Resavoir
Resavoir

The shadow that Gary Bartz casts over the last six decades of progressive Black music, and his continued dedication to same, makes him a logical and very welcome contributor to the Jazz Is Dead label. An alto saxophonist steeped in the history and tradition of his instrument who is also restlessly experimental and not prone to purism of any kind, he enjoys both the respect and admiration of his peers and the hero worship of several generations after him – including Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, which inevitably led to Gary Bartz JID 006.A look at his body of work reveals dalliances with bebop, hard bop, free jazz, spiritual jazz, soul jazz, jazz-funk, fusion and acid jazz, all while resolutely remaining unmistakably Gary Bartz. There's early work with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop, work with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, a stint in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and also one with Miles. There's his groundbreaking and highly influential Ntu Troop albums of the early ‘70s and his jazz-funk work including two classic albums with the Mizell Brothers, one of which supplied A Tribe Called Quest with a sample that was smooth like butter. And while on the subject of samples, the Bartz catalog has provided hip-hop and other genres with a rich source of them, and artists who have gone to his well when producing beats also include Black Sheep, Jurassic 5, Casual, RPM, Warren G, Photek, Statik Selektah, Chi-Ali, 3rd Bass, Showbiz, Z Trip, Young Disciples, and many others.The socio-political content of much of Bartz’s work, particularly during the early ‘70s, is another factor that has captured the attention of and influenced many. He was wide awake to the pressing issues of his day, which sadly haven't changed much in a half-century—long before the term "woke" was ever coined—which adds continued relevance and resonance to albums like the two Harlem Bush Music LPs. Speaking his mind and expressing thoughts and feelings lyrically and vocally were a consistent aspect of his work during this era, but even with all this there's always still a space within Gary's oeuvre for the celebration of simple and beautiful basic truths. “Working with Gary Bartz epitomizes the ethos behind Jazz Is Dead,” says Younge. “He’s a luminary that has contributed so much to music culture, for decades. His musical ability is expanding with age and we’re honored to be a part of his world.”"Day By Day" brings Bartz full circle by placing him in a more modern context which he contributed to creating in the first place. It takes certain sonic cues from Muhammad's old group, A Tribe Called Quest, while also calling to mind neo-soul a little bit. But the icing on the cake is the unexpected and gorgeous vocal chorus which is like the sun coming out and which once again harks back to an element familiar to Mizell fans.With its propulsive bassline steadily prodding the track along, "The Message" is strongly rooted in classic ‘70s modal jazz and serves as the spiritual and emotional centerpiece of the album. The instrumental interplay and textures would have been perfectly at home on the Black Jazz label even though there's also a certain almost intangible postmodern, 21st century approach to that style, perfectly in keeping with Bartz's well-known tendency to look forward, not backwards.The main thrust of "Black And Brown" is an immersion

Ghent based psych jazz collective Compro Oro, are set to release new album ‘Buy The Dip’ on the 2nd September via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra label. Having received critical acclaim for their 2020 album ‘Simurg’ – a collaboration with Murat Ertel, co-founder and frontman of Istanbul's cult psychedelic folk band BaBa ZuLa and his singer partner Esma Ertel – the band’s fifth album is less ethno- and more techno-logy, both on a musical and conceptual level.With tastemaker fans including BBC 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson and Stuart Maconie alongside Jazz FM’s Jez Nelson, the band’s spontaneous quest for psychedelic sounds and jazz grooves has not stopped expanding since their formation in 2014.After imaginative musical trips to Havana, Mogadishu and Istanbul for previous releases, Compro Oro went looking for sounds and inspirations from other corners of the globe for ‘Buy The Dip’. Synthesizers and electronic effects spice up Compro Oro’s distinctive musical marriage of vibraphones, electric guitars, jazzfunk rhythms, exotic percussions and dubby bass patterns. Band leader and composer Wim Segers created these new compositions often on piano or vibes in a more analogue way, leaving enough room for his band mates to colour each track when fine tuning the song.Segers was inspired by the world of crypto markets and the specific concept of ‘buying the dip’: bitcoin diggers who play the markets at specific ‘low’ moments to gain higher profits when prices go up again. Are we all reduced to consuming creatures, seeking for nothing more than the thrill of pointless spending and endless profits? It’s a fairly philosophical question – especially for an instrumental album – but it’s key for the punchy and eclectic sounds on ‘Ben Hur’ and ‘Bitcoins’.Apart from those synths and fx, a fair bunch of neo-noir western vibes sprout up on this album as well – think detuned piano’s, flamenco-like guitars, rattling snare drums, and imminent whistles. Add to that some laid back sunny pop sounds (‘Kayak’), off-hook and swaying Turkish psychedelica (‘Karsilama’) and even some haunted, kraut-ish vocal parts (‘Dungeon’), it’s evident Compro Oro has a musical voice without any equal in Belgium and beyond.Compro Oro released their first album ‘Transatlantic’ in 2015, an ode to jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader, an icon of the 1950’s Latin jazz movement. The release received critical acclaim back home, lauded in the press as a drunken mix of Buena Vista Social Club and guitarist Marc Ribot’s, Cubanos Postizos. Subsequent live shows have been called a celebration for the hips, the ear and the soul.2017 saw the release of ‘Bombarda’, a bold EP that sailed South and East of Cuba, incorporating different ethnic rhythms and melodies in elaborate jams. No palm trees and cocktails in Havana this time, but instead dingy basements and LSD in West African cities. The critically acclaimed ‘Suburban Exotica’ followed in 2019 with ‘Simurg’, released in 2020, earning the band global success.

The world of library music is still a domain to be explored. Like the muzak of decades ago, it is purely utilitarian and has only one function, to illustrate images. This musical genre, which for a long time remained confidential, has been enjoying renewed interest in recent years. For behind these LPs lie creative, often avant-garde composers who do not hesitate in mixing up their jazz influences with early electronic sounds and emerging genres such as psychedelic music.When Jungle Obsession was composed in 1971, Nino Nardini and Roger Roger had already known each other for a long time and together – or each on their own under aliases (George Teperino and Cecil Leuter) or their real surnames – had filled the radio and television programmes of the ORTF with their royalty-free compositions. Ever inseparable since they met in high school at the end of the twenties, the two musicians will cross the century and soak up like two sponges all the musical genres that have evolved over the decades: orchestral jazz, swing, Latin-American music, musique concrète, rock’n’roll, pop, psychedelia, but also French chanson, accompanying great stars such as Edith Piaf as conductors at Radio Luxembourg.Joined by a third equally inventive composer, Eddie Warner, the three of them created Ganaro Studios. Set up in the Chevreuse valley, their lair was to become a place for experimentation of all kinds and innovative sound discoveries that they were to distribute on specialized labels such as Eddie Warner’s: L’Illustration Musicale (IM), or Chappell Music, Crea Sound, Mondiophone, Musax, Hachette, etc.Jungle Obsession, published in 1971, was commissioned by the French label Neuilly and presents itself as their own musical vision of The Jungle Book.In the early seventies, exotica had long since gone out of fashion, but Nardini and Roger were to compose one of the masterpieces of the genre, offering exotic and refined pop that was conducive to the most overflowing imagination.Close to psychedelia on some tracks (Bali Girl and Mowgli), the two composers also use subterfuges of their predecessors from the fifties such as bird songs and jungle animal cries (Murmuring Leaves), tribal percussion (Jungle Obsession) and female choirs of sacred music (Jungle Spell) without forgetting the romantic melodies of Bagheera, the main title of this album.Two bonus tracks enrich this monumental and cult exotic work which takes us far away, to faraway places we wish we’d never leave: Safari Park and Tropical.Erwann Pacaud