Hope your having a good start to the year, thought I would kick it off with some wallet friendly free downloads from Tru Thoughts, an independent record label run by Robert Luis and Paul Jonas. Established in 1999 in Brighton, it has attracted and nurtured a whole host of amazing artists ranging from the authentic New Orleans brass band Hot8 to the legendary Quantic who has gained much respect for both his sample based production and his live performances with the Quantic Soul Orchestra.
Founded by Bennie Pete in 1995, the Hot8 Brass band has been the showpiece of street music for over ten years. They have toured fairly extensively and play regularly at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Having experienced first-hand the hardships of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, they have become the featured band of the grassroots project SAVE OUR BRASS! playing out in various evacuee shelters and trailer parks across New Orleans.
Belleruche is a wholesome trio consisting of a Kathrin deBoer (vocals), a Ricky Fabulous (guitar) and a DJ Modest (decks). Their music is a loose combination of jazz, hiphop and soul and has already been compared to the sounds of Lamb and Portishead. Sounds good to me.
Nostalgia77 Octet is a pimped up nine piece live band under the creative vision of of artist, and producer, Nostalgia77 (who won the Jazz album of the Year at the Radio One Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards). ‘Changes’ is taken from the live album which was recorded at the Jazz Café and includes six live jazz tracks and 18 minutes of the acclaimed The Hope Suite track.
Spanky Wilson – Blood From a Stone
Spanky Wilson (I do love her name) is a jazz, funk and soul singer from Los Angeles who has a musical history dating back to the 1960’s. She has recorded songs with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis Jnr., Jimmy Smith and more recently with the Quantic Soul Orchestra.
Bonobo’s first release was on the Tru Thought’s compilation ‘When Shapes Join Together’. His well thought out production carries a lot of influences from jazz and funk to broken beat and soul. He has since changed label to Ninjatune (where you should check his ‘Dial M for Monkey’ album).
Spanky Wilson – A Message To Tomorrow
