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Jazz

Jisu Jung took her journey of self-discovery in the neo-classic jazz release, Who Am I

Posted on 6 October 2023

After honing her talents in some of the most prestigious music institutions including Dresden College of Music, Berklee College of Music in Boston, and the Manhattan School of Music, the pianist and composer, Jisu Jung’s technical skills transcended into an ability to forge evocative connections with her innovative compositions.

Her latest classical jazz piece, Who Am I, welcomes you into her expressive world, where cello strings visualise the darkness we all need to negate on the path of self-discovery and the piano keys embellish the score with flourishing syncopation to mimic the freedom of personal growth.

As the momentum builds towards the mid-way point in the instrumental release, euphoric zeal starts to underpin the orchestration, marking a radical shift from the ornate air in the prelude to the virtuosic control of chaotic time signatures. Even though the energy doesn’t sustain towards the outro, the innate liberation in the progression lingers before the abrupt silence allows you to take a breath that isn’t influenced by the momentum within the classical Tour De Force.

Who Am I was officially released on September 22; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stix Bones is back on the skins in his funked-up jazz fusion, LEAP

Posted on 4 October 2023

Following the phenomenal success of his hip-hop-influenced LP and a string of critically acclaimed singles, Brooklyn’s most prodigal jazz son, Stix Bones, is back on the skins once more with his seminal release, LEAP, featuring Bob Beamon.

With flavours of North African Funk in the culturally layered rhythmics of the instrumental track and sparks of Latino flair within the keys, vibrancy radiates from the exuberantly sophisticated core of LEAP. While the syncopated percussive fills and seductive bassline growls set up the grooves, the horn section shimmers the soundscape with an unfaltering sense of expressive euphoria that will heighten any mood.

With his previous releases, including his debut LP, Groove Like This, Stix Bones featured on 40 radio stations across the globe and became no stranger to the jazz charts. He’s equally as accoladed in the live circuit; when he’s not opening for the likes of Chaka Khan, Charlie Wilson, and Babyface, he’s helping world-renowned artists complete their albums and playing with the likes of Soulfege. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a permanent fixture in the Jazz Hall of Fame.

Stream LEAP, which was officially released on September 22, on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get into the ‘East Coast Groove’ with Martin Packwood’s jazz-rock soundtrack

Posted on 2 October 2023
East Coast Groove by Martin Packwood

After an installation of tropic percussion and equally as exotic reverb, Martin Packwood’s single, East Coast Groove, gives way to a guitar-driven jazz-rock instrumental soundscape, which amalgamates era-spanning guitar styles from across the globe and unravels as an inexplicably unique tapestry that breaks through the monocultural mould, note by note.

The Birmingham, UK-hailing guitarist has long held a passion for instrumental composition, inspired by a diverse array of riff legends, from Santana to Clapton. By picking up his Strat and finding a refreshing way to pay ode to their styles, Packwood orchestrated a hit of pure rhythmic soul.

If you’re looking to get into the world of groove or you have long been acquainted, you will experience East Coast Groove as four minutes of progressively elevated guitar-driven euphoria.

East Coast Groove was officially released on September 22; stream and purchase the single via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Italy’s most decorated jazz Flutist, Michele Gori, became the master of expressive syncopation once more in ‘Flute Factor’.  

Posted on 1 October 2023

After becoming renowned as one of the most prominent flute players on the European jazz scene and becoming Italy’s sole jazz flute professor, the multi-award-winning Italian virtuoso, Michele Gori, unveiled one of the most definitive jazz flute collections of the era when he released his third studio album, Flute Factor.

Though we strongly recommend listening to the album in full, the expressive phrasing and improvised syncopation of the light and airy flute notes is especially striking in its cathartic flair in the standout single, Jazz Time.

With the flute notes leading the instrumental arrangement, the seminal instrumental piece carries a dreamy, almost ethereal air as Gori’s technical and rhythmic complexity softly resounds over the keys and percussive fills. Spirited and resolving in equal measure, you couldn’t ask for a more sublime sonic atmosphere to slip into.

Stream the official music video on YouTube or discover more ways to listen via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tylar Smith dropped a nostalgia atom bomb with his retro jazz-pop hit, ONE MORE CHANCE

Posted on 29 September 2023

Get in the Doo Wop swing with Tylar Smith’s jazz-pop nostalgia atom bomb of a single, ONE MORE CHANCE. The award-winning Australian-born singer’s reverence for retro pop and old-fashioned soul, powerful vocal lines that could start a Rockabilly riot and his ability to spin a powerful narrative over his melodies that will hit your ears like candy has put him on the right path towards his dream of becoming an international recording artist.

With the timeless appeal of ONE MORE CHANCE and music fans increasing their proclivities towards nostalgia, the young artist, who started cutting his teeth in the music industry before his teens, is sure to make an ever-lasting impression with his debut EP, REMINISCENT, which has been crafted over the last 12 months in collaboration with a US Grammy-Nominated producer and songwriter.

ONE MORE CHANCE will reach the airwaves on September 29; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anni & John Lister taught a lesson in cinematic seduction in their jazz score, Man of Mystery

Posted on 18 September 2023

The art of seduction is stitched across the intricate tapestry of the latest cinematic jazz score from multi-instrumentalist and producer John Lister of Fingerman Studios and singer-songwriter, Anni. With Anni’s demurely siren-esque vocal lines narrating a tale of a Man of Mystery over the retro big band spy movie sound and the soft jazz stylings bringing decadence by the smorgasbord, the espionage-centric vignette will leave you hot under the collar and beyond.

If the producers for the next Bond film don’t enlist the superlative talents pertaining to Anni and Lister, who co-wrote the song together, they will have missed a lascivious trick. Heaven knows the franchise needs to redeem itself after Billie Eilish sang the last Bond theme.

The official music video for Man of Mystery premiered on September 8th; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Charlotte Lansman grooved through the last rays of summer while celebrating new love in her jazz-soul single, Stupid Love

Posted on 5 September 2023

Charlotte Lansman delivered the definitive London jazz sound while lyrically moving away from soul cliches in her latest single, Stupid Love. The London-based, Bristol-born singer never fails to hit the sultry with a little bit of grit mark in her singles that bring elements day to day-to-day reality into luxe installations of sonic beguile; Stupid Love is far from the exception.

By evading hallmarked cliches, she was free to focus on the way we wear rose-tinted glasses to cope with the false truths and how wearing your boyfriend’s shirt to the station in the morning cloaks you in impassioned ardour and enables you to fall in love with the world of around you. It’s almost a paradox how her song crafting is completely antithetical to your average love song but reaches the pinnacle of romanticism regardless.

With Joe Rodwell in charge of the production, which sees new romance explored through laid-back grooves, retro synths, rhythmically arrestive Latin jazz beats and guitar riffs that will make the last rays of summer feel even sweeter, Stupid Love became an uplifting triumph.

Stupid Love was officially released on August 24; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Peter Xifaras paid an impassioned ode to an icon with ‘While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian’

Posted on 4 September 2023

While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian, performed by Peter Xifaras and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, pays homage to the bravery and tenacity of an Iranian artist imprisoned for working with female dancers and musicians, something which has been banned since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

After a three-minute trial, he was convicted and tortured during his sentence, but that wasn’t enough to break his indomitable spirit that inspired this jazzy composition, which orchestrally berates the indignity and senseless oppression; it carries the quintessence of the Iranian protesters throwing away their headscarves in a bid to retaliate against regimented oppression.

While Les Pauls don’t often take the lead in orchestral arrangements, on this wild and jazzy contemporary ride, the sonorous sustain lends itself effortlessly to the instrumental piece as Peter Xifaras demonstrates his prowess as a guitarist, composer, and producer.

Stream the official music video for While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazz meets chiptune in Samuel Weaver’s latest score, Saviour Complex

Posted on 28 August 2023

With touches of House of Fun by the Madness grooving through the polyphonic funk of the jazz & chiptune amalgam, the UK-based artist Samuel Weaver concocted a superfluously ingenuity-driven score for the standout single in his debut album, Telechora!

Hitting play on Saviour Complex may be moderately akin to an acid trip due to the artist’s tendency to delve into sonic novelty despite his discernible composition and instrumental talents, but the euphoria-instilled vibrancy of the soundscape will lift you higher than any tab of acid ever could.

Given that intellectualism oozes from every progression, especially when the dissonance of sufferers with saviour complexes starts to manifest in the funk, at 17 years old, the composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has the music industry at his prodigal feet.

Saviour Complex charged in on its white knight syndrome on August 19th; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

WTSN took his latest exotic hip-hop track ‘Uptown’

Posted on 16 August 2023

WTSN went beyond delivering the definitive London rap sound with his latest single, Uptown, which smashes through the mono-cultural mould as strikingly as the hits in the Melt Yourself Down discography.

With grimey rap bars pulsating momentum through the jazz-infused exotic instrumentals that allow Uptown to unravel as a stylistic feat of world music, WTSN’s authenticity could never be in question.

The North African funk layers against the lyricality that invites you to walk through the streets of London is a mesmerising juxtaposition that stands as a testament to how much of a visionary WTSN has come to be since he first entered the industry. If you want to hear more revolutionary rap hits, just watch this space.

Uptown will officially drop on August 16; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast