Eleven tracks from Alexander Hope, Lynette Smith, C-Dock Featuring Dave Wells, Restless Soul, Julie McKnight, Mijan, Amira, D'Menace, and House Of Jazz. 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

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

Recorded live at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and a special set featuring the acoustic talents of trumpeter Tim Hagan and soprano saxist Bob Belden, mixed with electronics by Scott Kinsey, and turtablism by DJ Kingsize. Most of the material is fairly out – with off-kilter solos draped over loud junglist rhythms – and the album reminds us more of Derek Bailey's drum n bass album of a few years back, than it does some of the more recent new funky work on Blue Note. Titles include "Big Moment", "Dans La Ville Sombre", "Love's Lullaby", "Are You Threatening Me?", and "Trumpet Sandwich". CD

A tremendous step forward for Jazzanova – an album that's overflowing with classic soul touches, and done in a style we'd hardly have expected from the group a few years before! Jazzanova have always had an ear for older sounds in their music – which is something that first set them apart from the dancefloor pack – but this album's a really amazing achievement, and one that's put together with the solid sound of some lost late 60s sessions from Motown at points – or with some of the cooler sounds of European jazz of the 70s! There's still a 21st Century vibe to the music – a bit of crackle here and there that marks it as contemporary – but the backings also have tight orchestrations, occasional strings, and that perfectly put-together quality that still makes us marvel at old soul and jazz records after all these years. Vocals are sublime too – as the album features contributions from Phonte, Paul Randolph, Ben Westbeech, Jose James, Dwele, Bembe Segue, and Leon Ware – all of whom fit in perfectly, without any of the sort of random "vocals with sound system" feel you might get in another album of this type. Most tracks are co-written with the vocalist – which is an even hipper touch that ensures a depth of quality – and titles include "Gafiera", "Lucky Girl", "Little Bird", "I Can See", "Look What You're Doin To Me", "Let Me Show Ya", "Lie", and "So Far From Home" – plus a great cover of "Rockin You Eternally". CD

A great one from Monday Michiru – sweet, soulful, and totally right on the money! The set's almost a return to the warm soul territory that first won us over in Monday's work from the 90s – as she takes on a whole host of older American soul tunes by Stevie Wonder, Teena Marie, and others – sung with a wonderfully mature vocal approach, and set to jazzy backings that really help change things up – and make the record way more than just a simple set of cover versions! There's a great blend here – the instrumental depth that Monday's shown in recent recordings, and the straightforward soul of the early years – all handled with just the right production balance to make it come off perfectly. Titles include "Best Of My Love", "Um Amigo", "I Can't Help It", "Ooh La La La", "Don't Disturb This Groove", "You Are The Universe", and "As". (Neo Soul, New Grooves) LP, Vinyl record album

Moody and atmospheric vocals from Dani Siciliano – a singer with a voice that has lots of strange twists and turns! At one level, Dani could be a classic vocalist from older jazz years – but the backings on the set hearken more towards a New York downtown style of the early 80s – a bit electronic, a bit avant, but also still soulful and swinging throughout. The approach is really unique – far better than the usual "female vocalist with beats" sound that seemed to come across endlessly in the post-trip hop years – and overall, Dani seems like a much deeper artist with a heck of a lot to offer in years to come! Titles include "All Thee Above", "Extra Ordinary", "She Say Cliche", "Come As You Are", "Canes & Trains", "Walk The Line", "One String", and "Collaboration". CD

This Japanese group have certainly grown up a lot – and this beautiful album is their most mature in years! The combo is fronted by singer Ann Sally – whose English language vocals add a tremendous amount of sophistication to the record – snaking forth in a cool jazzy style that goes way past the easy bossa remake mode of earlier albums. Sally's voice is incredible, and it's mixed with a well-constructed set of backings by the group, music that is especially heavy in its use of Fender Rhodes! The track list is great, too – with wonderful remakes of Fred Neil's "The Dolphins", Flora Purim's "Light As A Feather", Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance", and Coltrane's "Naima". Sweet, mellow, jazzy, and wonderfully rich – the group's best album in years! Italian version of the album features 2 tracks not on the Japanese one – "Butterfly (Incognito rmx)" and "Sky (Soul Bossa Trio blue rmx)". CD

A well done survey of the career of Thievery Corporation to date – selected by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton – wonderful stuff from the reigning kings of downtempo jazzy grooves! It's made up of the duo's best known tracks as well as their own personal favorites. You couldn't really ask for a better or more careful curated set! Includes "Amerimacka", "Lebanese Blonde", "Facing East", "Holographic Universe", "Until The Morning", "All That We Perceive", "The Richest Man In Babylon", "The Passing Stars", "Satyam Shivam Sundaram", "Vampires", "Warning Shots", "Shadows Of Ourselves" and more. CD

A beautiful tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim – one recorded especially for the Japanese market, and featuring original recordings by some of our favorite Japanese artists – including Monday Michiru, Bird, Tica, Orange Pekoe, Akiko, Noa Noa, and Ino Hidefumi! The lyrics here are often in English, and the overall style's a bit like some of the American bossa sessions of the 60s – warm and jazzy, with backings that are full, but never too lush to be sleepy – cast in just the right blend of influences to make the package a really fresh take on the sound of Jobim – one that honestly sparkles a lot more than most recent efforts of this type from Brazil. French bossa maestro Pierre Barouh also works on the record – and titles include "Double Rainbow", "Samba De Maria Luiza", "Two Kites", "Quiet Nights", "One Note Samba", "Ela E Carioca", "Someone To Light Up My Life", "No More Blues", and "Wave". (Brazil, New Grooves) CD