GERARDO FRISINA – JOIN THE DANCE CD £15.95  DOUBLE LP £16.95
Gerardo Frisina delivers yet another excellent album of Italian Jazz.  From the opening Latin infused ‘Tata Somba’ to the superb Eastern flavoured ‘Mille E Una Notte’, the album delivers driving groove after driving groove.  The lighter ‘Titoro’ has a more melodic approach.  ‘High Hat’ has a typical Schema sound with lush percussion, fine horn lines and infectious piano.  The two waltzes, 'Waltz For Emily’ and ‘Another Waltz’ add a modal inflection.  ‘Bubbly’ lives up to its title and ‘For My Mother’ is fitting tribute and finale and is the only track from the recent 10” single (note it’s not on the vinyl LP).

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GREGORY PORTER – WATER CD £14.95
Jazz vocalist who combines many styles.  His pitch is perfection personified and on tracks like ‘Pretty’ are suited tot e subtle groove. On ‘Wisdom’ he gets modal, spiritual (a la Leon Thomas) on ‘Black Nile’ and real jazzy on ‘1960 What’.  Quality and varied Jazz vocal album.

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ROOT SOURCE –FIREWALKER CD £13.95
UK based Hammond led Jazz group excel with this set of grooves that has more of a Jazz Funk feel than their debut a couple of years back. 'Firewalker' kicks things off in barnstorming style – check the horn and bassline! 'Dervish Whirl' adds an eastern flavour to its powerful funky groove. 'Moon Juice' is another flowing Jazz groove; 'Echoes Of The Past' is a heavier lengthy Hammond groove. Things cool down for the atmospheric 'Streams'. Brilliant unmissable album.

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ROMAN ANDREN – COLOR GREEN CD £15.95
Contemporary jazz-funk album , sounding very much like something recorded in the late 70's/early 80's.
'Piranha' is a driving instrumental with punchy horns, 'Color Green' an urgent uptempo dancer , 'Always On The Run' a vocal track featuring some nice sax. 'People Make The World Go Round' and 'Captains Sword' have sing-a-long backing vocals , 'My Ten Zillion Dream' is a dreamy mid tempo, but the killer cut is 'Love Is Everything' a beautiful lilting mid tempo vocal track which is reminiscent of Roy Ayers classics, and one of the tracks of the year so far.

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NNENNA FREELON – HOMEFREE CD £16.95
Nneena Freelon possesses one of Jazz’s most distinctive voices.   Any song she puts her talent too sounds like her own.  Her version of ‘The Lamp Is Low’ is case in point.  The minimalist backing spotlights her vocals beautifully on tracks like ‘I Feel Pretty’ and ‘Lift Every Voice And Sing’.

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ELIZABETH SHEPHERD – HEAVY FALLS THE NIGHT CD £13.95
Canadian singer/ pianist has carved out a niche with sparse Jazz vocal songs that are distinctive and quite unique today, though the overall sound owes something to the music of 80’s vocalists like Janet Lawson.  The album has a quirky charm; Elizabeth has an unusual vocal style that suits interesting beats like ‘Seven Bucks’ and ‘The Taking’.  Her interesting approach continues on the jazzy and stripped down ‘One More Time’.  The New Beat influenced ‘High’ is another fine cut as is the spacey ‘Coming’.

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THE FILTHY SIX – THE FILTHY SIX CD £11.95 LP £11.95
From the Acid Jazz comes this fine Hammond organ led album.    There is something of a 60’s ‘Kings Road’ swagger about the sound.  The tough tunes start with ‘Lick Du Jour’ and the Soul Jazz walking sounding ‘The Fingerbite’. ‘This’ is a heavy Hammond led funky groove, whose horn lines owe something to Freddie Hubbard.  ‘Mozambique’ is driving 60’s Jazz groove and ‘The Catwalk’ has that strutting confidence that seemed to personify the 60’s.  If you love Hammond driven grooves or upbeat 60’s Soul Jazz then this one is for you.

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