Strut continue their essential work with the "Godfather Of Ethio Jazz", Mulatu Astatke, with the first official reissues of his early classics 'Afro Latin Soul' Volumes 1 and 2 from 1966, recorded as The Ethiopian Quintet. Arriving after Astatke's life-changing years studying at Berklee College in Boston, the albums were the first experiments in his pioneering sound, fusing Ethiopian cultural music with Afro Latin and jazz forms. "I have always felt a deep connection between Latin and African music," he explains. "I travelled to Cuba and listened to their musicians; the tempo, rhythm and feeling was very similar to different African forms. In the mid-'60s, I formed a band called The Ethiopian Quintet in New York comprising Ethiopian, Latin and Afro-American musicians - the band included trumpeter and pianist Rudy Houston who later played with Yambu and Felix Torres who played with La Sonora Poncena." Supported by Worthy Records' Gil Snapper who offered to record the quintet, Astatke began to experiment during two separate sessions: "We created a different feel and different arrangements. On the first recording, I played an adaptation of an ancient Ethiopian warrior song, 'I Faram Gami I Faram' - the lyrics were translated so that the singer could sing it in Spanish. Some compositions were important steps for me: 'Mascaram Setaba' ('Summer Is Coming') 'Shagu' and 'Almaz'. With the second album, a personal favourite is 'Girl From Addis Ababa' which worked very nicely as a fusion of Ethiopian modes and R&B rhythms." Astatke would start to perfect his Ethio jazz sound on his later album for Worthy in 1972, 'Mulatu Of Ethiopia' (STRUT129) but the two volumes of 'Afro Latin Soul' stand as important recordings documenting his early career. "It was a very interesting time to be in New York during the mid-'60s. I was there at the same time as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti and we each tried to play our part in putting Africa on the map of contemporary jazz." 'Afro Latin Soul' Volumes 1 and 2 come in their full original artwork and are painstakingly remastered by The Carvery. All formats feature personal liner notes by Mulatu Astatke.

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Strut continue their essential work with the "Godfather Of Ethio Jazz", Mulatu Astatke, with the first official reissues of his early classics 'Afro Latin Soul' Volumes 1 and 2 from 1966, recorded as The Ethiopian Quintet. Arriving after Astatke's life-changing years studying at Berklee College in Boston, the albums were the first experiments in his pioneering sound, fusing Ethiopian cultural music with Afro Latin and jazz forms. "I have always felt a deep connection between Latin and African music," he explains. "I travelled to Cuba and listened to their musicians; the tempo, rhythm and feeling was very similar to different African forms. In the mid-'60s, I formed a band called The Ethiopian Quintet in New York comprising Ethiopian, Latin and Afro-American musicians - the band included trumpeter and pianist Rudy Houston who later played with Yambu and Felix Torres who played with La Sonora Poncena." Supported by Worthy Records' Gil Snapper who offered to record the quintet, Astatke began to experiment during two separate sessions: "We created a different feel and different arrangements. On the first recording, I played an adaptation of an ancient Ethiopian warrior song, 'I Faram Gami I Faram' - the lyrics were translated so that the singer could sing it in Spanish. Some compositions were important steps for me: 'Mascaram Setaba' ('Summer Is Coming') 'Shagu' and 'Almaz'. With the second album, a personal favourite is 'Girl From Addis Ababa' which worked very nicely as a fusion of Ethiopian modes and R&B rhythms." Astatke would start to perfect his Ethio jazz sound on his later album for Worthy in 1972, 'Mulatu Of Ethiopia' (STRUT129) but the two volumes of 'Afro Latin Soul' stand as important recordings documenting his early career. "It was a very interesting time to be in New York during the mid-'60s. I was there at the same time as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti and we each tried to play our part in putting Africa on the map of contemporary jazz." 'Afro Latin Soul' Volumes 1 and 2 come in their full original artwork and are painstakingly remastered by The Carvery. All formats feature personal liner notes by Mulatu Astatke.

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The Standard Edition - Territory - NO Sales to Japan
Ryo Fukui's 1976 highly sought-after jazz masterpiece SCENERY-
LP Edition: Mastered at half speed, 140g vinyl, Sticker

We Release Jazz (WRWTFWW Records' new sister-label) is proud to present its first release, the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's highly sought-after masterpiece Scenery (1976), sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180g vinyl mastered at half speed for audiophile sound and on digipack CD.

Unquestionably one of the most important Japanese jazz albums ever recorded, Scenery reveals Ryo Fukui as a miraculously brilliant self-taught pianist fusing modal, bop, and cool jazz influences for a very personal, dexterous and game-changing take on classic standards made famous by Bing Crosby and John Coltrane among others. From "It Could Happen To You" and its serene and calm intro which magically flows into a jubilant and upbeat piece, to the out-of-this-world piano solo of "Early Summer", or the incredible teamwork of "Autumn Leaves" where Fukui leads Satoshi Denpo (bass) and Yoshinori Fukui (drums) into groove heaven, every single note on the album oozes precision, confidence and flair and every single section slides seamlessly into one another, creating a supreme and elegant blend of jazz. Often compared to McCoy Tyner or Bill Evans, Ryo Fukui was a genius in his own right, a true master of his craft whose perfectionism gave birth to some of the greatest music ever recorded. Scenery is his magnum opus and an absolute must-have.

The Hokkaido wizard-pianist followed Scenery with the soulful gem Mellow Dream (also available on We Release Jazz) in 1977. He then focused on improving his live skills, often performing at Sapporo's Slowboat Jazz Club (which he co-founded with his wife Yasuko Fukui) and releasing 2 live albums. Ryo Fukui sadly passed away in March 2016, leaving behind a legacy of works that is sure to captivate jazz lovers for generations to come.


Tracklisting Vinyl LP
A1 It Could Happen To You
A2 I Want To Talk About You
A3 Early Summer
B1 Willow Weep For Me
B2 Autumn Leaves
B3 Scenery


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No sales to Japan!

LP: 180g vinyl, half speed mastered, heavy sleeve, obi, gold ink
Genre: Jazz, Fusion, Funk

Tracklisting LP
A1. Shrimp Dance
A2. Kuro To Shiro
B1. Walk Tall
B2. Cat
B3. Romance


Info

We Release Jazz is ecstatic (purrrr!) to announce the official reissue of Hiroshi Suzuki's glorious jazz-fusion-funk Holy Grail Cat (originally released in 1976), sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by Teruo Isono.
Cat was recorded in October 1975 at at Nippon Columbia Studio, while Hiroshi Suzuki was visiting his home country of Japan after moving to Las Vegas in 1971 to play with Buddy Rich and perfect his craft. Back on his old stomping grounds, the man known as Neko (Cat) immediately reunited with his dear friends for an epic two day session of groove magic. The chemistry was still intact. The skills and style had grown.
The result, Cat, is a smooth masterpiece, a deep and soulful affair where stunning trombone solos by Hiroshi Suzuki flirt with Takeru Muraoka's heavenly saxophone and the sensual rhythm section of Hiromasa Suzuki (keyboards), Kunimitsu Inaba (bass), and Akira Ishikawa (drums).
Celebrated in jazz collectors circles, in the lofi beat scene, and among music diggers around the world, Cat has become one of the most sought-after Japanese jazz albums of all time and, much like Ryo Fukui's Scenery, has fascinated old and young generations alike.

Points of interests

- For fans of jazz, fusion, funk, trombone, Japanese jazz, smooth rides, cats, allure.

- Official reissue of the glorious jazz-fusion album by Japanese trombonist extraordinaire Hiroshi "Neko" Suzuki.

- 10th release from We Release Jazz, following Ryo Fukui's Scenery, Mellow Dream, A Letter from Slowboat, and Ryo Fukui in New York, the soundtrack of Le Cercle Rouge by Eric Demarsan, Stuff Combe 5 + Percussion, Marc Moulin's Placebo Live 1971 and Boillat Thérace Quintet albums. We Release Jazz is the sister-label of Geneva-based WRWTFWW Records (Midori Takada's Through The Looking Glass and Lunar Cruise with Masahiko Sato, Pierre Barouh's Le Pollen, Jun Fuka-machi's Nicole, Grauzone's discography, …)


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Format: LP
Format Notes: 2024 repress, 180g vinyl

EAN: 4251648412519

Track List:
A1 : Oh, Love
A2 : Rollalong Songs
A3 : Feel My Love
B1 : Party On The Corner
B2 : You Can Do It

Release Notes:
If ever an album could transport you to the hazy sunshine and imagined halcyon paradise of Southern California in the mid-1980s, could capture the early evening warmth of hanging at an inclusive boogie jam as it approaches “magic hour” in Santa Ana or Anaheim, then it’s Vaughan Mason and Butch Dayo’s Feel My Love. A brilliantly produced deep slung, low rider funk classic originally released on Salsoul in 1983. It’s a masterpiece of “funk love music”.

Yes, this is indeed a perfectly formed five track “mini LP” of unparalleled heat, but there’s one song here that, above the rest, represents Orange County boogie-funk. A straight killer beloved by all that have had the pleasure of moving to it. A track that can fill up a dance floor within seconds of its starting. That song is the eternal title track, “Feel My Love”.

This is a work of art that made people fall in love with the funk. It transcends the limitations of genre. “Feel My Love”’s deceptive simplicity makes it perfect to drop during a house set, a classic funk party or at a west coast rap jam. It’s sexy, deeply emotional, melancholic, hopeful, passionate and just radiates so, so much raw energy. This is music.

The rest of the record is hardly filler though. Opener “Oh, Love” is a dizzying, emotional slow jam. With heaven-sent vocals riding gorgeous, sweeping keys that alternate between sweet twinkling lines and funk-fuelled stabbing. It’s sensational. A rollerskating jam named “Rollalong Songs” is an ultra-swish piece of dance floor dynamite. Its slick drums, staccato piano and neck snapping claps underscore Dayo’s buoyant vocals. It’s essentially “Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll Part II”.

The flip begins with “Party On The Corner”. Smoother than silk vocals, day-glo synths, a bubbling bassline and guitar licks that surely received the Prince seal of approval. It’s another example of how Vaughan Mason and Butch Dayo flirt with perfection so routinely. The most majestic closer, the kaleidoscopic, cow-bell-assisted synth-funk heater “You Can Do It” is a proto-rap groover that truly smokes.

This prized LP is a stone cold jam and finding original copies on vinyl at affordable prices has been tough for years. Mastered brilliantly by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and with lovingly reproduced artwork, this fresh Be With reissue ensures this legendary LP now sounds, looks and feels as sensational as it should.





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LP
GENRE/S: Ambient, New Age, Experimental

TRACKLISTS:

Side A
a1 OVA - Rainforest
a2 Jean-Michel Bertrand - Engines
a3 Terry Keegan - Nutze Die Technik
a4 Van Kampen - Java
a5 Votu - Beyond

Side B
b1 Four Drummers Drumming - Wok
b2 Cuco Pérez - Calabó Bambú
b3 Chóres - Afrikí
b4 Angklunk - Das Versprechen
b5 Cipriani One Man Band - From Perù To China


SHORT INFO:
Ultimo Tango (Milan) & Glossy Mistakes (Madrid) are thrilled to announce the release of "Tribal Organic: Deep Dive into European Percussions 79-90", a compilation of otherworldly percussion-driven tracks, digging deep into this unknown realm of a past era.


Compiled by Luca Fiore and Glossy Mario, the album takes listeners on a rhythmic journey through the diverse sounds of Europe from 1979 to 1990. This collaboration between two like-minded labels highlights forgotten recordings from across Europe, including works by artists from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands...
Opening with the ethereal “Rainforest” by British female duo Ova, this collection weaves together nine tracks from artists who were deeply influenced by global percussion traditions. With hints of jazz, new age, gamelan, and West African rhythms, these tracks feature instruments like congas, tablas, and shekeres, and reflect a shared fascination with the organic beat of the drum.
From the industrial-meets-African grooves of Jean-Michel Bertrand’s “Engines”, to the hypnotic accordion and tribal chants of Cuco Pérez’s “Calabó Bambú”, the compilation offers a cross-cultural listening experience that is both meditative and invigorating. Despite creating these works in isolation during the last years of the Cold War, each artist was inspired by a borderless world of sound. The compilation pays homage to these nomadic musicians who respected the traditions they drew from, while contributing their own experimental takes on percussion-led music.
In Tribal Organic, Glossy Mario and Luca Fiore have unearthed a treasure trove of rhythm-driven tracks that blur the lines between nations, genres, and cultures. This compilation offers more than just music; it’s a listening experience that is both spiritual and grounded—bold, exploratory, and deeply rooted in the beat of the Earth.


VITAL SALES POINTS:

- Highly sought after and obscure tracks from all corners of Europe put together for first time, covering a wide time range, from 1979 to 1990
- Remastered from source material, artwork by Alicia Carrera
- One of a kind experimental compilation digging deep into the percussion realm of a past era



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2025 repress

UPC: 827170489462 Release : 18.03.2013
Tracklist: A. La Duquesa // ISRC: DEMM11300036 B. Burn with me // ISRC: DEMM11300049
"La Duquesa", the most tender and most refined piece of the album Amygdala, perfectly casual and serious, deep and euphoric, all at the same time, is dedicated to the Spanish Duquesa de Alba, who, as holder of 46 titles of nobility, is even more highly decorated than Queen Elisabeth. Koze is fascinated by this lady: With her peculiarly creepy appearance she seems like a relic from the past era of the Spanish nobility. She is the most pictured woman in Spain and a pop phenomenon. When, in 2011, she married a man 24 years younger than herself, the entire country badmouthed her. Sometimes Koze would love to be that younger man, who the Spaniards dismiss as a legacy hunter! Encore the needle is cookin'. Dj Koze did it again. His homage to Audrey Horne. "Burn with me" - a fucked up, deep and schizophrenic brainfoodbouncer with legato bass and hi hats way out of time. The beat burst like shagging, the dirty off hi-hat lashes remorseless in the twat-herd - everyone just wants to get laid straight away.


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2025 repress

Tracklist A. XTC - B. Knee On Belly

Shortinfo: DJ Koze's 2013 album opus Amygdala has continued to bewitch all who encounter it since its release. Tipped as his own personal Sgt. Pepper, the sublime long-player revealed a fully-realised and personal body of work, complete with a classic songwriting at its core, House in its heart, and veins coursing with psychedelic color. "La Duquesa" was the album's dreamy single standout, a journey into deep, tropical ecstasy.

"XTC" begins in the same spirit, and captures the all the blissful allusions of its name, but its initial gentility belies the deep intensity to come. Floating pads glow with celestial ambience as a kick drum is gradually coaxed into solid form, and the introduction of spoken text begins the second act. "Many people are experimenting with the drug Ecstasy," it says, "…is the drug like the lie and meditation the truth? Or am I missing something that could really help me?". "XTC" then transforms: sweetly imploring tones become demanding, gentle gradients between chords turn hard-edged, and sharp hi-hats cut through the haze. Complete with Koze's signature percussive quirks, it drives towards the track's final pay off: an undeniable, all-consuming, irresistible high.

"Knee On Belly" recalls Koze at his most tongue-in-cheek and overt; it is bright, bold and literally brassy, using cut-up horns of all shapes and sizes to patchwork together his own unique arrangement. With the highs and mid ranges accounted for, Koze adds in a swollen, thrumming bass line to mix to bring this floor-filler to life. "Knee on Belly" recalls a raw, filtered and funky approach to groove, with a nod to disco house and the art of artful sampling, as it orbits between its own neon highs and simmering lows.


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2025 Repress

Tracklist:
A. Nata Alma (Club Smash Hit Version) 08:40
AA Venq Tolep (Hit Club Version) 06:24

Release Info:
Robag Wruhme, working on the material. On the very same piece. And performing two different movements. First, thinking in category Album: who will hear it where? also: mood, position, length. Second, thinking in category Maxisingle: a spinning-tool for the club – another form of another functionality: accelerating the rhythm, lowering the harmonicmelodious, still preserving the nature of the song. And each version should make you HOT for the other!
Nata Alma, a voice loses itself in the infinite, a car brakes, a horse whinnies, the sun scorches relentless. Further, further on, towards the flickering, stoically. Water, flames on the horizon, Fata Morgana, a mirage. »And you might say, we've got no place to go?« - okay? no notokay at all!: Shuffle!
Nata Alma, melancholic Eight-minute-forty. A love song, a wave good-bye: »And you might say, that you need me no more?« sings Sidsel Endresen alongside Bugge Wesseltoft's swells and ebb-aways – metal never sounded so longing; a buzzing swing, a siren call from afar.
Robag Wruhme takes a seat at the organ and plays minor bass notes. He gets up, leaves the room and lays down a dry rock of funk: wooden kick on wooden snare, tight-cut voices, driving hi-hats and shakers, gated synth danglers and percussion loops. Relentless, stoically. »And you might say, that it's over?« – relentless, maybe, but that's how he creates the Further: keep going! dance it off! a new day rising!
And right here. Flip it and keep on moving: Venq Tolep. A summer meadow, grass-stains, a gentle breeze, an early smell of hay. Venq Tolep. Endorphins tickle under the skin. A
percussive spectacle, dance of the insects. Hopping around in flat shoes, the beat is phat and reverberated by a cluster of trees. Stabs on the e-piano set in, picturing the euphoric moment when Loving-feelings walk hand-in-hand with a Hint of Melancholy.
Robag Wruhme, Nata Alma and Venq Tolep - music for dance floors, inside and outside, music for the summer, day and night, and for convertibles on the way there.






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