Great music is often about chance meetings and impromptu creative sessions and so it is that Hell Yeah proudly serves up Sensory Blending, a new collaborative album from Italian collective Aura Safari and Finnish musician Jimi Tenor. The nine-track record arrives on 26th April 2024 and is a lush and luxurious fusion of jazz-funk styles.

This glorious record came about after Tenor was playing a Hell Yeah party at Tangram in Perugia. Aura Safari were local and, in some free time the day before the gig, everyone jumped in the studio together. They had never met before but soon found plenty of free-flowing common ground and the result of that one-off session is now served up on this vibrant new album that brims with musicality, indelible melodies and subtly uplifting vibrations.

Tenor has toured the world and previously collaborated with the likes of Japanese master Calm. He is a psychedelic space-jazz-funk king, skilled musician, composer and producer who, since the mid-nineties, has released more than 25 albums and 45 EPs. Aura Safari is made up of bass, synth, guitar and keys players Lorenzo Francioli, Ruggero Bonucci, Nicola Pitassio Andrea Moretti, Lorenzo Lavoratori, Daniele Melloni and Nicholas Iammatteo, and they are label regulars who served up their sublime Island Dreams album here last year.

Says Jimi, who enjoyed his time in Perugia and adds that "the studio session was 100% efficient. I showed up and we started to play. Almost all that was made was material that we could use for the album. I love to work fast. Quick brushstrokes. Finish! I was amazed at how intuitively the Aura Safari guys could come up with new parts for songs. I mentioned some feeling or approach and they seemed to find it just like that.”

'Bodily Synesthesia' is the seductive opener with steamy sax notes and gentle grooves that are topped by aloof vocal whispers. 'Lunar Wind' is another slow and steamy mix of jazzy keys and soulful vocal hooks, 'Bewitched By The Sea' is a more tropical and percussive number with majestic melodies and 'My Bluebell' picks up the pace with jazz-funk grooves and hustling chords. 'Last Waltz In Perugia' has freeform sax lines soaring over meticulous drums that ebb and flow and 'Gimlet' brings a playful, samba-tinged rhythm and sunny flute leads straight from South America. There's a laidback, carefree mood to 'It's Too Easy To Love You' while 'Your Magic Touch' is a dancey number that exudes melodic joy, and 'Indigo' closes in dramatic fashion with a conversational sax that sticks long in the memory.  

Sensory Blending is a seamless fusion of collaborative minds from Aura Safari and Jimi Tenor and it could well be performed live at some special select shows later in the year.

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Aura Safari & Jimi Tenor - It's Too Easy To Love You

Ash Walker - Afronaught feat. Amp Fiddler (Ron Trent Remix) 
Listen/stream here: https://latenighttales.lnk.to/afronaughtremix  

Bringing together London, Detroit and Chicago, legendary DJ Ron Trent gives an out-of-this-world remix of Ash Walker and the late Amp Fiddler's 'Afronaught'. The track oozes confidence, building an undulating cosmic atmosphere guided by Amp's lyrics and rooted in driving bass hits. It's the type of remix which could easily send you into psychedelic euphoria at 6am.

Four years on from his explorative third full-length ‘Aquamarine,’ Londoner Ash Walker returned in June 2023 with an equally ambitious follow-up, 'Astronaut'. Alongside a plethora of award-winning collaborators and combining a dizzying array of sounds, ‘Astronaut’ hears Walker push his astral shower of rhythm and vibes to new heights. If 'Aquamarine’ was the take-off of his audial spaceship, ‘Astronaut’ is the cosmic voyage reaching terminal velocity; a rocket-powered masterclass spanning jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae.

An avid record collector, Walker has DJed far and wide... from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. His own production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts and Gideon Coe.

Ash Walker - Afronaught feat. Amp Fiddler (Ron Trent Remix)

Diogo Silva, Nuno Fulgêncio and Rui Martins collectively go by the name Bardino. With their sound consisting of an inventive mix of electronica, rock, jazz, the Porto-based trio are pushing their sound into unchartered waters. A feeling that will be reinforced after experiencing their new album, ‘Memória da Pedra Mãe’.

Memória da Pedra Mãe

APPAREL PREMIERE: Bardino - Black Mica ft Brian Blaker [Jazzego Records]

"Within" by https://soundcloud.com/jkriv excerpt of the "Within EP" on Leisure Group Recordings

Buy Now: jkriv.bandcamp.com/album/within-ep

PREMIERE: JKRIV - Within [Leisure Group Recordings]

"All The Walls"
by Blake Ian
https://27productions.com/blakeian/

All The Walls

Rising producer and DJ, also known as Miguel Tenreiro and one half of the duo GAZTWEEN (with Arctween), GAZPA is making waves in the Portuguese electronic music scene with the release of his latest solo EP, entitled "No More House" on Jazzego Records. He now unveils the mesmerizing "Hammock", presenting a wide range of influences. This is the result of an impressive tech kick with a chill pad, funky stabs and jazz piano solo by Arctween. To dance away late in the night.

Link:
@gazpamusic

APPAREL PREMIERE: Gazpa - Hammock

Part two of Second Life EP opens with 'Not Jazz', a straight-up jazz-house club monster. Together with a thumping' house bump and a killer piano loop, we get a peak-time jam that will raise the energy level on your dance floor.

Second Life EP (Part 2)

Not Jazz

Krewcial - Not Jazz (Local Talk 2024)

Pre-order: https://soulquestrecords.bandcamp.com/

Max Sinàl serves up his next release on @soul-quest-records, this time accompanied by the irresistible vocals of Bianca Nieddu.

‘Waiting’ follows in the same vein as his previous Soul Quest releases, fusing luscious piano chords and vocals with flowing instrumentation.

More exclusive music

Premiere: Max Sinàl 'Waiting' (ft. Bianca Nieddu)

L Lewis: @llewismusic1
https://www.instagram.com/llewis_____/
Bandcamp: https://llewis.bandcamp.com/track/iridium
Release Date: May 3rd, 2024
Info: ‘Iridium’ is the first single from Melbourne based producer, composer and bass player L Lewis' debut EP ‘Gravity Waves’, out May 3rd, 2024. The record is influenced by natural soundscapes, spiritual jazz, and electronica.
Synthesis, production and Fretless bass: L Lewis
Saxophone: Lachlan Thompson
Electric Keyboards: Finn Milne
Drum Kit and percussion: Jordan Dunster

Bandcamp

*PREMIERE* L Lewis - Iridium

Colin Curtis Presents - Stefano De Santis - CCP10

A. Santos ‘79
AA. Moon Over Rio

Stefano De Santis - keys, bass & vocals.
Gaetano De Carli - drums, percussion & vocals.

Steve Conry - Additional production & artwork.

CCP10 - Stefano De Santis - Santos 79   Moon Over Rio

SANDSTORM

"If you didn't know, Hell Yeah is the Italian label hell-bent on releasing the best modern disco(ish) you can find. Sometimes it's blissed out and Balearic, sometimes it's squelchy and down-right weird and sometimes it's the sort of elongated, tribal stuff that works dancefloors into a salacious frenzy" (Kristan J Caryl - DJ MAG January 2014)


Hell Yeah Recordings, a descendent of leading Italian dance label Mantra Vibes is an Italian-based electronic music label active since 2006. Releasing from Ferrara, Bologna, and Amsterdam and led by Marco Gallerani “peeDoo” (A&R), the label bases its philosophy on a diversity of artists and recording experiences tied together by a common vision of what defines quality progressive recording. 

With a sound as diverse as the artists it represents, Hell Yeah does not limit itself to the constraints of genre but packs a complex palette of sounds ranging from techno to minimal-nu-rave to electro-funk and tech house.  Artists as varied as Radio Slave, Santos, Umek, Oliver Koletzki, Congorock, 3iO, Crimea X and the mighty Balearic Gabba Sound System have helped establish Hell Yeah’s eclectic sound, a distinct take on party music loaded with a sonic Balearic feel good vibe that has made press around the world hail Hell Yeah as a label to watch, always

Hell Yeah aims to build upon its current reputation as a leading Italian Electronic Music play, overseeing the release of a series of progressive productions that straddle genres, defy conventions and blur barriers between listening and dance music. Stemming from Hell Yeah’s initial graphic identity formed by Neverending’s Rocco “the Boghe” Pezzella, new mind-bending web and label artworks from Italian artist Andrea Amaducci and the Berlin-based Ice Cream For Free collective promises complete visual as well as aural stimulation.

info/bookings: 
marco@pplayground.com

Aura Safari & Jimi Tenor - It's Too Easy To Love You

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