Valtteri Laurell Nonet - Tigers Are Better Looking

Composer Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen presents his Nonet formation of We Jazz Records. Their debut album "Tigers Are Better Looking" is released 3 Feb and the ensemble features internationally renowned Finnish clarinetist Antti Sarpila, plus a strong cast of Helsinki-based musicians from several of the top Finnish groups.

Based on the writings of British-Caribbean author Jean Rhys (1890–1979), the 6-track album is a melancholy, intimate chamber jazz creation. Laurell's music swings, yet he doesn't stop there, but moves further to paint an original, richly-toned sonic image with the highly potent Nonet.

Laurell states Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis's "Water Babies" and Charles Mingus among the key musical influences of his compositions on this album. Through Rhys's text, Laurell finds a special sense of detachment and melancholy evident in his new material. Laurell's music swings, yet he doesn't stop there, but moves further to paint an original, richly-toned sonic image with the highly potent Nonet. Antti Sarpila's masterful clarinet provides the icing on the cake, floating high above the clouds of sound.

Tracklist:
1. Tigers Are Better Looking
3. Wide Sargasso Sea
4. Let Them Call It Jazz
5. Till September Petronella
6. Temps Perdi

Zhu Quartet - Ginkgo

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Costante
3. Ginkgo
4. Creative Process
5. Sabato pomeriggio con tommaso
6. Agitato
7. 2022
8. Altri tempi
9. Prima del sonno
10. Laguna

Joe Chambers - Dance Kobina

Drummer, percussionist, vibraphonist, composer, and Blue Note legend Joe Chambers returns with Dance Kobina, his 3rd album as a leader for Blue Note which explores the deep musical connection between Jazz, Latin, Brazilian, Argentinian, and African music. The follow-up to his 2021 album 'Samba de Maracatu' was co-produced by pianist Andrés Vial and recorded in both New York and Montreal. The album presents compelling Chambers originals including 'Gazelle Suite,' 'Ruth,' and 'Caravanserai,' as well as vibrant interpretations of pieces by Vial, Kurt Weill, Joe Henderson, and Karl Ratzer.

Tracklist:
1. This Is New
2. Dance Kobina
3. Ruth
4. Caravanserai
5. City of Saints
6. Gazelle Suite
7. Intermezzo
8. Power To The People
9. Moon Dancer

Cinephonic - Visions

Cinephonic's sophomore release "Visions" is a baroque funk tour-de-force - an intriguing concept album made up of ancient medieval and baroque themes, refracted through a modern prism of soul, jazz and psychedelia, all performed by a massive fourteen-piece ensemble, and meticulously captured to analogue reel-to-reel tape.

Cinephonic was founded in 2018 by composer / multi-instrumentalist Pierre Chrétien, as an outlet for the new cinematic tunes he had been quietly writing when he wasn't busy leading groups such as The Souljazz Orchestra, Atlantis Jazz Ensemble and Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays.

Drawing inspiration from classic film and library music, Cinephonic expands on the sound with elements of cinematic soul, psychedelic rock, and spiritual jazz, creating a rich, evocative, and complex soundscape that juxtaposes intricate compositions with dark funk backbeats - a kind of epic soundtrack for a film that never existed.

Tracklits:
1. Le Combat
2. Pyramides
3. Cendres et Poussières
4. L'Exil
5. Pénombre
6. Tribulations
7. Les Souterrains
8. L'Étoile
9. Douleur
10. Le Feu

Alexis Evans - Yours Truly

Record Kicks presents "Yours Truly", the new album by Bordeaux's "Soulboy", Mr. Alexis Evans.

Like fine Red Wine, "Soulboy" Alexis Evans gets better with Age. The best evidence of this is his brand new album "Yours Truly", set for release on February 3rd, 2023 on LP, CD and digital via Milan-based label Record Kicks. Produced and mixed by Louis-Marin Renaud (Lou Doillon, Theo Lawrence, Desmond Myers), "Yours Truly" is the third studio album by Bordeaux-based singer-songwriter Alexis Evans and sees the light 4 years after his previous LP "I've Come A Long Way", defined "Soul album of The Year" by Rolling Stone France. "Yours Truly" consists of 12 brilliantly soulful cuts that take direct inspiration from 60's & 70's classic soul music adding a sound that is firmly rooted in the new millennium.

Anticipated by the first single "Mr Right On Time", the album was recorded between Bordeaux and Nantes during 2021 and beginning of 2022. The idea behind the new album was to find a unique sound, mixing classic 60's & 70's soul music with more contemporary influences such as hip hop beats, jazz, reggae, and Caribbean sounds. To do that, Alexis paired up with producer Louis-Marin Renaud, known for his work with French-English singer, actress and model Lou Doillon and country-soul rising star Theo Lawrence, who took part in the arrangements and mixed the album.

"All instruments were recorded live, some titles were completely live and others got modified, cut, sampled, depending on the tunes in a kind of beatmaking way. It was a very fun and fulfilling project that will sound awesome on stage for sure," explains Alexis.

Lyrically, the album could be described as soulful everyday rhymes. "Love may be the number one subject in soul music and clearly has its place of honor in a few songs ("Close to me", "What is this feeling"), while other songs tend to deal with it in a more cynical but poetic way, for instance on "Mister right on time", in which beauty remains in simplicity," states Mr. Evans. He continues: "Another topic of the album is abandonment ("It matters to me", "The only apple", "Close to the water"). Whether it is the fear of being left behind or the sadness after a loss, this album still bears some traces of lockdown and I was aiming at giving another perspective on different matters, looking at them in a dreamlike way." The themes of the album are reflected in the cover artwork, made by Adrià F Marquès.

Alexis Evans, songwriter with a timeless style based in Bordeaux, France, found the love of music and learnt to play guitar thanks to his father, an English musician. His inspirations range from Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke to David Bowie. At the age of 17 he debuted with his first project "Jumping to the Westside", with which he was awarded the "Cognac Blues Passion" prize and flew to the "International Blues Challenge" in Memphis, Tennessee, where he impressed the American audience even though he was still a teenager. Mr. Evanshas built a household name in the scene as the "enfant prodige of soul" starting with his first album, released in 2015, and consolidated his reputation with his second long play "I've Come a Long Way", released in 2019 on Record Kicks. Rolling Stone France described it as "The Soul album of the year", while Blues & Soul Magazine and BBC 6 defined him as "One of the most exciting additions to the international Soul Scene". Following the release of the album, Alexis toured in France and Europe extensively, stopped only in 2020 by the Pandemic. Thanks to the forced break, Alexis started to lay down the new album, and he's now ready to present the fruit of his hard work: "Yours Truly". 

Tracklist:
1. Close to the Water
2. Mister Right on Time
3. Yours Truly
4. What Is This Feeling
5. Do Something
6. Meet Me Halfway
7. Hornado
8. Let Them Loose
9. Close to Me
10. Another Round on Me
11. It Matters to Me
12. The Only Apple

Gerardo Frisina - Joyful Sound

Heralded by the “Soul Drum” 12” EP (SCEP507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina’s new double record “Joyful Sound” represents another step forward on his ongoing travel towards new musical paths.

Joyful sounds narrate a journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, and lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, to summarize, elegant symphonic arrangements with refned mastery.

“Joyful Sound” once again sees the participation of the late Enzo Frassi (double bass), Fabrizio Bernasconi (piano, Rhodes), Gendrickson Mena (trumpet, piano), Alfonso Deidda (sax, flute) and Ernesto Lopez (drums, percussion), with the addition of Piero Perelli on drums and Giovanni Guerretti on piano, Hammond and Rhodes. This new record, carefully orchestrated and produced by Gerardo, required over a year of intense work, however it is worth every second of its 75 minutes of music.

As the great Charles Mingus once said, “Play it in the key of your soul”. Without a doubt, Gerardo always gives his soul in full!

Tracklist:
1. Duende
2. Dansi Na medley with Mahaba
3. Parkview Theme
4. Echizo Magico
5. Almost Free
6. Africa (Brasil)
7. Kilig
8. On Again
9. Naquela Base (New Blend)
10. Gujarat
11. Merida
12. Misterioso
13. Hombre
14. Kilig (Reprise)

Knxwledge - VGM.23

Tracklist:
1. Eachtime
2. Kontrast
3. Nightime
4. Peace
5. Demise
6. Low
7. Views
8. Namentry

ML7102 - 7102 Pro Fades Nubian Soul Freshness

7102 Pro Fades Nubian Soul Freshness is an Instrumental album of beats demonstrated by ML7102. The boom bap styles mixed with fresh linings over Black African soulful styles, combined into a healthy Gumbo of Funky Drums, Samples, Break Beat and Soulful Intelligence to vibe too. Straight Head bopping dopeness from ML7102 that keeps the Chevy Banging down Halsted to the intransigence Blues melodies from Clarkesdale Mississippi. A delightful musical expression from one of the most creative Sound Art makers of Pure Blackness.

Tracklist:
1. Morning Back Pains
2. Freed Moment Sketch One Talk Black
3. Educated Sample Nubian Hotep
4. Positive Energy Only Around Here
5. Hidden Substance
6. Needing That Work Gain
7. Running Through Another Day Weekkk
8. Ohhh This Country Aint Nothing
9. Sunssilentboycott
10. Time in Jeopardy

Manon Mullener 5tet - Insomnia

For her second album, Insomnia, released in the spring of 2023, pianist Manon Mullener offers this time an album in 5tet. She is accompanied by a team of young musicians bursting with creativity: Lucien Mullener on drums, Samuel Urscheler on saxophone, Victor Decamp on trombone and Benjamin Jaton on double bass.

After a one-year stay in Cuba followed by a first album, Reflejos, which was part of a traditional deilatin jazz aesthetic, the young pianist-composer explores new horizons with Insomnia, without however abandoning the influences that have nurtured so far.

The Friborg pianist cultivates inspiration in the elements that surround her: a nocturnal walk, April snowfalls, a summer jam with friends or even... insomnia.

These musical explorations remain animated by the trademark of Manon: an overflowing energy and a groove that never fails. This new 5tet will not fail to make even the most timid dance!

Tracklist:
1. Insomnia
2. Chorongo
3. Neiges
4. Flânerie
5. L'Homme Sylvestre Part 1
6. L'Homme Sylvestre Part 2
7. Grand Rue
8. Golden House
9. Summer Jam
10. Moms Garden