Carlos Niño & Friends
Extra Presence

Atalaya is a very ALIVE new work by bassist Dezron Douglas, collaborator of Pharoah Sanders, Makaya McCraven & Ravi Coltrane, to name a few... Alive in all the ways that jazz is at its best – a pure and personal expression of Black Music filtered through time-honoured traditions. Dezron’s crew summons the dynamism of Coltrane’s classic quartet, swinging virtuosically and firing on all 4 cylinders. But not remotely revisionist – there’s poetry, presence, artistic and emotional clarity in every note. Free and dissonant, sweet and consonant, sweeping and pure. A new classic.

Hot on the heels of his debut EP on Mathew Hallsall's Gondwana Records, saxophonist and flautist Chip Wickham is back with a gorgeous full-length. Wickham is a member of the first Gondwana Orchestra and was on Halsall's debut LP Sending My Love, but now he steps out with a sound that is all his own on Cloud 10. It's lush and spiritual, with mellifluous keys draped over gentle drums and heart-aching sax solos reaching truly emotional highs. Gorgeous, life-affirming stuff from this modern great. Tip!

4 instrumentals melding jazz, gospel, soul, and funk from 1989. The son of a minister and a missionary, Tankard grew up on the drums in church. A failed career in the NBA left him homeless before a visit to a church put him on a piano, where he instantly played Don Blackman-esque piano runs... Ace!

ESSENTIAL. Nine amorphous 'movements' are centred around a seven-note theme that builds and retreats as guided by the late avant-jazz saxophonist Sanders, arranged by mega-producer/DJ Floating Points and brought to life by the London Symphony Orchestra. A fitting swansong to a pioneering master <3

Four years after their smash hit Nuova Napoli, Neapolitan duo Nu Genea are back with a timeless mix of Italo-Balearic-funk that could brighten even the darkest days. Sunny layers of acoustic instruments, voices and synthesizers merge into an unmistakably Italian sound. Highest recommendation!