Cortex
Troupeau Bleu

Air, Light & Harmony by Badge Époque Ensemble

French saxophonist Laurent Bardainne summons the spirit of astral jazz on a heavy-grooving new album, Hymne au Soleil.A dreamlike, cinematic excursion to the outer reaches of the solar system and the inner workings of the soul, Laurent Bardainne returns to Heavenly Sweetness with his Tigre d’Eau Douce group for a second album of free-flowing, jazz-inflected groove.Building on critically acclaimed 2020 album Love Is Everywhere, Hymne au Soleil sizzles with Arnaud Roulin’s Hammond organ licks, in-the-pocket bass work from Sylvain Daniel, and shuffling drum and percussion interplay from Philippe Gleizes and legendary Guadeloupean musician Roger Raspail, who has played with the likes of Kassav’, Cesaria Evora and Meshell Ndegeocello. Together they pin Bardainne’s soaring saxophone lines to the mast like a flag in the wind.The 11-track album represents a consolidation of Bardainne’s vision as a consummate jazz saxophonist, having made his name collaborating with the likes of Pharrell Williams and Cassius, afrobeat legend Tony Allen and co-founding Tigersushi electro outfit Poni Hoax.

ripe fruit falls but not in your mouth by Hua Li

This compilation features tracks released between 1978 and 1988 in Western France.Through this compilation, we strove to highlight a little-known regional scene, characteristic of the diverse and sometimes opposing music movements of the 80s. Through this musical journey across the Brittany, Normandy, and Pays-de-la-Loire regions, we sought to showcase a resolutely indie aesthetic, sometimes conceived in some of France’s most unusual studios, such as a bunker and a caravan.We’ve found it difficult to make attribute an established, well-defined genre to some of the tracks featured on this compilation. They draw, each in their own way, from the rock scene that dominated the 80s in France, from countercultures, from American stars who shone on the country’s radio stations and in its record stores, and even from local folk music.While one could hear an harmony across the tracks featured on Le Grand Ouest, channeling this manifold energy onto a record required extensive research through the Brittany, Normandy, and Pays de la Loire regions’ discographies. Over the three years since the release of Le Grand Sud-Est, we have meticulously researched the references of artists, musicians, studios, labels, and publishers from each region. We sought to trace each artist to identify and listen to all their works from that period, and, when possible, collect unreleased recordings, left as demo cassettes on the artists' dusty shelves.The synthesis of this research, presented here under the title Le Grand Ouest, hopes to remind us of the timelessness of the indie scene in our country, through the lens of the 80s Western France’s scene. Whereas Le Grand Sud-Est exhibited the funkiest sides of the Provençale and Rhône-Alpes scene, Le Grand Ouest leans towards a more mellow, introverted music, an expression of groups of friends united by the joy of playing together.

Recorded when Johnny Walker was touring Worldwide with Veteran Jazz Star Lionel Hampton in 1982 and originally released on his own Private Press label: Walk On Productions.This neglected underground classic LP has been off the radar since then except for the appearance of "Dipping" on the Kev Beadle ‎– Private Collection (Independent Jazz Sounds From The Seventies And Eighties) compilation on BBE Records.Almost unknown and unjustly negected, it's a funk drenched jazz journey with some crunchy fat beats laid down by the excellent rhythm section complementing Johnny Walkers cool horn stylings. Reminiscent of the albums of that early Jazz Dance era by Tom Browne and Rahmlee but with less of a commercial edge and wholly instrumental this is Funky Jazz that has not dated and sounds like it was fresh out of the studio in 2022.