This drew me in!  Makes me want to know more.

BBE Music is thrilled to announce the release of Modern Love, a diverse compendium of specially commissioned cover versions of rarities and classics in tribute to David Bowie.

Featuring an array of artists such as Jeff Parker, We Are KING, Meshell Ndegeocello, Helado Negro, Khruangbin, Matthew Tavares, Nia and more, Modern Love seeks to champion Bowie’s lesser-known connection to soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel. The prominent jazz influences throughout Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, were a key inspiration for curating this collection of reimagined Bowie songs with these artists. The resulting album is an eclectic tribute featuring a group of artists who not only fit together creatively, but who, like Bowie, straddle different worlds musically, with soul and jazz at their core.

Modern Love offers a fresh look at Bowie’s trailblazing career, aiming to highlight the often overlooked relationship between his back catalogue and musical genres traditionally pioneered by artists of color. The project was curated by music executive and DJ Drew McFadden, alongside BBE Music founder Peter Adarkwah. “I felt that the connection between Bowie and R&B, jazz, funk, gospel and all things soulful, had never really been explored before — at least not so much in covers, which tend to lean more towards rock and pop,” says McFadden. “Certainly, there’s been plenty of Bowie covers over the years, but none that have really tapped into what seems to have been a big part of his core musical
style and direction.”

Modern Love is an interactive sonic map. Here, seventeen artists make their way into the varied regions of his sundry catalog and circle back with seventeen unique re-imaginings of both his cornerstone and lesser-known tracks. Some, in atmosphere, feel like a sly alternate take from original sessions (Khruangbin’s ethereal, funk infused version of “Right” from Young Americans); others nod at the source, then wink before diving into the deep waters of another musical stratosphere (Sessa’s sexy Tropicalia-drenched “Panic in Detroit” from Aladdin Sane). Still others take tunes down to the studs and then re-arrange the moody interiors: Meshell Ndegeocello’s pensive “Fantastic Voyage” from Lodger and Tavares’ clever take on “Heroes” which is restructured into a kinetic hardbop-esque backdrop, fronted by ice-cool, held-back vocals. The bullseye these artists aim for is Bowie’s fearlessness. “Fame was an incredible bluff that worked,” he once reflected. “Very flattering. I’ll do anything until I fail. And when I succeed I quit too.”

Modern Love packs us off on a journey that balances on risk’s sharp blade. Track-to-track, it explores what happens when a musician throws out notions of should and safe and stretches beyond the known. These artists use Bowie both as a guide and a prism: A way of being and seeing. Their offerings, widely divergent, explore the inheritance from an artist who freed himself from labels, genres and, consequently, pigeonholes. While he was at it, he decimated fixed notions about territory (or terra) itself; boundaries hemmed-in his creative process, but his essence remained free to roam. He may have vanished in earthly form, yet, as he also promised in the lyrics of “Modern Love,” But I never wave bye-bye . . .” This compilation assures us that his spirit swirls around us. His force is alive to all of us and, here, it is summoned with an incantation that celebrates possibility.

Miguel Atwood Ferguson - Life On Mars

TR175 - Steve Noble / Farida Amadou with Yoni Silver - 'Space 111' [sample]

Personnel
Quin Kirchner - drums, percussion, kalimba, sampler, wurlitzer
Nick Broste - trombone
Nate Lepine - tenor saxophone, flute
Jason Stein - bass clarinet
Matt Ulery - bass
Ben Boye - piano on Together...

Recorded at Minbal & Future House in Chicago, IL
Engineered by Nick Broste, Benjamin Balcom & Quin Kirchner
Mixed by Nick Broste at Shape Shoppe
Mastered by Peter Andreadis at All City Mastering
Produced by Quin Kirchner
Artwork by Damon Locks

All compositions by Quin Kirchner (BMI) except
Limbo written by Andrew Hill
The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers & Self Portrait In Three Colors written by Charles Mingus
Brainville written by Sun Ra
Karina (Domingo No Grajaú) written by Arthur Verocai
Mumbo Jumbo written by Paul Motian
Armageddon written by Kelan Phil Cohran

AS058 - Quin Kirchner - The Other Side Of Time - 01 "The Ritual"

The Nick Mazzarella Trio was formed in 2008 and for several years remained one of the most active working bands in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene, performing regularly at clubs and festivals across the city, and recording three albums before drummer Frank Rosaly moved to Amsterdam in 2016. When Rosaly returned for a visit in early 2018, Mazzarella composed a suite of six new pieces for a concert commemorating the trio’s tenth anniversary. That performance, given before a full house at Co-Prosperity Sphere in the south-side neighborhood of Bridgeport, was recorded live on reel to reel tape, and the complete, uncut recording is now available as the trio’s fourth album, Counterbalance.

On Counterbalance, the members of the trio bring to bear the collective creative experience they have accumulated over the past decade, displaying a new level of maturity in their interpretation of Mazzarella’s latest compositions—which draw as much from contemporary classical music as from the jazz tradition—and a new level of patience and communication in their highly personal improvisations. As critic John Corbett asserts in his liner notes for the album, the trio’s music is "magnificent, relaxed. It has nothing to prove. The sound is proof enough.”

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NICK MAZZARELLA - alto saxophone
ANTON HATWICH - bass
FRANK ROSALY - drums

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All compositions by Nick Mazzarella (BMI).

Recorded by David Allen and Dave Vettraino on January 19, 2018 at Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport, Chicago.
Mixed & Mastered by Dave Zuchowski.

Cover artwork by Morris Barazani, untitled, c. 1950, gouache and varnish on cardstock, 11 x 15 inches, private collective. (Courtesy of Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago).

Sleeve photograph by Scottie McNiece.
Liner notes by John Corbett.
Layout by Drew Liverman.

Produced by Nick Mazzarella.

Exective production by Nate Cross for Astral Spirits & Quin Kirchner for Spacetone.

For Mary A and Nick J—Mom and Dad

AS106 - Nick Mazzarella Trio - Counterbalance - "Counterbalance"

Buy the 2LP/CD/Digital album: https://orcd.co/atakoramanu

BBE Music celebrates the centenary of recorded Ghana Highlife music with a double album reissue of two rare 80s LPs recorded by the late Atakora Manu, AFRO HIGHLIFE and OMINTIMINIM.

Born in Toase, Ghana, a proud Asante, Atakoras musical talent made itself clear from an early age. But it wasn’t until his late teens that he put that talent to use as a performer, first founding the legendary Princess Trio from 1961 till 1963 with drummer Togas and multi-instrumentalist Elder Osei Bonsu.

After a spell from 1963 till 1966 as guitarist with the United Ghana Farmers’ Council Drama Troupe, Manu teamed up with Moses Kweku Oppong to form the legendary Kakaiku No. 2 Band, producing a string of national hit singles over the following three or four years.

There followed a three year break from music until fate struck: Atakora found a job in 1973 as Recording Studio Attendant- and later recording engineer- at Ambassador RecordingStudios in Kumasi, at that time the country’s largest independent label.

On seeing his musical talents behind the studio desk, it wasn’t long before the boss suggested to Manu that he get back to making music himself, an opportunity that he was quick to take up – as will be more than apparent from the hardcore, rootsy Highlife and palmwine selections reissued here.

As well as long-time associates Togas and Elder Bonsei, local Kumasi legends CK Mensah, Amoako Agyeman, Agyei Kyeremanteng (of the famous Keyeremanteng All Stars), and Atta Fofie lent a hand from time to time, along with a handful of other seasoned Ambassador studio session players.

THE MUSIC

A unique selling point here is the mix of vintage, rootsy ‘palmwine’ blues-style guitar Highlife with quirky keyboard electronics, a sound well-established today but revolutionary in the comparatively conservative world of 70s and 80s Highlife. This comes across beautifully in Dada and Cape Coast Cousin, the latter toasting off guitar licks with bubbling wah wah organ.

We find a similar juxtaposition in Asante Kotoko, a shout-out to Kumasi’s champion soccer team, which also features some sweet ‘village’ drumming, and in Meka A Ensa.

But Atakora doesn’t forget the essential role of brass and woodwind in quality Highlife, as can be heard in Super Otete Impomamu, with its twin-sax punctuating riffs, and in the ‘mambo’ sections of the dancefloor killer Osebo Anyami Ankyemi. Atakora Manu passed away in 2015 but left an abundance of beautiful music. This double-album reissue is a long-overdue tip of the hat to one of Highlife’s more underrated stars-universally respected by fellow musicians but still to be properly rediscovered by a new generation of Highlife fans.

Omintiminim/Afro Highlife

Atakora Manu - Dada

Damian's Ghost
All I Remember
Astrophonica
APHALTD004

10" Vinyl & digital
26/11/2021

Pre-order Full Release: https://bit.ly/APHALTD004

'I was introduced to Damian’s Ghost by a mutual friend and what struck me immediately was how simple and clean the tracks were. The vibe and intention was clear from the outset and ‘All I Remember’ went straight into my radio show that week. Vangelis meets Jungle. Atmospheric and drawn out but ruff with it. Delicate but weighty. There’s more too so watch this space . . .'

All I Remember takes the scenic route and drifts over peaks and valleys before ascending into the stratosphere. A positive outlook for your day and beyond.

On The Mist rises from the earth with a gleaming Amen break and pulsing pads like early morning dew before descending into the depths of night.

Pre-order

Damian's Ghost - All I Remember (APHALTD004)

A smooth liquid DnB rework of a Badu classic, coming as a super limited dubplate in London label @programm_ldn's white label series.

Read More & Buy: https://www.stampthewax.com/2022/01/05/premiere-unknown-untitled-002/
Listen on Youtube: bit.ly/Untitled002

Listen on Youtube

Unknown - Untitled 002 (STW Premiere)

BOJAN Z TETRABAND
Album: XENOPHONIA
Track: ULAZ
Label Bleu - 2006

BOJAN Z TETRABAND - XENOPHONIA - Ulaz

Hemulen

Fracture Presents: Turbo

You Don't Know

my 1st string quartet recorded by Brooklyn Rider. Pls support them on Bandcamp.

borderlands... is built around historical data about the US-Mexico border crisis and the problems that have ensued with the more recent archaic American immigration policies... It’s a sham and a shame. We can do better...

Hemulen

Char Keen

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