"We improvised this song at a live session. We liked it. We recorded it." - Okvsho

In other words: Okvsho venture even further into the universe on their latest Track "Astral Movements". A sonic odyssey of fast paced drums layered with all kinds of floating sounds.     "

Love, Always.

Astral Movements

SUPPORT

Okvsho - Astral Movements

A smoothed out, catchy little downtempo bobber from a cool late-winter night in The Vault.  Makaya bounces on a flammed rimshot, Abrams jumps in quickly with some nice bass chords, Justefan colors the progression with his singing vibraphone harmonies, and Marquis tops it all off with a gorgeous trumpet melody and solo verse.

Recorded on March 5th, 2014 by Dave Vettraino.  Personnel: Makaya McCraven - drums, Joshua Abrams - bass, Justin Thomas - vibraphone, Marquis Hill - trumpet.

Steppe Smoothe

17 tracks of high-energy intellectualism. 'The Karl Marx Sessions' takes the frantic energy of 1940s Bebop and fuses it with the revolutionary theory of the 19th century. Just as Parker and Gillespie broke the rules of musical structure, Karl Marx broke the rules of economic thought. From the fast-paced 'The Air' to the complex changes of 'The Ensemble,' this is the sound of the dialectic in motion



The Master's Page

Personnel:
Mausiki Scales, electric piano, vibes, vocals, lyrics, arrangement
Shawna Floyd, vocals
Raina Turner, vocals
Quinn Masonry, alto saxophone
Kebbi Williams, tenor saxophone
Alex Jones, guitar
Khari Simmons, bass
Che Marshall, drums

Photo: Brandi Pettijohn

One 2Gether

"I love The Expansions their futuristic leanings inject new life into the form. Fresh material!" Ian Merchant (Black Acre)

“Exudes all the qualities I cherish most in music, warmth, integrity and a dedication to the groove… it’s a hard road to travel when you step in the footprints of giants, The Expansions are treading that path with ease and assurance.” Patrick Forge

"Coming off something like the UK's more jazz-funk fueled answer to BBNG, all four quarters of this monstrous unit are on point on this hugely anticipated release. There's got to be a very special long-player in the works, and I for one can't wait to immerse myself in that!" Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s) 

“The Expansions, very funky! Headhunters/Weather Report inspired, and definitely worth checking out. My new favourite band.” Steve White (Style Council, Paul Weller)
=========
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. 

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

The Expansions - Cannonball

Saxophonist Nubya Garcia links up with fellow South Londoner Maxwell Owin on a remix for her new EP 'When We Are'.

Read more & buy: http://www.stampthewax.com/2018/03/01/premiere-nubya-garcia-source-maxwell-owin-remix/
Listen on Youtube: http://bit.ly/nubya-maxwell

Listen on Youtube

Nubya Garcia - Source (Maxwell Owin Remix) (STW Premiere)

12" vinyl out now: www.mabuta.bandcamp.com
Also out on all streaming platforms...

Log Out Shut Down (Gourmet Remix)

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Far Out Recordings proudly presents two albums of previously unheard Azymuth demo recordings from 1973-75

Since their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock ‘n’ roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature ‘Samba Doido’ (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid.
But before they became Azymuth, Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil.

Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at some the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward.Any spare moment in which they weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound.

These previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’.

One of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties, the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers.
When English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996).

Along with ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demos were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form.

On every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.

Vinyl / CD / Digi

Azymuth - Manha

https://danielcasimirandtesshirst.bandcamp.com/

02 Security

https://jupitertuningcenter.bandcamp.com/track/mini-jass

mini jass

https://soundcloud.com/bluestaeb &  https://soundcloud.com/sfidelity Present Underground Canopy
MENACE l MNC006

Spotify 
https://spoti.fi/2LmCCv0
Apple
https://apple.co/2PhrctY
Fanlink
https://menace.fanlink.to/tonysendo

PREMIERE: Bluestaeb & S. Fidelity Present Underground Canopy - Tony Sendo [MENACE Records]

jazz re:freshed is a contemporary music/arts movement and record label built around a weekly live music residency in the heart of west london...

As is the way of the 21st Century, podcasts seem to be the preferred method of sharing mixes with the world... and, not one to be left behind, Jazz re:freshed puts up podcasts (free to download), on a weekly basis. Featuring mixes by the Jazz re:freshed resident DJ team and very special guests.

02 Security

jazzrefreshed