Daymé Arocena “Cubafonía” (Brownswood Recordings)
via Brownswood: With Cuba poised to become more connected to the rest of the world, the Cuban people’s pride in a unique musical heritage has never felt more vital. Arising from that lineage, Daymé Arocena has returned to deliver an ambitious second long player; rooting her compositions in Cuba’s classic …
Future Classic: Yussef Kamaal “Black Focus”
via Brownswood: The borders between London’s musical tribes have always been porous. For Yussef Kamaal, the sound of the capital – with its hum of jungle, grime and broken beat – has shaped a self-taught, UK-tipped approach to playing jazz. In the states, the genre’s long-running to-and-fro with hip hop …
Future Classic: Shabaka And The Ancestors “Wisdom of Elders”
via Brownswood: Tradition shapes your work. For saxophonist and bandleader Shabaka Hutchings, that’s something he’s long understood. After years spent in the orbit of London’s jazz circuit, he examines and reimagines his influences with a dexterity that’s unique. Drawing out the vision underlying his new album, he says, “I see …
Future Classic: Gilles Peterson Presents: Sonzeira “Tam Tam Tam Reimagined”
Tam Tam Tam Reimagined is the second album to come from Gilles Peterson’s Sonzeira project. Overseen by the legendary DJ and record collector, this second album picks up where the first one left off. Where Brasil Bam Bam Bam brought together the all-stars of Brazilian music, this album focuses on …
Future Classic: Mala “Mirrors” (Brownswood Records)
via Brownswood: Mirrors is the second album by endlessly influential South London producer Mala. It follows his 2012 Brownswood release where Gilles Peterson invited the producer to soak up Cuba’s music and culture to turn the results into Mala In Cuba. But Mirrors is less Mala In Cuba Mk II …
Future Classic: Daymé Arocena “One Takes” (Brownswood Recordings)
via Brownswood: The One Takes EP finds Daymé Arocena bouncing around ideas with label boss Gilles Peterson to put her unique spin on five different covers. Re-imagining cuts ranging from Italian obscurities to US house heroes, the sessions (as you might guess from the title) were about taking down whichever …
Motor City Drum Ensemble remixes Gilles Peterson’s Havana Cultura Band
via Brownswood: “The latest chapter in the long standing relationship between Gilles Peterson and the music of Cuba sees him explore the roots of rumba through a project comprising three parts: a feature length documentary, a collection of remixes and a free sample pack. Produced in collaboration with rum maker …
Future Classic: Daymé Arocena “New Era” (Brownswood Recordings)
The power and beauty of music is greatly held in the ability of the listener to understand and feel the emotion being shared by the artist. When that shared emotion is absent or masked by filters or other tools, more often than not the song falls short of having a …
Preview Emanative’s album with Four Tet collaboration “Makondi” (for the Steve Reid Foundation)
Gilles Peterson, The Steve Reid Foundation and Brownswood are delighted to announce the release of Emanative’s album “The Light Years of Darkness” Created with love for the Steve Reid Foundation Emanative’s latest body of work comes in the form of this incredible collaborative piece of art all in the name …
Future Classic: Swindle “Summer Fruits”
When Gilles Peterson‘s Brownswood Records announced that they were releasing an EP from young British producer Swindle it sounded like a match made in heaven. And it certainly lived up to the hype. I wanted to share my favourite track from the “Walter’s Call” EP which is called “Summer Fruits” …
Upcoming Release: Zara McFarlane “Open Heart” (Swindle Remix)
From Brownswood Records: “The second single from Zara McFarlane’s highly acclaimed second album ‘If You Knew Her’, ‘Open heart’, is released digitally on the 28th April. Flipping the script, on Zara’s beautiful song Swindle (Deep Medi Musik) takes ‘Open Heart’ to new directions, adding his trademark sound that has seen …
March 27-30th: Worldwide Festival Leysin ’14
If you can manage a quick escapade in March we highly recommend this one. Leysin is the winter complement to Gilles Peterson’s great WorldWide Festival created in 2006. Year in year out the freshest lineup around and the greatest gathering of music heads there to enjoy it. From WWF: “The …