Never-issued work from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – most of it recorded during the year of 2008, a time when Halsall was first really starting to make a name for himself – and also working with the great tenorist Nat Birchall! Birchall is on most of these tracks, and together the pair move into territory that's along the more meditative side of the spectrum than their first few albums – spiritual jazz, but of a slow-building style that often frequently features work on harp from either Stan Ambrose or Rachael Gladwin – in a mode that's clearly inspired by the Impulse Records material of Alice Coltrane, but which also has a very personal vibe – given the strong solo work of both Halsall and Birchall. The set also features two Indian-styled tunes, recorded with sitar and tabla – and titles include "Life", "Oneness", "Distant Land", "Stories From India", "Loving Kindness", "Stan's Harp", and "The Traveller". LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – one of our favorite jazz musicians of the past 20 years, and an artist who just seems to be growing and growing with each new release! This set picks up on the organic, meditative quality of some of Halsall's recent records – but it also has a bit more bite, and is maybe almost a return to the roots of his earliest records on the Gondwana label – those classics that first made us fall in love with his music over a decade ago, and which made Matthew a real front-runner of the current global spiritual jazz underground! The set's got this very rich presentation – as the leader's work on trumpet is mixed with harp from Maddie Herbert, flute and tenor from Matt Cliffe, piano and kalimba from Livin Gheorghe, and great use of percussion, bass, and drums – all on long tracks that build with the best sort of post-Coltrane energy – titles that include "Joyful Spirits Of The Universe", "Mindfulness Meditations", "Tropical Landscapes", "Harmony With Nature", and "The Energy Of Life". CD

A really incredible album – a set that's filled with far more soul and feeling than you might guess from the youthful image on the cover! Matthew Halsall's a pretty young player, but his sound here is really amazing – not just on his own trumpet solos, but on the overall feel of the album – which is beautifully composed, and put together with a sense of spirit that takes us back to Strata East at its most sophisticated in the 70s! There's a really beautiful balance here – ambition in the writing that recalls other UK efforts from The Heritage Orchestra or Nostalgia 77 Octet – but an execution that's much leaner overall, deeply personal lines played by a relatively small combo – quintet formation on all numbers, featuring Halsall's trumpet alongside great reedwork on soprano sax, flute, alto, and tenor – supported by soaring rhythms on piano, bass, and drums – all handled with the majesty of an early 70s McCoy Tyner album, or some of the other great modally-inspired work of the American post-Coltrane generation. Tremendous stuff throughout – a record that held us rapt from start to finish – with 5 original compositions that include "On The Other Side Of The World", "Reflections", "Freedom Song", "Sending My Love", and "Sachi". CD

A really incredible album – a set that's filled with far more soul and feeling than you might guess from the youthful image on the cover! Matthew Halsall's a pretty young player, but his sound here is really amazing – not just on his own trumpet solos, but on the overall feel of the album – which is beautifully composed, and put together with a sense of spirit that takes us back to Strata East at its most sophisticated in the 70s! There's a really beautiful balance here – ambition in the writing that recalls other UK efforts from The Heritage Orchestra or Nostalgia 77 Octet – but an execution that's much leaner overall, deeply personal lines played by a relatively small combo – quintet formation on all numbers, featuring Halsall's trumpet alongside great reedwork on soprano sax, flute, alto, and tenor – supported by soaring rhythms on piano, bass, and drums – all handled with the majesty of an early 70s McCoy Tyner album, or some of the other great modally-inspired work of the American post-Coltrane generation. Tremendous stuff throughout – a record that held us rapt from start to finish – with 5 original compositions that include "On The Other Side Of The World", "Reflections", "Freedom Song", "Sending My Love", and "Sachi". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the strongest record so far from Mammal Hands – a set that really has the group growing in their sense of tone and color, and in the unique timing they bring to their tunes! The group is a trio, but not in a mode that you might be guessing – because next to the piano of Nick Smart, and drums of Jesse Barrett, there's also a range of instruments from Jordan Smart – tenor, soprano sax, bass clarinet, and electronics – all used in these shifting ways with the really fresh rhythms from Barrett, and these flowing chains of acoustic piano soul from Smart – cresting, dipping, turning, and soaring with a really majestic sensibility! Titles include "Floating World", "Spiral Stair", "Ithaca", "Chaser", "Late Bloomer", "Riddle", "Rhizome", "Shoreless", and "Versus Shapes". CD

Dreamy sounds from Paradise Cinema – a new project from Jack Wyllie, of Portico Quartet – recorded in Dakar with help from percussionists Khadim Mbaye and Tons Sambe – all in a mode of acoustic roots and electric elements that's somewhere in the territory of some of the 4th World projects of Jon Hassell! The instrumentation is maybe a bit more varied than Hassell, but the record's got a similar sense of shape and texture – maybe imagining an area outside of the studio in Dakar, spread out spaciously with the cinematic implications of the name. Titles include "Liberte", "Digital Palm", "It Will Be Summer Soon", "Casamance", "Eternal Spring", and "Possible Futures". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet keyboards from Phil France – a player who's more than content enough to let his instrument take the lead, often in these flowing soundscapes that are even more evocative than on his previous album for Gondwana – but a musician who also manages to echo some deeper currents, but with a surprisingly small amount of effort! Many of these songs have a meditative quality – similar to the shift the Gondwana spiritual jazz label has taken in recent years – and France picks up and drops rhythmic elements throughout the set – sometimes to augment the cyclical flow of his keyboard lines, sometimes as a way to give that energy a bit more direction. Phil handles most of the instrumentation on the album, but has two guest drummers – and titles include "The Breaks", "Circle", "Bells", "River", "Prophet", "The First Thing That You Say", and "Mr Jackal". CD

Gogo Penguin have a really sort of special magic here – a way of using the standard trio format of piano, bass, and drums – but with results that are completely their own! The rhythms are a key part – the drums often move so fast, it feels like they've inherited part of the London broken beat legacy – and the piano leaps along in these bold waves of energy, while the bass kind of jumps from spot to spot, really unifying the other two elements! There's no other elements on the record – just piano, bass, and drums – but the sound is wonderfully dynamic, and much richer than you might expect. Titles include "Break", "In Amber", "Murmuration", "Garden Dog Barbecue", "Fort", "One Percent", "The Letter", "To Drown In You", and "Shock & Awe". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued work from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – most of it recorded during the year of 2008, a time when Halsall was first really starting to make a name for himself – and also working with the great tenorist Nat Birchall! Birchall is on most of these tracks, and together the pair move into territory that's along the more meditative side of the spectrum than their first few albums – spiritual jazz, but of a slow-building style that often frequently features work on harp from either Stan Ambrose or Rachael Gladwin – in a mode that's clearly inspired by the Impulse Records material of Alice Coltrane, but which also has a very personal vibe – given the strong solo work of both Halsall and Birchall. The set also features two Indian-styled tunes, recorded with sitar and tabla – and titles include "Life", "Oneness", "Distant Land", "Stories From India", "Loving Kindness", "Stan's Harp", and "The Traveller". CD

Dreamy sounds from Paradise Cinema – a new project from Jack Wyllie, of Portico Quartet – recorded in Dakar with help from percussionists Khadim Mbaye and Tons Sambe – all in a mode of acoustic roots and electric elements that's somewhere in the territory of some of the 4th World projects of Jon Hassell! The instrumentation is maybe a bit more varied than Hassell, but the record's got a similar sense of shape and texture – maybe imagining an area outside of the studio in Dakar, spread out spaciously with the cinematic implications of the name. Titles include "Liberte", "Digital Palm", "It Will Be Summer Soon", "Casamance", "Eternal Spring", and "Possible Futures". CD

Part of a fantastic legacy in spiritual jazz – music that was almost overlooked at the time, but went on to become the start of both a big wave of new energy on the UK scene of trumpeter Matthew Halsall, and a whole global generation as well! The album is Halsall's second, and follows strongly from the amazing spirit of his debut – done for the Gondwana label with key help from the great Nat Birchall on tenor – a player whose depth is a perfect balance to the measured, spacious tone of Halsall – in a group that also features Adam Fairhall on piano, Gavin Barras on bass, and either Gaz Hughes or Marek Dorcik on drums – plus some especially wonderful harp from Rachael Gladwin on half the album's long tracks. The set is great, with beautifully open sounds – and the titles are all original, and include "Colour Yes", "Together", "I've Found My Joy", "Mudita", "I've Been Here Before", and "Me And You". New edition includes the bonus tracks "Ai" and "It's What We Do". LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – one of our favorite jazz musicians of the past 20 years, and an artist who just seems to be growing and growing with each new release! This set picks up on the organic, meditative quality of some of Halsall's recent records – but it also has a bit more bite, and is maybe almost a return to the roots of his earliest records on the Gondwana label – those classics that first made us fall in love with his music over a decade ago, and which made Matthew a real front-runner of the current global spiritual jazz underground! The set's got this very rich presentation – as the leader's work on trumpet is mixed with harp from Maddie Herbert, flute and tenor from Matt Cliffe, piano and kalimba from Livin Gheorghe, and great use of percussion, bass, and drums – all on long tracks that build with the best sort of post-Coltrane energy – titles that include "Joyful Spirits Of The Universe", "Mindfulness Meditations", "Tropical Landscapes", "Harmony With Nature", and "The Energy Of Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the strongest record so far from Mammal Hands – a set that really has the group growing in their sense of tone and color, and in the unique timing they bring to their tunes! The group is a trio, but not in a mode that you might be guessing – because next to the piano of Nick Smart, and drums of Jesse Barrett, there's also a range of instruments from Jordan Smart – tenor, soprano sax, bass clarinet, and electronics – all used in these shifting ways with the really fresh rhythms from Barrett, and these flowing chains of acoustic piano soul from Smart – cresting, dipping, turning, and soaring with a really majestic sensibility! Titles include "Floating World", "Spiral Stair", "Ithaca", "Chaser", "Late Bloomer", "Riddle", "Rhizome", "Shoreless", and "Versus Shapes". LP, Vinyl record album

A Burt Bacharach tune, given a fantastic reading here – as the soaring, spiritual vocals of Dwight Trible really transform the song – which is set up here in a modal jazz reading with a trumpet solo from Matthew Halsall! The pair reunite on the flip – which is an equally sublime remake of a Donny Hathaway song! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A gem of a record from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – one of our favorite jazz musicians of the past 20 years, and an artist who just seems to be growing and growing with each new release! This set picks up on the organic, meditative quality of some of Halsall's recent records – but it also has a bit more bite, and is maybe almost a return to the roots of his earliest records on the Gondwana label – those classics that first made us fall in love with his music over a decade ago, and which made Matthew a real front-runner of the current global spiritual jazz underground! The set's got this very rich presentation – as the leader's work on trumpet is mixed with harp from Maddie Herbert, flute and tenor from Matt Cliffe, piano and kalimba from Livin Gheorghe, and great use of percussion, bass, and drums – all on long tracks that build with the best sort of post-Coltrane energy – titles that include "Joyful Spirits Of The Universe", "Mindfulness Meditations", "Tropical Landscapes", "Harmony With Nature", and "The Energy Of Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Japanese electric Miles, featuring 2 long tracks – "Zimbabwe" and "Gondwana" – spread out over the course of a sweet double live set! The album gives Miles and the group plenty of room to groove and stretch out – hitting notes that are both funky and noisy, often at the same time! Michael Henderson lays down some great bass work on the set, and major solos are by Sonny Fortune, Pete Cosey, and Reggie Lucas! Great stuff – and more proof that Miles in the 70s was a very very deep place! CD