Posted by mersenne

April 25

Nostalgia 77

As promised a few posts ago here’s the spanking new new LP from Benedic Lamdin aka Nostalgia 77. It’s a shame I haven’t listened to his previous efforts, nor have I heard that he has won the Jazz Album Of The Year at the BBC Radio One Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards. I first heard of his name a few months ago with his Nostalgia 77 Octet project which had a more free jazz vibe. “Everything Under The Sun” is more accessible, yet not your run of the mill nujazz / lounge or a nominee for the next Cafe del Mar series.

Both of the songs here are great examples of quality nujazz, a la Nicole Conte, a drumbeat infested with ride hits and lush piano chords, where “Dreamers Dance” has a great brass line with a spectacular melody that’s been stuck in my head well over a week and “Stop to make a change” has the vocal talent of Lizzy Parks and her witty and inspirational lines like

“you could take a tablet, see a doctor or a shrink / you could hit the reefer, the needle or a drink / stop right there you wanna make a change / listen here then you will start to recognize / that there ain’t only one way to start a new beginning”

There’s one more Lizzy Parks song the opener Wildflower which I’ve played on the radioshow. Such a classy album we’ve got here and if you liked last years Nomo album, or normally enjoy acts like Koop or Quantic you’ll be overwhelmed by the quality of the music and also the production which is by Mike Pelanconi who surprisingly(?) has also produced Lily Allen’s debut LP.

The third and the last track is from the Nostalgia 77 Octetproject which as I said is spiritual free jazz a la Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra. Here’s a discography.

Nostalgia 77 on Myspace
Review by Pop Matters
Review by Cool Hunting
Download from Emusic.
Buy from Soul Seduction.

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