Killer work from leading lights of the neo classic funk scene – the mighty Breakestra – their debut for Strut Records and some of the best work they've ever done! Music Man Miles & the crew knock us out each time, and the 4 years between the stellar Hit The Floor LP and this one was worth the wait. The funky undercurrent is the common connective tissue, with deep soul sounds in the mix, too, with multi instrumentalist Miles on lead vocals on a number of tunes, Mix Master Wolf doing his thing on others, plus guests Afrodyte, Chali 2na and the late DJ Dusk – and some tight instrumentals. They run the gamut from stripped down JBs style feverishness, to gritty jazz funk, Latin percussion, and beyond. Breakestra helped kick start the underground funk scene back in the late 90s, and they're as strong as ever a decade later! Titles include "Need A Little Love", "Dark Clouds Rain Soul", "Come On Over" feat Afrodyete, "Back At The Boathouse", "Get It Right", "Show You The Way", "Me & Michelle". "Posed To Be" feat Chali 2na, Mixmaster Wolf & DJ Dusk, "Joyful Noise", "Lowdown Stank", "Set The Sun" and more. CD

Misha Panfilov takes on the sound library style of the 70s – and as with all of his other projects, the results are completely top shelf all the way through – wonderfully funky, yet handled in a style that's a nice change from Misha's work in other modes as well! Tunes are short and groovy, and each number has a slightly different flavor in a really great way – that sound library approach of setting a mood with a tune, so that broader soundtrack impulses are compacted into a shorter track with more punch and focus – all with plenty of cool keyboards and moogy moments from Misha! Titles include "Dawn", "Cosmic Bliss", "Smoky", "Helix", "Rush Hour", "Eclipse", "Sunbeam", and "Tension". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer batch of tracks from this young Swiss trumpeter – with a sound and style that recalls the best spacey jazz funk moments of the 70s! This is an all-instrumental US Blue Note release that combines the instrumental tracks from Truffaz's French Blue Note albums Bending New Corners and The Dawn, plus a few that appear to be instrumental remixes of tunes that originally contained a rapper. Truffaz is one of our favorite new talents – and he's got a sound that's a mix of Eddie Henderson and electric Miles Davis, and the records feature some excellent Fender Rhodes work backing him up. Titles include "The Dawn", "Bending New Corners", "Betty", "And", "The Mask", and "Arroyo". CD

JJ Whitefield's had a hand in countless funky records over the past 20+ years – a huge range of work that includes projects from Poets Of Rhythm, Karl Hector, The Whitefield Brothers – and here, he's equally funky stepping out on his own! The set's not a strict solo set – although JJ plays guitars, keyboards, flute, bass, percussion, and lots of other instrumentation – including electric sitar! Yet there's also other members throughout the proceedings too players who bring in Fender Rhodes, flute, shamisen, and plenty of funky additional drums – while still keeping things nice and lean, with an even more stripped-down approach to funk than any of JJ's other projects! Titles include "Mukogawa", "No Mo Woa", "Bin Dippers", "Raised With Fire", "Flute Punch", "Hyperion", "Dawn Of Delphi", and "Comin At Ya". LP, Vinyl record album

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". LP, Vinyl record album