2023

After reuniting Cosmic Renaissance and releasing the album “Universal Language” (SCLP/CD513) in 2022, Gianluca Petrella returns to the future jazz scene 2023 as a protagonist with a new five-track LP, “Universal Message”, again on Schema Records label, keeping the wind section of the original record unchanged. Among the most versatile musicians around today, Gianluca here evolves his style into new forms of futurism afro-jazz with three revisitations in electronic-jazz dance key of “Universal Language” and “Connection”, as well as two previously unreleased tunes, the title-track and “Mutation”, for a final result that is greater than the sum of its parts. And there is no better description of this music than a complete and total immersion in its sonic waves!

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Disco Reggae Vol. 5, pursuing the highly acclaimed series started 10 years ago.Birth land of the Reggae music, Jamaica has also always been fed by Soul, Funk, R&B and Pop music from the US scene, delivering some of the best covers anyone could think of. With it’s Disco Reggae series, Stix Records therefore simply carried on this tradition, offering new versions of classic songs from a wide spectrum of musical styles.On this 5th edition, the list extend to famous name such as The Undertones, Bobby Caldwell, Cerrone, Patti LaBelle, or Ray Parker Jr. to name a few. At the control to tailor these hits with new and exclusive Reggae suits, you’ll find the best producers from the Stix’ roster like Soul Sugar aka Booker Gee, Taggy Matcher, Simon Nyabinghi, or Mato.Together they signed again a perfect soundtrack to extend your summer and fill your playlists, whether to light the dancefloors or just sip a nice cocktail facing the Negril’s sunset!

Pop Sensation - A groovy and sensual rhythm for a laid back evening with spring reverb Fender guitar and space echo Moog as featured guests.Sounds In The Night - Walking at night into the city after the rain when every sound seems to reverberate on the wet concrete. Modulating guitar over ambient dark jazz and noir.

One year after his first release, the french producer and multi instrumentist Antoine Bourachot returns with Diversions, a groove filled journey into espionage.Inspired by great fusion and disco records, with the help from virtuosos Jim Grandcamp (Guitar) and Shoko Igarashi (Soprano Saxophone, Flute), this record is a tribute to musicians and their craft.Alongside cinematic instrumental tracks, a pop side of the record emerges. Miracle, with epic celestial vocals from Giacomo Lecchi d’Alessandro and the ever so sweet Action with his trusted studio mate Irfane (Breakbot).Created in a gear sanctuary somewhere in Paris this record takes the listener into a spy fantasy, portrayed on the cover by the very talented Julia & Vincent.

New Gasoline releases, dropping a series of 3 limited-edition 7” colored vinyl EPs. For this first volume, directly out of the emblematic album "A journey into abstract Hiphop, it will feature: Introduction of a Jedi, The Hardest, Downtown Beirut and a bonus FX scratch track for turntablists.

Toy Tonics welcome one of the US’ absolute legends in the game on their roster - Kai Alcé! One of the original masters of jazzy house, Kai is a prime example, someone who witnessed the genesis of Detroit’s electronic musical landscape and strives to keep that spirit alive. Being of Haitian descent laid the foundation for his musical ear starting with his childhood in Queens, New York. Some of his earliest musical influences included his mother’s penchant for soca music and the distinct Caribbean rhythms of his culture. An appreciation of Jazz would be further guided by his father’s expanding audiophile home system. During the 1970s the kindling of Hip Hop and the heyday of Disco perked the ear of a young Kai while they were living in NYC. The Big Apple would remain a constant throughout his musical journey as the years went on, but it was the move to Michigan that ultimately shaped his artistic vision.On this 5 track EP Kai once again makes it all feel so easy! Deeply musical, yet also instantly effective on the dance floor, tracks like ‘New Life Livin’ and ‘Slide It In’ come with an ease that shows why he’s shaped the game for decades.

2023 REPRESSA stunning follow-up to his late 2018 release. Mostly recorded live at the Apollo Hotel Amsterdam in 1991. This is a compilation of the ''Apollo Hotel CD box'', that Ronald made himself, for family and friends..Some words from the label:From 1986 until 1992, Ronald had a residency in the lounge of Amsterdam’s Apollo Hotel. He would play there 5 days a week, for 5 hours a day. In 1991, throughout several sessions, he recorded himself on a cassette recorder. The recordings were ranging from re-interpreted cover versions to multiple own compositions.The Apollo was particularly known for its sophisticated and elegant crowd. Guests would come to meet in the lounge to talk business, or end the day with a drink at the bar - dancing was never an option.Listening to the album, one must wonder how some of this music would go hand in hand with a place like that. It seems Ronald gets lost in music and returns in unequally balanced patterns. Lounge sounds meet drum computer rhythms, punchy baselines, distorted space noises, reoccurring clarinet interludes and improvised piano solos.Back then, just as now, Ronald never liked to be the center of attention. He simply tried to interact with the surrounding as a provider of the mood - as he explains himself.Instruments Live:Grand Piano, Yamaha QX1 Sequencer, 2x Yamaha TX7 Tone Generator, Drumtraks Sequential Circuits, Clarinet, VoiceAdded at home: Yamaha DX7 Sounds, Roland R-8Space Train: Kurzweil Piano, Yamaha DX7, Roland R-8, Soprano Sax, VoiceRecorded live at the Apollo Hotel Amsterdam in 1991, except 'Space train', which was recorded in Ronald’s living room.All instruments played and arranged by Ronald Langestraat.All tracks written an composed by Ronald Langestraat, except 'Lowdown' which was written by David Paich & Boz Scaggs, 'Give and take' which was written by Michael Shrieve, Tom Coster & Carlos Santana and 'Orpheus' which was written by David Sylvian.

Essential South African jazz, funk and soul - An anthology dedicated to the legendary Black Disco ensemble. Distilling the group’s recorded output into a single commemorative document, Discovery 1975-1976 compiles cuts from the lauded Night Express album alongside rare gems from the group’s long-out-of-print first and third albums. The newly remastered selection features previously unissued single versions of the mighty “Night Express” itself, a funk juggernaut with piercing flute whistles and rapturous sax cries as well as “Dawn” from the album Black Disco 3, a trippy, flute-driven awakening of soft light and gentle colours.With a Yamaha organ and a dream, Pops Mohamed started his musical journey in the mid-1970s as the bandleader and composer of Black Disco, creating a hip melange of chill-out jazz with futuristic drum machine sounds and spiritual overtones. His cosmic organ transmissions were accompanied by two of the most sought-after session players on the South African scene, the sax and flute wizard Basil Coetzee, who had risen to fame in 1974 as one of the soloists on the hit “Mannenberg,” and Sipho Gumede, the young bass prodigy who was already rubbing shoulders with the old guard at the outset of his career. Backed at first with polyphonic beats from Mohamed’s electric organ and later taking on a drummer, Black Disco created a signature sound and a trilogy of innovative albums in a burst of studio creativity between 1975 and 1976.On the heels of their epic various artists compilation, As-Shams Archive have produced a doozy of a compilation of some very essential South African jazz.

Matthew Halsall's landmark new album "An Ever Changing View" is an expansive, immaculately conceived project which presents Halsall’s signature blend of jazz, electronica, global and spiritual jazz influencesBlack Vinyl 2LP with printed inner sleeves and white foiled reverse sleeve tracklisting. Download code includedHalsall who has been hailed as one of the leading figures of the UK jazz renaissance has never seen himself as part of any one sound or scene: he builds his own sonic universe instead. An Ever Changing View finds him at his most experimental yet, once again expanding his sound and production techniques to create his unique brand of deeply meditative music.During the album's creation, he was staying in both a beautiful architect’s house with breath-taking sea views and a striking modernist house, where he composed what he saw “like a landscape painting”. In these new environments, Halsall wanted to capture “the feeling of openness and escapism” and to approach making music again from scratch. “I hit the reset button and wanted to have complete musical freedom,” he says. “It was a real exploration of sound.”It was hearing jazz on the dancefloor as a teenager that first opened up new possibilities in Halsall’s mind and his music has long drawn on his love for the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders and contemporary electronica from the likes of Warp Records and Ninja Tune. An Ever Changing View melds those forms in a way that feels heady and, at times, even otherworldly. One of the album’s starting points was Halsall’s ever-expanding box of percussion, from congas and kalimba to various clusters of seeds, bells and chimes, which he sampled and looped to use as a foundation for the songs – a first for him and his band. Elevating, charming, totally modern jazz tracks jostle with deft warm magic realism; and laid back grooves with hand percussion, deep bass and the gorgeous glisten of the Fender Rhodes meet hip-hop beats. Halsall himself sparkles, illuminating his beautiful tapestries of sound with lithe, glistening elegiac trumpet.An Ever Changing View comes in a package as striking as the music, with handmade fonts designed by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic and the specially commissioned tapestry by artist Sara Kelly is a stunning and harmonious complement to the record's sound

When it first slipped out in 2015, Manabu Nagayama’s ‘Light & Shadow’ passed most people by. Yet it’s a genuinely overlooked gem a musically expansive and uplifting Japanese deep house workout that first featured on a promo-only compilation back in 2015. A softly spun slab of slow-building brilliance full of fluid piano motifs, heady hand percussion, the track effortlessly sashays between heartfelt dancefloor melancholia and tactile deep house positivity. One DJ to see its potential was Rush Hour co-founder Antal Heitlager, who asked Masalo to remix it. Over ‘a few years’, Masalo worked on the revision in bursts, tweaking it and subtly altering the arrangement until he was happy. The results are undeniably impressive, elevating an already excellent track to whole new levels. DJs seem to agree, too, with Masalo’s fine remix becoming something of an underground anthem following the release of a limited number of white label test pressings earlier last year.Taking the spiritual end of deep house as his inspiration – and happy memories of attending events while visiting Japan – the Dutch-Japanese producer has delivered a slowly-building epic that subtly ratchets up energy and excitement throughout, while effortlessly eking out every last drop of emotion from Manabu’s piano-laden production.Extensively road-tested at the Brighter Days parties he runs with long-time DJ partner Kamma, Masalo’s remix settles into a chugging groove before introducing Manabu’s tactile hand percussion – a staple of spiritual deep house cuts – and melancholic piano refrains, as well as his own lilting chords and cascading synth sounds. By the time the original’s bouncy piano riff drops midway through, you’ll be lost in the music. Fittingly given the quality of Manabu’s original, it’s a revision that showcases the track’s best elements while gently lifting it to new heights.