Soul, Funk & Jazz

All posts tagged Soul, Funk & Jazz

K15 - The Black Tape

Something wicked this way comes by way of North London as the mysterious K15 unleashes ‘The Black Tape’.

Over the past few years, the DJ and producer K15 has been steadily putting the hours in on the studio front and after last year’s ‘Insecurities’ double header of housier sounds caught our attention after no less than Detroit’s Kyle Hall posted the MAW influenced title track, this week sees his first EP of 2014 arrive. Unlike its predecessor, his latest opus sits firmly in jazz-inflected hip-hop and ambient territory, the seven short tracks seemingly drawing on the joint themes of life and death for inspiration. This is no more apparent than on the EP’s opener ‘Dealing With’ which kicks proceedings off on a slightly eerie note as a number of processed voices interject with opinions on of grief and loss, before the sounds of tribal drumming and chanting whisk us into the the first 2 minute plus track ‘Time Humbles Us All’. All of the beats on offer are well executed, and sit more like finely tuned sketches that all form part of an overall listening experience. ‘Beneath The Tomb’ bubbles along nicely, a piano delicately riding the heavy drum beat, and although not derivative there’s definitely a little Robert Glasper vibe to be heard in the production, while on the reprise of ‘Time Humbles Us All’, things hark back to the latter work of 4hero in the soulful drum and bass field, a fierce breakbeat slowly unveiling itself through the atmospheric build up. Both tracks would serious benefit from an extended edit but as brevity seems to be the nature of a beat tape, we will just have to hope that one day both get revisited.

The EP appears courtesy of the the digi-label INI Movement and it’s rumoured that ‘The Black Tape’ is the first installment of a number of colour-specific tapes. If this is to be the darkest, than we look forward to the next tape to see what K15 might have up his sleeve. In the meantime, you can stream the EP or grab individual tracks for keeps below or  via  the INI Movement Bandcamp page.

K15 on Facebook
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Tamar Osborn (Collocutor)

Image used courtesy of Ruby Woo, Docuphonic

GUESTMIX002 | Tamar Osborn (Collocutor) (March 2014) by Soul-Identity Music on Mixcloud

We first came across the name Collocutor, when On The Corner Records boss Pystol Pete passed us a cheeky test press of an Emanative remix of the track ‘Instead’. The tune was as it happened super nice, the kind of low-slung electronic masterpiece more people should get excited about but probably won’t without some serious prompting (consider this a nudge). As it happens, the person behind Collocutor is Tamar Osborn, a saxophonist who for the past five years been performing with Dele Sosimi’s famed Afrobeat Orchestra as well a number of other Afro inspired outfits including Emanative’s live collective (check the Sun Ra inspired  ‘Love In Outer Space’ for a taster of that particular vibe). Collocutor is her first solo project, created with it’s primary focus to showcase her original production work. Needless to say having played the tune out a couple of times on a BIG system, we wanted to find out a little more about Tamar and her plans.

Digging a little deeper (as we do) it turns out that there’s a full album in the works (to be produced by that man Nick ‘Emanative’ Woodmansey and to be released through On The Corner this summer) and the first proper single to be culled from that collection is ‘Archaic Morning’. We got a sneak preview and in its original form, the track in question is a rather dreamy Middle-Eastern flavoured modal jazz tune, not too unlike something you would have picked up on Atlantic Records by Brother Yusef Lateef back in the late 60s, early 70s or (if you weren’t alive back then) perhaps even the late 90s! Clocking in at just over seven and a half minutes, the track is a masterful take on classic deep jazz, beginning as it does with a little loose percussion which when paired with the bass, slowly unravels into a hypnotic groove upon which flute, tenor sax and trumpet combine to produce the intoxicating lead melody.

Also included in the package is a more housier remix which is conducted by a newcomer to our ears, Antoine Abayomi. Not much is known about this gentleman aside from his location of Paris by way of West Africa but one thing is for certain, he can certainly produce a tropical banger, channelling as he does the original’s Eastern promise into a fully functioning warehouse ready drum track. Stripping the original right back to it’s bare bones, gone is the wistful sound of congas and triangles and instead a great big rolling bassline, reminiscent of late 00’s UK Funky, takes centre stage. A simple but effective percussive take on dance music that is sure to be heard on the more adventurous dancefloors in coming month.

Stream both tracks in their entirety below and if you’d like to have both delivered to your inbox on their release March 24th, there’s a handy pre-order option on the On The Corner Bandcamp site.

COLLOCUTOR on Facebook
COLLOCUTOR on Twitter

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Tamar very kindly left us with the first part of a two-part inspirations mix. As you can imagine it’s heavy on the jazz (which we certainly are not afraid of!) as well as touches of Afrobeat, Brazilian and other assorted worldwide flavours. If you are in need of something soothing to listen to this afternoon you can stream the mix above or via our Mixcloud page. Also look out for the second part to drop next week on our sister site The Jazz Meet along with a full Q&A with the saxophonist.

TRACKLIST

Miles Davis – Solea (LP, Sketches of Spain [Bonus Tracks])
Abdullah Ibrahim, Cecil McBee, Roy Brooks – Ishmael (LP, Banyana)
Charles Mingus – Fables Of Faubus (LP, Mingus Ah Um)
Wallias Band – Muziqawi Silt (LP, The Very Best Of Éthiopiques [Disc 1])
Bassekou Kouyate / Ngoni Ba – Jonkoloni (LP, Segu Blue)
The Headhunters – Mugic (LP, Survival Of The Fittest)
Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath – Do It (LP, Brotherhood)
Steve Reich And Musicians – First Movement [Fast] (extract) (LP, The Desert Music)
Fiium Shaarrk – We Advance Covered (LP, No Fiction Now!)
Elis Regina – Yê Melê (LP, Brazilian Beats 5)
Jessica Lauren Four – The Name Of Fela Will Always Stand For Freedom (LP, Jessica Lauren Four)
Dr. John – I Walk On Guilded Splinters (LP, Gris-Gris)
Krar Collective – Ende Eyerusalem (LP, Ethiopia Super Krar)
Dele Sosimi – Omo Mo Gba Ti E (LP, Identity)
Wayne Shorter – JuJu (LP, JuJu [Japan])
Éder Quartet – Shostakovich: String Quartet #8 – Allegretto (LP, Shostakovich: String Quartets #1, 8 & 9)
Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Chik Chikka (LP, Inspiration Information)
Polar Bear – Held On The Tips Of Fingers (LP, Held On The Tips Of Fingers)
Herbie Hancock – Ostinato (Suite for Angela) (LP, Mwandishi)
Josephine Davies – Paranoid Dementia (LP, Elation)

RMD Groove
The first track in this month’s Soul-Identity radio broadcast was a lovely spacious instrumental from new London trio RMD Groove. Entitled ‘One Day (You Will Prosper)’, the tune not only formed a cheeky opening jump off for our debut on MEATtransMISSION, but it also features on a fresh new five track EP of quality sounds from the group, which popped up on the radar earlier this year. Musically rich with just enough of a hip-hop sensibility to peek our interest in the first place, continued play has revealed that the EP more than holds its own against the output of the current crop of up and coming jazz musicians turned beat makers. In addition to ‘One Day’, the title track ‘Silver Cloud Scape’ bubbles with a recurring piano motif and additional rhymes and vocals from Simon Sterling and Audra Nishita respectively, while ‘80’s’ is a funky synth led jam that very much evokes the sounds of the era it’s named after.

RMD Groove itself is made up bass guitarist Roy Stewart, drummer David Collinder and pianist Simon Mitchell, and an ever rotating ensemble of guest musicians, vocalists and rappers. Stewart and Collinder initially met while playing on the London live circuit, but it wasn’t until they both went to the same band audition in Brixton that the pair decided to write some material together. Having settled on a direction, they brought Mitchell in to play keys and the beginnings of an album were laid down in a rehearsal room in Deptford. With the EP now out and available to purchase through Bandcamp, the guys are currently back in the studio laying down the finishing touches to that full album, due to be released in early 2014. So if the below preview sounds up your street, hit the band up on Facebook and join us in looking forward to a full release soon.