2016

BBE present the ultra rare funk classic Taking Care Of Business from the Ted Coleman Band.We're delighted to announce the reissue as this ultra-rare LP, originally issued on JSR Records back in 1980. Heavily influenced by the likes of Bobby Hutcherson and Roy Ayers, 'Taking Care Of Business' is full of positive, uptempo soul/jazz gems, featuring Ted Coleman's wonderful vibraphone playing throughout. Not only did Coleman both sing and play piano, synth and vibes on the record, but he also designed the artwork himself, a true DIY LP if ever there was one. This DIY ethos even extended to the New Jersey label JSR who originally pressed the LP, describing themselves as: "a new company that helps working club bands that can sell their own records. JSR artists spend no money for recording or production costs, and there are no recording contracts." This could well explain the album's rarity, with original copies selling on Discogs for eye-wateringly high prices.Ted Coleman cut his teeth playing local clubs and venues in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where his skills on vibes and mallet percussion quickly earned him popularity in the local area. 'Taking Care Of Business' was his very first studio album, blending latin rhythms with smooth jazz and soul stylings. The musicianship on the record is striking, the vocals mellow and soulful, the lyrics warm and tender: put simply this album is designed to warm the heart. Still writing and recording at 'Joyful Noise', his Metuchen New Jersey studio, Ted Coleman also performs across the US with his "Good Vibes" band. We hope you find as much joy in this scarce and remarkable debut LP as we do.

Natural is the latest collaboration between musical travellers and kindred spirits Nicola Conte and Stefania Dipierro, the culmination of a relationship rooted in a shared belief in the spiritually healing powers of music. The Italian duo is set to take 2016 by storm with a sensual, sumptuous and highly accomplished record, firmly anchored in the traditions of Brazilian bossa nova, samba and jazz.Stefania and Nicola first came together as members of the seminal 90s musical collective Fez, with Nicola leading the group. This period, one full of inspiration and discovery, laid the seeds for Natural. Though Stefania lent her enviable vocal talents to many bands over the years and Nicola went on to an illustrious production career, outside of a handful of tracks from Nicola’s album Jet Sounds, it was not until now that the stars aligned again, allowing these two mercurial talents to merge their musical sensibilities once again to access the deep spirituality that is at the core of their approach to sound. Stefania’s ongoing musical journey has ensured that her connection to, and understanding of jazz runs deep, as she resoundingly demonstrates throughout Natural. With Nicola once again in the production seat, the album serves as the defining showcase for her inimitable vocal talents.Nicola first achieved international acclaim for his signature style of samba-influenced acid-jazz, which also drew inspiration from 60s and 70s Italian film soundtracks. Alongside his production work Nicola has laid out his musical vision through his guitar playing and songwriting, with numerous studio albums including 2004’s Other Directions, released on Schema, a French Subsidiary of Blue Note Records. His compilation series Viagem, all 5 volumes of which have been released on Far Out, provide an insight into the sounds of the past that have inspired his music of today, a peerless collection of lost bossa and samba jazz from the swinging Brazilian 60s.On this new collaborative release for Far Out, Conte’s forward thinking production cleverly compliments and contrasts with the warmth of Dipierro’s laid back inflection and gloriously rich timbres. Natural is aptly named, considering the ease with which Stefania and Nicola have re-assumed the roles of muse to one another, a musical relationship providing the deepest access to the poetry within their sound. The album’s title track and first single is a perfect introduction to their world, a masterful blend of global influences in which a propulsive Afro-rhythm bolstered by a searing funk guitar, whilst soothing Rhodes chords provide a distinctly Brazilian warmth and Stefania’s vocals offer up an enriching melody to soothe the heart and engage the mind. Alongside original compositions from Nicola and others, Natural also tantalisingly promises some inspired re-interpretations of classic Brazilian and jazz pieces: Trio Tenura’s exemplary bossa groove A Gira and Steve Kuhn’s beautiful The Meaning of Love are among the tracks respectfully imbued with an updated resonance. The scintillating blend of jazz and bossa alongside a contemporary sensibility makes for a debut collaboration. A timeless example of the special places Brazilian music can go with a beautiful voice and a smooth groove, marking out Dipierro as a natural talent of the highest order.

limited gatefold LP + 12 page booklet + MP3 download code.Since the last two years FloFilz played in the first league of european beat-producers. With his smooth jazz samples he catches them all: his 46.000 (!) Soundcloud-Fans, the "Beatgeeks" from Berlin, the "Rapkids" from the Splash Festival and the Boiler Room in London. With "Cenário" FloFilz continues his musically city-trip, which started in Paris with "Metronom" in 2014. For his new album he travelled with the photographer Robert Winter to Lisbon. The impressions from the trip FloFilz put into 16 new tracks, on two of them he gets support by jazzsinger Olivia Wendlandt (Relaén). The "Cenário" LP comes in a perfect package with an effortful produced gatefoldcover including a 12 page photobooklet. The LP is limited to 2.000 copies.

After a first release early 2016, the Discomatin crew from Paris returns to their Discomatin Edits series with this second effort, still in the spirit of the afterparty they organize to entertain the early birds, who prefer to dance than catching the worms. The EP is composed by four tracks, finely picked and slightly edited by the DJ’s of the crew. From AOR mellow grooves to French original kitsch and funkyness, they open a wide range of possibilities. It’s fresh, it’s French, so don’t sleep on it!

Favorite Recordings proudly presents this new official single reissue of Music Madness by Beckie Bell: A killer disco anthem produced in 1980 by famous French producer, Pierre “Berjot” Jaubert.Pierre Jaubert has been one of the great producers from the Funk and Disco French music scene during the 70s and 80s, mostly known for his work with the group ICE, who he then transformed into Lafayette Afro Rock Band. During his long and prolific career, he’s been involved with many artists and labels, including Motown, Chantal Curtis (Brenda Mitchell, Michelle), Leroy Gomes (Santa Esmeralda) or Robert Helms to name just a few.“Music Madness” is a brilliant disco track from Beckie Bell’s rare album, In Need Of… After highlighting it in an extended version, on the compilation French Disco Boogie Sounds (2015), Favorite Recordings decided to reissue this killer song on a proper 12inch single. The package including the original album version and two hot remixes by Tom Noble and Voilaaa.

First official reissue ever for this Italian holy-grail soundtrack, finally back to life in a long-waited 180gr. limited edition, supervised by M° Giuliano Sorgini himself, who also wrote his personal liner notes. Remastered from the original master tapes that were preserved for more than 40 years in almost perfect shape, ZOO FOLLE is a highly sought after psych-funk album, a true masterpiece for all breaks-beat lovers, full of rhythmic percussion, acid flute, synth work, dark electronics, drum machines, and crazy hand-claps. The score was composed for an Italian TV movie in 1974, directed by Riccardo Fellini (brother of the most well-known Federico), and originally released on Ricordi Label in the same year. Featuring Edda Dell’Orso and some of the best and leading Italian session players in the soundtrack and library landscape, such as Maurizio Majorana and Antonello Vannucchi (from I MARC 4), Nino Rapicavoli on flute, and Giuliano Sorgini himself on organ, keyboards, piano, drums, and percussion.

BACK IN STOCK !!!Limited Edition 500 Gatefold LP 180 gr. + CD BonusOpen air jazz & psych-beat, daytime breaks, latin & bossa from Italian RCA film music vaults (1964-1976)Chapter two of a compilation project centered around and inside the secret archives of RCA’s glorious soundtrack catalogue - full of unreleased tracks from great Italian soundtrack Maestros such as Gianfranco REVERBERI, Armando TROVAJOLI, Piero PICCIONI, Paolo ORMI, Nico FIDENCO, and so on. Light and joyful music made for plein air sequences of 60's and 70's Italian cinema. Presented here is an explosive mixture of jazz, blues, funk, psychedelia, and spicy exotica, composed for a wide range of movies, from thrillers to sexy comedies, and from TV sci-fi to superhero films.LISTEN HERE:https://soundcloud.com/fourfliesrecords/esternogiorno

"All Aboard!" .... "Spacepod", a low-key, late night funkadelic house anthem from Magic Mountain High. Presented in the classic 12" tradition, with an original mix as well as Acapella, Club Dub, and (courtesy of Move D) Remix versions, this demented ode to mindflight exhales a bit of humor over the room, but also penetrates the dome with its lush, single-lightbulb groove and insane effected vocal manifesto. This is definitely one for the end of the night squad. "Join us in our spaaaaaaaaaaaceship!" .

An exquisite slice of psychedelic jazz-funk, Funk Factory was criminally overlooked upon release but became a crate-diggers classic over time. Yes, the LP is most famous for containing the peerless dusty groove of "Rien Ne Va Plus", heavily lifted by the Beastie Boys for their Paul's Boutique standout "Car Thief". Yes, you'd be correct to assume said gem is worthy of the price of admission alone. Yet, to those in the know, Funk Factory represents so much more than a Dust Brothers sample-source. Indeed, the entire album represents a space-aged opus, featuring tripped-out keys, tight drums and baked synths, all laced by Urszula Dudziak's ethereal vocals drifting around the exceptional instrumentation.Funk Factory were boldly led by brilliant Polish violinist and saxophonist Michal Urbaniak and vocalist Dudziak. Two additional, accomplished Polish musicians were involved: virtuoso keyboardist Wlodek Gulgowski and singer Bernard Kafka, founder and leader of great Polish vocal group Novi Singers. To augment this solid foundation, a sensational American rhythm section was assembled, with bassists Anthony Jackson and Tony Levin, drummers Steve Gadd and Gerald Brown and guitarists Barry Finnerty and John Abercrombie.Legend has it that Urbaniak created this seminal record in response to his American colleagues' claims that Eastern European musicians were not "funky". Funk Factory demonstrates that Urbaniak and his cohorts could play funk as well as any American musician. As sophisticated and multi-layered as the best of the genre, it deserves to be as canonical as the greatest works of Herbie Hancock and George Duke. Accomplished and utterly unique, this intoxicating blend of crack musicians created an irresistibly heady dose of transportive funk that sounds every bit as vital today as it would have in 1975.Original copies are prohibitively expensive so this officially licensed 180g version enables a wider audience to now discover its genius. Dovetailing neatly with the recent interest in forgotten Eastern European grooves, this timely release of a true lost treasure is sure to be one of the year's essential vinyl reissues.