Matthew Halsall
Salute to the Sun (Live at Hallé St. Peter's)

Kwiatostan by Błoto≤br≥The streets of Warsaw in the first half of 2020 smelled of rain, disinfectant and electrical tension, caused by storms that broke out repeatedly. The black door of the elevator leading to the newly opening Jassmine club was reflected in the puddles. The faces of people passing by were covered with masks, and in street noise, one could hear the soft pulse of bass coming from somewhere below the ground... Two floors below, four musicians known from the EABS group met for the first time since the global pandemic began.Based on the collective improvisation, they recorded their new material for three days. Despite their previous success, the team did not try to recreate proven patents from ‘Erozje’, but rather treated them as a starting point. We can still hear the influence of the golden era’s hip-hop, but this time the inspiration goes deeper to the connotations with club music (house, juke), and everything, as usual, is based on jazz music. Anthony Mills' unexpected cameo in his rap incarnation as Toni Sauna completes the album entitled ‘Kwiatostan’.It cannot be ignored that the entire globe at the beginning of the 21st century stinks of smog, tear gas used to break up protests, and the sour sweat of politicians. The earth is eroding not only due to water, wind, sun or gravity, but mainly as a result of human activity. The Błoto quartet communicated these problems on their first album. It turned out that we operate in a world in which the cover of ‘Erosion' quickly turned out to be prophetic. Inflorescence grows on the ruins of a world devastated by erosion - a new system of branching shoots ending with flowers. In 2020, most of the petals, pistils and stamens are surprisingly pale as they are constantly suppressed by the system in which they thrive, preventing flowers their lush colours and right to diversity. Just like police states that keep an eye on society. ‘System’ is a keyword around which Błoto’s second album revolves.

Jazzaggression · Webster Lewis Quintet Live at Kongsberg Jazz 1971 snippetsFollowing up on the legendary Club7 album from 1971 by this same group, here is a live recording made in August that same year at Kongsberg jazz festival in Norway. This Quintet from Boston plays a strong sense of seventies American groove-laden jazz but with a raw soulful rhythm and blues approach that is completely unique! Captured on tape in Norway at the time the band was there with George Russel, a few months after the legendary Club7 recordings. Here we have 3 new unheard instrumental tracks by the group, and fierce versions of The Look Of Love, It was a very good year and Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless featuring Judd Watkins deep baritone voice icing the cake! Although this live recording at times has some volume and distortion issues the music is completely unmissable and as good as it gets. Comes in limited 250 hand-stamped sleeve.

'Music For Theatre And Dance – Volume Two' is the second in a small series of EPs that will focus on music which was initially created for or inspired by dance and performance. Created as a dialogue with the avant-garde and highly experimental work in dance, theatre and art evolving at the time, the music was in turn at times greatly innovative.That it was created for a dance or performance though means that such music was also often highly rhythmic and a number of pieces from this time stand out and seem greatly deserving of a new context.Whether it's more ambient or atmospheric works or whether it's in the more rhythmic or percussive pieces, Music From Memory brings together another selection of tracks that aims to highlight this highly innovative direction in music.

Zodiac by Barney Wilen