Fela Anikulapo Kuti Roy Ayers
Music Of Many Colours

2022 Record Store Day edition on Blue vinyl!Azymuth's career-defining LP Light As A Feather returns. Home to their worldwide disco/fusion hit single ‘Jazz Carnival’, the samba-doido staple 'Partido Alto', and the proto-deep house masterpiece ‘Avenida Das Mangueiras’, this album typifies the trio’s tireless innovation in the fields of jazz, funk, samba and cosmic music perhaps more so than any of their other ground-breaking records from its era.Their first release on Milestone Records in 1979, it quickly became one of the best-selling LPs of the year, staying in the UK Top 20 for eight straight weeks with more than half a million copies sold. An incredibly well thought out album both in pace, song selection and musicality, ‘Light As A Feather’ marked a maturing of the band as they began to rightfully utilise the studio as an instrument itself, embracing numerous mixing and recording techniques not yet common for the time as well as pioneering the use of the Big Muff and Dolby System to great effect. The result is an album that endures to this day as a samba/jazz-funk masterpiece.First reissued in 2012, the Far Out edition of this seminal recording was remixed and re-mastered from the original 16-track tapes, which were given to Joe Davis by Azymuth. This latest version is the first ever issue to be complete with a download card that that gives access to previously unreleased tracks, including the incredible full length version of 'Jazz Carnival', as well as remixes from house stalwarts Theo Parrish, Ashley Beedle, and Mark E.

Lonnie Liston Smith’s last album for the Flying Dutchman label ‘Renaissance’ was actually released on RCA in 1976. It is a bridge between his jazzier Flying Dutchman recordings and his slightly more commercial Columbia albums that followed: Exotic Mysteries, Loveland, Song for the Children and Bridge Through Time. His only outing on RCA, the music is an intoxicating mix of vintage Lonnie Liston Smith Jazz-Funk with his prototypical arrangements, flirtations with spiritual and Latin Jazz and beautiful instrumentation.‘Space Lady’ and the slightly slower ‘Mongotee’ are vintage Lonnie Liston instrumental Jazz- Funk grooves, hinging off a low-slung interplay between bass guitar and corruscating electric keys. ‘Mardi Gras (Carnival) ‘ has a Brazilian flavour and a relentless groove, a percussive and upbeat Jazz- Dance classic featuring a sensously plucked acoustic guitar and soulful acoustic piano, while the elongated rattle of vibraslaps and the knock of wood on metal in the shape of various agogo and cowbells ride away in the background.‘Renaissance’ is a beautiful mid tempo groove featuring brother Donald Smith on vocals, possesing a kick to the rhythm making that made it a popular feature on the 2-Step Rare Groove scene. ‘A Song of Love’ is an uplifting duet between Lonnie and his brother, which makes for some fantastic listening. Donald further puts his vocals to good use on the downtempo ‘Starlight and You’, one of the more spiritual cuts on the album replete with a gorgeous string section, glowing electric keys and ethereal harmonies.Renaissance is a great set from Lonnie, at a period in his career where his music turned a corner from his earlier spiritual outings —influenced by the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Oliver Nelson— to the more polished and commercial output of his columbia outing. Renaissance is a quiet-fire, a transitional record for Lonnie which retains the best characteristics of his earlier Flying Dutchman output as well as those from his later Columbia works: a perfect meeting point between the two. This is the first ever Lp reissue so grab it while you can. I’m taking one too…

A killer set from funky organist Lyman Woodard – an old bandmate of Dennis Coffey, and one of the standout stalwarts of the 70s Detroit jazz funk scene! The set features Lyman working in a live setting – grooving out over some mighty long tracks that blend jazz and soul together, in a style that's a bit like some of the best work on the Groove Merchant label from the mid 70s. Lyman himself plays organ on the set, and the group's a large-ish one with some ensemble vocals on a few cuts, but a mostly instrumental sound overall. And if you're worried about the later date of the set, don't be – as Lyman cuts a nice lean groove into the whole set – coming up with a soulful sound that's expanded more than a smaller combo record, yet which also isn't too slick or overproduced! Marcus Belgrave plays trumpet on one track, and titles include "Don't Stop The Groove", "Theme In Search Of A Sports Spectacular", "Down Lowe", and "Djarum".