Dome Records has just rush-released a brand new single from Portland’s popular soulman Jarrod Lawson, with plans in hand to follow it up fast with an entire album this autumn. The tune, Embrace What We Are, was inspired by the long lineage of police brutality in the US: Jarrod actually began writing in response to the death of Eric Garner […]

Born out of the revered LA concert series Jazz Is Dead – founded by multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Adrian Younge and DJ, producer and A Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad – comes the duo’s brand new record label of the same name, which is set to release a string of new studio albums from a selection of iconic […]

A bunch of stars of UK jazz, soul and R&B has lined up for Blue Note Re:imagined, a new studio album that takes a collection of 16 classic Blue Note tracks and reworks them for today. Jorja Smith, Yazmin Lacey, Ezra Collective, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Emma-Jean Thackray, Jordan Rakei, Mr Jukes, Steam Down, Poppy Ajudha and more contribute to […]

British neo-soul pianist, vocalist and songwriter Natalie Duncan prefaces her forthcoming – and quite superb – album Free with the first single Sirens, released today, Friday, May 29. The tune marks the first release on iconic producer and DJ Goldie’s brand new label Fallen Tree 1Hundred. Due on July 24, Free is a 12-track collection of songs hugely influenced, says […]

British singer, songwriter and musician Andrew Roachford has just released a new single, Give It Up And Let It Go. The tune is taken from his forthcoming studio album, Twice In A Lifetime, originally due for release in April, but now available from September 11. Roachford has also rearranged his planned live dates for the autumn. Andrew says: “I was […]

New music from Zara McFarlane has just been made available by Brownswood Recordings. The tune Black Treasure marks a departure in Zara’s creative direction, uniting her with experimental producers Kwake Bass and Wu-Lu. According to Zara, Black Treasure is a blend of rhythms from the Jamaican folk traditions of Bruckins Party, Dinki Mini & Kumina, with the added futuristic, wonky […]

Wednesday, May 27 sees the release of Blackbird, the debut single from hotly tipped US vocalist Lady Blackbird. A new and stirring interpretation of Nina Simone’s powerful civil rights anthem, the track foreshadows an autumn debut album release from an artist who has been building her name on the underground scene for the past couple of years. The video for […]

The Wailers will release a brand new single today, Friday, May 22. One World, One Prayer features Shaggy and Bob Markey’s grandson Skip, and is produced by 19-time GRAMMY-winning producer Emilio Estefan. The tune precedes an album due later this summer. The Wailers are currently led by Aston Barrett Jr., son of founding member and bassist Aston “Familyman” Barrett, and […]

John Cumming [1948 – 2020] The recent mourning in the jazz world due to the loss of icons such as McCoy Tyner, Manu Dibango, Lee Konitz, Henry Grimes and Wallace Roney has been tragically compounded by the passing of John Cumming. He was 72 and succumbed to coronavirus, following largely successful treatment for cancer last year. One of the co-founders […]

Bristol’s famous Colston Hall venue is responding to the current lockdown with Colston Hall Presents Bristol Takeover Online, a free, live-streamed festival celebrating [in particular] Bristol’s music artists and venues, in partnership with Music Venue Trust’s Save Our Venues campaign. Save Our Venues is a new national campaign to save hundreds of grassroots music venues at imminent risk of being […]