Sven Wunder
Late Again

Aldorande is back! The French Jazz-Funk quartet returns with a strong new EP “Summer Body / Breakfast in Space” widening its musical universe to join the Favorite Recordings’ 2020 Disco Jazz-Funk series.After their first eponymous LP released in June 2019, our explorers strike again with two club-friendly compositions joining the dots between Jazz-Funk and Disco/Boogie. Recorded with great care, reflecting Favorite Recordings’ journey towards the authentic analogue sound, both tracks coming with a Charles Maurice dub versions. With this new musical space trip, Aldorande confirmed – if needed – their solid position at the heart of the French jazz scene: a great appetizer before their upcoming 2nd album to be released later this year.A-side opens with “Summer Body”, a boogie banger driven by a magnetic bassline, surrounded by lush synthesizers and catchy backing vocals arranged in the tradition of the best Brazilian songs. On the B-side comes “Breakfast in Space”, a sort of cosmic opera. The slap bass and drums set up a P-Funk foundation. On the top, Aldorande put psychedelic vocal lines making the whole journey a definitive trip into funkiness.Behind Aldorande, you will find a team of great musicians including bandleader and founder Virgile Raffaëlli on bass (Setenta, Camarão Orkestra), Florian Pellissier on keys (Iggy Pop, Guts, Setenta, Cotonete,…), Mathieu Edward on drums (Chassol, De La Soul) and Erwan Loeffel on percussion (10LEC6, Camarão Orkestra). For this new EP, always looking for more funk into their groove, they’ve been joined by French guitarist Farid Baha (Cotonete, Camarão Orkestra).

A fantastic 5th album of the sensational french Jazz band from pianist Florian Pelissier, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio (New Jersey, USA), mixed by Jordan Kouby at Question de Son (Paris) and mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery (London, UK). Hard Bop 2021 at his best, available as Deluxe Tip-On Vinyl LP! Florian Pellissiers tells the story:"How did we get here? In this tropical daze, contemplating the surrounding landscape, the luxuriance of nature, with the ocean and her ballet of gentle waves, caressing the sand - timidly gaining a few inches with each passing adagio. The temperature, as if perfectly adjusted to the most precise degree by an artful yet mercurial hand knowing full well that it could, with idle ease, sway the fragile quality of this luscious and suave atmosphere...However, just a few months before, the course had been set for New Jersey. More specifically; to Rudy Van Gelder's studio: one of jazz’s greatest unstitutions. This pilgrimage was to both celebrate and crown the twentieth anniversary of the Quintet. An unchanging line-up that yielded four albums, with this fifth recording intended to be our artistic culmination before moving onto something else. New adventures, on different roads perhaps. Van Gelder's studio, long revered to be a chapel for the artists who passed through it with it’s exceptional acoustics, was the place to be. Its woodwork seemingly encrusted with thousands of hours of Blue Note recordings, still pulsating with years of incantations from past sessions…now we too were going to make our own mark. By lighting the voodoo fire there, we would submerge the place in a collective trance. Dark and dense. Did we seek to summon voodoo? Of course not. It is the Loa of music who decides whether or not they will be present. Yet this record, or more, the one that I originally dreamt of, was so raw. The one I initially visualized to be messy, rich and spiritual actually clashed with the creative reality of the moment. The energy, the dynamics of the group were, at that time, not parallel with those tempestuous qualities so when we pushed, something resisted.We strived to sink into darkness - yet reality lead us back again and again towards an ever more sensitive space of grace and elegance. We arrived wanting to take out the machete, but finesse, in the end, called out to us. Obviously, the sessions saw new trails emerge, basked in a serendipitous and welcoming light. Rather than battling, we instead turned our compass towards the calmer latitudes of Capricorn and Cancer. It was then the Quintet embarked for tropical promenades in the newfound tranquillity of this legendary studio.So how did we get there? By not upsetting the creative forces that willed the powers of voodoo against taking our souls, at least this time anyway. From afar, my faithful creative daemons came galloping out, like gazelles, from the groove and gracefully forged a rhythm machine, encased with futuristic vibes that I myself then layered with synthesizers. At once intoxicated by all these sultry elements and ful filled by our orchestral solstice – I thought of Rio.And this one’s to my Rio."

After Janko Nilovic and Harlem Pop Trotters, Underdog Records has now reissued Martial Solal - Locomotion in a colored vinyl edition. This grooviest French jazz-funk and avant-garde album features Henri Texier and Bernard Lubat, and was originally released in 1974 on the PSI label. A masterpiece!

"Equinox", Gianni Marchetti's 1977 twin album of "Solstitium", released in a handful of promo copies by RCA in their renowned "Original Cast" series, takes us on a journey through the author's groovier and wilder temperament, feeling as fresh and surprising today as the day it was made, offering immediate understanding of the reasons why it has remained one of his most sought after - and virtually impossible to find - titles over the decades.RIYL: Piero Umiliani, Sandro Brugnolini, Stefano TorossiThe limited release as part of RCA's "Original Cast" series only increased its mystique, making it a coveted piece among collectors and connoisseurs. The album's distinctive character lies in its spontaneous, freewheeling approach, which contrasts with the more polished productions of the era. It's a perfect example of Marchetti's unique vision, where each track seems to evolve organically, offering both intricate musicianship and a sense of unrestrained creativity.

This is the debut album from the Nancy-based quartet NCY Milky Band.The four musicians deliver unique jazz experiments at the crossroads of 70's french groove and modern electronica. The album covers a wide range of moods, switching from cheerful anthems with goofy synths to slow jams in which the saxophone breezes a deep feeling of nostalgia. With Burn’IN, NCY Milky Band are bringing a refreshing and original touch to the upcoming french jazz scene.