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Learning To be

Word of advice to funk lovers; there is not a minute to lose. Get on board of the Big Hustle’s spaceship. Before we take off, let's do a little history. The band was founded in 2014 by bass player and composer Sébastien Levanneur and its aim is to bring together 70's old school funk with the hippest actual sound laced with influences spanning from Steely Dan and Headhunters, to Snarky Puppy and Soulive. With mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, the Big Hustle's music has a very large variety of soundscapes.The first destination takes us to the Washington, D.C. area with “Turn Up”. The groove is clearly go-go music flavored with the trademark sound of cowbells and of course it reminds us of Zapp by the use of the talk box on lead vocals, performed here by Saad El Garrab. And don't miss out Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin amongst others) as a very special guest performing the talk box solo! Second stop is “A Curse, A Blessing”. It’s an instrumental very much in the Freddie Hubbard vein during his CTI years. The last leg of the A side ends with an instrumental interlude titled “Flying Donut”. Double tribute to Jay Dee and Flying Lotus, the music is a simple hip hop loop based on samples. The B side takes us back into the past with two brilliant covers, involving Rod Temperton the late great British songwriter who scored some of Michael Jackson's biggest hits. Now the idea for this B side is to do the opposite approach from the A side. Taking 70's and 80's original music and make them travel into time to 2018. We first land with a Heatwave song named “The Star Of A Story” from their 1976 Central Heating album. Track 2 is a Herbie Hancock song named “Gettin' To The Good Part” from his 1982 Lite Me Up LP. This Time Traveler EP journey ends with an interlude. Called “Gimme Dat”, the song deals with the need of new music, new sound.Again, this blend of deep rooted funk laced with a contemporary edge is to be consumed without moderation. And do not forget that E.P. also stands for extended pleasure.

Comet Records is so thrilled to present Psyco on Da Bus 20th Anniversary, for the occasion it will be reissued as a Double Vinyl LP and newly remastered.Recorded in just few weeks in the US during Tony Allen's Black Voices album tour in Spring 2000, on Doctor L’s G3 in different places as hotels rooms, local studios (Nyc, Toronto) and the tour bus.Doctor L and the members of Tony Allen & Afrobeat 2000 band get the idea of making a collective album alltogether, co-writing both songs and music and creating a new spectrum that reflects their different musical backgrounds. Doctor L, Tony Allen, Jean-Phi Dary, Cesar Anot, Jeff Kellner are the “psyco bus” members.Completed later in Paris with guests artists like Smadj, Dom Farkas and Eric Guathier, Psyco On Da Bus project fill the gap between the 70's and the new millenium, blending afrobeat rhythms, gospel & soul vocals, jazz & funk licks with wicked electronics and astonishing production.From the futuristic funk of “Afropusherman” to the eastern sounds of “Many Questions” or the killer floor filler “Push your mind Breakbeat” , from the underrated spiritual suite “Time To Take A Rest”, hybrid fusion of free jazz, poetry, rare groove and nu-beats, to the outstanding “Never Satisfied”. Last but not least the artwork was created and produced by the talented french graphist designer, filmmaker Edouard Salier. Tony told about his collaboration with Doctor L on this project in 2001: “Younger people are coming into Afrobeat right now. And I personally don't want to be past, I want to be future. Young people like hip-hop, and techno, which is what I must think about. It's the direction I want to take. It's an experiment I've wanted to try. That's why I wanted Doctor L to produce the album.”

DOWDELIN explores as a tireless ever moving trailblazer a path where Creole jazz, electronic dancefloor sounds and Caribbean percussions come together to create a unique Future Kréol feeling. Dowdelin’s a Lyon-based trio exploring Afro-futurism in its Creolized form, plunging the traditions of the French West Indies into a great fountain of electronic youth glazed in jazz, in a way that few have so far. It all began, or not quite actually, when the singer Olivya contacted David Kiledjian (Fowatile). It is not yet the moment and Dawatile then doubts the relevance of a group with soul influences in English, with a non English-speaking singer... But they stay in touch, and a year later, an idea sprung: what if Olivya sang in Creole, her mother tongue. This is Dowdelin’s genesis: two individuals, constantly exchanging, in a quest for a Creole feeling chiseled by electronics.Dowdelin illustrates this art of blending: the search for the recognizable ancestral flavor in the moment, pairing it with an unusual influence, shaking everything to create the texture that will make the difference. Being embroidered in the bubbling afro-futuristic scene and confirming the return of Caribbean influences in French pop, Dowdelin becomes a trio when David thinks of an old fellow musician whom he has not met in ages: Raphael Philibert, Guadeloupian poly-instrumentalist omnipresent on the jazz scene, saxophonist for Sonny Troupé, but also a goldsmith in Afro-Cuban percussions and a tried Gwoka player. He is added to the sketched repertoire: it’s a match! Dowdelin transcends the exercise of style and complicity with two multi-instrumentalists, who by their experience, versatility and vision, open the field of possibilities to a singer speaking in her native language. The group brings to the forefront the notions of expression and freedom in music while steering clear of the fixed roles and the clichés.

After more than 45 years forgotten in the personal archives of Jean Schwarz, Transversales Disques is very happy to release this previously unpublished recording which brings together the great Don Cherry and his friend, composer Jean Schwarz, pioneer in electro-acoustic music and member of G.R.M.This concert was recorded in 1977 at the Paris MIX festival (Théatre Récamier) organised by G.R.M and hosted by director François Bayle. An elegant mix of spiritual jazz and electronic sounds around this astounding quintet made up of JF Jenny Clark, Nana Vasconcelos and Michel Portal.First CD edition. Remastered from the original master tapes. OBI Strip, Twelve pages booklet with exclusive pictures and liner notes

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Deux, the second album of French Jazz-Funk quartet Aldorande. In this new chapter, the four explorers pursue their interstellar trip on the Aldorande planet, deploying their ever deeper love for the 70's Jazz-Funk & Fusion scene. Extending their first visions of this new world, the bigger-than-life arrangements of this second album reflect again their high attention to dramatic narrative schemes, breezy Brazilian vibes, tempestuous funky grooves and strong cosmic melodies from outer space. Classic and contemporary at the same time, Deux is built for the like-minded souls still looking for the perfect beat.Twisting time and space but never forcing the groove, the band dives more profoundly into the Cortex influence of their compositions, with intense female back vocals fitting perfectly into their cinematographic vision. Like a cry in space, could these esoteric incantations be heard by Aldorande's divinities? Or will they be more impressed by the super-tight rhythm section with its bangin' basslines or an irresistible blend of drums and percussion? In the end, they probably would have to surrender after hearing the infinite echoes of the synthesizers and horns reflecting in the atmosphere. Deep and thoughtful, the travel has only begun but it seems that so much has already been experienced. Breaking the code, they opened the gates to a rebirth. One that could be only accomplished by finding the “Pierre des Mondes”, deeply buried somewhere on Aldorande - the only key to solve the riddle of the groove. Mission accepted.You'll find in Aldorande some of the best French jazzmen including bandleader and founder Virgile Raffaëlli on bass (Setenta & Joe Bataan, Camarão Orkestra), Florian Pellissier on keys (Iggy Pop, Setenta, Cotonete & Di Melo, …), Mathieu Edouard on drums (Chassol, De La Soul) and Erwan Loeffel on percussion (Camarão Orkestra, 10LEC6). On this album, they took the initiative to invite two guests on some tracks: AOR singer Al Sunny and killer guitarist Laurent Guillet (Le Soldat Rose, Setenta).