Classic jazz for the 21st century – a treasure trove of tunes from Verve Records, all remixed for the modern dancefloor! The set's the second in Verve's Remixed series – and unlike the first, which focused mostly on vocal numbers, this one throws in some instrumental killers that are among some of our favorite in the catalog! The overall groove is much more expanded from the first session – way past the standard of floating vocals, keys, and beats – into a realm of abstract jazz that really gets at the heart of the project! 14 tracks in all – with "Manteca" by Dizzy Gillespie remixed by Funky Lowlives, "Here's That Rainy Day" by Astrud Gilberto remixed by Koop, "Naima's Love Song" by Betty Carter remixed by DJ Spinna, "Fried Neckbones & Some Home Fries" by Willie Bobo remixed by Dan The Automator, "Soul Sauce" by Cal Tjader remixed by Fila Brasillia, "Do What You Wanna" by Ramsey Lewis remixed by Mr Scruff, "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair" by Nina Simone remixed by Jaffa, "Mama" by Hugh Masekela remixed by Metro Area, "Whatever Lola Wants" by Sarah Vaughan remixed by Gotan Project, "Blues For Brother George Jackson" by Archie Shepp remixed by Mondo Grosso, and "Brother Where Are You" by Oscar Brown Jr remixed by Matthew Herbert. (Funky Compilations, New Grooves) CD

An incredible full length debut from vocalist Mario Biondi – a jazz singer we'd rank right up there with the legendary Mark Murphy – supported here with great backings from the High Five Quintet! The grooves here are in a soaring, tightly-stepping style – very much the best club jazz mode of the contemporary European scene – with all-acoustic instrumentation, and rhythms that move along at a really great dancefloor pace! Mario's vocals are really unique too – with a little rasp that catches slightly, and really brings a timeless quality to his voice – mixing personal feeling into the lively numbers on the album, with an unexpected depth that really makes the album stand out from similar sessions of this type! There's echoes of hip vocal jazz work from years past by artists like The Peddlers, Bobby Cole, or Mark Murphy – and titles include "A Child Runs Free", "No Mercy For Me", "This Is What You Are", "I Can't Keep From Cryin Sometimes", "Rio De Janeiro Blue", "Handful Of Soul", "On A Clear Day", "Never Die", "No Trouble On The Mountain", "Slow Hot Wind", and "Gig". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer cut, and one that brings back the vocals of Paul Randolph in a really wonderful way – set to this jazzy groove that features keyboards from Mark De Clive-Lowe, who also produced the track! There's plenty of other live instrumentation in the track too – guitar, percussion, and drums – and the whole thing's almost a blend between Incognito-like London soul, and some of the crisper currents of the underground! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Killer grooves from this hip Japanese combo – one who comes from the same scene as the mighty Indigo Jam Unit, but with a slightly different groove! ASP have lots of heavy rhythms on the bottom – deeply soulful acoustic bass, snapping drums, and a great mix of piano, moog, and organ in the middle – topped on most tracks by vocals from the lovely Azu, who mostly sings in Japanese, but with a swinging quality that's like a hip jazz singer from back in the 60s. Most numbers have a very sharp punch in the rhythm, and loads of acoustic instrumentation – which puts the record strongly in the club jazz camp, although with a slight mod twist at times. Titles include "The Same Place As Yesterday", "Safari Line", "You Are Shiny", "Smile", and a few other titles in Japanese. CD

Richly soulful sounds from Nicola Conte – his first album for Far Out Records, but a set that shows the spiritual journey he's been on for the past decade or so on a variety of other labels! Conte has really matured into a jazz visionary – using the same energy here with live musicians that he used to bring to studio projects – in a warm blend of classic soulful styles, with work from an excellent lineup that includes Zara McFarlane and Myles Sanko on vocals, Alberto Parmegiani on guitar, Timo Lassy on tenor, Simon Mullier on vibes, Milena Jancuric on flute, and Ameen Saleem on bass. All players are wonderful – pushing past anything we might have expected – and McFarlane is especially great on the record, almost hitting heights that feel like Dee Dee Bridgewater back in the day! Titles include "Arise", "Dance Of Love & Peace", "Flying Circles", "Freedom & Progress", "Soul Of The People", "Into The Light Of Love", "Umoja Unity", and "Heritage". LP, Vinyl record album

Fender Rhodes, funky flute, and soulful trumpet – topped off by great vocals on most tracks, and wrapped up in a really classic production style! Bryan Corbett's a perfect labelmate to Woodland's Perry Hemus – and like Hemus, he's working here in a modern update of older Fender Rhodes-driven grooves – a style that builds off of older electric jazz of the 70s, but pushes the work a bit more strongly into the territory of recent London soul! Corbett plays trumpet, Rhodes, and flute throughout – and most tracks feature vocals by singers Lupa, Lizzy Parks, or Sophie Perks – all of whom match the Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis inspired soul of the set pretty nicely. Titles include "Corbenova", "Off The Rails (Woodland mix)", "Deja Vu", "Movin In", "Metamorphik", "Nardo", "Tokyology", and "Roma". CD

It seems like it's been way too long since we last heard from Domu – but he's more than made up for that with the quality of his work on this set! The beats are as bristling, complex, and urgent as ever – blended with these magically flowing keyboard lines that can convey all sorts of futurist tendencies, while also warming things up and keeping a soulful, jazzy core to the set! Lori from Hiatus Kaiyote provides great vocals on the track "On The Line" – and other titles include "Brilliance", "Nothing Ever Changes", "Just Roll", and "Ya Nah Gonna Get It". LP, Vinyl record album

Cosmic soul from Danish singer Astrid Engberg – an artist with a voice that's already great on its own, but sound seven better amidst the album's slightly spacey, slightly jazzy instrumentation! The record has a very contemporary vibe – as although Astrid's vocals could work in an old school soul setting, they seem even better here with the moody electric crackle of the backings – sometimes served up by just a trio, but featuring guest work from the great string master Miguel Atwood Ferguson on a number of tracks – and other appearances from Moo Latte, Maria Dybbroe, and Tobias Wiklund as well. Titles include "Spirits Came Told Me", "Chains", "Loving Contemplation", "I Should Care", "Adaptation", "Body Follows Body", and "Blue Rise & The Fall". LP, Vinyl record album

There's a nicely narrative photo on the cover, and Antoine Bourachot seems to follow up that inspiration with some cinematic-styled jazz funk throughout – on a record that's even got a set of song titles that conjure up an imagined story as well! A few tracks here have vocals that bring a nice current of soul to the music – fleshing things out with contributions on three different tracks from Jim Grandcamp, Giacomo Lecchi D'Alessandro, and Irfane – who each have their own soulful shapes next to the overall vibe of the music, which is nicely unified, and heavy on warm keyboards, guitar lines, and larger arrangements. Shoko Igarashi plays soprano sax and flute on the record – and titles include "Resolution", "Action", "Miracle", "Fortune", "Bullet", and "Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

A monumental piece of funk – and a record that came into the world at a time when it seemed like just about everyone had forgotten how to play real funky music! This set's the US version of the first album by London scenesters The Brand New Heavies – and although it came out in the states 2 years after the UK set, it's essentially the same record – just featuring new vocals by singer N'Dea Davenport in place of the original vocalist Jay Ella Ruth. Davenport's vocals transported the group from indie acid jazz obscurity into the US soul charts in a way that nobody ever expected – and the resulting album is a stone classic that's filled with excellent cuts like "Ride In The Sky", "Never Stop", "Dream Come True", and "Stay This Way". Great stuff all around – and one of the few classic soul albums of its generation! (Neo Soul, New Grooves) CD

An amazing full length debut from Democustico – one of the best new Brazilian albums we've heard in years, and a set that easily matches the best work by classic artists on the Far Out label! The pair mix older and modern modes of expression – using lots of post-bossa jazz in their grooves, particularly the soaring modes explored heavily on the Brazilian scene at the end of the 70s – but also topping things off with some wonderful vocals from Gabriela Geluda, who has a spacious, joyous quality that reminds us a lot of Joyce at her best! Other instrumentation includes piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar, and percussion – as well as some light rhythm patterns from Roc Hunter, long a Far Out associate – and one with a great sensitivity for preserving the warm soul of Brazilian music. Titles include "Summer Of Flora", "Grito", "Rejoycing", "O Sonho", "A Sereia", "Vaga-lume", "Nunca Never", and "Pera". (Brazil, New Grooves) CD

A short but beautiful set from the incredible Peven Everett – 5 tunes that are a bit mellower and more laidback than usual – and which feature Peven trading his house groove for an equally wonderful blend of snapping beats, stepping basslines, and warm keyboard lines! Peven's vocals really come to the forefront of the mix – singing with that instant classic style that makes him a key heir to the Chicago soul lineage of Donny Hathaway, and captivating us instantly with his personal and intimate approach! Titles include "Bad Girl", "Heart Strings", "Say You Will", "Make It Better", and "Don't Let This Be". (Neo Soul, New Grooves) CD

FIDEL's got some great singers along for this set – as the album features vocals from either Sly Johnson or John Turrell on nearly every track – both artists who really add a lot of soulful depth to the music, and work together on a few tracks too! Almost all the instrumentation is by Dilouya, but there's excellent guitar on most tracks too – handled by Greg Emonte, with a funky riffing quality that really evokes a Nile Rodgers sort of quality – maybe no surprise, given the 80s-styled, boogie-heavy quality of the album! Titles include "Straight Down To Heaven", "All About Love", "Odd Things", "Behind The Wall", "L'Aventure Moderne", "All Of This Is Fake", and "Heartbeat". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic batch of keyboard tracks! Xaver Fischer plays like one of the funky fusion greats of the 70s – somewhere between Gene Harris, Ronnie Foster, and Johnny Hammond – working the electric piano and assorted keys to come up with a smooth spacey sound that reminds us of the classic days of Blue Note funk or Fantasy Records fusion! This album's a stripped-down affair that features only bass and drums behind Fischer's keys – plus a female vocal one track – which makes for a super-soulful sound that's really solid all the way through! Titles include "Bass of Space", "Venus", "Krakatu", "Babylon", "Gargamel", and "Palenque". CD