The "new dawn" here is very well put – as the duo of Shuya Okino & Yoshihiro Okino are very much back in action as Kyoto Jazz Massive – working with all the soulful styles of their long legacy in music, but also drawing on some of the best jazzy currents of their other work in recent years! The album's light years ahead of their work in the previous century – and they've also got some great jazz contributions from other hip Japanese combos on the scene – as well as work on vibes from the great Roy Ayers on one cut, and vocals from the great Vanessa Freeman on a few more! The whole thing's a great evolution of the sound of Tokyo club that we first fell in love with years back – and titles include "Primal Echo", "Astral Ascension", "Visions Of Tomorrow", "Get Up", "Revolution Evolution", "The Mask", and "Eternal Tide". CD

The "new dawn" here is very well put – as the duo of Shuya Okino & Yoshihiro Okino are very much back in action as Kyoto Jazz Massive – working with all the soulful styles of their long legacy in music, but also drawing on some of the best jazzy currents of their other work in recent years! The album's light years ahead of their work in the previous century – and they've also got some great jazz contributions from other hip Japanese combos on the scene – as well as work on vibes from the great Roy Ayers on one cut, and vocals from the great Vanessa Freeman on a few more! The whole thing's a great evolution of the sound of Tokyo club that we first fell in love with years back – and titles include "Primal Echo", "Astral Ascension", "Visions Of Tomorrow", "Get Up", "Revolution Evolution", "The Mask", and "Eternal Tide". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing book – a true treasure for any fan of rare jazz albums! The book offers up way more than you'd guess from its title – because the array of material here is really fantastic – vintage jazz album covers of a very wide range, and not just the usual classics you might find in other books of this nature! The authors have really done their homework with the book – and the covers include lots of obscurities, overseas albums, and vintage American records in beautiful shape – each supported with notes on the original release, and packaged with some interviews with famous jazz collectors and producers as well – plus Top 10 record listings from Gilles Peterson, Kyoto Jazz Massive, King Britt, and many others. The images are all full color – many taking up a full large page, others arrayed in really bold and dynamic ways – and the whole book has the same visual appeal we find in collecting rare records, right down to the spine – which replicates a set of spines of vintage albums. This massive hardcover edition is 552 pages – the most beautiful presentation of this material to date! Book

A dream come true! Someone at Blue Note is keeping their eyes and ears on the street and in the clubs – because here's another late model conceptual triumph – a remix project pairing current innovators in the club and hip hop underground with classic numbers from the label's vaults! The concept is simple; classic numbers are given to handpicked remixers, re-doers, and stylistic misfits best suited to re-work that particular number. Mo Wax maestros La Funk Mob open the set with a mellow, club soul tweak of Wayne Shorter's "Oriental Funk Song". Kenny Dope trips out Bobby Hutcherson's "La Malanga" into a bubbly club funk jam. "Kyoto Jazz Massive" completely re-work Eddie Henderson's "Kudu" into a wonderful number all their own. Perhaps the biggest triumph of all here is the consistency throughout; every artist attached brings their A-game (how could they do any less, given a chance to add their own elements to the some of the most influential numbers they could get their hands on?) Amazing, amazing stuff – whether it's the scratched up, hip hop flavor J Dilla brings to Jack McDuff's "Oblighetto" or the righteous electronic groove Jazzanova drops on Eddie Gale's "Song Of The Will", the minimalist, keys and beats drive Osunlade brings into Grant Green's "A Time To Remember". Every track sparkles! Other tracks include DJ Spinna/Donald Byrd "Lansanna's Priestess", 4 Hero/Horace Silver "Won't You Open Up Your Senses", DJ Cam & Erik Truffaz/Donald Byrd "The Emperor", Herbert/Michel Petrucciani "Caravan" and more! CD

A brilliant celebration of the genius of the Compost record label – an imprint that Gilles Peterson calls "the most consistent and forward thinking record label" in Europe! We feel the same way, and this oversize set is the best way you'll ever find to dip into the label's richly creative sound. Issued as the label's 100th release, the set features all-exclusive tracks, making the album one of the richest they've ever released! The material includes a great array of tracks that demonstrate Compost's ability to take a classic jazz and funk sensibility, and completely rework it for use in a modern DJ idiom – and the artists involved in the project are some of the cream of the underground at the moment, and some of the freshest talents of the past decade! Titles include "Discipline 100" by Karl Berger vs Les Gammas, "Moments" by Ben Mono, "Crossbreed" by Kyoto Jazz Massive, "Galacia (zero dB rmx)" by Truby Trio, "Don't Know 2001" by Fauna Flash vs Wei Chi, "Little Princess" by Forest Mighty Black, "Shadow In The City" by DJ Force, "Guilty As Charged" by Amalgamation of Soundz, "It's All Related To Life" by Procreation, and "Ten (pole rmx)" by Fauna Flash. CD