UK

Legendary DJ and collector Sadar Bahar & Dutch synth obsessive Ben Spaander's present their new collaborative EP on BBE!Hugely respected both as a DJ and authority on rare disco, funk and his own brand of ‘Soul In The Hole’, Chicago’s Sadar Bahar joins forces with Dutch synth-obsessive Ben Spaander for a very special 12” release, “The Red, White & Blue’s”. A regular fxture at the world’s most discerning parties including Southport, Soundwave and Helsinki’s Flow Festival, Sadar Bahar frst joined forces with BBE in 2012, releasing acclaimed (and highly sought after) compilation album ‘Soul In The Hole’. Better known as Cosmic Force, electro veteran Ben Spaander has amassed an enviable array of synths in his Utrecht studio, using them to devastating efect in his productions and live shows. Starting out working only with Ben’s synth collection and Sadar’s supreme ear for the groove, the pair soon enlisted help from some talented sax, guitar and keyboard players to give their new project a delightfully organic, live sound. Following hot on the heels of their debut release (‘We Are Righteous People’ on Rush Hour), ‘The Red White & Blue’s’ comprises four heavy grooving dance-foor cuts of varying shades. ‘Electronic Frequencies’ sounds like an early Chicago House track, with a hypnotic synth bassline and insistent kick drum punctuated by sensual spoken word vocals and jazzy guitar licks. ‘Fast Trumpet’ lives up to it’s title with a frenetic disco rhythm and looping brass samples giving way to an ultra-funky wah-wah guitar jam. ‘Binaries In Love’ is a disco/funk workout of epic proportions, the dizzying interplay between live sax and guitar giving a classic feel to the rock-solid groove. Finally ‘East River Throwdown’ gives a nod to b-boys and bgirls across the world, touching on one of the most iconic breaks of all time while adding a earscandalous layer of smooth jazz-funk. An exciting partnership from two artists brought together simply through a love of music, the energetic, joyful nature of these tracks lends them a wide and instant appeal. Coming soon to a dancefoor near you. Expect smiling faces.

Recently championed by Gilles Peterson on his BBC6 Music radio show, "Dilla" by Abstract Orchestra has been generating a buzz since it's inception in 2016 and subsequent u.k. tour, during which the album was presented to the public in its live form.Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra seeks to reflect the diversity of music sampled by Hip-Hop producers by presenting music that has the complexity of jazz, framed within the simpler structures of Hip-Hop. Complex harmonies are framed within simple loops and complex bar structures and time signatures can pass by unnoticed. "I selected the tracks on the album with very much the live performance in mind" says band-leader and arranger Rob Mitchell "So the album is a reflection of the tour and the music we performed".Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures.The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets and trombones and features the cream of the north of England's jazz scene who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse."Dilla" by Abstract Orchestra is a tribute to the work of the highly acclaimed and influential producer. Opener"Welcome to Detroit/The Diary"takes the the vocal sample from Isaac Hayes's "Man's Temptation" and places it against lush brass and driving beats while"Workinonit"Transplants the original 10cc guitar samples from the Dilla original onto biting trumpets and aggressive saxes, underpinned as always by Joost Hendrickx's on point drumming. On"Stop"vocalist Anna Uhuru handles the Dionne Warwick vocal with assurance while the band lay down an arrangement that is reminiscent of the work of David Axelrod and Don Sebeskey, both big sources of inspiration for Abstract Orchestra.The middle of the album revolves around 2 Dilla medleys featuring versions and sections of"Airworks", "ULove", "Last Donut"and"Welcome To The Show"."Raw Shit"sees Farfisa organ underpinning the insistent brass figures with the bass taking on an almost bassoon-like quality while "Official/Fall In Love"sees Anna & Akin provide a stunning vocal performance, trading lines over the delicate horn arrangement. "Fantastic"features theRhodes intro of the original which is then taken up by the flutes and baritone sax. Inspired by the work of 20th century classical composers like Barber and Copeland the 2nd half of the arrangement takes on an almost orchestral feel with shades of Gil Evans."Love","So Far To Go","A.N.G.E.L.", and"Sun In My Face"provide interesting takes on these well known Dilla originals while album closer"Two Can Win"(recently championed by Gilles Peterson on his BBC6 Music show) acts as a showcase for the variety of Anna Uhuru's vocals, blending the style of the original Sylvers track with Minnie Ripperton style harmonies, 70's funk and Lalo Schiffrin/JJ Johnson film score vibes. Closing track "Two can win" was played twice in two consecutive weeks by Gilles Peterson on his BBC6 Music show, where he declared it to be "A Winner".

Good news! music lovers, Soul searchers, and record diggers!Los Charly's Orchestra are back!!! this time celebrating their 10th anniversary and featuring the tropical Soul legend: Omar, for their latest extravaganza of Caribbean infused Disco/Boogie.LCO has left an important landmark on the global Soulful Disco - Jazz Funk landscape since the very beginning, and their tireless production machine still continues today to deliver some of the most epic groovers, such as: "All Around The World, Everlasting Love & Sunshine", in between many others.Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel (the two men behind this project), continue on their endless effort for producing enduring music by delivering their latest EP which contains an LCO's Re-make treatment of Omar's classic: "It's So" plus a brand new Boogie-Reggaeish fusion track entitled: "History", both tracks with their correspondent instrumentals for the delight of the vinyl junkie, and groove music aficionado.

The Haggis Horns will release their fourth studio album in September 2017 and as a little teaser, they drop a summer single worldwide on June 9th via their own Haggis Records, a feel good bouncing hip-hop/funk jam featuring guest UK MC/rapper Doc Brown. Think back to the dawn of hip-hop in the early 1980s when the first rap singles featured the Sugarhill Records house band laying down heavy funk grooves for MCs like The Furious Five and Treacherous 3 and you get the flavour. No-nonsense party hip-hop/funk for b-boys, soul sisters and funk brothers! And keeping with that old school flavour, it will come with a limited edition 7" vinyl pressing alongside the digital single and feature an instrumental version on the b-side with the Horns cutting loose on the solos.Now in their 19th year, The Haggis Horns are still as popular and busy as ever playing clubs and festivals around the UK and internationally and finishing this new album for autumn release. Expect another slab of heavy funk and sweet soul with longtime vocalists John McCallum (Corinne Bailey Rae band) and Lucinda Slim on various featured tracks plus the hip-hop collaborations with Doc Brown. As always, their famous super tight rhythm section holds it down alongside one of the UK's best horn sections of the last 2 decades whose gig/recording credits include Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Jamiroquai, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas and Lily Allen.

The sonic partnership of K15 and Emeson originated in the days of MySpace. A future of combining their skills was inevitable, and now in 2017, it's time to unleash their debut studio album into the ether.The solo-projects of Tottenham-raised Kieron Ifill (aka K15) date back a decade, but were truly kick-started on labels such as Kyle Hall's Wild Oats and WotNot Music, with a number of genre-crossing releases dropping ever since, including the WU15 project (along with Yussef Kamaal's Henry Wu, on Eglo Records). Additionally to his production work, he has established himself internationally as a DJ, from the Jazz Cafe to the CoOp parties.Partner in Profusion, Emeson, has many skills to his bow - singing, songwriting, producing, promoting, DJing (under the alias Ed Nice) and acting. As a musician, his varied skill-set has seen him work with Chico Hamilton, Carla Duke, Karmasound, Uzo Madu and Chris Jerome. A frontman for soul-jazz groups LifeSize, The One and Saturn's Children, he has featured on releases for BBE and Tokyo Dawn, and appeared live on stage at the likes of Ronnie Scott's.The debut single was supported by tastemaker blogs Wonderland, XLR8R and Stamp The Wax, has been bumped by selectors such as Lefto and Jazzie B, and played on NTS, Worldwide FM, Mi-Soul, LeMellotron, Balamii Radio, Itch FM, Invader FM, Soho Radio and various stations across Europe and the US.This album is full to the brim with summery sun-soaked synths, drifting across the warmest of basslines and heavyweight beats. Emeson's rich vocals gracefully ride atop of K15's delectably bruk twist on neo-soul sonics and electronics; this is some seriously classy contemporary London soul music, that manages to incorporate flashes of various dance music techniques, sound-system etiquette and jazz-tinged rhythms. As future-thinking as it is subtly retrospective, it doesn't lend itself to one genre, it intentionally embodies the best of many. An array of everything that is great about British black music in 2017. The message the album conveys itself couldn't have come at a more poignant time. Where do we begin?Profusion - an abundance of something rich indeed.

London soulful house label Makin' Moves (brought to you by Matt Langrish-Smith & DJ Jamesey) bring the heat once again with these awesome remixes of The Foreign Exchange: an internet-spawned collaboration between Dutch producer Nicolay and US rapper/singer Phonte Coleman from Little Brother. "Body" is taken from their recent album Tales From The Land Of Milk & Honey and it is a wonderful slice of modern soul that calls to mind the work of Kaidi Tatham or Vikter Duplaix. The remixes on here work that extra bit of magic though and who better than NYC's finest DJ Spinna to deliver the goods on his deep and emotive remix. His second offering, the "Ride It Out dub" dives even deeper and does exactly what it says on the tin on this version, aimed squarely at late night dancefloors.