Daniel Casimir - Boxed In (November 5, 2021 jazz re:freshed)

London-based composer/bassist, Daniel Casimir returns with his solo debut album Boxed In, a dynamic collision of pulsing modern jazz & orchestral instrumentation.

Featuring Casimir’s quintet of fellow British jazz luminaries, including Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, Al Macsween & James Copus, Boxed In astutely bridges traditional and contemporary jazz forms with enveloping strings, woodwind & brass arrangements, but under its intricate musical surface seeks to confront some necessary hard truths.

1. Safe (Part 1) 07:07

2. Boxed In

3. New Waters

4. Your Side

5. Safe (Part 2)

6. Get Even

7. Safe (Part 3)

8. Into the Truth

9. The Truth

10. Rewind the Time

11. Outro

_Quintet_

Daniel Casimir – Double Bass

Moses Boyd – Drums

Al Macsween – Keys

Nubya Garcia – Tenor Saxophone

James Copus – Trumpet

_Brass_

Sean Gibbs – Trumpet

Andy Davies - Trumpet

Tom Dunnet – Trombone

Rosie Turton – Trombone

_Woodwind_

Faye MacCalman – Clarinet

Samuel Rapley – Clarinet

Gareth Lockrane – Flute

_Strings_

Julia Dos Reis – Viola

Miranda Lewis – Cello

Rebekah Reid – Violin

Rhiannon Dimond – Violin

Vocals

Ria Moran

Mixed

David Wehinm

Mastered

John Webber

Engineered

Giles Barrett

PREORDER

Chris Maddock Quartet - The Hunt (October 15, 2021 Ubuntu Music)

The band's debut release through Ubuntu Music, 'The Hunt' is a contemporary, groovy take on the classic Hammond Organ-driven rhythm section, featuring the original compositions and arrangements of saxophonist and bandleader Chris Maddock.

1. Emily

2. The Hunt

3. Song of Myself

4. At Least He Never Walked

All compositions by Chris Maddock apart from Track 01 Emily (Mercer/Mandel)

Chris Maddock: alto and tenor saxophones

Liam Dunachie: Hammond organ

Tobie Carpenter: Guitar

Edward Richardson: Drums

Daniel Casimir: Double Bass (track 4 only)

Recorded by Lester Salmins at The Bunker, March 2020

Mixed by John Prestage

Mastered by Cicely Balston at AIR Studios

Artwork by Daniel Strange

Producer: Martin Hummel

PREORDER

Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings (INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM RECORDING October 26, 2018)

Paris-born, New England-raised, long-time Chicago-residing Makaya McCraven has been at the forefront of genre-redefining movements in jazz since 2015, when he introduced the world to his unique brand of ‘organic beat music’ on the breakout album In The Moment. Culled, cut, post-produced & re-composed by Makaya using recordings of free improvisation he collected over dozens of live sessions in Chicago, through incubation & experimentation In The Moment established a procedural blueprint that he has since been sharpening & developing. 

Honing this process on narrower sets of source material, Makaya followed up In The Moment with 2 mixtape releases – 2017’s Highly Rare, a lo-fi free-jazz-meets-hip-hop suite he made from a live 4-track recording, and June 2018’s Where We Come From (CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape), which he produced using live recordings from London jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (captured at a showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON). 

Now, after 4+ years of refining his approach, Makaya McCraven puts forth an ambitious new work – Universal Beings – a culmination of concepts conceived by In The Moment, and his most elegant & articulated work yet.

Spurred by a desire to connect with old friends & new collaborators in places where similar spirits & diasporic jazz innovations are thriving, Makaya worked with International Anthem across late 2017 & early 2018 to setup intimate live sessions in New York & Chicago, and pop-up “studio” sessions in London & Los Angeles. Though the contexts and logistics were D.I.Y. (as they almost always are with IARC), the friends & friends-of-friends that Makaya was able to enlist are top tier players across the board. Some might call them super groups of “new” jazz musicians from their respective cities, with Makaya as a common denominator. But more importantly, collectively they make an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018. 

Physically spanning national & international borders to create an album that musically spans deep spiritual jazz meditations, pulsing post-bop grooves & straight-ahead boom-bap, Makaya McCraven defies the simplifications of revisionism & regionalism while celebrating the sounds, settings & stories that define the provenance of his work. Universal Beings projects an all-encompassing message of unity, peace & power by embracing transcendence in all its expressions.

1. A Queen's Intro

2. Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger)

3. Young Genius (feat. Joel Ross)

4. Black Lion (feat. Dezron Douglas) 02:56

5. Tall Tales (feat. Tomeka Reid)

6. Mantra

7. Pharaoh's Intro

8. Atlantic Black 09:10

9. Inner Flight

10. Wise Man, Wiser Woman (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)

11. Prosperity's Fear (feat. Junius Paul)

12. Flipped OUT

13. Voila (feat. Daniel Casimir)

14. Suite Haus (feat. Nubya Garcia)

15. The Newbies Lift Off (feat. Ashley Henry)

16. The Royal Outro

17. The Count Off (feat. Carlos Niño)

18. Butterss's (feat. Anna Butterss)

19. Turtle Tricks (feat. Jeff Parker)

20. The Fifth Monk

21. Brighter Days Beginning (feat. Josh Johnson)

22. Universal Beings (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)

Tracks 1-6 (New York Side) recorded live @ H0L0,

Ridgewood, Queens, NY, August 29th, 2017.

Brandee Younger (harp)

Joel Ross (vibraphone)

Tomeka Reid (cello)

Dezron Douglas (double bass)

Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 7-11 (Chicago Side) recorded live @ Co-Prosperity Sphere,

Bridgeport, Chicago, IL, September 2nd, 2017.

*Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone)

Tomeka Reid (cello)

Junius Paul (double bass)

Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 12-16 (London Side) recorded @ Total Refreshment Studios,

Stoke Newington, London, UK, October 19th, 2017.

Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone)

**Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano)

Daniel Casimir (double bass)

Makaya McCraven (drums)

Tracks 17-22 (Los Angeles Side) recorded @ Jeff Parker's house,

Altadena, Los Angeles County, CA, January 30th, 2018.

Josh Johnson (alto saxophone)

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin)

Jeff Parker (guitar)

Anna Butterss (double bass)

Carlos Niño (percussion)

Makaya McCraven (drums)

*Shabaka Hutchings appears courtesy of Verve Label Group

**Ashley Henry appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited

Recorded & Mixed by David Allen & Dave Vettraino

Artwork by Damon Locks

Insert Portrait by Fabrice Bourgelle

Insert Design by Craig Hansen

Produced by Makaya McCraven

Executive Production by Scott McNiece

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

Daniel Casimir - Escapee (jazzre:freshed 2017)

Award winning bassist and composer Dan Casimir has become a regular fixture within the UK jazz scene providing his heavy weight upright sound for the likes of Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ashley Henry, Camilla George and Nubya Garcia to name a few. 

Dan Casimir plays with passion and power that shines through not only in his compositions but also in the energy he brings to his live performances. 

The Musicians’ Company, recently awarded Daniel the Young Jazz Musician Award 2016-2017 which spurred him on to recording his forthcoming EP ‘Escapee’ which is coming out on the jazz re:freshed imprint in April. 

‘Escapee’ features fellow rising stars on the scene, Moses Boyd, Joe Armon-Jones, Shirley Tetteh and features vocalist Tess Hirst.

1. Escapee 07:12

2. Really For Always 06:21

3. Cable St. 05:46

4. Tell Me When 05:43

5. Close And Slow 04:47

Written by: Dan Casimir & Tess Hirst 

Performers: 

Tess Hirst, Vocals 

Shirley Tetteh, Guitar 

Joe Armon-Jones, Keyboard 

Moses Boyd, Drums 

Dan Casimir, Double Bass