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A pretty sweet, reggae-steeped full length from Sydney 10-piece The Strides – who bring a real love Jamaican music into the pot, but it's a quite a diverse brew! The Strides glide along here with some jazzy funk, Afrobeat rhythms, some subtle modern flourishes and other boundless bits of inspiration – and they blend it all really well. Guests include Ras Roni, Ltl Gzeus and the tracks include "Storm Clouds" feat Ras Roni, Some O'Dem" feat Ltl Gzeus, "FKD (Farewell King Deuce-A-Mo)", "Umbi Gumbi", "Escape", "Reclamation" feat Ltl Gzeus, "Well Hung Parliament" and more. CD version also includes "Fresh Lady Dub" and "Storm Clouds Dub".

Steps Ahead is just about the least we could say about Ethio jazz funk genius Mulatu Astatke – he not only remains on a creative high point after so many years, he takes a couple more giant strides on Mulatu Steps Ahead for Strut Records! To put it simply, the music Mulatu makes here more than lives up to his legendary work from the height of late 60s & early 70s years. The material was recorded in sessions in Boston and London, playing with the Either/Orchestra on the Boston sessions, plus members of the Heliocentrics and others – really hitting on diverse styles throughout, from spacious and eclectic jazz, to the classic Addis Ababa nightclub sound, to grittier kinda crime jazz soundtrack styles and some Afro Latin inspirations. Wonderful recent work well worth Mulatu's legacy! Titles include "Radcliffe", "Green Africa", "The Way To Be Nice", "Assosa", "I Faram Gami I Faram", "Mulatu's Mood", "Ethio Blues", "Boogaloo" and "Motherland".

Steps Ahead is just about the least we could say about Ethio jazz funk genius Mulatu Astatke – he not only remains on a creative high point after so many years, he takes a couple more giant strides on Mulatu Steps Ahead for Strut Records! To put it simply, the music Mulatu makes here more than lives up to his legendary work from the height of late 60s & early 70s years. The material was recorded in sessions in Boston and London, playing with the Either/Orchestra on the Boston sessions, plus members of the Heliocentrics and others – really hitting on diverse styles throughout, from spacious and eclectic jazz, to the classic Addis Ababa nightclub sound, to grittier kinda crime jazz soundtrack styles and some Afro Latin inspirations. Wonderful work that's well worth Mulatu's legacy! Titles include "Radcliffe", "Green Africa", "The Way To Be Nice", "Assosa", "I Faram Gami I Faram", "Mulatu's Mood", "Ethio Blues", "Boogaloo" and "Motherland".