Rodrigo Tavares
Congo

Following the critical acclaim of the 2020 compilation Pyramid Pieces, The Roundtable return with a second offering of modernist jazz from Australia. Another vital document further examining the nation's jazz scene during the late 1960s and 70s. A fertile period that witnessed the birth of an independent movement and the development of a distinct Australian jazz sound. While continuing to focus on the modal forms explored in Volume 1, this second edition shifts direction slightly, this time also surveying other post-bop modes representative of the scene including soul jazz, avant-garde ballet music and Eric Dolphy-inspired free jazz.

RESILIENT VESSELS LIVE AT THE CELL by James Brandon Lewis, Patrick Holmes, Ches Smith & Josh WernerNew York city based bassist and visual artist Josh Werner was awarded an artist in residence from The Cell Gallery located in New York NY. As a part of this residency which occurred in the month of July 2020, Josh presented various works in different mediums from visual art to music. In lue of the 2020 pandemic Josh was unable to present music to a live audience and instead offered a pre-recorded live performance to be aired at a later date. Werner was able to put together an ensemble of some of the leading improvisors on the New York City scene in that of James Brandon Lewis, Ches Smith and Patrick Holmes. One of the leading jazz pioneers Ornette Coleman once expressed himself by saying " you know more, but i feel more ". During these turbulent times this statement resonates with this ensemble; it's one that embodies the acknowledgement of feelings within your being to then pour into the music being presented. This ensemble draws from proceeding generations of musicians such as Don Cherry, Roy Ayers, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Tribe Called Quest and the energy of the downtown art rock movement.Personnel:JAMES BRANDON LEWIS saxophonePATRICK HOLMES clarinetCHES SMITH drumsJOSH WERNER bassProduced by Josh Werner and James Brandon LewisRecorded and engineered by Ricardo Romaneiro at The Cell TheaterMixed by Daniel Schlett at Strange WeatherMastered by Louis Henry Sarmiento II, Sonic Vista Studios, Ibiza, SpainLacquer Cut by Jukka Sarapää, Timmion CuttingDesign by Ilja TulitReleased and distributed by RR GEMS Records © 2021 RRGEMS10

Jazz re:freshed is proud to present the Sophmore album from saxophonist Marcus Joseph.The album moves between genres from spiritual jazz to hip-hop and features contemporary UK JAZZ luminaries such as Sheila Maurice-Grey (Kokoroko), Nathaniel Cross (Moses Boyd Exodus), Tony Kofi, Ife Ogunjobi (Ezra Collective), Theon Cross (Sons of Kemet), and is produced by Eddie Nache Hick (Sons of Kemet).Hailing from Leicester and of Afro-Caribbean descent, Joseph started playing clarinet at the age of seven. He originally gained airplay on BBC1Xtra as a hip-hop DJ and MC. He was subsequently inspired to pick up the saxophone and study jazz at universities in Leeds, London and New Orleans. Never one to be bound by location, he spent a period of time living in Barcelona.He has since played at landmark events such as Love Supreme and We Out Here.Marcus has supported the likes of Oscar Jerome, Blue Lab Beats as well as The Blackbyrds and has also worked with such luminaries as Dennis Rollins, Arun Ghosh, Dave O'Higgins, Abram Wilson, Gary Crosby and Eska.His work has been supported by Tom Robinson (6Music) and, his new album released on Jazz re:freshed, is a warm fusion of jazz, reggae, hip-hop and contemporary music.

Come for the leopard, stay for the stone cold jams. Yet another thrilling, funky-prog jazzy-rock fusion beauty from Ian Carr’s Nucleus. Originally released on Vertigo in 1975, Alleycat was never re-pressed so those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

DE269 - US - 2019Patrick Cowley was one of the most revolutionary and influential figures in the canon of electronic dance music. Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco in 1971 to study music at the City College of San Francisco. By the mid ’70s, Patrick’s synthesizer techniques landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco diva Sylvester, including hits like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “I Need Somebody To Love Tonight.” This helped Patrick obtain more work as a remixer and producer. Cowley created his own brand of peak time party music known as Hi-NRG, also dubbed “The San Francisco Sound.” By 1981, Patrick had released a string of his own dance 12″ singles, like “Menergy” and “Megatron Man”. He also co-founded Megatone Records, the label upon which he released his debut album, Megatron Man. Around this time Patrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with an unknown illness: that which would later be called AIDS. Throughout 1982, he composed two more Hi-NRG hits, “Do You Wanna Funk” for Sylvester, and “Right On Target” for Paul Parker, as well as a second solo album Mind Warp. His life was cut short on November 12, 1982, when he passed away 24 days after his 32nd birthday from AIDS-related illness.Mechanical Fantasy Box is a new collection of 13 unreleased songs recorded between 1973-80 released in tandem with Cowley’s homoerotic journal of the same title. Featuring Patrick’s first electronic compositions in the Electronic Music Lab at CCSF when synthesizers were new technology to songs made at his semi-professional studio on Minna Street equipped with an Oberheim DS-2 digital sequencer. The sounds flows from funk to kraut to psychedelic ambient electronics inspired by Tomita and Krafterwerk. As Maurice Tani wrote in the liner notes that accompany this release, “What you hold in your hand is a collection of Cowley's work from the years preceding his meteoric rise as a pioneer of Hi-NRG dance music. This was before drum machines. Before programmable, polyphonic digital synthesis. This was before “cutting edge”. This was experimental music in every sense.”Some songs were mixed from 4-track stems by Joe Tarantino and all songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studio in Berkeley, CA. The vinyl comes housed in a black and white gatefold jacket designed by Gwenaël Rattke featuring a photograph by Susan Middleton and include an essay from music partner Maurice Tani and an 8.5x11 insert with notes. Proceeds from Mechanical Fantasy Box will be donated to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, who have been committed to ending the pandemic and human suffering caused by HIV since 1982.