Gétatchèw Mèkurya
Ethiopian Urban Modern Music Vol.5

Habibi Funk 023: Marzipan by Charif MegarbaneHabibi Funk is excited to share “Marzipan” — our first full length contemporary release courtesy of Beirut’s multi-instrumental producer phenomenon Charif Megarbane. The LP is a journey into Charif’s styling, one he terms “Lebrary”: a vision of Lebanon and the Mediterranean expressed via the prismatic sonics of library music. Drawing influence from artists that encapsulates the Habibi Funk sound such as Ziad Rahbani, Ahmed Malek and Issam Hajali, Charif translates these influences into an LP that is equally at home in ’23.

Sharp-Flat Records presents the long-awaited restoration of The Broadway Quintet's cult classic Amalume – a hypnotic concoction of traditional Zambian sounds and jazz-rock grooves with a twist of 1970s African psychedelia.Emerging to serve the entertainment needs of Zambia's United National Independence Party (UNIP) in the early 1960s, The Broadway Quintet gathered seasoned talent from Lusaka's best hotel bands to fashion its esteemed lineup. Starting as a quartet and later evolving into a quintet, the group's career spanned over twenty years as favourites on the cabaret circuit and boasted a myriad of prestigious collaborations.The Broadway Quintet's jazz sensibilities set them apart from the rock sound that dominated the music landscape of the 1970s. Yet the formula behind Zamrock, fusing indigenous Zambian sounds with Western pop, shaped their one and only 1976 long-player. Featuring modern arrangements of traditional songs, Amalume blended congas with sax sounds, folk lyrics with electric keyboard shenanigans and show business staples with jazz guitar noodling. With its psychedelic fever dream illustrated cover, it was an explosive package of "originality and electrifying beauty" as the album's liner notes rightly attested.Released on the Zambezi label, Amalume joined an exceptional run of mid-1970s offerings alongside WITCH, Ricky Banda and Crossbones. Officially licensed, carefully restored and beautifully reproduced, Zambia's most requested reissue has finally returned for everybody to enjoy.

Jazzaggression · Christian Reim Sextet MONA LISA Molde 73 SnippetsAn amazing loft tape find of a Norwegian Jazz concert suite taped at Molde Jazz Festival 1973, Christian Reim’s sextet MONA LISA features Norway’s top jazzmen at the time: Christian Reim on Piano, Calle Neumann on alto and soprano sax, Knut Riisnæs on tenor sax, Ditleff Eckhoff on trumpet, Terje Venaas on bass and Espen Rud on drums. It’s a rollercoaster post-bop showcase with influences from modal and spiritual jazz with folk undertones and pop psychedelia, one of a kind, never previously released. Limited to 500 copies.