Billy Cobham
Spectrum

Composer and keyboardist John Carroll Kirby presents Septet. Septet was recorded live in studio with John on keys, Tracy Wannomae and Logan Hone – woodwinds, Nick Mancini – vibraphone, John Paul Maramba – bass, David Leach – percussion, Deantoni Parks – drums. For the “Rainmaker”video, we take it back to circa 1981 …John: “The video is a dramatization of studio characters I’ve encountered over the years. The egomaniacal producer, the eager engineer, the snobby record exec, the random guy in the corner, the musicians feeling themselves. Visually I wanted to play with the chaos of jazz fashion in the 70’s/80’s: bands like Weather Report, and Miles Davis’ constantly rotating cast. Musicians dressed themselves with a strong sense of individuality while still achieving a cohesive look, a theme I also look to achieve musically on the album Septet.”Video by Kalliope Pictures, directed by Michael Hili. The video stars John Carroll Kirby with a fictional cast of characters: Mac DeMarco as Studio Engineer; Kerwin Frost as Record Producer; Cola Boyy as Label Executive; Eddie Chacon as Body Guard; Victoria Mordoch on Percussion; Logan Hone on Flute; Leland Naylor on Soprano Saxophone; John Paul Maramba on Bass; Lemar Carter on Drums.The actual band on “Rainmaker” is comprised of John Carroll Kirby – keys, Tracy Wannomae and Logan Hone – woodwinds, Nick Mancini – vibraphone, John Paul Maramba – bass, David Leach – percussion, Deantoni Parks – drums.

Yellow is an incredible debut album from the multi-instrumentalist who has written, produced and mixed the entire record herself, featuring Emma-Jean Thackray’s vocals throughout alongside guest contributions from choir members.Emma-Jean plays trumpet, but there’s more than just brass in her pocket. She’s a producer, a multi-instrumentalist, a beat-maker, a remixer and a composer, not to mention orchestral composition and DJ sets that bring the heat to the dancefloor. Now, with a debut album that combines stunning harmonies with intricate percussion and solid low-end, alongside the launch of her own Movementt label with Warp providing label services, she can add "label boss" to her already serious arsenal.Emma-Jean studied jazz, classical and composition at UK conservatoires while using Madlib and Ras G records to teach herself beat-making at the same time, studying alongside future dons Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia and Joe Armon-Jones.

Woke rhythms and high-spirited grooves from the vaults of two seminal Italian jazz labels, between the 70s and 80s. Intensely curated by Khalab.Hyperituals is part of the new research path undertaken by Hyperjazz Records. Entirely curated by Khalab - Raffaele Costantino, HJ’s founder and head of A&R - Hyperituals is a philological investigation that delves deeply into the musical influences and cultural roots of the young Italian label. The theme that runs through Hyperituals is the exploration of the possibilities of sound, rhythm, remix, and endless sampling. Inspiring listening, interpretation, and insight. Is it an exercise in crate-digging that explores the past of some of the most important yet sometimes forgotten record labels and aims to bring to light music that is contemporary both in its sound and its message. The first stage of this journey is represented by Black Saint/Soul Note, an Italian ‘double’ label based in Milan that, since the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, established itself as one of the most important imprints for international jazz.Founded respectively in 1975 by Giacomo Pellicciotti and in 1979 by Giovanni Bonandrini (to whom Pellicciotti sold Black Saint in 1977), Black Saint and Soul Note have represented a safe haven for incredible and brilliant artists who were unable to find their space elsewhere. By combining jazz tradition with the political vanguard sentiment of the time, the two sister labels were able to press and produce more than five hundred records (still available today - the catalogue is now owned by CAM Jazz), many of which are by some of the brightest names in creative jazz or the ‘avant-garde’ of the era. Black Saint and Soul Note always placed the artists, their visions, and their music at the center, giving them total freedom of creative expression. It is thanks to this constant, cutting-edge and meticulous commitment that today we have some of the shiniest musical gems by Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Max Roach, Anthony Braxton, David Murray, and many others. And it is this long list of jazz gods and idols that led the two labels to be recognized as the best in the world by critics, winning the DownBeat Critics Poll for Best Record Label for six years in a row, from 1984 to 1990, conquering the American market.This first double gatefold vinyl volume is entirely dedicated to the Soul Note catalogue. Khalab’s selection - focused on rhythms, grooves and Afrocentric traditions - demonstrates how this music, through its sensibility, can renew our connection to the present in unexpected ways. As the curator and music critic Enrico Bettinello writes in the compilation’s liner notes, in this volume “we find moments of ecstasy, irresistible percussive webs, fiery solos, poetic awareness, and magical ritual lyricism.”