Collection: Jazz

A great mixture of jazz, funk, afrobeat and house on new album by Italian outfit Asakaira for Quattro Bambole. "Asakaira is the name of a place that does not exist, an "invisible city" that is the backdrop to the meeting of four musicians. Michele Vassallo (sax and efx), Giuseppe Desiderio (bass), Francesco Fasanaro (percussion) and Giuseppe Limpido (drums) who together have already gone through various experiences to immerse themselves in an imaginary space, of the border! So, they exploit this nature to transcend the limit, throwing caution to the wind with carefree abandon, but not before carefully noting the history and legacy of jazz, hip-hop and afrobeat. Asakaira' s sound is psychedelic, fluid, constantly evolving: afrobeat & jazz punk alternate with funk, electronic music of Mediterranean culture. An absolutely "stateless" sound, while maintaining its own timbre and stylistic coherence to make it recognizable. The choice of not having a harmonic instrument present in the lineup gives ample space to electronic effects and the groove, creating a sort of modern ritual. The eponymous debut album, released by Quattro Bambole Records, consists of seven tracks, in which the ability to reinterpret their native sounds with polysemic rhythms emerges in a work where layered drums and percussions intertwine with effected saxophones and psychedelic bass lines. A path that moves between songs with a more "ethereal" ancestry, such as the opening track "Night Tales", an acoustic groove that rests on the use of the handpan, an idiophone instrument that gives the song a psychedelic vibration and like "Chatting With You" where a soft and extended overlapping of multiple musical meters emerges, between neo soul, jazz and hip-hop."

Dutch-Surinamese multi-instrumentalist Ronald Snijders flaunts both a light touch and larynx on his latest LP for Night Dreamer. Always having drawn on jazz, Latin, Brazilian and Surinamese international musics, and bringing them together to form one confluent dialogue, Snijders is known for his pioneering, never-heard-before fusions. This stunning set of direct-to-disc single takes adds yet another cameo to his ever increasing vault of reliefs. This time we hear the musician take up his signature instrument, the flute, over several other instrumental contributions, by a swath of players including Yoran Vroom, Jeroen Vierdag, Mike Del Ferro and Efraim Trujillo. With the classy edge of a classic jazz funk record, Snijders is sure to once again impress even the most seasoned of jazz heads here, with high hopes for an expanded scope of recognition outside his native Netherlands.

Made in 1984 but unfairly left to fester, unreleased, by way of the sheer amorality of the '80s music market, we sure hope this release of Yasuaki Shimizu's 'Kiren' finally gives this body of work the recognition it deserves. Following up his albums 'Kakashi' and 'Utakata No Hibi', this is the composer's one-off foray into experimental dance music, further showing off his work with fellow jazzers the Saxophonettes. From the cold, juddering ambience of 'Momo No Hana' to the post-punky sample dance of 'Peruvian Punk', this one's a rare and odd tidbit for the eclectic digger.