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viewing 1 To 9 of 9 items
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2CD
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ZEP 071CD
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$15.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/31/2025
Soolmaan is a sextet led by Belgian oud player and composer Tristan Driessens, accompanied by Nathan Daems, Christos Barbas, Annemie Osborne, Andrea Piccioni, and Levent Yildirim. Together, they create sound tableaus that float freely between the Bosphorus and India, with flute, sax, ney, cello, piano and tamburello igniting an imaginary folklore infected by jazz. Kashgul is their second album. Driessens began his career immersed in the classical music of the Ottoman court, founding the Lâmekân Ensemble in 2011. After training under oud virtuoso Necati Çelik in Istanbul, he returned to Belgium in 2016 to form Soolmaan, an ensemble that reflects his multi-faceted identity. Rooted in Eastern modal traditions, Soolmaan's music bridges jazz, folk, and classical influences, creating a unique and contemporary sound. Their 2017 debut album, Letters to Handenberg, was described as "oriental chamber jazz," with Istanbul serving as a common thread. With Kashgul, their latest release, Soolmaan explores Ottoman makam, Indian raga and Anatolian halk muzigi, blending these traditions with a contemporary modal language. Created during Driessens' artist residency at the Concertgebouw of Bruges, the album features original compositions alongside reimagined works by Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, and Art Pepper. With improvisation as a connecting factor, Soolmaan's music invites listeners into rich, boundary-crossing soundscapes where tradition and innovation meet. Kashgul exemplifies the ensemble's ability to craft an immersive musical experience that resonates deeply with diverse audiences.
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2LP
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ZEP 071LP
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$34.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/31/2025
Double LP version. Soolmaan is a sextet led by Belgian oud player and composer Tristan Driessens, accompanied by Nathan Daems, Christos Barbas, Annemie Osborne, Andrea Piccioni, and Levent Yildirim. Together, they create sound tableaus that float freely between the Bosphorus and India, with flute, sax, ney, cello, piano and tamburello igniting an imaginary folklore infected by jazz. Kashgul is their second album. Driessens began his career immersed in the classical music of the Ottoman court, founding the Lâmekân Ensemble in 2011. After training under oud virtuoso Necati Çelik in Istanbul, he returned to Belgium in 2016 to form Soolmaan, an ensemble that reflects his multi-faceted identity. Rooted in Eastern modal traditions, Soolmaan's music bridges jazz, folk, and classical influences, creating a unique and contemporary sound. Their 2017 debut album, Letters to Handenberg, was described as "oriental chamber jazz," with Istanbul serving as a common thread. With Kashgul, their latest release, Soolmaan explores Ottoman makam, Indian raga and Anatolian halk muzigi, blending these traditions with a contemporary modal language. Created during Driessens' artist residency at the Concertgebouw of Bruges, the album features original compositions alongside reimagined works by Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, and Art Pepper. With improvisation as a connecting factor, Soolmaan's music invites listeners into rich, boundary-crossing soundscapes where tradition and innovation meet. Kashgul exemplifies the ensemble's ability to craft an immersive musical experience that resonates deeply with diverse audiences.
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LP
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ZEP 021LP
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For this album debut by Black Flower, the Ethio-jazz project of and around saxophonist Nathan Daems, fans were already waiting since heard the five tracks on their self-titled EP from 2013. For Abyssinia Afterlife, Daems drew inspiration from the legend of Prester John (see also Tommy T's The Prester John Sessions (2009) and be sure to read the crazy story behind the album on Black Flower's website) and that resulted in an album that sounds like a feverish LSD-trip through the streets of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. But Abyssinia Afterlife exceeds the boundaries of Ethio-jazz: in songs like "Upwards" (featuring Smokey Hormel's splendid guitar playing) or "Again I Lost It", Dengue Fever's psychedelic Cambodian rock is not far away and Wouter Haest keyboard sounds are at times reminiscent of the work of The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek ("I Threw A Lemon At That Girl", together with "Winter" the only song from the EP also featured on Abyssinia Afterlife). Black Flower only serves up eight songs on Abyssinia Afterlife, but with several compositions lasting more than five minutes, this album will certainly not leave you feeling unfulfilled. Gatefold sleeve.
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LP
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ZEP 036LP
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More than ten years in, Hijaz, an instrumental Arabic jazz combo, is searching for the perfect symbiosis between Mediterranean warmth, polyrhythmic structures, and musical virtuosity. In a tight formation of four core musicians, Hijaz captured the magic of the moment during two live sessions in Brussels and Antwerp. The result of those recordings is 10 Years - Live Recording, an album celebrating the ten years of existence of the band. The album consists of new and old material, and is presented exclusively on vinyl. After Dunes (2008), Chemsi (2011), and Nahadin (2014), Hijaz developed a very personal musical language where Arabic scales refer to the Tunisian roots of oud player Moufadhel Adhoum, and where the asymmetric grooves find their roots in the Greek origin of piano player Niko Deman. It is the dialogue between piano and oud that lays the foundations of the music, supported by percussion and double bass, occasionally enriched with flute. Includes download code.
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LP
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ZEP 038LP
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A sensational mix of West African Afrobeat tradition and contemporary European urban culture, reminiscent of Ebo Taylor, for the traditional element, and Hugh Masekela, for its mix with jazz. Daniel Dzidzonu takes it further down the jazz road and introduces even rock and fusion. As a result, Unknownland is one of the key albums of the new Afrobeat generation, or in the case of Daniel, the Afro-European generation of today.
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LP
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ZEP 039LP
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A sensational mix of West African Afrobeat tradition and contemporary European urban culture, reminiscent of Ebo Taylor, for the traditional element, and Hugh Masekela, for its mix with jazz. Daniel Dzidzonu takes it further down the jazz road and introduces even rock and fusion. As a result, Vikpomé is one of the key albums of the new Afrobeat generation, or in the case of Daniel, the Afro-European generation of today.
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CD
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ZEP 035CD
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Since 2006, Terrakota have forged their own pan-African and trans-Atlantic roots-world-kota sound, a style that has travelled the world, always looking for musical fusions within the multi-ethnic cauldron: Afro-Brazilian rhythms, soukouss, reggae, Afro-beat, gnawa, with influences from India and beyond. On their sixth studio album Oxalá, the band embrace their Portuguese roots while diving more deeply into their rock influences. Terrakota's first albums were inspired by travels to Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, while also incorporating influences from Latin America. The fourth album is clearly marked by their trip to India. Oxalá is inspired by an internal travel, giving light to Portuguese songs built on top of their Afro-explosive melting pot. Africa remains the main source, the starting point from where the band looks for the perfect alchemy to get to their trademark modern roots sound, where all borders, distances and barriers are wiped out. The darkest pages of human history somehow fascinate Terrakota, following the ancient trade routes, but turned upside-down, from the new world back to Africa, drinking from the fantastic musical diversity that has been spread around the world through slavery. On this sixth album, the leaders of the Portuguese Afro/world/fusion scene have again invited guests to make the music even richer, special people with whom the band has a privileged relationship: traditional Alentejo singer Vitorino, Indian singer Mahesh Vinayakram, French rapper Florian Doucet, beat-maker and producer Beat Laden, Kumpania Algazzara's horn section, and backing vocals by the Lisbon-based Selma Uamusse (Mozambique) and Anastácia Carvalho (Angola), without forgetting a brilliant text by the Angolan rapper Luaty Ikonoklasta. After parting ways with vocalist Romi and two sabbaticals, Terrakota has added fresh blood with the young and talented singer/multi-instrumentalist Gonçalo Sarmento, the gracious performer/dancer Diana Rego, as well as new drummer Márcio Pinto and percussionist Paulo das Cavernas. These new elements and the extra years of travelling for the veterans have brought Terrakota to an even more mature sound, with concise lyrics and the guts to do some songwriting in addition to their explosive Afro-world sound. The Portuguese globetrotters have reached new highs with Oxalá. Comes in a four-panel digipak sleeve and includes a 28-page booklet.
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LP
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ZEP 032LP
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Dragging rock drums, cutting guitar riffs, and Tamasheq chants -- this is the sound of the new Tuareg generation. Life in an urban context and the connection with the Saharan culture define Kel Assouf's album Tikounen. Influenced by Led Zeppelin and today's modern rock music, the group create a heavy sound that blends with traditional Tuareg music. The album is about peace, equality, and respect for other cultures. Music is the band's weapon, with which they stifle the noise of missiles and rockets. It is the band's cry out for a better world. Kel Assouf's name translates from the Touareg Tamasheq language to both "those with nostalgia" and "sons of eternity." The group came together around the exiled Touareg musician Anana Harouna in Brussels in 2006. From the beginning, Kel Assouf built its identity around two central ideas: the promotion of Touareg culture and the struggle against discrimination. With this album, Tikounen (the title of which translates to "surprise," Kel Assouf want to express the stupefaction and perplexity created by a world where war, injustice, and pollution are running wild. With one foot in the desert and the other in the urban jungle, Harouna writes about the Sahara and everyday life in both Niger and Europe. Using short phrases similar to Japanese haiku, Harouna sings his poetry about humanity and respect. The result is a powerful sound with trailing drums, precise guitar riffs, and singing in Tamasheq. Since the band's 2010 debut, Tin Hinane, Harouna has introduced a new formation that was completed by the arrival of Toulou Kiki, who played the protagonist in Abderrahmane Sissako's acclaimed 2014 film Timbuktu. She enriches the feminine tradition of the Touareg culture. The Tunisian producer and musician Sofyann Ben Youssef invigorates the album by crafting a hypermodern sound on the edges of today's Touareg music. The African trance rhythms played by rock musicians transport listeners to a dancefloor somewhere between London and Niamey -- a powerful groove machine!
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LP
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ZEP 033LP
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2019 repress. Imagine a radio that plays music from other worlds, past and future. The gentlemen of Black Flower hit the studio for an impressionistic, abstract, and psychedelic session. This album is special. Call it a ghost record, a document . . . a work that gives a unique insight into the minds and creative processes of the musicians of Black Flower.
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