Fatima & Joe Armon-Jones - Tinted Shades (March 4, 2022 Aquarii Records)

Fatima and Joe Armon-Jones unite for Tinted Shades; a three track EP that asserts personal truths whilst juxtaposing dark times with hopeful optimism - spanning soul, hip hop and R&B.

1. #1

2. Tinted Shades

3. Love Life Hope

Vocals - Fatima

Production, Keyboards, Bass Synth - Joe Armon-Jones

Drums on 'Tinted Shades' and 'Love Life Hope' - Moses Boyd

Drums on '#1' - Morgan Simpson

Engineer - Gilles Barrett

Mixed by Oli Barton-Wood

Mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery

Recorded at Soup Studios and Aquarii Studios

Artwork by Ralph Berryman

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Joe Armon-Jones - Pray (May 2021 Aquarii Records)

Joe Armon-Jones, keyboardist, composer and producer, is pushing the boundaries of his sound, blurring the lines between bass- heavy dub, contemporary club culture and his background as a pioneering force in the modern jazz scene.

Away from his solo project, he’s a member of Ezra Collective, regularly plays with Nubya Garcia, and has toured with Ata Kak and Pharoahe Monch.

1. Pray 07:39

Joe Armon-Jones - Keyboards, Vocals, Production

Luke Wynter - Bass

Morgan Simpson - Drums

Gilles Barrett - Recording Engineer

Mixed by Oli Barton-Wood

Mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery

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Makaya McCraven - Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape) INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM RECORDING 2018

1. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia - Halls 03:49

2. LeFtO (feat. Soweto Kinch) - McCraven On The Mic 03:09

3. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia - Ox Tales 06:22

4. Don Leisure (Darkhouse Family) - Suite For Artis Gilmore 03:02

5. Earl Jeffers (Darkhouse Family) - Jupiter Jawn 03:15

6. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Kamaal Williams - The Oracle 03:18

7. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia - The Bounce! 02:53

8. Ben LaMar Gay - King Drive, '86 Cutlass, No Plates 03:38

9. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia - Run 'Dem 07:27

10. Emma-Jean Thackray - Too Shy 03:02

11. Quiet Dawn - Drums&Bruk&FeelTheVibe 03:03

12. Makaya McCraven, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia - Birthday Solo 01:21

13. Lexus Blondin - TRC Thank You Outro 00:43

14. Makaya McCraven, Soweto Kinch, Kamaal Williams - Where We Come From 01:11

Recorded live at Total Refreshment Centre 18 & 19 October 2017 (CHICAGOxLONDON).

Live recordings mixed at Total Refreshment Studios 20 & 21 October 2017.

Remixed live at Total Refreshment Centre 22 October 2017 (FRESH ROASTED: Live Beat-Making & Battle).

Performed by Makaya McCraven - drums; Soweto Kinch - saxophone, voice; Theon Cross - tuba; Joe Armon-Jones - Rhodes piano; Nubya Garcia - saxophone; Kamaal Williams - keys.

Remix Production & Additional Overdubs by LeFtO; Don Leisure & Earl Jeffers (Darkhouse Family); Ben LaMar Gay; Emma-Jean Thackray; Quiet Dawn; Lexus Blondin.

Mixtape Production by Makaya McCraven

Recorded & Mixed by Dave Vettraino & David Allen

Recording Assisted by Matteo Musetti

Edited by Makaya McCraven

Mastered by David Allen

Photography by Fabrice Bourgelle

Design by Raimund Wong

Associate Production by Alejandro Ayala, Tina Edwards & Lexus Blondin

Executive Production by Scott McNiece

Special Thanks: Will Savery, Steven King, Garrett Shelton, Lauren Kasper, Mark Pallman, David Burkhart, Lori Mendoza, Angel Bat Dawid, Ken Okuda, Simbad, Stella Kun, Emma Warren, Lexy Morvaridi, Oran Maneti, Will Shanahan, Kim Alpert, Junius Paul, Jaimie Branch, Tomeka Reid, Alexander Hawkins, Tina Richard, Aly Gillani, Kristian 'Capitol K' Robinson, and Gus.

Joe Armon-Jones - Starting Today (BROWNSWOOD RECORDINGS May 4, 2018)

Joe Armon-Jones combines free-flowing, dynamic energy with a bigger vision. A prodigious, head-turning keys player, debut album Starting Today is a showcase for his ludicrous chops on the piano, and the like-minded, equally talented bandmates who join him on the record. It comes after years of building connections and finding a vision for the music he wants to make.

1. Starting Today ft Asheber

2. Almost Went Too Far

3. Mollison Dub

4. London's Face ft Oscar Jerome

5. Ragify ft Big Sharer

6. Outro (Fornow)

Nubya Garcia - When We Are (March 9, 2018)

Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Nubya Garcia is back with the eagerly awaited next chapter to her musical unfolding, When We Are. Enabled with the support of the prestigious Steve Reid Foundation’s InNOVAtion award, and with Eglo records co-founder Sam Shepherd (Floating Points) as her mentor, this self-released EP features two newly recorded compositions from the much-lauded artist. The record also comes with B-side remixes from two generations of London’s finest producers, K-15 and Maxwell Owin. 

Following on from her scorching sophomore release, Nubya’s 5ive (jazz:refreshed), When We Are sees the trailblazing player take typically self assured steps into new territory with electronic experimentation. “I’ve been inspired a lot by the producers around me at the moment, people like Ben Hayes, Tom Misch, Joe Armon- Jones, Jake Long and Maxwell Owin”, said Garcia. “There’s an electronic vibe in there that I wanted to explore more, and this release feels like a positive evolution from the last EP.” 

Much like the celebrated Brownswood release, We Out Here, where Garcia features on five of the nine tracks, When We Are offers a snapshot of the artist she is today and the organic musical languages she continues to form with her long term collaborators Femi Koleoso, Joe Armon-Jones and Daniel Casimir. 

The title track opens with the easy cascading of Armon-Jones on keys, Garcia’s signature erudite tone dancing against the drummer Koleoso’s boxy, afro-tinged hip hop runs; all three riding on Casimir’s beautifully subtle, abetting bass. Crisp and clean, the track’s sweet inflections are carried into spacious territory by light touch pedal effects. Source comprises of shape-shifting, Tetris-like grooves. It’s a characteristically sophisticated sound from the band, where each player is able to shine around the trademark fusion of gospel, soul, broken beat, Afro-Caribbean and Latin styles that Garcia has deftly crafted into her own. 

Alongside her releases, Garcia’s reputation as a DJ is burgeoning, bolstered by her hit radio residencies on platforms including Balamii and NTS, and a growing number of live sets across Europe. The record partly draws on the energy of the club-nights that shaped her formative years. The grime and garage nights in north London, dub nights across the river in south London, and of course, the infamous Steez performance jams that have served as a rite of passage for much of the scene. “It was a night by the people for the people, bringing different audiences together – it changed our perception of what music could be,” Garcia recalled. “Watching my peers getting excited over solos - before they were over - was incredible and the energy of that space will stay with me forever.” 

The remixes on the EP offer a different of the same coin, continuing the trajectory of genre blending that has been championed by a resurgent generation of players. “I knew I wanted remixes, because I wanted this to also be on dance-floors – at nights like Touching Bass or Co-op presents in London,” Garcia shared. “Remixes open the door to new possibilities in sound.” 

On the recommendation of Sam Shepherd, house stalwart K-15 transforms When We Are into an expansive, mellow soundscape, revolving around Garcia’s mesmeric solo. Source is given a new lease of life by Maxwell Owin, whom she describes as ‘a secret puppeteer of the scene’. This rework takes on a cool, numinous opening, giving way to dance-floor fanfare and 1am baselines made for flaunting footwork. A stunning new chapter from one of London’s leading musicians.

1. When We Are 06:39

2. Source

3. When We Are (K15 remix)

4. Source (Maxwell Owin remix)

Nubya Garcia - Tenor Saxophone

Joe Armon-Jones - Piano/Wurlitzer

Daniel Casimir - Double Bass

Femi Koleoso - Drums

Remixes - K15 and Maxwell Owin

Recorded at Soup Studios

Engineer - Giles Barrett

Mixed by David Wehinm

Mastered by Cicely Balston at Air Mastering

We Out Here - We Out Here (BROWNSWOOD RECORDINGS 2018)

A primer on London’s bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Surveying the album’s running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of London’s most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years. Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the results speak for themselves: they’re a window into the wide-eyed future of London’s musical underground. 

The album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. A reflection of how London’s jazz-influenced music has reached outward into new spaces, the sound of the record draws from a wide pool. There’s plenty of crossover between each of the groups, too, speaking to the close-knit circles which make up the scene; shared line-ups reflect the mutual cooperation and DIY spirit which are second-nature. 

Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the project’s musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility that’s shared through all the players on the record. 

Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maisha’s ‘Inside The Acorn’ is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. Ezra Collective – whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch – run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on ‘Pure Shade’, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch. 

On Moses Boyd’s ‘The Balance’, the drummer – who co-produced Zara McFarlane’s recent, critically-lauded album, as well as touring with the likes of Sampha – builds a steadily-paced, atmospheric creation, loosening up the rhythm and intensity as it progresses. Theon Cross – who’s part of Hutchings’ Sons of Kemet – starts his track, ‘Brockley’, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. 

Showing a similarly controlled approach, Nubya Garcia’s ‘Once’ is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. Shabaka Hutchings’ ‘Black Skin, Black Masks’ is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases – mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet – shape the track with an alluring hue. 

Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Brown’s languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove. Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on ‘Go See’, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Finally, taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko – whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material – spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on ‘Abusey Junction’, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.

1. Maisha - Inside The Acorn

2. Ezra Collective - Pure Shade

3. Moses Boyd - The Balance

4. Theon Cross - Brockley

5. Nubya Garcia - Once

6. Shabaka Hutchings - Black Skin, Black Masks

7. Triforce - Walls

8. Joe Armon-Jones - Go See

9. Kokoroko - Abusey Junction