Gregory Rogove - Piana
(CD/LP/Digital) Knitting Factory Records, 2012-01-31

Claude Debussy is a major inspiration for musicians of every faith in popular music. Debussy's seeds can be found in bossa nova, pop or contemporary jazz music from Antonio Carlos Jobim to Ryuchi Sakamoto, from Chilly Gonzales to Joe Henry just to name a few. And now young and talented multi-instrumentalist Gregory Rogove (Megapuss, Priestbird, Devendra Banhart) join this growing number of disciples. Piana (the female for piano?) is a moving collection of mere compositions for piano solo in the manner of the french masters - Debussy, but also the most eccentric pianist of all, Erik Satie. It's brilliant, often melancholic, sometimes funny, and it reminds us of the music played live over the silent movies in early cinema. John Medeski (of Medeski Martin & Wood) is the one and only guest musician on the record, but do not expect sick and mean hammond grooves à la MMW this time. John plays only the piano, and it's an amazing opportunity to hear him as we've never heard him before (except maybe on Marian McPartland's show). But why on earth did Gregory Rogove ask John Medeski to play on his record when he could have performed his own music? Yes, why?
"I asked John Medeski to perform the pieces for a number of reasons. First of all, he is a master performer with a very intimate knowledge of the instrument - something that I am not. Secondly, I thought that it would be interesting to capture the subterranean intensity of having a virtuosic improviser perform simple, composed pieces. Lastly, he's kinda cute" Greg said. The CD comes with a DVD featuring convincing remixes from The Bees, Billy Martin and Devendra Banhart among others.

Will Bernard Trio - Outdoor Living
(CD/Digital) Dreck To Disk Records, 2011-12-01

A Will Bernard record is never disappointing. This brand new release, his second as a New York resident, makes no exception. Last time in 2008 we left Will with Blue Plate Special, a true quartet killer record loaded with juicy grooves — with John Medeski on keys and his longtime friend Stanton Moore on drums. Outdoor Living sees the guitarist coming back to the stainless trio formula: Simon Lott is on drums and Wil Blades on Hammond B3. Will Bernard's style has never been so concise, so plain and so apparently simple: a kind of quiet certitude of his own talent that doesn't need to show anything spectacular (the gorgeous Point Blank for instance). Soul-jazz compositions are still the core of Will's music on this record, with blues, dub echoes and psychedelic splinters now and then. Will has the great elegance to leave a lot of room to Lott and Blades - the latter has composed the heavy tune Squeaky Chug Chug. Together they form a real band and this ability to capture the essence of the groove suggests for sure that the best is yet to come. Will was kind enough to answer a few questions. Read the answers here.

Medeski, Martin & Wood - 20
(Digital), Indirecto Records, 2012-12-20

Medeski, Martin & Wood have been celebrating their 20th birthday in many brilliant ways this year. First of all they gave memorable shows in the US and Europe (notably a residence at the Whitney Museum, NYC and a triumphant gig in Paris, Cité de la Musique), sharing the stage with longtime friends like John Scofield, Steven Bernstein or Antibalas. Secondly they released a killer live album in november, MSMW LIVE: In Case the World Changes Its Mind, and also Fly in A Bottle, a documentary on DVD (directed by Billy Martin). At last they released digital tracks every month until March to December to build a solid 20-tracks series with brand new material, simply called 20. The tunes were recorded month after month (with a gap in the series in October due to Irene storm, an incident which gave birth to a track called Mean Irene in the December delivery). On 20, every MMW fan will get what he loves. The Medeski, Martin & Wood spectrum goes from avant-groove and experimental compositions (Synesthesia) to mellow-soul pieces (Silk, Floodwaters, Illmoan), from mean and sick punk frenzy (Aquila the Hyun) to ragtime (Down On Me), not to mention two nice DJ Olive mixes. The last delivery this December finds the band at its grooviest with three hypnotic soulful singles. Hey guys, all we need now is a nice 20 CD. (Nicolas Ragonneau)

The Soul Rebels Brass Band - Unlock your mind
(CD/Digital), Rounder Records, 2011-10-17

Unlock your Mind is the first Soul Rebels Brass Band's release on an important label, independent americana record company Rounder. The NOLa* brass band is well-know for its powerful live performances (more than 250 gigs per year!), but it's not so easy to capture that stamina and strengh on a studio record. Fortunately it's not the case with this new album produced by Big Easy music-specialist Scott Billington (Irma Thomas, Dirty Dozen Brass Band...). With friends and guests such as Cyril Neville, Trombone Shorty, Galactic's Ben Ellman and Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli, the eight-piece band delivers a hot party-style gumbo. Both new compositions and covers (Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams and Stevie Wonder' Living For the City) include the classical second line funk recipe but also latin rhythms (the superb Showtime), hip-hop, reggae, and everything that makes New Orleans so special... Well, if you want to know what the true NOLa-ttitude is, you can't miss that record.
(* NOLa is an acronym of New Orleans, Louisiana : New Orleans, La)

Loka - Passing Place
(CD/Digital) Ninja Tune ZENCD175/ZENDNL175, 2011-11-28

Loka, Ninja Tune's cult psychedelicists, purveyors of cinematic music that disturbs and troubles and intrigues rather than comforts, return with a new album, Passing Place. With many acts finding considerable critical acclaim in the music world right now through adventures in the outer reaches of psychedelia/jazz/classical, it's worth remembering that Loka have been ploughing this field with stunning results ever since their debut track on Ninja Tune's 10th birthday compilation Xen Cuts in 2000 when they emerged from the same fertile alt-Liverpool scene as Pop Levi, Zukanican and Super Numeri. The debut album proper was Fire Shepherds in 2006. Since that album, co-founder Karl Webb left Loka, leaving Mark Kyriacou to carry the banner. Mark re-grouped with members of the live Loka band and went about sketching out ideas later to become Passing Place… The result is their most confident and cinematic album yet. Less claustrophobic and inward than before, the new album has a wide-screen, rolling hills vista feel to it. It is an album seeped in reflection, but containing a wide-eyed thinking of the days to come. Welcome to the timeless world of Loka. And as a bonus, there's an exclusive mix made by Loka for Paris DJs, The Daily Bread, to download here.

MarchFourth Marching Band - Magnificent Beast
(CD/Digital) March Fourth Music, 2011-10-25

This mind-blowing new release confirms the MarchFourth Marching Band as one of the most original and powerful ensembles on Planet Brass. With heavy guitars and extra vocals, the Portland 14-piece act adds some new and powerful spices to their "Fela-meets-The Rebirth Brass Band-and-the-Shim-Shamettes-in-a-circus" sound and show: garage, ska, afro-latin, blues, jazz and everything in between. Produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Magnificent Beast is a wild and beautiful animal (but a dancing species) that can only be compared to Galactic's recent Ya-Ka-May.

Loka - Sam Star / Temporary External
(Digital Single) Ninja Tune ZENDNLS293, 2011-11-21

Loka, Ninja Tune's cult psychedelicists, purveyors of cinematic music that disturbs and troubles and intrigues rather than comforts, return with a new album, Passing Place and, to build up to it, The Daily Bread, an exclusive Paris DJs mix, and the Sam Star EP, which sounds like Broadcast after munching an acid blotter and staring at a Boyle Family light show. Temporary External features vocals by Lido Pimienta and Brass layers by the welsh brass band Seindorf Beaumaris Band, comes on like the soundtrack to an anticipatory biopic of Robert Wyatt, made while he was still a school boy and. The 2econd Class Citizen remix of album track The Sound Stars Make allows the original's atmosphere of hazy menace to build for three minutes before hardening up the beats and building to a rhythm-led crescendo. Loka is an ever evolving band, drawing on influences from jazz to classical to BBC radiophonic to 60's psychedelia and much more. With a career on Ninja Tune that dates back to the year 2000 but has resulted in only one album (2006's critically acclamied Fire Shepherds) the band continues its compelling and innovative journey at its own stately pace. The eagerly awaited second album Passing Place, due for release in November 2011, is beautifully dark and disorientating with haunting vocals and brass interludes.

Nostalgia 77 - Sleepwalker
(Digital Single) Tru Thoughts TRUDD035, 2011-11-21

The bluesy, catchy and downright addictive Sleepwalker, out digitally on 21st November, is the third single to be taken from Nostalgia 77’s highly acclaimed fourth solo album The Sleepwalking Society, which came out in March on Tru Thoughts. The lead track on this digital package is joined by a diverse selection of hot new remixes from label-mates Mark de Clive-Lowe and Lanu, and AmbassadeursJalapeño Records). The ramshackle, bluesy Tom Waits-esque rhythm section stomp on Sleepwalker is paired with horn textures reminiscent of Duke Ellington and the incredible vocals of the album’s secret weapon, German chanteuse Josa Peit. On this song, a co-write with Nostalgia 77 main man Ben Lamdin, Peit’s rich, soulfelt timbre rings out as clear as a bell, imparting some simple truths with a wryly playful overtone. At once catchy and with a lasting, solid appeal, this track has become one of the most popular on the LP.

Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood - In Case the World Changes Its Mind
(2xCD/Digital) Indirecto Records IR13, 2011-11-08

On November 8, 2011, Indirecto Records releases MSMW LIVE: In Case the World Changes Its Mind, a double-live album featuring guitar guru John Scofield and genrebusting improvisational jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood. Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood first recorded together on Scofield's A Go Go (Verve 1998), a project that united the group on material composed by Scofield and interpreted by all four musicians. In 2006, MSMW collaborated again on Out Louder (Indirecto Records), a jam-packed release full of irresistible grooves and spontaneous improvisation. Out Louder was a genuine four-way collaboration between Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood. "A Go Go was John's record and we were essentially sidemen, where Out Louder musically comes from all of us", explains Wood. Scofield adds that much of the material was composed when the foursome "would play free stuff, listen back, make a song out of it, and then go back with that idea in mind and play free again". MSMW LIVE: In Case the World Changes Its Mind is a live collection of twelve tracks culled from their 2006 MSMW tour and features music from Scofield's A Go Go and MSMW's Out Louder.

Hidden Orchestra - Flight EP
(Digital Single) Tru Thoughts TRUDD032, 2011-11-07

The Flight EP, out digitally on 7th November, is the second single from Edinburgh based quartet Hidden Orchestra, who released their stunning debut album Night Walks on Tru Thoughts in September 2010, and have seen their star continue to rise in the intervening year with an ever-growing media and word-of-mouth buzz. Highly in demand as a live act, their touring schedule this year alone has taken in 20 countries as their incredible music has worked its way into hearts and minds the World over. This EP brings eagerly anticipated new material and remixes.

"The deep, spiritual and sensual folk-jazz with electronica touches of Hidden Orchestra is the one of the major discoveries of the recent months. Their album is a masterpiece, their mixes for Paris DJs are as much incredible as they are intensively addictive, and this new single is a cinematic lounge jazz monster. Remixes are trippy too but I keep on coming back to the tense & dreamy 'Flight' track again and again." (Djouls/Paris DJs)