G's Way
Patchwork

The Cool Feedback Quartet’s music is quite similar to a philharmonic orchestra manipulating new material: feedback, or in other words, the unexpected beauty of sound when it is let loose. Becoming its master so as to make the best use of it, like a new instrument, the guitar pick up plays again on request. Harmonizing sounds like a string section gone wild would, like light piercing through the ether, tearing up the background and taking us for good to unknown territory.The bandleader, Grégoire Garrigues, who first got the idea of the concept and got the ball to roll, is a well-known and respected French guitarist.Grégoire Garrigues: Guitars, Bass, Keys & Percussion / F. Robert Lloyd: Guitars / Morgan Lanoë: Bass / Jean-Bernard Lepape: Drums / Michel Guikovaty: Piano & Clavier / Jac Berrocal: Trumpet / Gilbert Artman: Bass Clarinet / Tullia Morand: Alto Saxophone / Pierre Mimran: Tenor Saxophone

In the early eighties, Edmond Mondésir, professor of philosophy and Léon Bertide, trade unionist, founded the Bèlènou group. They were actors of the great agricultural strike of 1974, which resulted in the death of two workers (Ilmany and Marie-Louise) and left many wounded. Activists of the patriotic movement Asé Pléré An Nou Lité (Stop crying, Fight), they were part of the identity and the cultural affirmation [la revendication identitaire et culturelle] of the time. Like the Guadeloupean musician Gérard Lockel and his work on the Gwo Ka, they put the Bèlè, in its traditional form, back in the spotlight during Swaré Bèlè (Bèlè nights). Minimalist and spiritual, a true rural ancestral art from Martinique, the Bèlè combines dance and music from responsorial monodies, which is a choir that responds to the lead singer (Respondè / La vwa dèyè), on codified drum rhythms and ti-bwa (2 sticks that hit the back of the drum or a piece of bamboo). It comes in a series of collective choreographies, working up into the trance. The texts are simple, short and tell the story of everyday life and struggle. While preserving the emotion and the drum’s central place, the fundamental contribution of Bèlènou is to keep the traditional form of Bèlè while adding a modern instrumentation: bass, guitar, saxophone, drums... Emosyon Tambou-a (Emotion of the Drum) was released in 1990. This third opus of the band expands the musical spectrum in harmonies, arrangements and influences to create a contemporary music anchored in the Bèlè matrix, while keeping the beat, the energy and ancestral roots of music. Bèlènou adapts some classic rhythms: Bélya, Gran Bèlè, Bèlè Pitjé or Ting-Bang rewritten here for an orchestra. With the appearance of long couplets and a complex harmonization of the choruses, Bèlènou's music brings a form of modernity, it opens notably to jazz territory as well as to other forms of music and grooves. Also, Bèlènou leaves the musicians with space for improvisation: not only on the saxophone or the guitar, but also with the drums (cleverly adaptating traditional rhythms to the drums). The texts sung in Creole are of a social nature, appealing to the solidarity and selfdenial of the people (“Bélya pou péyi-a”, “Tout pèp-la sanblé”), to the struggle for political emancipation towards a new democracy (“Wi ny ké rivé”, “Ni dé jou”, “Démokrasi”); land protection (Sové tè-a); finally, to the vitality of the Bèlè culture ... (“Emosyon Tambou-a”, “Dansé Ting-Bang”)... Culture participates, according to the expression of Aimé Césaire, as "Miraculous Weapons". Bèlènou sings a project of a new and united society.

This is a rare gem of a record from fantastic soul band THE SOUL KIDS stemming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including covers of James Brown & The Mighty Flames' hit singles "Lickin Stick" (1968), "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (1965), Wilson Pickett’s "Hey Jude" and a French vocal version of Otis Redding’s soul hit "Respect ".This amazing young band, which released only four 7inch singles and one album, is a great example of the influence of soul music and French pop bridging to the new Afro soul scene that the musicians of Kinshasa were involved in during the time of post-independence. Ngoma was one of the first record labels intent on providing local artists' recordings from both sides of the Congo river to the people of the DRC and West Africa. Created in 1948 by a Greek man by the name of Nicolas Jeronimidis, the Ngoma label was active through 1968, pressed in France until 1971, with a tremendous catalogue, including this historical and essential soul masterpiece!

Created in 2005, Trevor & Lisa is a Parisian Funk band founded by Sébastien Despicht (guitars, talk box) and Mikael Prignot (programming). With Stéphane Ugolini (keyboards) who joined them later on, they formed the core production trio of the group, helped around with various other talented musicians. Built for live shows, Trevor & Lisa has strongly toured the French and Parisian gigs scenes, with also numerous radio shows (Nova, Generations, Le Mouv, ...) or TV shows (France 4). Additionally they developed several collaborations, for example with famous soul diva Gwen McCrae (as her backing band) or with French singer Mounam (from The Dynamics) on “What Needs Mama” single. Meanwhile, Trevor & Lisa also produced two punchy 7inches released on Favorite Recordings and which could be considered as a preview to a long player.This first LP will finally be released early 2013 on Favorite Recordings, and it’s filled with the same contagious energy they gave off on their previous records and live shows. Clap ‘N' Hustle is like a call to dance, filled by a deep groove and boosted with relentless breakbeats and percussions. With an ambitious production, this first album has involved many talented musicians and many guest singers such as Jehro, US underground rappers Rita J, Raashan Ahmad and Clyde King Rap (Real Fake MC), his longtime mate DJ Suspect (The Funk League) at turntables, or Julien Tekeyan at percussions.The program for this Clap ‘n’ Hustle : instrumentals spiced up with burning breaks (Night Of The Wolf, Tango Hustle, ...), old-school rap influences (Soul Clap, Dope On Plastic, ...), a taste of Californian Blue-Eyed Soul (My Friend ...), some talk box and vocoder embellished with an incisive brass section, all of it punctuated with interludes made of finely selected samples. Finally, Liza Rose and Yann Kesz have brought up their personal touch for visuals, artwork and videos.We hope you’ll enjoy !!

Almost 2 years after the success of the album THE TONY ALLEN EXPERIMENTS and a few months after the release of the 7inch AMORE, Nu Genea (Nu Guinea) return to the scene with a new LP published by their newborn label NG RECORDS.After touring the world looking for sounds suitable for their vibrations, NU GENEA (Nu Guinea) decided to go back to square one, Napoli, where Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina were born and raised. They watched their city from a distance reconstructing its energy from their studio in Berlin, calibrating the synths on the meridian of Vesuvius, the volcano that has always protected and threatened Napoli.NUOVA NAPOLI is the result of a long musical research that has become a historical investigation on the sound that shaped Napoli during the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting from the contamination of genres (disco, jazz-funk, African rhythms) which ended up in Nu Genea’s DNA.In this album the synthesizers fill the spaces between the past and the future, tightening in a single body acoustic instruments, electronics and voices in Neapolitan dialect. It is the first time that the duo has worked with such a large group of musicians, some of whom are exponents of the contemporary Neapolitan scene.WARNING: We recommend listening to Nuova Napoli while walking in the alleys of Napoli’s historic center, around wet clothes hanging and street vendors on tiny three-wheelers.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Natureza, first album of Joao Selva. The story of Natureza is made of the meeting between two passionate artists who are Jonathan "Matuto" Da Silva and Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.Born and raised in Ipanema and son of a pastor, Jonathan Da Silva grew up in a community of ex-prisoners and converted artists. He made his first guitar notes before his 10th birthday, under the watchful eye of Wanda Sa (muse of the bossa nova), and influenced by a father who in addition to his work, was also a true music lover with a collection, where black music, rock and classical meet. From the age of 18, Jonathan began a life of entertainer, traveling the world to offer shows for disadvantaged children and intensively practicing the Brazilian traditional music arts (Capoeira Angola, Maracatu, Samba de Roda, Coco de Roda...). It was later in France and in Lyon that he put down his instruments. There he formed the trio Forro de Rebeca in 2008, touring the all country and winning many praise in media. The trio recently joined forces with American producer Maga Bo on the project Sociedade Recreativa, whose album was released in 2016 on The Jarring Effects label.Bruno Hovart is a recognized producer, multi-instrumentalist, and remixer. After passing through Angers, Birmingham and London, he’s based in Lyon since 2001. Bassist and guitarist for various bands, he switched to production in the mid-90s. Passionate about music and tireless creator, Bruno has practiced in almost every imaginable style, when it comes to groove music, collecting many aliases and projects for more than 10 years: Patchworks, Voilaaa, Uptown Funk Empire, Mr President, Taggy Matcher, Mr. Day, Hawa, John Milk, Lightnin 3, The Dynamics or Metropolitan Jazz Affair ... Nothing resists and escapes his talent and production skills. Thus, when he discovered and met Jonathan and his music, Bruno saw an immediate opportunity to broaden the spectrum of his discography a little more, by looking at Brazil.Beyond its traditional heritage, Brazil has always been a land of extremely varied music, influenced by the international scene. Soul, Jazz and American Pop did inspire many local stars such as Chico Buarque, Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, or Erasmo Carlos. Both fervent lovers of this movement and these names, it’s with the idea to pay them a faithful tribute, that Jonathan and Bruno began the Joao Selva adventure. Together they gave birth to Natureza and embark us for a trip into the heart of the Tropicalist Pop influences of Jorge Ben and Caetano Veloso, the intoxicating Funk of Tim Maia, and the social poetry of Vinicius de Moraes.