James Larter, West-London based multi instrumentalist and percussionist has steadily built up of a reputation for himself as a deft, highly-skilled operator, his abilities on a variety of different percussion instruments ranging from vibraphone to hand percussion have been steadily pricking up ears in the right places. Having studied in London and New York, he’s made an impression as a dexterous and in-demand percussionist, playing with the likes of Sampha and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Polarity treads the gamut between a wide range of worldly influences, touching Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and pan-African modes of playing, injected with low slung and funky...
Louie Vega returns with a 4LP set ‘Expansions in the NYC’ with 16 tracks of feel good Soulful House. Featuring regular collaborators Josh MIlan, Be Be Winans, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Tony Momrelle and Audrey Wheeler amongst the vocalists, plus house giants Moodyman, Kerri Chandler and Joaquin Joe Claussell amongst others.There are many original tracks plus covers of classics like Heatwave’s ‘Story Of A Story’ and Greg Henderson ‘Dreamin’ . As always this set is likely to be limited so only one per person. Listen to and buy LP HERE
Just Arrived, great new cover version of the Isley Brothers 'Here We Go Again' limited edition 45 on Expansion Records. “Here We Go Again” is a favourite amongst ardent soul buffs who recognise the Isley Brothers song, faithfully updated for a 21st Century audience. Output/Input was formed during lockdown by Melvin Lee Davis a Californian native and a skilled master bassist, composer, producer, and educator who is in high demand and is also Music Director for the “Queen of Funk” Chaka Khan.
Firstly thank you for all the orders that you have placed for RSD stock. We have been swamped with nearly a month's worth of orders in a few days. We are working through them and the vast majority of UK orders will be shipped by today and overseas orders by Monday. We have managed to obtain restocks on some titles , although many are in very limited quantities. Here is an updated list of the titles that we still have in stock for you to order at the moment, there are still many of the great Soul and Jazz titles available and...
Dinner Party is the super-group of Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, and Kamasi Washington, a collection of some of Hip-Hop’s finest current producers and contributors. With 14 Grammy Nominations between the group, Dinner Party utilizes the strengths of each musician seamlessly, blending their styles to create something soulful for these trying times. At just over 20 minutes, the album leaves the listener with just enough to satisfy them but yearn for more. Love You So Bad is exemplary of the melding of Hip-Hop and Jazz themes by the groups constituent players, sitting on a vocal call and response refrain—underlaid...
We are delighted to have met Tanqueray Hayward who popped into the store today with Simon from Soul gigs to present her debut album 'Definition of a woman'. We have a limited quantity of CDs and signed CDs available for you to order here or collect from the shop. Tanqueray Hayward hails from the great musical city of Philadelphia. Her debut album 'Definition Of a Woman' was co-written, arranged and produced by TL Shider (brother of Parliament's Gary). It is a strong album consisting of mid tempo grooves like 'This Thing' and 'Caught Up' . The highlights though are the...
Skys the Limit – Don’t Be Afraid on the independent JMJ label is an incredibly rare slice of funky soul with an insistent disco back-beat released in 1976. The original copy of the record goes for staggering prices online, with copies on average fetching between £700-£800 pounds on Discogs. The record in its original form was effectively a private pressing arranged and released by the group, who would subsequently use it as a form of advertisement rather than sell it in shops, seeing the record more likely given away at gigs and functions rather than sold. The A side...
Real Gone Music have reissued the highly sought after “Voyage – A Journey Into Discoid Funk” an album that was originally released as a solo venture from Shadows drummer Brian Bennett, a session musician and a library music man who was associated with work for labels such as KPM and Bruton Music among others. He composed music for films and TV and during the 1980s was awarded two Ivor Novello awards and wrote music for a wide range of television programmes including Dallas, The Sweeney and for the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. In the...
After releasing nine albums between 2017 and 2019, Ill Considered are back with their latest offering ‘Liminal Space’. The core group, made up of Idris Rahman (saxophone) Liran Donin (bass) Emre Ramazanoglu (drums), record the basic composition down live, and then invite a selection of London’s inspired improvisers to play on them. Their work speaks to the heart of true improvisation, in a Ornette Coleman-esque manner, aiming for a conversation, according to the group, that is as organic and natural as possible. Whereas previously their work has taken a more unfettered approach, largely recording directly from completely free improvisatory live...
Newban were the 9 piece band that became Atlantic Starr. They recorded these two great albums in 1974 at Bell Sound NYC and they were released on the Guinness label in 1977. 'Newban' is a great and creative album throughout and includes the brilliant instrumental Funk track 'Father Time', excellent uptempo Jazzy soul 'Why Did You Desert Me', and brassy funky groovers 'Fatback Sally', 'Hungry Grin' and 'Magic Lady' which has a slight Latin feel. The slower 'Central Park' illustrates what great vocalists Sharon Bryant and Porter Carroll are, then changes mid tune into a driving Funky Jazz phase before...
