Tuesday 18 June 2013

One True Vine

Mavis Staples of the Staples Singers fame releases her 13th Solo album next week and it could just be the lucky13th  album!

On first listen this is a deeply heartfelt album revolving around faith, life and experience

The fine people at The Guardian are streaming it upfront this week::

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jun/18/mavis-staples-one-true-vine-stream?CMP=twt_fd


Wednesday 12 June 2013

Yatha Bhuta Jazz Combo

 












I received an email today from Sounds of The Universe which listed about 12 albums to check out. Some of them i knew, but the artwork on this one and description peaked my interest.

In a slightly tired state  i logged into spotify and searched for Yatha Bhuta , misspelling it about 3 times. Eventually copy and paste came to the rescue!

Having been getting into groups like Mulatu Astatke, Build An Ark, Lloyd Miller and the Skeletons over the last couple of years, my interest in Jazz is leaning more towards the spiritual element, so up comes this album which is presented as a tightly packed 33 minute LP,  from Parisian producer Onra and friend - fellow composer and arranger Buddy Sativa. Even though most tracks barely scratch the 4 minute mark, the ethos from both Onra and Satvia was very much a "spontaneity rules" approach which comes across in droves on this album.

Here is rare moment of a vocal track featuring Brooklyn poet Aja Monet from an album mostly of instrumentals::

Album out June 24th (or out now if you're reading this after that date!)