Jack Mayborn
Release No. 15 - Video Concepts

Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released on March 30, 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album. With the use of these instruments, such as the electric piano and guitar, Davis rejected traditional jazz rhythms in favor of a looser, rock-influenced improvisational style. Bitches Brew was Davis's first gold record; it sold more than half a million copies. Upon release, it received a mixed response, due to the album's unconventional style and experimental sound. Later, Bitches Brew gained recognition as one of jazz's greatest albums and a progenitor of the jazz rock genre, as well as a major influence on rock and funk musicians. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1971. In 1998, Columbia Records released The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, a four-disc box set that included the original album as well as the studio sessions through February 1970.

The shadow that Gary Bartz casts over the last six decades of progressive Black music, and his continued dedication to same, makes him a logical and very welcome contributor to the Jazz Is Dead label. An alto saxophonist steeped in the history and tradition of his instrument who is also restlessly experimental and not prone to purism of any kind, he enjoys both the respect and admiration of his peers and the hero worship of several generations after him – including Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, which inevitably led to Gary Bartz JID 006.

Where’s João Donato? It’s a frequently asked question, referring simultaneously to the physical location and the musical moment he inhabits. A sampling of some of his more descriptive song titles suggests Donato’s comfort with musical hybrids: “Bluchanga,” “Sambolero,” and “Sambongo,” to name just a few. Lacking a name for his style of music, Donato’s is a distinct sound, immediately recognizable from the first few bars of any of his compositions. He was funky back when “funk” was a bad word (listen to either of his 1960s Brazilian LPs for proof). His compositions are deceptively simple, while his arrangements are harmonically complex, resulting in songs that are seemingly childlike, yet reveal their intricate details upon repeat listening.João Donato was born in 1934 and spent his early years completely landlocked in the Amazon wilderness of Acre, a state that borders Peru and Bolivia. By eight, he was playing accordion and even wrote his first song, “Indio Perdido,” which he would later re-record as “Lugar Comum” thirty-three years later with lyrics courtesy of tropialist pop star, Gilberto Gil. Donato’s family moved to Rio de Janeiro when he was sixteen and he started hanging out with other jazz-obsessed teenagers in the suburbs of Rio. By 1958, at the age of twenty-four, Donato was one of the most respected musicians in Rio, but what he wanted to play was not what local audiences wanted to hear, so he spent the next 15 years bouncing between Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. Upon his return in 1973, he’d been forgotten by the general public, but had become a legend to a younger generation of musicians, including: Marcos Valle, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa & Gilberto Gil.João Donato deserves a place among the legends of Brazilian music, alongside Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Dorival Caymmi, Ary Barroso, and select few others, yet his erratic career and experimentation with different music genres make him a challenge to classify. Asked how he would describe his own work, he says, “It’s my style of music, the way I think about [music]. I don’t even think about it, it’s just the way I do things. I don’t know if it even has a name.” Donato has finally received long overdue accolades for his contributions to date. A archetypal “musician’s musician,” Donato’s stepped out of the shadows more in the past couple dates, recording at an unprecedented rate and collaborating with a variety of musicians, from Brazil and beyond, old and young. Still going strong over eighty years old, the late praise and recognition is in good company for a musician whom Claus Ogerman offered to arrange an album, whom Antonio Carlos Jobim called a genius, and whom no less than João Gilberto claims invented the bossa nova beat.

Five years after his critically acclaimed debut album Throwback, Glenn Astro returns with his deeply personal album Homespun, releasing on Tartelet Records this October.Marking a change in course from his first release on Tartelet Records, Glenn Astro is set to showcase his sophomore album Homespun, a testament to a visionary artist who has come into his own.Made up of ten tracks spanning 45 minutes, the record twists and turns between electronic meditations, soulful vocals by Ajnascnet, and futuristic electro, carving out a world of spacey eclecticism that is as nostalgic as it is experimental.“This album is in all facets different from the first one, which was a deliberate decision. No vintage sounds and references, no sampling, combined with futuristic sound design and song structures. Less obvious references, more everything else. I tried to keep it as current and intuitive as possible,” he says.Known for his chunky beats and fuzzy textures, Glenn Astro was a key figure in the wave of MPC-heavy house music that spread like wildfire between 2013 and 2015. Since then, he has released on labels such as Ninja Tune and Apollo, leaving a distinctive signature on everything he touches.But Glenn Astro has quietly been crafting a new sound for himself. Sometimes taking detours – morphing into his dark alter ego and experimenting with artist collaborations. The sound of Homespun is a culmination of several years of reflection and artistic development – however, the album itself was produced in less than three months.“I set myself an ultimatum to finish the album within three months. If I didn’t make it, I’d have to rethink my career path and keep music as a hobby. If it wasn’t for this album I’d be selling home-assembled ballpoint pens now,” he says.On the introspective first single and album title track “Homespun,” Ajnascent’s vocals lend a sincerity to the melancholic production. “It’s about the regret of not taking chances and giving in too much, but also about taking responsibility and being honest with yourself. Homespun is a nod to nostalgia and a desire for simplicity and prudence, being equally the culprit and the cure,” elaborates Ajnascent.On “The Yancey,” an homage to J Dilla, Glenn Astro paints his vision of contemporary dance music with shimmering melodies, deep ambient soundscapes, and advanced drum programming. “Moreira” and “Look at You” feel like spaced-out electronic funk hybrids, while “Taking Care of Business” goes back to the future with Glenn Astro’s take on jungle. Other tracks such as “Mezzanine,” “Slow Poke Flange,” and “Viktor’s Meditation” provide the finest dubby electronics.