Laid Back
One Life / It's The Way You Do It

Wu Hen! Got you all in check! Jazz boundary-pusher Kamaal Williams returns with a set of vivid ‘Wu Funk’ on his sophomore LP.Kamaal Williams has always been a man of many talents. From the shuffling Peckham house style of his output as Henry Wu to the deep, expansive jazz he made in Yussef Kamaal, each new Williams release gives us a greater sense of his musical aesthetic while simultaneously expanding his sonic palette ever further.With Wu Hen, his sophomore solo record, Williams locks down his multifaceted output to a single term - Wu Funk. At its core, Wu Funk is a sort of Millennial take on jazz fusion - funk-flecked grooves often dictate the state of play here, and there is a similar painterliness to many of the timbres and chords. An old-school sensibility is even acknowledged by name on third track ‘1989’.However, Wu Funk is very much a style of the here and now, one that reflects the wide-ranging aesthetic of the London jazz scene in which Williams has come up. ‘Toulouse’ and ‘Pigalle’ are gorgeous, strutting instrumentals; ‘Hold On’ and ‘Street Dreams’ are weightless spiritual numbers that ascend to the heavens, bolstered by guest spots from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Lauren Faith respectively; the dance-oriented sensibilities of the Henry Wu records are shown to be in good nick on several occasions, most prominently in the ebullient breakbeat fusion of ‘One More Time’.

'There are moments when we harmonise with each other and become one with nature and reality.' When, in the early 2000's, Pete Adarkwah heard of the existence of tapes of unreleased Roy Ayers and Ubiquity recordings sitting in storage he contacted Roy to get hold of them to be mastered and released. Released they were under the banner of 'Virgin Ubiquity' which spawned two volumes of the original grooves as well as a compilation of remixed versions of selected tracks. Now coming out on a 10” single, 'Reaching For The Highest Pleasure' gets it's first ever vinyl release, thus adding to the canon of 'must have' Roy Ayers records. This vibraphone heavy track and funk-fuelled bassline epitomises Roy's Black Consciousness inspired output from the mid-70's that also saw seminal albums such as Red Black and Green, Mystic Voyage and Everybody Loves The Sunshine recorded with various line ups of 'Ubiquity'. This release is backed with the call to arms of personal freedom and self that is 'I Am Your Mind part 2' remixed by Parisian producer Pépé Bradock AKA Julien Auger. First released by BBE on the original 'Virgin Ubiquity' compilation as the original recording and subsequently as a remixed version on 'Virgin Ubiquity remixed', this track features a stunning female vocal as well as Roy's spoken word philosophies laid over a deep and infectious groove. These two tracks are Roy Ayers at his legendary best from his most innovative period of creativity with his Ubiquity band of top flight Jazz, Funk and Soul musicians and artists. As already said, this a must have record.

Jeff Mills and the Zanza 21 project is a new forthcoming creation that's been self-constructing for quite some time. Not out in the open and easy to see, but it's been evolving more in recent months through the imprint "Millsart" album releases and as an accumulation of ideas that are influences of Mills' affection for Jazz Music as well as his constant appetite to creatively explore. The idea behind Zanza 21 is based on an old theory that "Music is most useful at the point when it touches the soul of the listener, until then, its just sound". So, the main layer in the foundation starts there.In these first releases, all acoustic and electronic instruments are programmed and played by Jeff Mills, but an aspect of this project is that Zanza 21 is actually the initial vision for the creation of a live performance band. As this project evolves, so will the step process to materialize such an effort to its full potential.Starting with this first debut 12" EP release of "When The Time Is Right" b/w "Something Like That", please consider there is already a large body of existing compositions waiting to be dispensed. A Jeff Mills and The Zanza album is scheduled for early 2022 entitled "When Stars Align". Thus, making the revised artist title "Jeff Mills and The Zanza 22".