Alfa Mist - Bring Backs - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The efforts put forth by ensembles comprised of friends always seem to have a special spark. When such a group comes together under ideal circumstances, the results can be spellbinding. Take note This is exactly the case with the collaborative group of pianist Roberta Piket, bassist Harvie S, and drummer Billy Mintz on their new recording, You've Been Warned. // Individually, Piket, Harvie S, and Mintz have found success in a myriad of projects. But it is their collective identity that has really cemented itself over the past decade. Mintz and Harvie S have been collaborators since the 1970s. Their most notable affiliation was as members of pianist Alan Broadbent's trio. Piket met Harvie S in the mid-1990s and incorporated the bassist into her fold. Piket and Mintz have been partners in music and life since 2001. They married in 2011. // The dimension of the group's interconnectedness is obviously vast and varied. Their own work together as a rhythm section began organically. Piket and Mintz found themselves bound even closer together during the pandemic lockdown. They managed to work on each other's music at home. It wasn't long before they included their friend, Harvie S, at first with open windows and masks.

I've been focused on who I am in my music, but now I'm exploring where I am,Inch Alfa Mist says. InchI'm asking how did I get here?InchThis is the journeying question that underpins Alfa's fifth album, Variables. Traversing luscious, big band swing, head-nodding boom-bap rhythms and yearning vocal melodies, the record is expansive, soulful and moving, in both body and spirit. On Variables, his second for ANTI-, Alfa achieves his most fully-realised, expressive musical work to date, coupling his keen ear for looping, memorably emotive piano melodies with intuitive grooves and a free-flowing jazz improvisation.Since the of his first full-length project Nocturne in 2015, Alfa has established himself as one of the UK's most focused, in-demand and distinct musical voices. He has worked with the likes of Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch. Artists look to him for his unique blend of intimate bedroom production and expansive jazz group orchestration, since Alfa is yet to be boxed into a specific genre. His music spans everything from hip-hop beat-making to producing for artists such as rapper Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra, and reworking tracks from composer Ólafur Arnalds and pioneering jazz tag Blue Note.   The return to live shows has been a welcome one for Alfa and his fans, resulting in an instantly sold-out run of debut US shows in 2022, as well as a headline gig at London's Barbican in 2021, and an expanded run of US shows slated for 2023. It is a balance between feeling and perfectionism that ultimately gives Alfa's music it's depth and capacity for repeated listening. It is also an ethos that has enabled his remarkable work-ethic to date. InchI've never been a 'one album every four years' artist - I want to put out new projects every year,Inch he says. InchMusic is an extension of my life; it is the practice of creatin

MAKAYA MCCRAVEN / OFF THE RECORD Internationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven returns to announce four distinct yet interconnected EPs - Techno Logic, The People's Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop compiled on a 2xLP and 2xCD physical titled Off the Record. Together they mark McCraven's first recorded offerings since 2022's In These Times. Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago. Hidden Out! Is built off recordings from McCraven's June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul, Tortoise member, International Anthem labelmate, composer and guitarist Jeff Parker, and SML co-leader, GRAMMY-award winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson. PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven's Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.