Blue-in-Green:RADIO is a contemporary soul/funk/jazz/Latin internet radio station broadcasting an array of incredible shows from presenters and DJs from across the world.
Famed for his work within the footwork and house genres, New Zealand DJ, producer and musician, Surly, steps out of his comfort zone for 'Trip To Warsaw' - his fantastic new 6-track EP released through Astigmatic Records.
Surly's Trip To Warsaw is by no means a passing visit but really something more of a musical pilgrimage nearly a lifetime in the making. The son of jazz musician, Tom Ludvigson, who himself played with Krzysztof Ścierański from Polish group, Laboratorium, no doubt helped to inspire Surly's passion for music during his formative years as it would flourish ultimately embracing further styles like hip-hop, jungle and drum & bass.
The six tracks presented here are very much Surly's hommage to Polish jazz music, and by token, an hommage to the records the electronic DJ and producer has been sampling from for all these years. From the almost cinematic scope of 'THIRTEEN' and '4Q-510-511', to the hip-hop-inspired 'Scare Em To Death' and the drum & bass of 'Train to Lodz', the concept as a whole is a challenge that Surly effortlessly rises to.
There's the hope that the acclaim this release has rightfully received will inspire Surly to take another trip to Warsaw and perhaps even to stay a little longer this time.
2018 looks set to be a real landmark year for British writer, producer and musician, Matthew Rhys Daniel, and with a brand new project on the horizon, we thought this would make a great time to revisit the producer's previous 2016 release, 'The Collaborations'.
Released through Germany's Lemongrass Music, Daniel's style of R&B - which is heavily inspired by the R&B and neo-soul breakout artists from the late-1990s onwards including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott - was a perfect fit for the record label's genre aesthetic of chillout, ambient and nu-jazz styles of music.
From learning piano at five years old, to graduating from The University For The Creative Arts, music has long been the ambition, focus and passion for Daniel who can already boast so many achievements and incredible collaborations so early in his career. And in true collaborative spirit, the 'Collaborations' album has an excellent list of guest vocalists throughout including former vocalist for Incognito and The Brand New Heavies, Linda Muriel, who guests on the single 'Soul Personified', as well as now-frequent collaborator, Lina Loi, who appears on three of the album's songs ('What Goes Around', 'Joy' and 'Joy [Alt. Version]').
French vocalist, Meemee Nelzy, shines on 'No Time To Waste', as does Zulema Cheek who appears on 'No Friend Of Mine' and 'Beautifully Imperfect'. The chemistry with Zulema Cheek proved to be so effective that it's spawned Daniel's production on her 'Love Again EP' which saw release in January of this year.
So while we wait with excitement for new music from Matthew Rhys Daniel, we're happy to showcase 'The Collaborations' as a project demonstrative of an artist on the verge of an even grander stage.
For more music from Matthew Daniel, please visit here.
The brilliant jazz trio, Wild Card, return in 2018 with the incredible 'Life Stories' - their fourth album and a project that looks certain to build upon the rapturous reception of their 2015 predecessor.
'Organic Riot' was released to instant critical acclaim including invaluable praise from London's Evening Standard and The Telegraph with the latter publication bestowing on them the distinction of one of the 10 best jazz albums of the year. The project served to truly introduce Wild Card and its members, Clement Regert (guitarist and band leader), Sophie Alloway (drummer) and Andrew Noble (organ and pianist) individually as incredible musicians each with a wealth of experience, and collectively as an awesome force who are skilled at crafting exquisite songs and elegantly weaving in elements of funk and Latin styles.
At their core, Wild Card is in fact a trio but one that thrives on collaboration, opening their doors to new and exciting combinations with each album. So while vocalist Mary Pearce is new to the collective, and excels on The Rolling Stones cover of 'Paint It Black', long-term collaborators Graeme Flowers and Roberto Manzin (trumpet and tenor saxophone, respectively) rekindle their magic on horn duties as they did on 'Organic Riot' and 'Everything Changes'. Other guests on 'Life Stories' include Carl Hudson (synth), Denys Baptiste (tenor saxophone), Alistair White (trombone) and Will Fry (percussion).
The poignant title of 'Life Stories' - as each song written by Regert features inspiration from a life or story around him - adds another beautiful layer and depth to the music. Some of the song titles are explained by Regert below with them ranging from being uplifting, inspiring, sad, touching... and the music that tells these stories is just as eloquent in its ability to bring them to life. Wild Card are an exciting and innovative band and this album is a wonderful glimpse into just how good they are!
It's with great pleasure that Blue-in-Green:RADIO was able to secure time with Clement Regert to discuss the band and the everything involved with 'Life Stories'...
How did members of the band meet and come together to form Wild Card?
The core of the band is the organ trio made of myself, Clement Regert, on guitar, Sophie Alloway on drums and Andrew Noble on Hammond organ. We played for the first time together in July 2011 for a gig in a club where I had a residency at the time. The alchemy worked straight away and we have been playing together since and recorded three albums together in 2012, 2015 and 'Life Stories' in 2018.
Who have been some of the biggest influences in shaping the band's sound?
I write [and] arrange most of the material. I have many influences ranging from Brazilian artists such as Baden Powell to Richard Bona, NTM and Guns & Roses. The live shows I have seen that really influenced me the most in the last 15 years were Roy Hargrove's RH Factor, EST (seen them four times) and Michel Camillo trio.
How would you say the album differs from 'Organic Riot'?
Not that much difference - still the same spirit and production but with more special guests and also maybe some better writing, especially for the horn parts as my friend, Graeme Flowers, the trumpeter, gave me some help with it.
Can you talk a little about what went into the making of 'Life Stories'?
It is called 'Life Stories' because all the tunes (apart from the bonus track) were written and inspired by events that took place or by people I have met in the last few eventful years. For example, 'Better Remorse Than Regret' was written after I have done something silly last year, and reminded me of my mantra "better remorse than regret". I would still be a salesman in the building merchant trade in Paris like I was fifteen years ago without it. Another example, 'Mummy Is In The Sky', which is something I had to say many times at bed time to my two daughters (their mum passed away in August 2016).
There are some exciting collaborations on the album: how did some of them come to pass?
All the special guests: Adam Glasser, Graeme Flowers, Denys Baptiste, Carl Hudson, Alistair White, Jim Knight, Will Fry (with the exception of Mary Pearce, the singer which I have met briefly before the recording) are musicians I had the chance to play at various gigs [with] in the last few years. Many of those were Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club where we have a residency.
There's an excellent cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black': what made you want to cover that song?
Well, I was not in a good place at the time and the lyrics spoke to me so I decided to make my own rendition. The original is a great tune anyway.
You have excellent live videos on YouTube: how do you find your music transfers to a live stage?
Haha, I would rather ask "How do you think your music transfers onto an album?" as Wild Card is really something to experience live! Hence the live recording situation with almost no overdubs, limited amount of takes and very little editing.
Who would be a dream artist for Wild Card to either record or perform with?
There are so many artists I'd love to collaborate with!! Roy Hargrove, Trombone Shorty, MC Solaar, Erykah Badu, Bill Laurance, Cory Henry, Tim Garland, Gregory Porter, Christian Scott, Courtney Pine, Eric Legnini, Esperanza Spalding, Jamie Cullum, Jose James, Larry Golding, Sam Yahel, Roberto Fonseca, Neal Evans...
For more info on Wild Card and to purchase their new album, please visit: http://www.wildcardmusic.com/
It's with great excitement that 2018 - and Blue Note Records - brings the debut full-length album from drummer Chris "Daddy" Dave and his expansive collective of incredible musicians known as the Drumhedz.
Although this self-titled project marks the official debut album, the name 'Chris Dave' should be new to no one: scoring big with two mixtapes over the last few years, Chris Dave's credentials over nearly 30 years of making music have earned him a legion of die-hard fans. A former member of the Robert Glasper Trio and the Robert Glasper Experiment, Dave's brilliance can also be heard on projects by Maxwell ('BLACKsummer'snight'), D'Angelo ('Black Messiah'), Adele ('21') and Meshell Ndegeocello ('Comfort Woman') amongst countless others.
Chris Dave's collaborations have always demonstrated his versatility and his ability to flit between genres and styles but he has long confessed to holding jazz as his closest influence; it's his cosmic and otherwordly take on the genre where he is at his most engaging with song titles here like 'Universal Language' and 'Cosmic Intercourse' which again follow on from the themes laid out through the previous mixtapes.
And as regards the new album, many of the aforementioned past collaborators are more than happy to return the favour here with big name guests throughout including Stokley Williams, Casey Benjamin, Anderson .Paak, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kendra Foster, Bilal and Tweet. But the musicians comprising The Drumhedz are as much the stars with nearly 50 musicians earning the title: Pino Palladino, who helped shape a lot of the music on the first Drumhedz mixtape, appears on bass on nearly every track along with fellow musicians James Poyser (keys), Isaiah Sharkey (guitar) and Keyon Harrold (trumpet).
'Chris Dave & The Drumhedz' is a very welcome and long overdue official debut release from a true master of his craft and it's with genuine excitement we get to sit back and join in on this cosmic journey.
Sundays on Blue-in-Green:RADIO finds us in a 90s State of Mind so here's a small handful of couple of recent additions to our 90s playlist to indulge in. Tune in to 90s day via our website www.blueingreenradio.com or find us on iTunes or TuneIn.
'Together Again' [Jimmy Jam's Deeper Remix] by Janet Jackson
A random scroll through CDs at a local charity shop unveiled a full single release for Janet Jackson's 'Together Again'. You'll already find the DJ Premier remix of this song as a part of our 90s State of Mind playlist but happily you can now find two further remixes of the song, both by Jimmy Jam which are lovely renditions of this great song.
----- 'Cruisin' [Dallas Austin Remix] by D'Angelo
We've recently discussed the 2017 reissue of the classic 'Brown Sugar' debut by D'Angelo so it goes without saying some of the brilliant remixes that comprise disc 2 of the release would make its way on to our 90s playlist. Amongst many others you can find on Blue-in-Green:RADIO on Sundays, here's the Dallas Austin remix of 'Cruisin'.
----- 'Otherside of The Game' by Erykah Badu
And now to pay dues to another classic debut album this time by neo-soul Queen, Erykah Badu. Tracks from 'Baduizm' have recently been unleashed onto our 90s playlist - massively overdue I know - but better late than never :)
