Matana Roberts is a Chicago-born, New York City-based saxophonist and sound experimentalist, a past member of the BRC: Black Rock Coalition and the AACM: The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, whose innovative work has forged new conceptual approaches to considering narrativity, history, and political expression within improvisatory structures.
COIN COIN Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile is the much-anticipated new installment of Roberts' unique and forward-looking project. Guided by an aesthetic practice she has dubbed 'panoramic sound quilting' (partly in homage to the literal handicraft heritage of her patrilineal line), COIN COIN finds Roberts conjuring some of the most nuanced, thoughtful and substantial American liberation music of the 21st century.
COIN COIN has also been a profoundly generous and collaborative process for Roberts, who has been developing various chapters of the COIN COIN cycle with a wide range of musicians from diverse backgrounds over many years. The hugely acclaimed Chapter One: Gens de couleur libres was the culmination of two years of regular visits to Montréal and featured fifteen musicians assembled from that city's out-jazz, experimental and avant-rock scenes. Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile was developed for a more intimately woven New York jazz sextet and was recorded with this group in late 2012, following several years of local and international performances of the piece with this line-up.
Mississippi Moonchile takes the next leap forward in Roberts' iconoclastic and complex project of memory and recuperation, where historical and contemporary musical tropes, fragmentary spoken and sung narratives, and Matana's cascading alto saxophone are supported by prodigiously talented players on piano (Shoko Nagai), trumpet (Jason Palmer), double bass (Thomson Kneeland), drums (Tomas Fujiwara) and operatic tenor voice (Jeremiah Abiah). While demarcated by 18 titles and track IDs, the album presents an uninterrupted, incantatory swirl of through-composed music, where thematic structure and free improvisation are propelled in continual and fluid co-existence.
While Chapter One was marked by more defined set pieces, stark juxtapositions, and the epic cacophony of a sprawlingly unconventional big band, Chapter Two unfolds as a cohesive album-length piece unto itself, channeling the drama and catharsis of Gens de couleur libres into something more measured and circumscribed, playing with notions of dignity, rarefaction and restraint. The inclusion of a male operatic singer contributes significantly to the tone and tension of Mississippi Moonchile in this respect, and operates as a fascinating foil to Roberts' own voice, which alternates between splintered 'wordspeak' and deeply soulful singing. The six players are in a perpetual motion of coalescence and divergence, where melodic themes, occasional ostinato passages, and variously deployed literal voices ("There are some things I can't tell you about…") serve to rally the overriding theme of individual narratives and personal expressions as struggles with, celebrations of, and threads within collective history. The contortions of empowerment, pride, shame, suffering, eulogy, empathy, liberation and transcendence are Matana's raw material in the broadest and most specific senses; she has given this raw material another beautiful and compelling shape in the second chapter of the COIN COIN story.
Thanks for listening.

The veteran guitarist has created an effortlessly detailed album, full of tradition and experimentation that spans generations. It lives at the vanguard of new jazz music.

Groundbreaking artist Kamasi Washington’s highly anticipated second album Heaven and Earth set via Young Turks. The long-awaited follow up to Washington’s debut The Epic, Heaven and Earth is comprised of two halves, which find Washington confronting quotidian realities with cosmic themes. A further investigation of Washington’s world building ideas, the new album explores his reckoning with current global chaos and his vision for the future. Washington convened his band, The Next Step, as well as members of the long running collective The West Coast Get Down at Henson Studios in Los Angeles to record the 16 tracks on Heaven and Earth. The music was composed, written and arranged by Washington, with new arrangements of jazz and bebop legend Freddie Hubbard’s Hubtones and iconic kung fu film theme Fists of Fury, as well as one song by bandmate Ryan Porter. Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Ronald Bruner, Jr., Cameron Graves, Brandon Coleman, Miles Mosley, Patrice Quinn, Tony Austin and many more contribute to the album. Heaven and Earth is over two and a half hours of music.
“The world that my mind lives in, lives in my mind.” This idea inspired me to make this album Heaven and Earth. The reality we experience is a mere creation of our consciousness, but our consciousness creates this reality based on those very same experiences. We are simultaneously the creators of our personal universe and creations of our personal universe. The Earth side of this album represents the world as I see it outwardly, the world that I am a part of. The Heaven side of this album represents the world as I see it inwardly, the world that is a part of me. Who I am and the choices I make lie somewhere in between.” Kamasi Washington

The best black female singer of the 20th century. This is a stunning album. the definitive late 60’s Aretha Franklin, bold, beautiful, vulnerable, earthy, sexy, defiant, spiritual and strong.. Full of great songs.
A seminal session that furthered her deep soul agenda with key backings from Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd! The Sweet Inspirations provide sublime backing vocals behind Franklin’s maturing delivery of the lyrics — and the music is by an all-star group of players that includes Spooner Oldham, Bobby Womack, Jimmy Johnson, King Curtis, Tommy Cogbill, Roger Hawkins, and even Eric Clapton!
After all, she is the Queen, the Lady Soul!!
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Ranked #84 in Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” Aretha’s position as soul music’s premier female vocalist was consolidated by Lady Soul. Her strident reading of “Chain of Fools” set the tone on which the singer unveiled several stellar original compositions and reinterpreted a batch of classic songs. Franklin’s gospel roots were clearly displayed on “People Get Ready” while her interpretation of “(You Make Me Fell Like A) Natural Woman” showed both her vulnerable and assertive qualities. The album also features the fine soul ballad “Good to Me as I Am to You” with Eric Clapton on guitar. Lady Soul captures a performer at the peak of her power, restating her ability to take material and make it uniquely her own. This 1968 tour de force is one of the absolute pinnacles of the Queen’s incredible artistic legacy.
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At a 1968 concert in Chicago, Aretha Franklin was publicly and officially crowned the Queen of Soul in front of her fans by a DJ named Purvis Spann. This body of work shows why Aretha continues to reign supreme. The Queen takes on the Kings of Soul/Rhythm & Blues and pulls no punches as she covers Ray Charles’s “Come Back Baby” and “Be as Good to Me as I Am to You,” James Brown’s “Money Won’t Change You,” and Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready”. She’s classical, bluesy, funky, and right-down soulful on every cut. The poet Nikki Giovanni once wrote–”Aretha can sing Money Won’t Change You, but can James Brown sing Respect?” In other words, when the Queen covers a song, it becomes hers and one can easily forget about the original artist. For example, Carol King wrote and recorded “Natural Woman” but that song is and probably will always be associated with Aretha Franklin. Aretha wails and gets right-down funky on cuts like “Chain of Fools” and “Nikki Hokey.” She’s operatically soulful on “Ain’t No Way”–which to this day no female artist, including Whitney Houston, has been able to successfully cover.You have an absolutely classic and indispensable piece of American music history here. The one and only Aretha Franklin: “Lady Soul.”

Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister.

Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister.

Hot Buttered Soul was Isaac Hayes' second studio album. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music.

Japanese pressing. Sony. 2005.

Le Sony'r Ra, better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances.

第一张唱片获得巨大成功之后，US3在1997年录制了第二张专辑《Broadway & 52nd》，从爵士乐采样发展了现场爵士乐手即兴演奏和Hiphop歌手合作的方式。
2001年，US3离开了Blue Note唱片公司，签约Universal，出版了唱片《An Ordinary Day In An Unusual Place》。在这张专辑当中，他们加入了更多全新的音乐元素，除了爵士乐和hiphop音乐以外，还有drum and bass，印度音乐和拉丁音乐!
从90年代初最早使用具有革命性的采样技术，将传统的爵士音乐和现代的hiphop节拍以及黑人的说唱结合在一起，发展到今天US3已经很少在专辑当中使用采样技术，而是更多的使用爵士乐手和说唱歌手的即兴演奏和演唱，以及加入更多的元素来丰富他们的音乐......
Full title - An Ordinary Day In An Unusual Place. Their first album release since 1997, this 2001 release features shorter samples, str onger tunes & a greater emphasis on songwriting. London based producer Geoff Wilkinson, the driving force behind Us3 has delivered his most exciting & significant project yet. An Ordinary Day In An Unusual Place takes the music a giant step further thanks to the sensational vocals of Alison Crockett (King Britt). Universal Jazz.

Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (/ˈɛrɪkə bɑːˈduː/), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress.

Japanese digitally remastered limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork.

The singular hip-hop band’s second album is a story about America and Philadelphia, memory and survival. Like a good book, it goes by quickly, yet you force yourself to linger.