Hey there folks, first up we have the infamous Krush live at Koko. Heralded as one of the first hip hop pioneers in Japan, he has become internationally renowned for his skills as a producer, re-mixer, DJ and recording artist.

Here’s the album launch party for Aaron Jerome, of B.B.E. ilk. With Keb Darge And Mr Thing on the 1’s and 2’s, it’s sure to be a fat with a PH.

On Friday 18th we’ll be pleasured to hear the sounds of the Nextmen, kicking it large at the Jazz Cafe London, courtesy of Breakin Bread.

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.

Hot8 Brass Band – It’s Real

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 – Reflection

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 – Changes

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 – Dinosaurs

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

Just a little heads up on three events that are coming up in dear old Blighty.

Merry consumerism folks.

Tracklisting

I’ve recently acquired this funk album straight from one of my favourite labels, Freestyle Records. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to any of their previous funk compilations but if this is any indicator of the quality then I’m pretty damn sure they’ll be worthy of a purchase.

Artists range from Sharon and Dap Kings and Charles Bradley through to the more anglophile sounds of (now Cali based) Quantic and Lack of Afro.

One of the stand out tracks in my opinion would have to be the fat drumbeat laden track “Strugglin” by The Snugs, which you can hear by clicking on the previous link to their website. They are a collective of musicians and DJ’s hailing from the south west country and this track, with the vocal powers of Leah Symons, seriously warrants turning the stereo up to max, even if it does piss off the neighbours.

Fans of Rage Against the Machine will be humoured to hear the cover of Killing by Israeli funk group The Apples, I luckily managed to snaffle the 45 from the first press of the single. Another album I’ve copped recently was from the “deep funk super group” that is the Sound Stylistics, a group of seasoned musicians consisting of members from Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, Galliano, The New Mastersounds, The Herbaliser and the James Taylor Quartet. Their ‘Shake And Hip Drop’ track on this comp is surely not too be missed.

Artist video links:

Quantic Soul Orchestra

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

The Apples

The Fantastics

The Bamboos

Speedometer

The Sweet Vandals

Though it must have been seven odd months since the official release of Lefties Soul Connection’s album Skimming the Skum, I still think it’s never to late to elaborate the raw funk goodness of this pinnacle release on Olski’s infamous Melting Pot Music label.

This collective of nu-funksters formed in Amsterdam in 2002, influences vary from the JB’s and the Meters and into the realms of hiphop with the likes of J5 and the Roots. It’s good to hear a band such as Lefties are pushing the boundaries within live funk music by actively incorporating various hip hop production styles and structure into the core of their album. I can’t imagine it will be that long until some producer samples the hell out of their breakbeats.

Here’s the video of ‘Fais Do Do‘, a single they released which popped up on Youtube.

You can check out samples of their tracks here.

Label

Official website