repress

repress

direct from japan, pressed on black vinyl, original released in 1975

urban/soul/blues/r&b/gospel

detroit influenced techno

our latest examination of esoteric, modal & progressive jazz of the 20th century has taken us to japan. the liberating force of jazz has been created and felt all around the world, but few nations on earth embraced the jazz message with the passion and intensity of japan. from the dawn of the jazz age to the present day, japanese audiences have been renowned tastemakers, enthusiasts and champions of the music in the 1980s, japan was the biggest per capita market in the world for jazz records, and it has even been said that japanese jazz fans kept the jazz record industry alive through the lean years of the 1970s, when the music fell from commercial favour in the land of its birth.

in the years following the world war two, japan developed one of the most insatiable, dynamic and diverse markets for jazz. for a crucial period of little over a decade - from the late 1960s to the early 1980s - japanese jazz culture progressed at an astonishing rate, producing an extraordinary array of artists, recordings and record labels that created some of the most forward thinking and impressive jazz to be committed to tape. this amazing journey is explored on ‘j jazz’.

dilla would surely be proud! and so would probably theo and moody too. theres a new cat from michigan down with the raw fusion roster. his name is kiyoshi shelton and will, with a 150% probability, hit both the hip hop and soulful house scene large! his 3 track debut ep on raw fusion starts off with a real smooth hustlin deep house tune with parallels drawn to the eminent new york producer, dj spinna or even west londons own soulful heroes restless soul. the flipside takes us down memory lane with some real heavy detroit hip hop bangers, both of them with a nice soulful touch. their heavy and the tough and wicked lyrics are least as sharp.