An edit pays tribute to the original by trimming and rearranging the song in a way that it works for today's dancefloor or listening habits. 

Delfonic and Mendel are two outspoken specialists in this and understand the edit craft like no one else. For almost twenty years, Delfonic has been running Oye Records, a record store known far beyond the city limits of Berlin, and therefore knows very well which records and tracks go down best with whom and how. 

Always on the look out for that heartfelt connection, Mendel doesn’t cater to the fist pumpers, but rather the loving, open-minded and upbeat. His sets are peppered with diverse influences, from Chicago’s (ware)house pioneers to Amsterdam’s soulful school of DJs. He carefully orchestrates dance floor experiences by selecting tunes based on the emotion they evoke. A steady flow of mixtapes and Mendel’s Melodies, his regular show on Red Light Radio, provide a platform for Mendel to share his mellower side, capturing hearts by interweaving soulful classics with silky rarities from all corners of the musical landscape.

Notes On A Journey has therefore decided to make use of the services of the two DJs and to take two songs from their own, meanwhile extensive catalog under the magnifying glass, respectively the scalpel.

On the one hand there are two new editions of Germannu's «Fale De Mim» and one edit each for «Marcação» and «Pé na Estrada» by Valéria. Four times the very finest in soulful Brazilian pop music as one is now almost used to from Notes On A Journey. 

«Fale De Mim» by Germannu, by the way, originally appeared in 1984 on the EP «Germannu» and was released in September 2020 by NOAJ as a lavish reissue. 

The 4-track 7inch «Pé na Estrada» by Valéria originally came out in 1983 on the Brazilian label PPA (Paladar Produções Artisticas) and was re-released by NOAJ in November 2020.

With «NOAJ Edits 01», a first absolute must-have edits package was put together. And as the title suggests, the series will continue in the following months with more highlights from the NOAJ catalog.

B2 - Valéria - Pé Na Estrada (Mendel Edit)

B1 - Valéria - Marcação (Delfonic Edit)

A2 - Germannu - Fale De Mim (Mendel Edit)

A1 - Germannu - Fale De Mim (Delfonic Edit)

B - Cláudio Bocca - Marsupial

A - Cláudio Bocca - Morada E Poesia

B5 - Brunno - Spleen

B4 - Brunno - Bossa

B3 - Brunno - Três

B2 - Brunno - Vivo Só

B1 - Brunno - Itapoã

A4 - Brunno - Depois Da Praia

A1 - Brunno - Ó Pá'i Ó

a selection of mellow soul tunes (60s to 80s) from Stefan Leisering's vinyl collection..

Summer Soul - Notes On A Journey Selection by Stefan Leisering (Jazzanova)

Format: Vinyl LP - Tip On Gatefold Cover (Limited Edition)
Cat#: NOAJ001
Original release: 1980, Berlin (Private Pressing)

As you are listening to “Confidence In The Future” today, it quickly becomes clear what kind of worlds must have collided here. A stunning amalgamation of aural treats, created by making subtle compromises between Pop, Jazz, Rock and Folk, that exists in every single track across-the-board. Due to its stylistic complexity “Confidence In The Future” is an album that is somehow never really able to settle on any one taste, inevitably opening up new dimensions to the listener. Imagine how this was in 1980. Especially in Berlin's commercial music scene. And especially when the involved musicians treated the project after its completion, more like a matter of personal importance than a career move. And for Hirsch, Spinning Motion's initiator, all of this seemed to be fulfilling enough. Prophetically the record is named after the most significant song of the eight-piece collection “Confidence In The Future”. 35 years on the title finds the verification it deserves. It unleashes its bottled power no sooner than the day, Jazzanova member and Notes On A Journey co-founder, Stefan Leisering finds the record in a crate at the flea market on the Strasse des 17. Juni. Like a bottle of Château Lafitte-Rothschild unearthed after 35 years, forgotten about in an abandoned cellar, do we get to experience the quiet composure and savage intensity of a treasure brought to light. It takes Leisering another ten years to comprehend what kind of music historical treasure has been hiding in his record collection. He acquired “Confidence In The Future” sometime in the mid 90s and only by re-listening to this oddity one day in 2010 or 2011 did everything finally click into place. A lost gem of Berlin Pop history, one that could almost never have happened. Compositions so ahead of their time that you can only understand and classify them today properly. There's a sense of inadvertent (and therefore unaffected) ingeniousness in songs like “Devotion To You”, “Prisoner Of Life” and “Playground Of Burial-Funds” that you have to live in the 21st Century to appreciate fully. Each of the eight tracks (maybe apart from the instrumental closer “Elegy”) has some sort of melancholy, introverted reflectiveness, and yet still always something conciliatory. Manfred Tappert's voice lends his lyrics, written by him, but preconceived by Hirsch, something utterly personal, intimate even. Every single song, particularly within the framework of the oeuvre, tells a story, and due to this intimacy, and the adventurous arrangements touches you deeply. No matter the time or place.  To add to all of this, this incomparable record has also an entirely different facet, which only becomes apparent with today's perspective. The title track, “Confidence In The Future”, and “Answer My Questions” remind one eerily of Kings Of Convenience, and the cosy “Naze” resembles Turin Brakes. So evidently that you'll find yourself, while listening, in a quaint retro-retro-loop, the musical equivalent of a time paradox. But this is exactly the beauty of music. Music doesn't abide by the rules of time and space as we do, and therefore each listen to each piece of music is unique and purely based on the context of the listening. And every once in a while times have to change just so music can find a new determination and new listeners. Confidence in the future ultimately means: Good music is patient, outlives everything and will sooner or much, much later find its destination. NOTES ON A JOURNEY is looking eagerly forward to finally celebrating the first proper release of Spinning Motion's “Confidence In The Future”. 

Liner Notes by Adrian Hoenicke.


A1 - Spinning Motion - Blue

„Sumri hallar“ is an islandic traditional folk song. The title literally means "summer is leaning“ which means the summer will be over soon. Here is an autumn inspired selection of tunes that Jazzanova member and Notes On A Journey co-founder Stefan Leisering picked from his record collection .. a handful of mellow 60s to early 80s Folk, Pop, Prog Rock, Singer Songwriter, AOR tracks for the shorter, colder and rainier days of the year...

Sumri Hallar (Autumn Mix) - Notes On A Journey Selection by Stefan Leisering (Jazzanova)

More Info: http://www.notesonajourney.com/noaj003-candeias-sambaiana/
Format: LP (180g vinyl + Old School Tip On Gatefold Cover  + Download Card + Printed Inner Sleeve)
Cat#: NOAJ003
Original release: 1976
Releasedate: 28.07.2017

Short Info: 

Curiously enough the story of this record begins with a song, which isn't even featured on it. A song named 'Guayabas'. One of Guillermo Reuter's very first free-spirited compositions is one of his two contributions to the fourth album 'Ese Dia Va A Llegar' by friend and musician Agustin Pereyra Lucena, in 1975. 'Guayabas' was the unintended starting signal for Reuter's career and was coincidentally the initial spark for this reissue that you, dear reader and listener, are holding in your hands right now.

But perhaps we'd better take one thing at a time and not jump ahead of ourselves. 'Guayabas' was the Guillermo Reuter song that first caught the attention of the Notes On A Journey founders Jürgen von Knoblauch and Stefan Leisering. It led them to discover his album 'Candeias' shortly thereafter, and a love affair was born. It was a similar story for Jacques Subileau, the producer for the recordings of 'Ese Dia Va A Llegar' (and therefore 'Guayabas'), who was so enamored by this single composition that he proposed Reuter to cut a whole album, made up exclusively of his songs and compositional stylings. The Frenchman with an Argentinian girlfriend, had connections to European record labels like Disco Mediterraneo in Madrid and Disques Espérance in Paris which specialised in World and African music. 'Candeias' would be released on both labels, on the Spanish imprint under the name of 'Sambaiana', in France as the original title 'Candeias', but for inexplicable reasons, with terrible sound quality.

Having now Notes On A Journey, more than forty years after its initial release, introducing 'Candeias' to a whole new audience is also in the interest of its creator. For Guillermo Reuter, this album was and is a lifework, which has never lost momentum and significance. It is a record, which simply stands the test of time by bringing pure joy over its full, entertaining length, and is going under the skin at the same time. That's why for this re-issue the original Spanish pressing has been lovingly restored, preserving the sound quality, letting you listen to it the way it should be heard, in the here and now. With the stunning new quality 'Candeias' will find a much bigger following this time round. Come and join the club.

Sambaiana

Buy Now

NOAJ003 - Candeias - Sambaiana ALBUM SNIPPET

NOAJ003 - Candeias - Sambaiana out now:
https://notesonajourney.lnk.to/Sambaiana

This tribute mix features tracks from the Candeias universe. Guillermo Reuter has played and written for Agustin Pereyra Lucena, the Argentinian folk and cross-culture band "Lagrima" or for Ricardo Benelli's "En Tiempo". Of course this mix also features Agustin Pereyra Lucena's "Guayabas", which was the unintended starting signal for Reuter's career and was coincidentally the initial spark for the band Candeias and their only longplayer "Sambaiana".

Candeias - Sambaiana

Candeias Inspiration - Notes On A Journey Selection by Oliver Glage

NOAJ004 - Chuck Senrick - Dreamin out now:
https://notesonajourney.lnk.to/Dreamin

A little selection around the sound universe of Chuck Senricks LP "Dreamin'" (NOAJ004). Enjoy this journey through various solo entertainers using drum machines & keys to express their inner feelings.

Chuck Senrick LP

Soul-o Entertainer – Notes On A Journey Selection by Jazzanova & Oliver Glage

Format: 7inch
Cat#: NOAJ7-001
Original release: 1982
Releasedate: 15.03.2019

With the fifth release and the first 7inch on the quality imprint, Notes On A Journey turns its attention to Brazil. Finally, one might think, since it’s an open secret that the guys behind the label all have a soft spot for music from the leading coffee exporter in the world. So, when Brazilian DJ, record collector and digger extraordinaire Junior Santos brought this Celso Rubinstein 7-inch EP (called «Compacto» in Brazil) to the Berlin label’s attention he hadn’t to do a lot of persuading to have NOAJ reintroduce this beautiful piece of music to fans around the world some 36 years after its first appearance.

Born in Brazil to a family of Holocaust survivors, Celso Rubinstein’s career as a singer allowed him to take residency in several countries including Spain, Portugal, Israel and Britain. He performed as an artist in numerous clubs and supported other artists as backing vocalist. In 1982 he booked studio time at Chico Batera’s studio in Rio De Janeiro to record two songs for an intentional debut album.

On «Enquanto Houver», written by Paulinho Mendonça and Gerson Conrad, Rubinstein tried to infuse some rap flavour: «I wanted to get away from that style of singing where you sing a bunch of notes without breathing. You can hear that all the words in the song are pronounced properly but the cadence is broken up, so the intention was to do a kind of rap without it seeming to be rap.»

Marina Lima and Antonio Cicero contributed «È A Vida Que Diz», a song as marvelously written as much as performed sophisticatedly by Rubinstein with his star-studded studio crew. Amongst them: Oberdan Magalhães and Claudio Stevenson from Banda Black Rio, Rique Pantoja, keyboard player, arranger and conductor Reinaldo Arias, as well as American session musician Don Harris. Celso Rubinstein wanted to create a unique atmosphere for the recording sessions, inviting numerous people to the control room to amplify the spontaneous live feeling even more (the control room was filled with people like Ney Matogrosso, As Frenéticas, Claudia Telles, Fátima Guedes.) You definitely can hear this vitality on the record originally published in 1982 by Rubinstein himself.

Since there was a massive vinyl shortage at the time in Brazil, no label had any spare material to waste on newcomers. Only the label Tapecar, which had its own pressing plant, helped Rubinstein out and used the left over material from the manufacture of Gal Costa’s latest album («Minha Voz») to have his 7” privately pressed. Needless to say that it missed any recognition back then. But now, 36 years later, thanks to Junior Santos and Notes On A Journey a broad audience has the joy to finally embrace this beautiful music wholeheartedly.

É A Vida Que Diz / Enquanto Houver

B - Celso Rubinstein - Enquanto Houver

A - Celso Rubinstein - É A Vida Que Diz

Notes On A Journey to Brazil.
A Mix to celebrate the Release of Celso Rubinstein on Notes on a Journey. 

Celso Rubinstein 7inch available here: https://notesonajourney.lnk.to/EaVidaQueDiz

Tracklist:

1. Valéria - Pé na Estrada
2. Badameiro - Te Pego de Jeito
3. Eliane Salek - Pra Brincar
4. Celso Rubinstein - Enquanto houver
5. Marcelo Ganem - Ponta de Estrela
6. Gibran - Canção do Violeiro
7. André Luiz Oliveira - Filhos de Odé
8. Carlos Pita - Casa das Flautas
9. Celso Rubinstein - É a vida que diz
10. Grupo Cravo e Canela - Manda o seu Namorado Embora
11. Perinho Santana - O teu Olhar
12. Alexandre Az, Marcelo Dinis, Sergio Misan - 1,2,3….Fui
13. Cátia de França - Estilhaços
14. Fogo Baiano - Fogo do sol
15. Tadeu Mathias - Presa
16. Darcy de Paulo - Ano Novo

Notes On A Journey – To Brazil (Celso Rubinstein Inspiration - mixed by Juergen von Knoblauch)

Format: 180g 12inch with tip on cover & printed inner sleeve
Cat#: NOAJ007
Original release: 1984
Releasedate: 25.09.2019

Manoel Germano Filho (better known as Germannu) was born into a family of cocoa farm owners on January 11th, 1955 in Linhares, Espirito Santo, Brazil. He was the second born of three children, but refusing to buy into the stereotype of the forgotten middle child, it took just a few guitar chords, learnt at the age of 15, to start him on his musical path. (The chords were taught to Manoel by his much-revered older sister, Germana, which she, in turn, had learned playing religious songs at Catholic school).

Manoel started his foray into education by following in his family’s footsteps, earning his agronomy degree at the Federal University of Viçosa in the state of Minas Gerais. Yet it was music rather than soil that held his heart, and after a chance meeting with Milton Nascimento, one of Brazil’s biggest musical icons — both back then and today — he threw himself into the Minas music scene, burgeoned as it was by student movements and local music festivals.

Manoel’s attempts to bring his music to the general public were abruptly derailed by the death of his father. Shortly after graduating, his dreams were put on hold and he found himself back in his hometown of Espirito Santo taking care of the family’s business affairs. It didn’t take long for though for the music to win over, and soon after he invested a considerable sum of his earnings in musical instruments and sound equipment, as well as a mobile trailer which he used as a tour bus, setting out to perform in towns in the region.

In 1984, Manoel, now Germannu, met the composer, arranger, vocalist, and guitarist Jorge “Jóia” Olímpio at a show in Linhares, and a month later threw caution to the wind, moved to Rio and found himself crashing at Jorge’s house while putting down his roots. Over the following days and weeks, the recording of Germannu’s debut LP began in earnest, starting with his songs Lavoura, Fale De Mim, and Hei De Amar.

Jorge’s help was crucial. Although Germannu had certain melodies in mind and chord structures around which he wanted to build the songs, he hadn’t yet developed how the melodies would play out, nor decided how exactly the chord sequences would go.

The pre-production was done at Jorge’s home, before they moved over to the now-defunct Estúdio Rio near the Laranjeiras viaduct to flesh things out. Jorge Jóia called on his contacts and brought in musicians he was sure would work, including a bassist and former bandmate named Borjalo, with whom he had previously played with in a band that was put together by the legendary organ player, Lafayette. Drummer, Paulinho Black (ex-Banda Black Rio), and pianist, Moisés Pedrosa, were also part of the team, as was the fabulous Jorge Cardozo — who transcribed Jorge Jóia’s arrangements.

Sadly, Germannu is no longer with us, but the lasting groove of his music remains eternal and continues to bring a special kind of joy to those that hear it.

So, where does Notes On A Journey fit into all of this? Jürgen von Knoblauch — a longtime member of Jazzanova and Sonar Kollektiv, amongst others, is introduced on our site simply as Record Collector — met Junior Santos, a musician, drummer, and Brazilian music aficionado extraordinaire, when buying records from him. Junior convinced Jürgen to buy a record by one Celso Rubinstein — which led to a NOAJ reissue (which if you haven’t discovered already, you should). The collaboration between knowledge fount and collector was fruitful enough that Junior and Jürgen decided to work on more reissues. This Germannu record is their first complete collaboration, with more on the way.

B1 - Germannu - Hei De Amar

A2 - Germannu - Fale De Mim

A1 - Germannu - Lavoura

Jazzanova member and Notes On A Journey co-founder Stefan Leisering picked records from his collection to let you explore the world of pop psych and folk rock of the late 60s to early 70s. Its a selection of known classics and personal discoveries from the last 30 years of record collecting. We think this is the perfect mixture to introduce to you our new re-release Humphrey (South Africa 1971) and its sound universe between folk, pop, psych and singer songwriter music.

Pre-order NOAJ006 - Humphrey - Humphrey here: 
https://humphreynoaj.bandcamp.com/album/humphrey


1.) Megachile Pluto - I’m A Collector (2020)
2.) Sunshine Company - To Put Up With You (1968)
3.) D.R. Hooker - Forge Your Own Chains (1972)
4.) Bill Wendry & The Boss Tweeds - A Wristwatch Band (1968) (Megachile Pluto Edit)
5.) Humphrey - Silence Of Love (1971)
6.) Traffic - Roamin’ Thru’ The Gloamin’ With 40000 Headmen (1968)
7.) Brothers - The Prophet (1973)
8.) Willow - Lightning (Creepy One) (1974)
9.) Paul Bryan - Like A Rainy Night (1973)
10.) Randy Johnson - Garden Of Love (1970)
11.) Click Horning - Find It For Yourself (1969)
12.) Humphrey - Season’s Change (1971)
13.) The Turtles - Too Young To Be One (1967)
14.) Jamie & The Jury - This Too Shall Pass (1966)
15.) The Sundowners - Always You (1969)
16.) Design - Marguaretta (1970)
17.) Mark Eric - Move With The Dawn (1969)
18.) The Left Banke - Shadows Breaking Over My Head (1967)
19.) Humphrey - Time To Change (1971)
20.) Sagittarius - The Truth Is Not Real (1968) 
21.) Asylum - Sometimes (1973)
22.) Kenny Rankin - Sittin’ On The Dock Of A Bay (1971)
23.) Rodger Rodier - The Key (1972)

Time To Change - Notes On A Journey Selection by Stefan Leisering

B2 - Valéria - Moreno

B1 - Valéria - Marcação

A2 - Valéria - Artimanhas

A1 - Valéria - Pé Na Estrada

„Discovering and rediscovering music“ is NOAJ's slogan and by this credo productions and recordings (records, cassettes, never before released master tapes) from days gone by shall and will find its audience. NOAJ tells the tale of mis-launched careers, failed dreams, gutted hopes, criminally overlooked masterpieces and of music that has been probably way too ahead of its time.

Popular tracks by Notes On A Journey