamaal) and Nubya Garcia, releasing music as Deoke and collaborating with label-mate Scrimshire on their Modified Man exploration. 

But always, The Expansions has remained a central focus and the true home of these four jazz and soul lovers, with occasional trips out to the country to form ideas and practice new music for the eventual album. 

Murmuration, recorded over three days at Big Noise in Southend, is constructed of single takes, with minimal overdubs, as the band attempt to capture the feeling and energy they create live. 

Debut single Breakthrough introduced the insanely catchy but deeply soulful blend of synths and groove, but here on the album that is explored to the fullest with longer breakdowns and more expansive, experimental solos. Pocket 5 displays the, possibly unexpected, influences of broken beat and almost combative rhythm playing – particularly in the complex guitar and keys breakdown where Koor and O’Keefe layer conflicting time signatures and battle to ride it out to the heavy drum return. 

Cannonball brings warm mellowness that delicately evolves through beats, touching on bossas alongside their fundamental hip-hop sensibilities. But even here there is a raucous zenith before the band sublimely recede into the silence of the a-side ending. 

Colossal album highlight Ivory Mountain is truly an epic. Evoking moments of 4Hero, there is a lightness of groove in the first half of this soulful exploration. But at the halfway point, all restraint is let go as a live string section joins the four quarters of the band for three glorious minutes of soulful disco. Evoking sounds of Quincy Jones, George Benson and Johnny Hammond, all the way through to a beautifully cacophonous finale. 

Dragonfly undoubtedly reflects on the work of Herbie Hancock and is the most direct throwback to the band’s earlier work, which is a welcome marker of how far they have come. A quintessential jazz funker. 

The album closes with the thoughtful and introverted shuffle of Miles Away. In the final eight minutes of Murmuration, The Expansions allow space and time to take precedence, with once-more-restrained peaks and developments. It becomes clear though, that the band cannot resist one last explosive finale, as they rise with screeching synths, strings and dubs for a perfect race to the finish line. 

You can hear the influences of Idris Muhammad, Grover Washington, even parallels with South London peers Yussef Kamaal and Ruby Rushton. But The Expansions have tirelessly worked to create a sound of their own and are very proud, along with label Albert’s Favourites, to finally share it.

Murmuration

Miles Away

Brooklyn boutique record label. Purveyors of fine beats worldwide.

Moving Circles

Bastard Jazz

Recent comments

David Alexander

Related tracks