A nice little blend of Brazilian and club-styled grooves – done by this Bah Samba offshoot with a similar feel to Bah Samba's own work! There's a wonderful London-meets-Rio vibe running through the whole set – a love of real Brazilian music that gets past the mis-steps of so many other attempts in recent years – but which has that great London ability to expand upon the original with a whole new feel. There's nice bits of older funk and club sliding in and out of the mix – coming into play with Brazilian elements and instrumentation in a way that's almost like some of the recent work on Far Out. Titles include "O Ronco Da Cuica", "Elephant Man", "U Got Me Spinnin", "I'm Missing You", "Omeriah", "And It's Beautiful", "Mozza", and a cover of Roy Ayers' "Running Away". CD

A landmark album of contemporary jazzy grooves – a set issued at the start of the century, and one of the first to really get a blend of classic elements right – after so many others were foundering around in too-remixed, too-programmed work in the 90s! For years, Nicola Conte was a seminal force in the new Italian scene of the 90s – working as a DJ, promoter, producer, and sometimes recording artist under the odd 12" single. Yet this album marks his first full effort – and after years of bubbling under in the Italian scene, Nicola emerged as a breathtaking mix of 60s bossa, soundtrack, and easy themes – put together with never a dull moment, and always a focus on the kind of mid and uptempo grooves that have been pushing the Italian and German scenes to reinvent older jazz, funk, and bossa. The record features great mixes from a few of Nicola's 12" singles, plus a wealth of excellent new material that really expands his groove wonderfully – with a totally real, totally honest sound that pushes past the gazillion retro remix throwaway albums that usually cluttered the dance racks Tracks include "Il Cerchio Rosso", "Dossier Omega", "Trappola Mortale", "Jazz Pour Dadine", and "Bossa Per Due". 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

The genius of Nicola Conte gets the remix treatment – in this wonderful new album that steps off heavily from his massive Jet Sounds set of a few years ago! If you know Nicola, he's the wunderkind behind the Schema label – and, probably more than anyone in the world right now, one of the few producer/musicians who can really handle a retro-sounding groove. Conte's steeped in classic jazz, soundtracks, and bossa nova – all of which come into play in his music – and this set has him working with a host of able talents who help to take his unique creative vision even farther than before! Titles include "Jazz Pour Dadine" remixed by The Dining Rooms, "Arabesque" done by Micatone, "Forma 2000" reformed by Les Gammas, "Dossier Omega" redone by Espen Horne, "The In Samba" done by Kyoto Jazz Massive, "Missione A Bombay" by Eddy & Dus, "Mambo De Los Dandies" by Gerardo Frisina, and "Trappola Mortale (traffic replay) done anew by The Freeform Arkestra. CD

Fred P offers up two very fresh takes on these cuts from the team of Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella – both nice and long, and with a sense of flow that's really wonderful! "African Spirits" comes across with a tribal house sort of vibe – lots of live instrumentation on percussion and trombone, but also a percolating groove that stretches into more house-based energy as the tune moves on! "Tribes" follows a similar groove – also stretching way past 10 minutes as Fred builds the whole tune nicely out of acoustic elements layered into the rhythms! 12-inch, Vinyl record