Happy Birthday Brian Jackson!

Raising a glass to keyboardist/composer Brian Jackson on his birthday with a short interview and 2022'a This Is Brian Jackson LP.

Swank coffee table book on Japanese jazz albums 1954-88 published by BBE

BBE's nicely illustrated 300+ page hardcover J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz Albums From Japan comes with a CD of 10 choice cuts. 

Here's the scoop...

BBE Music has just issued  J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz From Japan 1954-1988, a remarkable large-format book covering some of the deepest, rarest, and most innovative jazz music released anywhere in the post-war era. Compiled by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden, co-curators of BBE Music’s acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series, the book also features a foreword by Japanese jazz icon, Terumasa Hino.

This is the first time a book of this type has been has been published outside of Japan and the first anywhere of this size and scale. It is a unique collection of over 500 albums of free and modern jazz recorded and released in Japan during a period of radical transformation and constant reinvention. An era that saw Japan return from the ravages of World War Two to become a global economic power and emerge as both a technological leader and an international cultural force.

Through a unique gallery of albums, J Jazz charts the development of jazz in Japan from the first stirrings of the modern jazz scene in the mid to late 1950s and on through the hard bop and modal jazz of the 1960s. It steers the reader into the radical directions of the 1970s when free jazz, fusion, post-bop, and jazz-funk opened up a growing number of Japanese jazz artists to a new global audience before consolidating in the mid to late 1980s with a musical scene that laid the path for the contemporary jazz generation to follow.

Over 500 full-colour sleeves from many of the leading names in Japanese jazz sit alongside rare and private pressings that tell a story of constant change and musical exploration. J Jazz includes profiles of several leading record labels such as East Wind, Frasco, King Records, and Nippon Columbia as well as critical independents such as Three Blind Mice, ALM, and Aketa’s Disk. J Jazz includes interviews with celebrated jazz photographer Tadayuki Naito, and pianist Tohru Aizawa, bandleader on the totemic spiritual jazz album, Tachibana Vol 1, as well as free-jazz record collector and jazz musician Mats Gustafsson.

The book also features a chapter on albums by non-Japanese artists that only received a Japanese release, with collectible, rare, and obscure releases by figures such as Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy, and Art Blakey. J Jazz includes Japanese jazz charts from some of the world’s leading jazz DJs including Gilles Peterson, Toshio Matsuura, Paul Murphy, and Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino. Among the specialist content is a feature on obi strips by record dealer and Japanese jazz expert, Yusuke Ogawa, plus a special article on Japanese Blue Note albums.

Across its 300-plus pages, J Jazz includes a detailed introduction contextualizing the music, tracing the story of Japan’s fascination with jazz back before the war. It also features biographical information on many of the key artists involved in shaping the post- war Japanese jazz scene including Sadao Watanabe, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Masabumi Kikuchi, Masahiko Togashi, Terumasa Hino, Yosuke Yamashita, Fumio Itabashi, Masayuki Takayanagi, Takeo Moriyama, Isao Suzuki, and many more. 

You can get a copy of J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz From Japan, 1954-1988 directly from BBE Music right here. Check the tracklisting for the accompanying CD followed by an unboxing clip and the first four tunes. 

J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz Albums From Japan, 1954-1988 

1. Tohru Aizawa Quartet – Philosopher’s Stone

2. Kohsuke Mine – Love Talken

3. Hideto Sasaki, Toshiyuki Sekine Quartet + 1 – Little B’s Poem

4. Takeo Moriyama – Take

5. Makoto Terashita meets Harold Land – Takeuma

6. Miyasaka + 5 – Dog’s Dance

7. Shintaro Quintet – Future On You

8. Masaru Imada Trio + 1 – Blue Road

9. Koichi Matsukaze Trio + Toshiyuki Daitoku – Zekatsuma Selbst

10. Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet – Rerev (Extended Version – Live)

Paul Murphy curates a covers heavy Jazz Room comp for BBE

Paul Murphy's dancefloor-ready 13-track Jazz Room Vol. 2 collection is out May 5th. Read all about it and hear a few swingers.

Here's the scoop...

Welcome to the second Volume of the Jazz Room series compiled by DJ legend and label owner Paul Murphy. Following the success of the original Jazz Room compilation released by BBE in 2019, Paul has compiled a double vinyl volume of jazz dance tracks that range from heavy funk of New Orleans to Latin grooves and contemporary jazz from the new generation. Tracks written by Dizzy Gillespie sit with those penned by Raúl Monsalve and Fela Kuti. 

Paul's own label, Jazz Room Records, specializes in re-issues and it is his expertise in finding the rare and the obscure and matching with the new and the fresh that creates the joy filled atmosphere on this compilation. The Jazz Room, Vol. 2 really is as much for the party people as it it for the headz and links the audiences from his legendary gigs in the 1970s and 80s at the Electric Ballroom, 100 Club and The Blue Note to those at his current appearances at Spiritland, Shiftless Shuffle and Brilliant Corners. 

Indeed, among the rarities and the global rhythms in this collection are some excellent cover versions of tracks from the aforementioned Fela Kuti, The Stranglers, Azymuth and The Human League (yes, The Human League). What Paul Murphy has done here is compile a selection of tracks that could easily be a DJ club set, a soundtrack to a party, a Summer festival highlight or a night of music appreciation with a favourite tipple and partner. Pre-order a copy of The Jazz Room Vol. 2 via Bandcamp right here.

Check out Cheick Tidiane Seck's spin on Randy Weston's "Niger Mambo," Daniel Crawford's breezy Robert Glasper-style update of Fela Kuti's "Water No Get Enemy," the Florian Pellissier Quintet's crack at "The Hipster" by Harold McNair and Fast 3's radical Hammond-led reorganization of Human League's "Don't You Want Me?" following the track listing below. 

The Jazz Room Vol. 2 compiled by Paul Murphy

1. Eternal Buzz Brass Band - Sounds Good

2. César's Salad - Manteca

3. Chip Wickham - Rebel No. 23 (7" Edit)

4. The Stance Brothers - Roll Call

5. Cruisic - Jazz Carnival

6. Daniel Crawford - Water No Get Enemy 

7. Los Po-Boy-Citos - Fried Neckbones and Some Home Fries

8. Raúl Monsalve y los Forajidos - Black & Decker

9. Clare Fischer - African Flutes

10. Cheick Tidiane Seck - Niger Mambo

11. Florian Pellissier Quintet - The Hipster

12. Take Vibe - Golden Brown

13. Fast 3 - Don't You Want Me?

Whaddya mean you don't know the Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet

Check out "Rerev," the opening track on the Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet's rare private press live album with Hiroshi Fujii from '78. 

Midweek Mixdown: DJ Amir's The Strata sound of Detroit mix

DJ Amir's mix pairs Strata joints from Kenny Cox, Maulawi, Bert Myrick & Larry Nozero with other spiritual jazz gems of the era. 

Track listing:

 

1. Stanley Cowell-Equipoise-Strata-East Records

2. NTU & Gary Bartz-Singerella-Fantsay Records

3. Kelelee Patterson-Maiden Voyage-Black Jazz Records

4. Eddie Russ-Take A Look At Yourself-Monument Records

5. Maulawi-Root in 7-4 Plus-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

6. Stanley Cowell-Trying To Find A Way-Strata-East Records

7. Kenny Cox-Clap Clap! The Joyful Noise-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

8. CJQ-Nguzo Saba-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

9. Max Roach featuring Abby Lincoln-Garvey’s Ghost-Impulse Records

10. Calvin Keys-B.K.-Black Jazz Records

11. Larry Nozero-Tune L.N.-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

12. Maulawi-Unknown Track-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

13. Bert Myrick-Scorpio’s Child-Strata Records/180 Proof Records

Check out DJ Amir's hour-long mix via Soundcloud right here. 

Get the album from BBE over here. 

LINKS

Bandcamp.com The Unheralded Music of Detroit's Strata Records

Listen to a previously unissued Roy Ayers gem

"Reaching The Highest Pleasure" was discovered amongst the tapes from the Roy Ayers' Virgin Ubiquity sessions. Check it out.  

Midweek Mixdown: Tony Higgins & Mike Peden spin Japanese jazz

Tony Higgins & Mike Peden behind BBE's ace Japan Jazz series assembled the swingin' 100-min Abstract Truths mix for Aquarium Drunkard. Listen here.

Abstract Truths mix by Tony Higgins & Mike Peden
Kan. Rock Seasons (Express) // Bao Bab. Sadakazu Tabata (Polydor) // Higher Levels. Himiko Kikuchi (Continental) // Do It. Soul Media (Columbia) // Toppu. Shigeharu Mukai (Columbia) // Invader 7. George Kawaguchi (TBM) // Hiro. Watanabe – Kikuchi Sextet (Philips) // 7th Avenue Sunrise. Isoo Fukui Quartet (TBM) // Sunday Thing. Toshiyuki Miyama & New Herd (TBM // )O No Michi . Hiromasa Suzuki (RCA) // Animals . Count Buffalos (Dan)Wolf’s Theme. Seiichi Nakamura (Union) // Salvation. Kyoshi Sugimoto (RCA) // Bamboo Bong. Jun Fukumachi (Toshiba) // The Lupus . Kosuke Ichihara (CBS/Sony)

Midweek Mixdown: Rainer Trüby

Rainer Trüby goes even smoother with a silky sweet selection of languid club jams on his new Soulgliding comp for BBE. Listen to a sampler mix below. 

Former member of A Forest Mighty Black and founder of Trüby Trio, celebrated club DJ Rainer Trüby, aka Rainer Trueby, presents his new compilation Soulgliding out now on BBE Music.

Starting life as a Facebook group, ‘Soulgliding’ is a phrase coined by Rainer Trueby to describe the more languid, smoother side of 2-Step, Boogie, Modern Soul and even Jazz. This silky collection spans several decades and sums up what Soulgliding is all about: evocative airy music that feels like a dream-flight across a friendly sky.

Or, as Rainer's longtime pal Patrick Forge puts it in his sleeve notes…

“Soulgliding….. It’s all in that word, a stroke of genius, no explanation needed, I knew what it was about before I even read the rules. Anyway there was only one rule that really mattered, the speed limit, nothing beyond 110bpm. What I didn’t know when Rainer first convened the eponymous Facebook group was just how addictive it would be. Several months of sharing, liking, commenting, loving and frantic dives into Discogs later, and Soulgliding has become a thing. A genre? Well, almost. This selection lovingly compiled by Rainer himself goes a long way to solidify the notion and stake a claim on the territory.

This set of gliders has all the elements; from the slow (enough!) boogie of Crystal Winds, to the jazzy excursions courtesy of Ambiance and Les Hooper, and a clutch of tunes that are closer to the original 2-Step blueprint from Demo Cates, Bridge, Cloud One and Donna McGhee. Then there are the eighties drum machine grooves of Patrice Rushen and Fifth Of Heaven and the ethereal beatless magic of Peter Brown’s “Without Love”. A selection that manages to amalgamate plenty of obscurities without losing the essence, a selection which shimmers, soothes, inspires……glides.”

Various Artists - Rainer Trueby presents Soulgliding (BBE)
Ambiance – Camouflage 5:17 123 bpm
Bridge – Next to Me 4:06 81 bpm
Cast – Sweetness 5:10 96 bpm
Cloud One – Dust to Dust 4:24 150 bpm
Crystal Winds – Lover's Holiday 4:32 105 bpm
Demo Cates – Memories of Moments 03:52 94 bpm
Donna McGhee – It Ain´t No Big Thing 6:39 98 bpm
Fifth Of Heaven – Just a Little More 5:33 88 bpm
Les Hooper – Lady of the Night 5:50 92 bpm
Mellaa – Makin’ Love in the Fast Lane 3:46 96 bpm
Patrice Rushen – To Each His Own 4:15 107 bpm
Peter Brown – Without Love 2:37 98 bpm
Ray & James – Nature Boy 4:08 101 bpm

Ebo Taylor's "lost" 1980 album Palaver released by BBE

The previously unreleased Palaver album recorded in 1980 by Ghanaian highlife guitar great Ebo Taylor is out now on BBE Music. 

Here's the scoop...
BBE Music unearths ‘Palaver’, a long-lost, previously unreleased 1980 album from Ghanaian guitarist and songwriter Ebo Taylor.

If Fela Kuti was the king of Nigerian Afrobeat, then Ebo Taylor, 83 and still playing hard, is the king of Ghana Funky-Highlife. No doubt whatsoever. Much of Ebo’s beautiful 70s and 80s output has been reissued, as more and more Afro music lovers are being converted to his unique pan-West African sound.

In 1980 while on a club tour of Nigeria with his regular touring band, Ebo bumped into Chief Tabansi of Tabansi Records. They agreed that Taylor would record a one-album session to be released exclusively on Tabansi. Within a few days the deal was signed, the session completed, the tapes signed off, and Ebo and his band went on their way to complete their Nigerian tour.

But for reasons that no-one (including Ebo) can now fully recall, the master tapes got shelved in a dusty backroom in Tabansi’s Onitsha HQ. Where they remained, undisturbed, unreleased, unplayed, for almost forty years.

Last year, Peter Adarkwah of BBE Music signed off on a major multi-album reissue deal with Tabansi and its affiliated labels. ‘What about unissued material, if we find any?’ Joe Tabansi, Chief’s son and current administrator of the label, casually asked.

Yes, replied Peter - but WHAT unissued material?

Upon which, Joe produces these masters. The tapes are rushed to the redoubtable Carvery vinyl remastering and pressing plant in East London, and all at BBE soon realised that they had a masterpiece on their hands. All-new material, all Ebo’s own compositions, all recorded with Ebo’s crème-de-la-crème touring and recording players, including George Amissah. Mat Hammond, George Kennedy and George Abunuah among others.

Here it is, for the first time, anywhere. Ebo Taylor’s Lost Nigeria Sessions.

Midweek Mixdown: Jean-Claude's Deep Jazz Vol. 3

IF Music mainmain Jean-Claude takes you on a guided tour of his latest collection of rare jazz gems out now on BBE. 

Second volume of deep Japanese jazz due from BBE

Following the success of the J Jazz: deep modern jazz from Japan 1969-1984 compilation, BBE Records has announced the release of another exploration into the very finest Japanese modern jazz.

J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan 1969-1983, Volume 2 builds on the solid foundation of the first compilation and sees co-compilers Tony Higgins and Mike Peden once again pick choice sections from their own record collections. They present a deep dive into an intoxicating and beguiling range of styles: from cinematic roaring big-band (Little G by Nobuo Hara) and sparse minimal acoustic funk (Teru Teru Bozo by Teru Sakomoto), to deep spiritual modal epics (Dragon Dance by Makoto Terashita and Harold Land) and funk fusion (Mother of the Future by Electro Keyboard Orchestra). J Jazz 2 delivers more astonishing high quality jazz that will appeal the old school hard-core jazz head as much as those digging the current sounds of the current vibrant jazz explosion in the UK and USA.

The specially chosen tracks on J Jazz 2 span across 25 years of Japanese musical progression and invention. From the elegiac stark beauty of Serenade to a Dimly Lit Street and the modal vortex of Daguri, to the fierce post-bop freedom of Bull Trout and the mid-tempo bossa lilt of Vietnam, there is enough here to satisfy the most curious and demanding jazz fan seeking something extra special. J Jazz 2 will be available as a 3 LP or 2 CD set on September 6th which you can pre-order here.

Listen to "Dragon Dance" by Makoto Terashita feat. Harold Land followed by "Mother Of The Future" by the Electro Keyboard Orchestra below.

David Wertman's 1978 free-jazz epic Earthly Delights reissued by BBE

Bassist David Wertman and his Sun Ensemble cut the four-song Earthly Delights in Amherst, Mass in May, 1978. 

Midweek Mixdown: Ernesto Chahoud

Listen to Beirut DJ Ernesto Chahoud's delightful selection of vintage Ethiopian 45s.  

If you enjoyed Ernesto's mix, grab a copy of his excellent Ethiopian singles compilation Taitu out now on BBE. 

Midweek Mixdown: Victor Kiswell

Check out Victor Kiswell's choice selection live from Mohamed Abdel Qader's Kan Zaman shop in Zamalek, Cairo. 

Pre-order a copy of the new World Jazz Grooves comp Victor assembled for BBE right here. Listen below.

Rare Charles Mingus 1973 recording Jazz In Detroit out Friday

Check out a preview clip of Charles Mingus: Jazz In Detroit issued as 5 LP or 5 CD box set November 2 on BBE.

BBE Music in conjunction with 180 Proof Records have unearthed the long-lost intimate concert tapes from one of the greatest composers and bassists in the history of American Music, Charles Mingus.

Transmitted live by producer and broadcaster Robert “Bud” Spangler for WDET-FM radio, these rare recordings from reels discovered by DJ Amir Abdullah capture Mingus during his week-long residency at the intimate Strata Concert Gallery in Detroit, 1973. This hard-swinging set features the earliest known recording of “Noddin’ Ya Head Blues”, and a rare inclusion of “Dizzy Profile” -- a beautiful waltz never officially recorded by Mingus for studio release.

Following shortly after the release of Mingus’s orchestral masterpiece, Let My Children Hear Music, these recordings capture a lesser-known Mingus line-up including drummer Roy Brooks and trumpeter Joe Gardner (both Detroit natives), virtuoso pianist Don Pullen, and the innovative saxophonist John Stubblefield. Stubblefield was a recent recruit who performed for five months with the ensemble, leaving soon after this engagement. Later after Mingus’s death, Stubblefield went on to collaborate with Mingus’s widow, Sue Mingus, and became a key figure in the Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Big Band. This recording at Strata is the only known documentation of Mingus and Stubblefield on stage together.

The performance captured on these tapes is simply breathtaking: five masters of music channeling their greater spirits for an intimate, enraptured audience. It is a time-machine journey into a sensory experience of that February evening in 1973 Detroit; listeners glimpse a taste of the furious energy and compositional sophistication of this monumental modern creator and his jazz workshop.

DJ Format's Psych Out compilation gets a vinyl repress

DJ Format's head-noddin' Psych Out collection of fuzz enhanced global goodies is now available on vinyl from BBE. 

Sez Matt Ford aka DJ Format: 
"The idea for this compilation came about because of my search for a rare psych/funk 7″ that isn’t even included here! My friend DJ Oneofakind played me the said record and I totally lost my mind. Some months later after a lot of asking around and searching online, a copy turned up on Discogs.com for a painful amount of money. I contacted the seller to ask a couple of questions and it turned out I was talking to Jake Holloway, BBE’s in-house designer. I’d loosely known Jake for a few years through mutual friends so we quickly arranged a time to meet and take care of business. Jake told me he’d offered the 7″ to a few other DJ/collector friends but they’d passed on it as it was ‘too heavy’ for them. This got us talking about my love for psych records with a funky slant and I explained my frustration at buying so many records that fit that description, that were ‘too heavy’ to play at my typical DJ gigs. Jake had the perfect solution: 'why don’t you do a compilation of funky, fuzzed-out psych stuff for BBE?'"



00:01 1. The Quests - Hava Nagila
00:27 2. The Tijuana Brats - Karate Chop
00:55 3. Rainbow Family - Travellin' Lady
01:21 4. The CT Four Plus - Exodus II
01:48 5. 49th Blue Streak - Foxy Lady
02:16 6. Bana Pop Band - Jet Pop
02:44 7. La Logia Sarabanda - Todos O Ninguno
03:11 8. Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar - Louis, Louis
03:35 9. Flamengo - Tyden v elektrickém meste
04:03 10. Sergio Ferraresi - Time of Machines
04:29 11. Krzysztof Klenczon - Nie Przejdziemy Do Historii
04:56 12. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin - The Shaman's Dance
05:21 13. Pro Arte - Stari Dvorac