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London label continues archival work.

Soul Jazz is starting 2016 with two new compilations and two key re-issues.

First up is a 1970s reggae compilation, Studio One Showcase: The Sound Of Studio One In The 1970s, collecting tracks from the extensive archives of the Studio One label which Soul Jazz has been documenting for over 20 years now. The new compilation includes Prince Jazzbo, Horace Andy, and Cedric Brooks, and will be released on January 22.

Next is Tales of Mozambique, the 1975 album by Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. Ossie was a pioneer of the Niyabinghi style of hand drumming, and the album, which Soul Jazz is re-issuing on January 29, was released a year before his death.

In February, things go punk with a repress of the New York Noise compilation Soul Jazz first released in 2003. The compilation focuses on the NYC downtown scene of the early 1980s with bands like ESG, Liquid Liquid, and Dinosaur L. The repress will include four bonus tracks and is scheduled for February 12.

Lastly, on February 26, Soul Jazz will release the latest volume of their Punk 45 series taking in the early Los Angeles scene. [Via Resident Advisor]

Updated on 02 January 2016 10:00 PM

Cosmic journey guaranteed.

Soul Jazz are set to reissue the 1978 debut album by ambient pioneer Laraaji, Celestial Vision.

The zither and kalimba-led LP was first issued in New York as a privately-pressed record limited to 500 copies – under Laraaji’s real name of Edward Larry Gordon – and then re-released by Soul Jazz sub-label Universal Sound back in 2010.

Now Soul Jazz are reissuing a newly remastered version of the record on “very” limited edition vinyl and CD – it’s out February 10 2017.

Updated on 21 December 2016 9:00 PM

The new cinema kicks off with a season of films on music from around the world.

The global crate-diggers at Soul Jazz Records are curating a series of musical movies at the new Regent Street Cinema in London from next week.

Launching on August 5 with Marcel Camus’s Brazilian bossa nova film Black Orpheus and British reggae cult classic Babylon, the Sound + Image season continues on August 12 with the Motown-soundtracked Nothing But A Man and the recent archive documentary Black Power Mix Tape.

John Cassavetes’s Shadows, featuring a score by Charles Mingus, completes the season on August 19 alongside Jean-Luc Godard’s Rolling Stones film Sympathy For The Devil.

Label founder Stuart Baker will be on hand to introduce the films while Soul Jazz DJs will be in the bar before and after each screening – get more details and book tickets from Regent Street Cinema. The cinema reopened this year following a restoration project by the University of Westminster, which had been using the Victorian auditorium – the first in the country to show moving pictures – as a lecture hall since 1980.

Updated on 08 July 2015 5:30 PM

Maurice White, co-founder of the seminal R&B outfit Earth, Wind & Fire, has died today at the age of 74. His passing was confirmed by his brother and bandmate Verdine White in statements made on social media.

"My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep. While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.”

White was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1992 and was forced to stop touring in 1994. News of his battle with the disease was only made public when Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Originally a session drummer in Chicago, White and his brother found success after relocating to Los Angeles and enlisting Philip Bailey, with whom he shared lead vocals. The group was known for a rotating cast of players outside the core of Bailey and the White brothers. The group was as known for their eccentric recording habits, such as waiting for celestial alignments, and extravagant onstage presentation as well as their cadre of hits like “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “September,” and “Let’s Groove.”

White also found success as a producer, working with figures such as Barbra Streisand and Cher in addition to producing Earth Wind and Fire. He also co-wrote and co-produced the Emotions’ chart-topping “Best of My Love.”

Earth, Wind and Fire has won six Grammys and has been nominated for 17; won four American Music Awards and been nominated for 12, according to the Rock Hall. It won the BET Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Updated on 04 February 2016 05:00 AM

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