soul / jazz / hip hop instrumental album by adrian younge & ali shaheed muhammad

new zealander julien dyne is a multi-instrumentalist with a long and impressive history of collaborative, live and solo musicianship. best known for his solo work on bbe and having worked with the likes of theo parrish, steve spacek, andreya triana and lord echo - one of soundway’s most successful artists. dyne has also accumulated a number of accolades over the course of a 10-year career including but not exclusive to being hotly tipped by both moodymann and gilles peterson.
dyne’s new project for 2018 is an 11-track lp on miles cleret’s extolled soundway label. demonstrating a shift in gears and movement toward a more uptempo, afro inspired sound ‘teal’ melds instrumental flair with astute production and a persistent grain of impassioned, effortless soul. the album features fellow new zealanders lord echo and mara tk, long term band-mate ladi6, fat freddy’s drop trumpeter toby laing, plus australian vocalist tim guy and jazz luminaries jonathan crayford and john bell. this is a body of work for the listener and the dancer alike with a mood as fitting for headphones as it is for the floor, with the double vinyl album cut loud at 45 rpm.

jazz saxophonist mark turner and pianist ethan iverson present their debut album as a duo.

new years deal - dresden s lockertmatik starts his engines for the first time on shtum and delivers a string of tracks that seem to come from a not so far away dystopian future. here are four tracks that are unpretentious but elaborate, effective but not overambitious. -break the chains- sets the bars in terms of dark techno bliss for both basements and bigger dancefloors. on -message from the underdog- lockertmatik shows off his knack for acidic perfection while -jaku- gets the jazz treatment. finally, -313 - 0351- is all about building tension without losing one bit of impact on the dancefloor. the artwork comes courtesy of carl-johannes schulze.

the arrival of fresh material from visions co-owner stephane attias is a nice welcome return . these two tracks from swiss based dj and producer are aimed to simply heat the dance floors . these two pure deep house tracks are full of musicality and rich deepness that will keep the dancers happy. on the a side « body fusion is a melodious number with deep drums , lush pads over deep synth and bass , rhodes chords, piano solo and organic percussions the b side is a soulful melodious and organic jazz house track with fender rhodes , sub bass and summer vibe to keep a smile on your face. a solid release not to be missed !

pellegrino presents his new project -zodyaco-. inspired by the ancient mythology of the stars and their deep influence on the sea life, the record is the result of nocturnal jams in the wake of the italian jazz-funk tradition, exotic fusion and mediterranean mysticism. a tribute to the stars and their reflections on the sea.

-rhythm collision- is a sublime three tracker sun soaked jazz infused ep, delivering stunning balearic summer vibes for a proper dancefloor jolt.

motorcity wine recordings returns in fine style with its second ep featuring a swashbuckling blend of house and jazz sounds from detroiters and their compatriots. rising live techno star haz mat leads this 12” with a house-tinged boogie funk cover of blue six’s “music & wine”, complete with vocoder and massive drums. kuumba reunion band slides through next with the afro-jazz number “3 fingered fist (jabbar)”, a cut loaded with hand drums and chunky saxophone solos for the jazzdancers and listeners alike. motorcity wine guest and london native aroop roy kicks off the flip with a dubbed out beatdown house joint, a brilliant midtempo track perfect for the dread moments of the night. last but certainly not least, the hughes/smith quintet finish the release with an uptempo jazz-funk piece, with generous amounts of fender rhodes and call-and-response melodies. only 500 vinyl pressed enjoy the soulful sounds of detroit.

moka only has released an instrumental version of his latest lp, concert for one, via urbnet. concert for one instrumentals was released digitally on july 6th 2018 and as a limited edition vinyl on august 17th 2018. the self-produced record is packed with stand-alone characteristic beats, proving that the beats themselves have just as much story as the vocals.
“in this stage of my life there is much more reflection and contemplation, and i really feel that i was very open and unguarded on this album. as much as i love all the completed songs with the vocals, the beats on here hold enough detail to speak on their own.”

phenomenal only album released by transs, a supergroup band project led by fariz rm, that came out in the early 80s. a full blend of soul, funk, cosmic disco, brazilian jazz and synth-pop. this album had a very big impact on the indonesian music scene at that time, and quickly became the trendsetter of the jazz fusion genre throughout the 1980s.

mop mop is the brainchild of andrea benini, musician, producer, dj who has been active for more than ten years exploring a large variety of musical genres, from club to jazz music. „kiss of kali“ is the name of his second album - originally released in 2008 only on cd, now available on vinyl for the first time.

after years of playing with the moroccan community of brussels, music maker and jazz musician luc mishalle knows every trick of the cross-fertilization of gnawa music, jazz & brass. gnawa is the northern african islamic sufi music with healing vibrations and spiritual lyrics, played by the descendants of african slaves. the album title “beats & pieces” refers to the collaborations with belgian percussionist roel poriau (think of one, antwerp gipsy-ska orkestra), tunisian electronic producer sofyann ben youssef (ammar808, kel assouf) and moroccan-belgian gnawa master maalem driss filali.

limited edition of 500 numbered copies on 180 gram vinyl.
easily comparable to the vaste number of movies from the erotic-dramatic genre popular between sixties and seventies, alessandro fallay’s le altre - a pretty much unknown director of iranian origins - boasts an amazing soundtrack from the unforgettable piero piccioni, one of the acclaimed masters of the genre. the album moves between easy listening atmospheres to jazz and lounge, among roma and cinecittà’s summers parfumes. everything topped off with woods, hammond and guitars.

french producer lb aka labat returns with a new lp named “fake memories” on his own label alélah records. he surprises us with some more hip-hop and r’n’b music, liberating his love for jazz rythms and harmonics. known for his talent at playing with samples, this new lp expresses his actual potential, offering a large use of instrumental stuff : violin and piano chords, guitar riffs… together with delicate voices that balance with the old school drums and procure gentleness to the sharp hats. the b3 eponymous track even discloses the man’s voice, with lyrics sang by himself

the space groove odyssey of the natural yogurt band continues in the black grooves of the milky way. after exploring the majestic neptune and its 13 moons, revealing one of the best-kept secrets of the cosmic-groove ascending jazz universe, natural yorgurt band continues its mission as david bowman and franck poole of clarke and kubrick, in 1968 simple coincidence or bad shot of the not so artificial and petty intelligence of carl900 the story does not say it (yet) but we can think that the sound of this new 45t of four intergalactic gates brings incredibly futuristic answers the mysterious origins of this music that lives in us! -everything will be fine- we slip from the depths of the galaxy before inviting us to wave on the moogulation of a dreamlike -punchbag-. everyone seeks his groove and tnyb leaves us free to choose our path, preferably milk, on a -this way or that way- beautiful to cry the stars. do not miss that they perform miracles ... has anyone ever heard of turning water into wine? wait ... oh my gods!

the remarkable second album, “indigo”, from singer and pianist kandace springs is a 13-track lp of originals and choice covers that showcases the full breadth of kandace’s artistry from smoldering r&b (“piece of me”) to gorgeous jazz ballads (“unsophisticated” featuring roy hargrove) to the pop songcraft of “breakdown” and “don’t need the real thing,” the album’s lead single which is out today. all but two tracks are produced by drummer/producer karriem riggins (common, erykah badu) with additional production by jamie hartman (rag n bone man), jimmy hogarth (amy winehouse, corinne bailey rae), jimmy harry (madonna, p!nk) and evan rogers and carl sturken (rihanna).

till today fumio itabashi is a vital part of the japanese jazz culture as a live performer and film score composer. those who want to see how he makes love with his piano should check the world wide web for the french documentary jazzed out, that captured his unique way of playing in one episode. but as music is always firstly for the ears, and not for the eyes, this little letter in-front of you would rather like to recommend to play the “watarase” recordings loud to get hooked by the highly infectious piano gems that have been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio in tokyo on 12th and 13th of octo-ber 1981. they will haunt you. they will come for good. and they will force you to be a good friend with the repeat button – whatever medium you chose to surrender to the piano jazz music of fumio itabashi.

va&#776,,,stkransen records are proud to release the debut ep of stockholm s house savants hk. the main project of hampus ribbing and kristoffer banks, hk have garnered attention for their dynamic and unpredictable live sets. having spent five years in the studio engineering their deep and mesmerizing grooves, the duo now surfaces with “a kind of love ep”, featuring three original tracks and a remix from french wunderkind and d.ko head flabaire.
on the a-side, hk begins with the melancholic but captivating “a kind of love”. the duo then goes deeper on the hypnotizing, yet dancefloor-oriented, “hiccup”. on the flipside, flabaire presents a dreamy and jazz-inspired remix of “a kind of love”, after which hk sums up the ep with “angry bird”, a percussion-infused take on the rougher deep house sound.

joe lewandowski, explores new territories to deliver a 3rd ep that blends afro, jazz with house music. his main idea was to offer music that blurs frontiers between samples, organic instruments and recorded sounds. the Ô3rd baseÕ ep comes with an additional reinterpretation of flabaire, runner and co-founder of the french label d.ko records

well, this is different… fourth kind the self titled mini album on omniverse records. it’s hard to pinpoint a genre with records like this, produced by marc mac of 4hero and similar to some of the 4hero output, it defies genre and fits somewhere in-between many. the production is heavily reliant on synthesisers and vintage drum machines in places but is full of real life and organic movements, this is partly down to the signature drums played by luke parkhouse. the only other guest spot is filled by nu jazz funker pascal strauss aka luman child who plays bass guitar on “take me to your sky” which along with “afterglows” are the closest we get to dance tracks, in most parts a 70s fusion feel is present. the short interlude type tracks are just as important and i would go as far as to say vital to telling the story. moogs, arps and solina strings weave patterns throughout, all in all, across the 10 tracks the album is a journey of mood and emotions. 180g pressing.

as part of the widely respected bbe j jazz masterclass series, koichi matsukaze’s incredibly rare and much sought after album earth mother sees a deluxe repress on bbe music. this is the third highly anticipated release in the series.

rq’s debut lp for blu mar ten music, ‘solid ground’, occupies a darkly dreamlike hinterland, located somewhere between the retro-futurism of photek and alice coltrane’s jazz psychedelia. fragmented, distant beats, rippling modal patterns and restrained astral basslines provide rhythmic and harmonic anchors to a constellation of timbres and textures.

jan felix may gehört zu einer generation, die keine stilistischen berührungsängste kennt. neue verbindungen zu kreieren, statt an alten abgrenzungen festzuhalten, lautet die devise. dabei zeigt may, ende 1993 geboren, kompositorische und spielerische präzision, innovativem gestaltungswillen und humor. schon mehrfach wurde er ausgezeichnet, beispielsweise 2016 bei der internationalen jazzwoche burghausen, wo er den solisten-wettbewerb gewann und mit seiner band den zweiten platz belegte. zwar zählt frank zappa nicht direkt zu mays vorbildern, eine gewisse verwandtschaft in der geisteshaltung lässt sich aber erahnen. etwa im gewitzten mix aus klassischen und modernen einflüssen, die bei jan felix may von jazz über elektronische musik bis zu impressionismus und progressive rock reichen. der junge pianist und komponist weiß, wie man ausgeklügelte musik so attraktiv gestalten kann, dass sie neben hartgesottenen spezialisten auch viele andere offene ohren aus unterschiedlichen generationen erreicht. -red messiah-, jan felix mays fantastisches debütalbum, klingt frisch und ungewohnt anders. das album erscheint auf 180 gramm vinyl.

liliterete edition von 1000 nummerierten exemplaren auf weißem vinyl inklusive downloadcode. mit spannung erwartetes debütalbum des londoner produzenten und multiinstrumentalisten leifur james, der - ähnlich wie der gleichgesinnte floating points - auf eine organische art analoge elektronik und warme akustikinstrumente zu einer begnadeten melange aus jazz, psychedelia, klassik, blues, electronica, folk, world und soul fusioniert, teilweise angereichert mit seinen soul-vocals. das ergebnis ist ein weiträumiges, besinnliches, dennoch energetisches werk aus reichhaltigen strukturen voller nuancierter elektronischer instrumentals, dubby synths und jazz-breaks.

redeyes releases his third album broken soul last year julien‘redeyes salvi showed off his versatility on his blueprints ep. he now takes it one step further with the release of broken soul, his first full length project for the north quarter. through twelve sincere tracks, the toulouse-based artist showcases an action packed storyline co-starring some of the most sought-after vocalists in the game. not only do manchester legends drs and tyler daley make appearances, but there are also features by fresh nq signee abnormal sleepz, hmd, kinkai and juga-naut as well as ny underground hip hop phenomenon milano constantine. rap, soul and dusty jazz flavour is woven through diverse tracks in both tempo and intensity. the redeyes signature shines bright however, effortlessly capturing current aesthetics and eclecticism. this album shows a veteran artist comfortable in his craft and is not just at home on lenzmans imprint, it possibly signifies the quintessence of the north quarter philosophy. full soundclips available on release week

sound designers, producers, djs, promoters, and electronic music enthusiasts alike, funclab hail out of milan, italy. the group started in 2016 and their artistic practice ranges from video art to documentary films, sound and environmental installations, as well as photography, dj performances, radio shows curation and fashion soundtrack projects

zwei klassiker des legendären jazz-saxofonisten pharoah sanders: you ve got to have freedom aus seinem 1980er album journey to the one

overview roll the dice is the swedish duo consisting of malcolm pardon and peder mannerfelt. pardon is a storied composer of film and television music. mannerfelt s acclaimed third solo album ‘controlling body’ cemented him as in the top handful of creative forces working in experimental electronic music. this theatrical, surprising, world premiere performance cemented the two musicians as spearheads of a fractured type of future basement jazz. for this record they selected extracts in 2017.

9 months of gestation that ignites in 7 titles of contemplative pop, hovering funk, cosmic soul built all this: the jazz fusion of soft machine, the krautrock of the wizards of can, the irresistible languor of italian crooners (toto cutugno and lucio battisti in the lead) as the soundtracks, so sensual, composed by pino donnagio for brian de palma... but if antoine kogut makes this references his own, it is because he considers each of the titles of sphere of existence as «songs, not tracks». with his deep voice he has the ambition to tell us a story through them: his own, and that of the world in which we live with as a guiding idea that all phillip k. dicks predictions have come true today. which ones? youll have to look in the multiple circles assembled by antoine kogut to compose sphere of existence.

this is a long overdue collaboration and we couldnt be more excited to present a brand new ep from our man, jenas mad scientist funk freak himself, metaboman. a stalwart veteran of the legendary musik krause camp, which has been a kindred spiritual sister label of sorts of ours since the millennium-turn heydays, being fellow purveyors of bold and raw dance floor music, still brimming with new ideas galore and bucket loads of soul. here with the wireless dancer ep we have metaboman in top form offering nothing less than his finest work: doppeldenk starts things off with some classic krause bump that brings to mind the heights of the duo at their peak but updated, like an stl banger turned up to 11 with sinewy melodic lines and that special thuringen twist. hanno follows up with a guest spot by jazz saxophone master thomas prestin, and guarantees to bring down the house with a storm of swinging stabs, rough riffs, and fresh-as-it-gets drum work. on the flip, splitit does exactly that, whether referring to wigs, legs, or that last drink ticket - where dusty blues vox chops and a rolling percussive smack down will revive any fading floor faces. and finally, echterg rounds it all out nicely with the illest of atonal trips and subsonic bass tones that the finer sound systems out there will fully indulge. much love from jena & paris to the world!

doublepack anthology from songs by congolese guitar player and stalwart of congolese rumba nicolas kasanda wa mikalayi.

attempting to pigeonhole 79.5 into something as narrow as a single genre would be an ill advised, if not impossible task. the new york city band sounds like someone spinning a radio dial with such passionate intensity that all the stations blend together into a single, transcendent, almost spiritual force. its disco to the beat of modern house, its a supremes cover of a cardi b banger, its roland kirk playing jazz through one saxophone, funk through another, and the most earwormy pop tune the 1970s could muster through a third. its an experience one so effecting that with only a self-released 12inch single in circulation, 79.5 had been written up twice in the new yorker on the merit of their live sets alone. their debut album predictions is produced by leon michels and was recorded at the diamond mine in queens the old school way, with the whole band playing the songs in one take and captured to analog tape.

emerging from the rubble, few expected palaceer lazaro (aka ishmael butterfly butler formerly of digable planets) to gain such notoriety with shabazz palaces. unparalleled by any musical act, shabazz palaces constantly pushes the limits of funk, hip-hop, jazz, and world music, straying away from typical song structures in favor of more creative endeavors. in 2010, seattle publication, the stranger, honored the group with the first ever music genius award. shabazz palaces dont have to tear up the block, they energize the scene without breaking a sweat, states larry mizell, jr. of the stranger. this revolutionary debut is now available for the first time ever on limited edition clear vinyl.

exzellente best-of-compilation von roy ayers uno melodic-label, das in den frühen 1980er jahren seine hochphase erlebte. sämtliche tracks sind von roy ayers produziert und komplett neu remastered. während sylvia striplin, eighties ladies und ethel beatty die soul/disco/2step/boogie-seite des labels repräsentieren, stehen bobbi humphrey, justo almario und roy selbst für den jazz/funk/fusion-sound. der sampler endet mit einem der besten momente des labels und den spoken words von rick holmes.

der drummer poogie bell, bekannt als langjähriger groovemeister von bassgröße marcus miller und verlässlicher sideman von künstlern wie stanley clarke, david sandborn, chaka khan, erykah badu, angelique kidjo oder al jarreau, zeigt auf exhibition continues eine völlig andere seite seiner musikalischen welt. die eklektische sammlung führt den in pittsburgh geborenen bell in anspruchsvolles terrain, das deutlich über das klassische pocket playing hinausgeht. auf seinem nunmehr bereits sechsten album als leader verbindet er viele elemente – streicher, soulstimmen, tiefgründige liedtexte und einflüsse aus gospel, jazz, afro-cuban und fusion. ein anspruchvolles werk mit tiefgang!

skinny pelembe corrals together a cast of talented friends for his new ep. it’s his most ambitious release to date, boasting a different group or artist featuring on each of its tracks, each of them an act he’s met through music or through linking with brownswood’s celebrated talent development programme future bubblers two years ago. across its four entries, he bridges hip-hop, psych-rock and jazz-influenced tangents, cutting out a diverse cross-section of the city’s music scene. it’s a document of the connections he’s made as an artist, and is the most collaborative project he’s worked on so far. the title of the ep comes from some advice which skinny noted to himself on an old notebook. each of its songs started as a rough idea which was then fleshed out and re-imagined with his collaborators.

acht jahre müssen gefeiert werden: kompilation zu ehren des “best chicago dance music label not based in chicago”.

bbe music is proud to present the next instalment in the j jazz masterclass series: ‘east plants’ by takeo moriyama, one of japan’s finest jazz drummers. the double vinyl release is housed in a gatefold sleeve.

apart from being known for founding the infamous vinyl imprint subaltern records and for his residency on sub.fm, gabriele romeo aka. mentha has made quite a name for himself with his jazz-influenced bass music productions. this lp is a selection of tracks from his vault, showcasing his musical abilities and tasteful compositions in this self-release.

lp + download. as prodigies of the new wave of belgian jazz, mdciii effortlessly marry the virtuosity and free spirit of jazz to influences from the other end of the musical spectrum: from tribal rhythms and roots to far out electronics.

om:nia is a record label for artists we believe in to release a wide variety of music, everything from psychedelic jazz to drum & bass, threading a flow and feeling which will connect all the sonics together.
our first release is by one of our favourite artists and genius musician, stl. we spoke to stephan in great length about our concept and idea for the label, after some time he sent us these specific tracks. manoeuvring along dubby and dusty grooves, with dreamy melancholic ambient textures and a epic 17 minute -untitled dubscape-. this record is as much to dance too in a club as it is to listen too at home.
file under: mystical, ambient, dub, house, adventures

only few artists have managed to develop their own distinct style to such perfection as abe, while remaining almost entirely unknown to the public ear. he dwells in minimal music, abstract structure and well-crafted melancholia. -peasants sought instead- itself is heavily influenced by modern classical music, modal jazz and world music and is at times demanding, while remaining slightly subdued. style-wise it can be seen as ambient, though abe doesn t feel completely at home in this genre, because of its emphasis on atmosphere rather than structure. recorded at abe s home in rotterdam, it is his strongest work to date and already highly appreciated by some of the most exquisit selectors around.

!!! 2018 repress !!! of nu guinea’s outstanding ‘world’ ep – the neapolitan duo is set to release new material on tartelet later in the year as part of the labels 10 th anniversary. the beautifully dislocated bougainvilles live lays out some warm analogue textures across a live percussion base, while the vocal edit of title track nu world ploughs a similar furrow to obscure 80’s afro-disco, with rich musical synth work over a pacey afro groove and undeniable jazz-funk flair. the flute mix passes over the vocal refrain from mix one and just gets down and wigs-out on those solos - an absolute killer! exotica dance club sounds like herbie visited the salsoul studios with his banks of analogue gear and jammed out into the small hours, as we head home on the beatless outro, all synth washes and lavish ear candy.

third release for the label and this time featuring with the great spanish singer and pianist carmen rey. the release also include the debut of otwo, an italian duo composed by marco chiussi and the young jazz pianist jacopo moschetto who previously appeared in the first reekee s release on wrong notes meeting point ep vol. 1.

formed in 2007 by jakob seidensticker, florian schirmacher and henrik raabe, wareika was accidentally gathered on stage for the first time at hamburgs mythical mojo club. since then, the german trio has built a very singular sound signature after a decade of playing together. revealing the diverse influences and musical educations from all three individuals, the bands discography has been built over a solid live experience. being academically trained in jazz and classical but also self taught through electronic music, jakob, florian and henrik are able to sing, play guitars, drum machines, pianos, synthesizers, bass, percussions and way more

children of tomorrow will celebrate soon its 10 years anniversary. the label was created by emmanuel ternois back in the day and being joined by arnaud le texier in 2011. since then they focused on techno producing amazing artists, to name few: terrence dixon, zadig, tensal, antigone, oscar mulero, jonas kopp, samuli kemppi etc... children of tomorrow is now presenting the first album from arnaud le texier. after almost 30 years dj-ing around the world and almost 20 years producing. signing many releases over the years and always busy delivering dance floor releases, it s been a long wait to finally get an album from arnaudon his first album we can feel that he wanted to tell a story and to express something deeper with his production experience. there is a different variety of techno that stretches from ambient / broken beat / hypnotic / raw techno along with subtles grooves, wondrous atmospheres & sonic textures. on a side the album opens with dusk, an ambient atmospheric mid-tempo track with sonic sounds that is a perfect intro.pattern 2 starts with drones and blip sounds and a broken beat groove follows with a pad that sounds like a voice coming from the space. the track ends with some modular click sounds that make the whole track clever. followed by the album title granular therapy, a deep techno track with modular bass line and melancholic pad. a perfect track to play in after or to warm up a party.the b side is more dedicated to the dance floor with black nympheas that is a proper dark modern techno with a grinding bass line and magic drones. a simple beat makes the track evolve in a nice way. blade pass frequency is 4/4 effective techno with a 909 kick, a syncope acid bass line and a pad that sends you to another dimension. it is a powerful track but with a sense of deepness and sensibility that arnaud can achieve sometimes. this side closes with binary sun dawn which is an ambient track with melody that has a jazz feeling mixed with dark atmospheres, sonic drones and water drops. the c side opens with mono driver, a minimal track with a little synth that stays until the end repetitively until it makes you travel and lose your mind. deep and dance floor at the same time.

in the senses is a soundtrack concept album from fernando pulichino based around the premise of music for film. melody, ambience and mood are central to these pieces influenced by the likes of angelo badalamenti, john carpenter and johnny jewel. the result is timeless electronic music infused with bittersweet synth chords & melodies, beat less atmospherics, bubbling electronics and synthesizer minimalism.

following hard on the heels of bbe delving into the archives of detroit’s strata records and delivering their widely acclaimed and hugely in-demand exploration of j-jazz, comes another crate digger’s delight- ralph thomas’ ‘eastern standard time’, which dropped the usa back in in 1980, on the obscure zebra jazz imprint.

considered by many as -the motown of salsa,- fania records is probably the most transcendental label in the history of latin music. by bringing together the eclectic vision of dominican bandleader johnny pacheco with the business savvy of impresario jerry masucci, fania created a sound: the apex of tropical music, combined with the swing of big band jazz and the gritty vibe of american r&b. the label provided an artistic heaven for a young generation of musicians who were inspired to experiment with new musical formats. the albums recorded by willie colón, héctor lavoe, rubén blades and eddie palmieri from the early 70s to the mid- 80s went beyond the parameters of so-called -salsa- - taking latin music to unsuspected levels of sophistication. when you think latin soul you relate to a mélange of r&b and mambo rhythms intermixed culturally by and for the youth of america. it was 1974, and a brash youngster by the name of ralfi pagan walked into the offices of fania records and demanded to be heard. fania president jerry masucci allowed ralfi that opportunity, and ralfi auditioned for jerry right there in his office. it took only a few moments for masucci to realize that he was in the company of his newest recording artist, he put ralfi in touch with recording director, johnny pacheco, who hurried him into the recording studio for ralfi’s first fania recording session.