V.A. - Mod Jazz Forever

Label: Kent Records
Released: February 2012

Mod Jazz on Kent Records continues with the seventh installment in the series, Mod Jazz Forever. Like its predecessors, this collection is put together by Dean Rudland and Ady Croasdell, with twenty-four tracks from the sixties that explore the area where soul jazz, Northern soul and R&B meet. What makes compilations on the Ace Records group of labels interesting is that they often feature gems that have never previously been released, and there are half a dozen such tracks in this collection.

The collection opens in style with the obscure Troy Dodds B-side The Real Thing, a superbly executed number with Northern soul and soul jazz appeal. Floyd White's Finders Keepers is a superb vocal track that is released here for the first time, as is The Nightbeats' swinging rendition of Jimmy Smith's Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf Pt 2.

There are some familiar tunes including Byrdie Green's version of Return of the Prodigal Son, Screamin' by Brother Jack McDuff and Johnny 'Hammond' Smith's take on The In Crowd. 

Perhaps less well known, but equally as good, are Double Love from The Cals, a Hammond-driven version of Sunshine Superman by Bocking, Robinson, Morais and the superb A Message To Regina from Hank Jacobs. 

Mod Jazz Forever is a great addition to what is already a top series of compilations and is bound to be of interest to those who enjoy the more soulful end of jazz or the jazzier end of soul.

Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet

Label: Real World Records
Released: January 2012

Two years on from Isla and Portico Quartet are back with their eponymous third album. The group made an impact with their first two releases with the use of the unique-sounding hang percussion instrument adding a haunting yet world music feel to their experimental jazz sounds. The third album sees Keir Vine replace Nick Mulvey on hang and keyboards and the quartet have noticeably introduced electronics to broaden the tapestry of their sound. Unlike their earlier output which had the sound of the hang at the front of the mix, on Portico Quartet, for the most part the hang forms one of the multiple layers with the keyboards. The result is an album that opens up the whole jazz/not jazz debate with some people already saying that the band have turned their back on jazz to embrace electronica and dance music. Of course, the problem with that kind of discussion is that labels and genres are then used to try to shackle and force music into neat little boxes when the real debate should actually be about how good the music is.


Portico Quartet opens with Window Seat, apparently inspired by Inter-Railing, a synth-laden ambient tune with bowed bass that is full of movement. Underscored by electronic drums with some haunting sax melodies from Jack Wylie, Ruins is the track that most closely resembles the music from their previous releases. Woven through with shades of European jazz and Radiohead angst, it is one of the stand out tracks on the set. 


Spinner is a mid-tempo tune that has a cinematic feel to it, with Wylie's plaintive sax melodies soaring over the spacey vibes. It's one of several moments on the album where the marriage of acoustic and electronic sounds works just perfectly.


Rubidium is one of the more experimental tracks on the set. Starting out with some lilting hang rhythms and bowed bass, the tune is the transformed with some synths and looped drums making it sound like a meeting between Brian Eno and Flying Lotus to great effect. 


Laker Boo and City of Glass are perhaps the tunes that see the band straying furthest into club territory with very pleasing results. Whereas some electronic music clearly relies on programming and the regularity of the beats, the band succeed in incorporating electronic sounds into their music while keeping everything sounding organic and fluid.


With influences as disparate as jazz, post-rock and dubstep, Portico Quartet have a totally unique sound, and their third album sees them taking that sound forwards into new territory. An interesting album full of abstract, ambient experimental sounds that warrants attention.

Five Corners Quintet @ Blue Note, Aoyama 25/02/12

Tokyo Jazz Notes went along to Blue Note on Saturday evening for the last of six sell-out shows from Finland's finest, The Five Corners Quintet. Despite a recorded oeuvre of just two studio albums and a live album, they are one of the most popular bands on the global club jazz circuit. Led from the front by talented horn section of Jukka Eskola and Timo Lassy and FCQ are backed by a really tight rhythm section with extrovert drummer Teppo Makynen driving things alongside bassist Antti Lotjonen and Mikael Jakobssen. Their music, drawing on the sound of sixties bossa jazz and European jazz of the same era, is superbly crafted, full of infectious tunes and a great sense of fun. Inactive as a unit since their last visit to Tokyo in May 2010, the quintet were back in action for these three shows, which could be just a short-lived reunion.  

DJ Tatsuo Sunaga opened the evening with some great mood-setting jazz sounds as people were shown to their seats. The band then opened their set with Straight Up, slowed down slightly from the recorded version and embellished with some impressive solo work from each member, a fine signal of what was to come over the rest of the set.

An extensive and intricate drum workout from Teppo Makynen led into Blueprint, and by the time Eskola's lengthy trumpet solo kicked in, the crowd were well and truly warmed up. Following this tune, Timo Lassy, billed as the 'big man with the big horn', worked the crowd well signalling the start of Skinny Dipping, a tune so infectious that you could see that most of the crowd wanted to get up and dance. 

The band moved on to play Three Corners, their rework of Sunaga T Experience's Verisilian Samba and the uptempo Shake It closing the main set to rapturous applause. After a short break they were back on stage for a rendition of the perennial favourite Unsquare Bossa, delivered in fine style. Then, in a rare treat at a Blue Note gig, in response to the rousing reception the band had received, they came back on for a second encore, closing the evening with Trading Eights. A highly entertaining evening from one of the best live acts of recent years.

V.A. - BGP presents Jazz Funk

Label: BGP
Released: February 2012

For many a year now Dean Rudland has had the priviliged position of putting together compilations for the BGP imprint taking in soul, funk, jazz and other genres that have influenced musicians and DJs over the last twenty years or so. For the latest compilation, BGP turn their attention to labels such as Fantasy, Galaxy and Prestige for a look at the sound that defined the UK club scene of the late 70s and early 80s, jazz funk, the scene that gave birth to the jazz dance scene that lives on to this day in various corners of the world.

BGP presents Jazz Funk offers a fourteen track snapshot of the scene of the era with tracks that take their influence from jazz, funk, Latin and Brazilian sounds. Most of the artists featured have legendary status among the aficionados of rare groove and acid jazz, and it's a pleasure to see them all represented on one compilation. You have everything from The Blackbyrds to Flora Purim, from Patrice Rushen to Azar Lawrence, with plenty more in between.

High points on the album? Well, the question is where to start. Happy Music by The Blackbyrds is an infectious slice of funk fusion, and you also have the Charles Earland classic Leaving This Planet, a track that has been covered by many but not bettered. 

Johnny Hammond's Los Conquistadores Chocolates is a sublime slice of Latin funk which makes way nicely for the Brazilian sounds of Azar Lawrence's Novo Ano and Jay Hoggard's Sao Pablo. 

After an unrelenting dance workout, the collection closes with the mellow modern soul sound of The Three Pieces and If Only I Could Prove To You.

All of the tracks featured are timeless classics that are still played at club events to this day and serve as the perfect introduction to the classic jazz funk scene for anybody approaching it for the first time. Alternatively, it's a nostalgic reminder for those who may have sold their old vinyl collection. Either way, it's definitely worth a listen. 

Glam Sam & His Combo - The Riviera Sessions

Label: Lemongrassmusic
Released: January 2012

To date Glam Sam & His Combo have been known for their dance grooves with particular appeal to the house club goer. Their latest release, a six-track EP entitled The Riviera Sessions, is something of a departure from previous releases, with some jazzy sounds creeping into the mix. That isn't to say, however, that the previous sound has been ditched in favour of a new approach ~ far from it ~ but the samples and beats give this set a bit more of a jazz flavour while it remains at heart a set of dance tunes that are more likely to grace house/lounge club nights than jazz dance events.

Brigitte opens with upright bass and brush drums that for a moment makes you think it's going to be the beginning of an indigo jam unit tune. An archive interview with Brigitte Bardot is chopped up and sampled throughout the track as the four beat electronic drums kick in. The moments when the flute come in are what really make this tune one of the standouts on the EP.

This is followed by Intermezzo, a cut and paste sample track driven by the drum beats with the vibes and twangy guitar giving it a bit of a fun spy jazz feel. By contrast The Riviera Stroll is hard to like. Starting out in a pleasant enough finger-snapping dinner jazz mode with some female scat vocals, there are some really jarring changes of tempo with other samples spliced into the mix resulting in something rather ugly to be honest.

The juxtaposition of rather disparate samples works a bit better on Blues du Soleil, but you get the feeling at times that you're listening to two different tracks playing simultaneously, and again you have the feeling that it's an experiment that hasn't quite come off.

Charmy, by contrast is a wonderful downtempo tune, with some French movie soundtrack dialogue over some minimalist backing of piano trio and vibes that evokes  the golden age of nouvelle vague cinema. This mood continues with the closing tune, Those Sweet And Funny Nights, a perfect late night jazz club ballad.

The Riviera Sessions is an interesting departure for Glam Sam & His Combo, with a few real gems hidden in amongst the experimentation.

V.A. - Jukebox Jam

Label: Jazzman Records
Released: December 2011

Liam Large has been running the Jukebox Jam club night in London since 2007, spinning classic American Rhythm & Blues tunes as well as showcasing some contemporary live acts carrying the torch for the genre. Having already released a series of 45s on the label, Large has joined forces once again with Jazzman Records to release the Jukebox Jam! compilation, with twenty-two vintage gems.

The collection opens with Rose Mitchell's interpretation of Baby Please Don't Go, a frequently covered blues classic, but there are few versions that can hold a candle to this rendition. This track is just the first of numerous gems to be found on the album. From 1954 we have an obscure Big Maybelle B-side titled I've Got A Feeling, a rumba-flavoured R&B number that has such an infectious rhythm it's impossible to listen to it and not move. 

You Can't Make Me Doubt My Baby is a scorcher from Bunker Hill who howls and screams his way through this swinging R&B number. Jay Swan's You Don't Love Me will be familiar to those who remember Dawn Penn's reggae reinterpretation No, No, No, featured here in true blues fashion.

Terry Timmons Got Nobody To Love is a massive tune, and listening to it now it's hard to understand why this song wasn't a huge hit when it was originally released sixty years ago. It has a sleazy brass riff and a classic call and response chorus that together conjure up images of wild nights in late night dives in the immediate post-war period.

Add to these treasures tunes from Etta James, the bizarrely named Big Tiny Kennedy, Little Esther's version of Hound Dog and Eunice Davis' enticing Get Your Enjoys, and you have a real winning combination. If you're looking to buy a CD that captures the spirit of the 50s R&B revival scene, then you don't need to look further than Jukebox Jam!

Solid! & Seamus Blake - Vistor

Label: Parallell Records
Released: November 2011

Solid! is a Norwegian organ trio led by guitarist and composer Bjorn Solli and they have earned considerable critical acclaim in Europe in their ten-year history. Therefore, it's somewhat fitting that for their latest album, Visitor, the trio have teamed up with the highly-rated New York-based saxophonist Seamus Blake. Together the four musicians deliver an hour-long set of accomplished, fresh tunes that will undoubtedly delight all organ jazz fans.

The album opens with the mammoth Insert Witty Title, which starts out with some nice interplay between guitar and sax before the rhythm section kick in and the tune really takes off with both Solli and Blake given ample space to explore and improvise in their solos.

Moving On is a more subdued minimalist track which nevertheless really swings, with some wonderful guitar from Solli. This sets the scene perfectly for Weeks On End,  a tune driven by the rhythm section, with Hakon Johansen really delivering the goods on drums and Seamus Blake blowing on top form on what is, for me, the standout tune on the album.

The pace is less frantic on the rest of the album, but no less attractive, with Rules Of Etiquette, Fresh Fruit and Here We Go in particular deserving a mention. Visitor is  a highly accomplished and thoroughly contemporary organ jazz album that deserves sixty minutes' attention of anybody's time.

"Brass Collection" @ Star Pine's Cafe, Kichijoji 17/02/12

Organised by trumpeter Yoshiaki Kayano was the organiser of the Brass Collection event at Star Pine's Cafe in Kichijoji on Friday evening, which saw four different bands line up for three hours of music.

First on stage were the seven-piece Odusseia fronted by a three-piece all-female brass section all decked out in white jackets and black jeans. The band's sound can best be described as a mixture of rock and pop with some jazz overtones, with somewhat mixed results. 

Yoshiaki Kayano was next up with his latest Quartet project. After the future jazz vibe of his Cosmology album, his new project sees him exploring somewhat different avenues. The quartet has a somewhat unorthodox line-up consisting of Kayano on cornet accompanied by piano, ukelele bass and cajon/percussion. And for this show we were able to enjoy the addition of pianica to the band, making it a quartet plus one. The minimalist sound had a warm summery Mediterranean feel to it, helping the audience forget about the snow outside, and the cornet and pianica made wonderful partners creating some really beautiful harmonies on what was an enjoyable set.

Next up were the Yokota Hiroyuki Ethnic Minority, taking a night off from their street performances to play a selection of tracks from their debut album Startin'. The unique combination of dance rhythms, thunderous cajon and percussion and Yokota's sax riffs really got the crowd going, with Times Square and Dr Wild personal favourites. It's been a good start to 2012 for the trio and it promises to get better from here on.

The fourth and final band on the bill was TRI4TH, kicking off their set with Wisdominant from their self-titled first album. The energy levels were high throughout and the band clearly looked as though they were having a lot of fun on stage. The set included Do-Re-Mi, from their recent わらべJazz album, which features of well-known children's songs, as well the impressive Last Dancer, a new tune likely to feature on their second full album. Trumpeter Yusuke Orita and tenor player Junnosuke Fujita gave top performances and worked the crowd magnificently. For the finale, they invited Yoshiaki Kayano, Hiroyuki Yokota and trombonist Kayoko Yuasa of Odusseia back on stage for a jam session finale version of Hammerhead.

A great evening's entertainment with plenty of good music, let's hope that this Brass Collection event is the first of many.

Funkshone - 2

Label: Skyline/P-Vine
Released: February 2012

Just over three years on from their debut album, Shining, and Funkshone are back with their sophomore release, 2. The core of the band, Mike Bandoni (drums/production), Nino Auricchio (keys/production) and Danny Huckridge (bass/production) are augmented by a horn section and Jaelee Small on vocals, with the band broadening the scope of their sound with the addition of strings as well as some phenomenal funky flute from Kaidi Tatham. 

2 offers listeners eighteen infectious  and heavy doses of funk bursting with hip attitude that explore the various different corners of the genre. The opener Bushwhacker has a slight dubby sound with some great flute and horn section solos that set the mood perfectly for the rest of the set. The dub sound returns later in the album with Forward On In Dub, which is made by the psych guitar and string section. In a similar vein you have Persuasion, which recalls some of the funky spy soundtrack work of Roy Budd.

Sticking with the cinematic theme, both Chase The Dream and Dirty Money offer a bit of a  blaxploitation vibe, and you can just imagine some action-packed chase scenes unfolding as the music plays.

There's plenty here to please the hard core funk dancers too with uptempo number such as Something Becomes The Other, with Mike Bandoni laying down some ultra-tight drums,  and the vocal numbers Stop, Think, Work It Out  and It Ain't Never Gonna Work.

Having shown she can belt out a fast and furious funk tune, Jaelee Small also delivers the goods on the more soulful mid-tempo number Heaven Shine, an exquisite track that is the equal of anything Brand New Heavies put out in their heyday, as well the mid-tempo groove of Takedown. 

Elsewhere you have the jazzy funk groove of Do What You Do, with Kaidi Tatham's flute taking the spotlight. The closing tune After The Storm also has something of a jazzy feel, forming an ideal end to a superb set.

Funkshone really have really set the bar high with 2, and there won't be many funk records that match this in 2012. One of those albums that you can truly say is all killer, no filler.

Video clip: Third Coast Kings - Spicy Brown

Hard-hitting single from Detroit band Third Coast Kings, whose debut self-titled album will be out on Record Kicks next month.