word of advice to funk lovers, there is not a minute to lose. get on board of the big hustle’s spaceship. before we take off, let s do a little history. the band was founded in 2014 by bass player and composer sébastien levanneur and its aim is to bring together 70 s old school funk with the hippest actual sound laced with influences spanning from steely dan and headhunters, to snarky puppy and soulive. with mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, the big hustle s music has a very large variety of soundscapes. the first destination takes us to the washington, d.c. area with “turn up”. the groove is clearly go-go music flavored with the trademark sound of cowbells and of course it reminds us of zapp by the use of the talk box on lead vocals, performed here by saad el garrab. and don t miss out shaun martin (snarky puppy, erykah badu, kirk franklin amongst others) as a very special guest performing the talk box solo! second stop is “a curse, a blessing”. it’s an instrumental very much in the freddie hubbard vein during his cti years. the last leg of the a side ends with an instrumental interlude titled “flying donut”. double tribute to jay dee and flying lotus, the music is a simple hip hop loop based on samples. the b side takes us back into the past with two brilliant covers, involving rod temperton the late great british songwriter who scored some of michael jackson s biggest hits. now the idea for this b side is to do the opposite approach from the a side. taking 70 s and 80 s original music and make them travel into time to 2018. we first land with a heatwave song named “the star of a story” from their 1976 central heating album. track 2 is a herbie hancock song named “gettin to the good part” from his 1982 lite me up lp. this time traveler ep journey ends with an interlude. called “gimme dat”, the song deals with the need of new music, new sound. again, this blend of deep rooted funk laced with a contemporary edge is to be consumed without moderation. and do not forget that e.p. also stands for extended pleasure.

june records presents a new compilation with live electronics, featuring music from svengalisghost, manie sans de&#769,lire, newcomer bruce roach, trenton chase, rr hearse + furnace miskin and zodiac free arts club who will release his second lp soon on hvnx.

“yuxtaposición” is a recently unearthed treasure recorded by a tight italian trio in miami during the early seventies. until now, this music has only been heard in office backgrounds, tv commercials and movie soundtracks. but the perseverance of an admirer brought about its first-ever release on the italian schema label. imagine hearing a 1972-era cal tjader quartet without cal tjader and you get an idea of what to expect. it’s slightly latin, lightly funky and truly enjoyable. “yuxtaposición” offers enough to interest a jazz listener. but the sounds heard in these 35 minutes are really better appreciated as mood music. lead man, cabildo, composer of all ten tunes here, has a knack for writing jazzy little hooks that launch his tasty, well-crafted keyboard solos. often alternating fender rhodes and piano within the same song, his playing maintains a hypnotic command that recalls bob james’ cti style. electric bassist bobby fares and percussionist max ronnie make subtle, supportive contributions that serve only to enhance cabildo’s sound. there’s a funny thing about yuxtaposición too. it’s kind of like developing an addiction. you may not pay much attention to it at first. but before you know it, you’re hooked. you need to hear it to be satisfied. a very nice surprise.

jaxx madicine is a jazz-funk inspired house-ish outfit from milan consisting of turbojazz (local talk, gamm records), parker madicine (heist, bastard jazz brooklyn, ct-hi records) and the talented jazz keyboardist veez_0. with an organic and melodic sound collage you can hear influences from classic 70 s jazz funk labels and artists like cti, mizell brothers, kudu and bob james but also the current sounds of kaidi tatham, byron the aquarius and harvey sutherland. after their debut ep montreux they are now ready to drop their full album distant classic where the jaxx crew exit planet earth and treat us to a space music odyssey that is full of surprises. during the journey they deliver house, jazz, fusion, boogie and jazzy beats from a highly melodic keyboard perspective. all tracks are made with a genuine love for analogue synthesizers, fender rhodes, clavinets and some soulful mpc programming. distant classic is an album that can be enjoyed both in the club and at home, but we hope you will enjoy their melodic sounds on any platform. just press go and enjoy the trip.

jaxx madicine is a jazz-funk inspired house ish outfit from milan consisting of turbojazz (local talk, gamm records), parker madicine (heist, bastard jazz brooklyn, ct-hi records) and the talented jazz keyboardist veez_0 . with an organic and melodic sound collage you can hear influences from classic 70 s jazz-funk labels and artists like cti, mizell brothers, kudu and bob james but also the current sounds of kaidi tatham, byron the aquarius and harvey sutherland. on this their first ep you get three amazing tracks that all are made with a genuine love for analogue synthesizers, fender rhodes, clavinets and some soulful mpc programming...

in 2017, the finnish jazz scene seems to bubble with talent. one of the most prominent players in this mix is by definition, trumpeter jukka eskola. after over a decade of adventures in different spaces of jazz – from the dance floor burn of the five corners quintet to the raw expressive modes of mikko innanen’s small big band, jimi tenor’s cosmic jazz and his own prime cti styled solo recordings – eskola takes things back to bare basics. and as usual, when it’s done right, it’s the best thing out there.