This has been resting in my bookmark folder for a while. PinBoard informs us that one of our favourite jazzy beatmakers Eric Lau has a new EP called Kilawatt. The opener features the vocal talent of Muhsinah, Kaidi Tatham and Oddisee! Deep jazzy beats!

The Internet is shaken today with news that one half of Gangstarr and jazzy hip-hop originator Guru has suffered a cardiac arrest and is currently in a coma. Our thoughts and prayers are with Guru, hoping he pulls through.

Prefixmag reports :

Keith “Guru” Elam, a former member of the rap duo Gang Starr, is in a coma at a New York-area hospital after suffering cardiac arrest on Sunday. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday. Much is uncertain, but HipHopDX reports that his condition is critical.

Canadian afrobeat upcomers Souljazz Orchestra has a new offering on our favorites Strut, called Rising Sun. We’ve covered their previous albums on Toronto’s Do Right! here on undomondo, and enjoyed their part in the new wave of afrobeat revival, yet it’s safe to say that the orchestra hasn’t reached that fine point of diversity until Rising Sun which effectively marks them as a soulful afro/jazz combo. Especially like the Build an Ark-ish cosmic / spiritual soul love on some tracks. Make sure you don’t miss their European tour!

The tracks themselves flow as a sinuous whole. The reflective intro overture, Awakening, originally came to composer Pierre Chrétien in a dream; the hard Afrobeat of Agbara whips up a heavyweight groove, driven by prepared marimbas rather than traditional electric guitar lines; Negus Negast touches on dark Ethio-jazz, inspired by Strut label-mate Mulatu Astatke; Lotus Flower is a spiritual soul-jazz piece featuring the muted trumpet stylings of guest Nicholas Dyson (musician with Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Temptations and The Coasters); Mamaya moves us into heavy 12/8 Afro-jazz territory, based around traditional Guinean rhythms; the more laid back 12/8 Afro-jazz of Serenity features the flute and clarinet work of multi-instrumentalist Zakari Frantz; Consecration explores modal territory, a track composed during the very early days of the group; and the album closes with Rejoice, a storming cover in two parts of the Pharoah Sanders’ 1981 classic.

WFMU recently copped Black Ant’s Free Beats Vol. 3 for Free Music Archive. Short beat sketches from this wild Hollywood, Florida youngin’. He’s quite prolific too, makin’ beats like tomorrow! You can get more beats from his myspace for 5 bux. Support this guy!

The tragedy at Haiti has struck all of us, with 150.000 dead and 200.000 left under collapsed buildings, it’s one of the highest tolls ever, surpassing even Hiroshima. Aids from all around the world and all walks of life are pouring in and I’m proud to inform you that the ticket sales from this weekend’s Bibi Tanga & The Selenites gig at GHETTO Istanbul will proceed to Haiti.

Bassist and vocalist Bibi Tanga has recently formed a new band and is getting a lot of attention, thanks to his p-funky bass grooves and acid jazz vibes, with nods to Curtis Mayfield, Roy Ayers, and the afro-funk tradition of Keziah Jones. Don’t forget, this saturday at GHETTO!

“Dunya (existence in Sango) still offers this fresh iconoclastic Parisian ‘take’ on groove that made the previous album so different from the rest of the world’s funk production. Afro-rhythms in Sango alternate with laidback folk tunes in English and electro tinged soulful songs to form a coherent piece of work that is a great sum-up of this band’s cosmopolitan Parisian experience from the arty South Bank of the Seine to the rough sides of the suburbs.”

Happy birthday dear Muzo B!

You do not need a gifted ear to differentiate between Julien Dyne and countless hustling contemporaries of his. Most of the latter’s mistakes in life come either from trying to get in front of their music, or basically sounding cheap as hell. New Zealand native’s debut full length Pins & Digits falls in neither trap, and for that remains a winner. The aesthetic balance and the refined quality of the songs grip you right from the start and for 14 songs doesn’t falter in any way. Modern, soulful and urban beats & jazzy vibes, coming from sunny Auckland but can come from any urban part of the world as it communicates a shared metropolitan aesthetic. Has much in common with the neosoul of Theo Parrish, Recloose, Sa-Ra, Mark de Clive-Lowe and others, so you better check him out if you dig these fellas.

Another release from the mysterious Clutchy Hopkins this year, it seems the guy can’t be stopped. Once again a collaboration with British American producer Shawn Lee (who happens to be residing in Britain) another artist who can do no wrong. Don’t know if there’s any news on who Clutchy Hopkins, and I certainly don’t want another Burial occasion, but I can’t stop thinking they are the same person. Anyway, the album is not hell of a different from their debut Clutch of the Tiger. Cinematic melodies, drum breaks, solid musicianship. The go-to album when you just want to put on something feel good and make it linger in the background. Don’t mean that in a bad way, I should add. 3.5/5

UK producer Dom Stanton aka Domu announces that he has quit making music :

The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed. If any of you want to talk to me and know me well enough to have my mobile number then that is still the same, and please feel free to call any time. My other email address I mail from occasionally is still open to tie up any loose ends.

The urban dance community is shaken with this emotional final letter from Domu :

I have had an amazing time. I’ve travelled the world, drank and partied and made a decent living out of entertaining people throughout all of my 20’s. I met some incredible people in cities I never dreamed I would visit, shared my thoughts and collected wisdom from a huge range of deeply profound and lovely people. But I have also met some real arseholes, and I could feel I was becoming one.

We thank him for all the music. Hope he sorts everything up in his life.

Mostly new jazzy beats & breaks from :

Opener from Ann Arbor Michigan beatmaker and occasional FlyLo collaborator Sam Baker aka SAMIYAM’s new EP Man and Machine, with clanky slack beats. Buy from Boomkat.

The first Poo-Bah release of ‘09 is given over to the excellent Samiyam under the coordination of cosmic trooper Ras G. ‘Man vs. Machine’ follows up his recent Hyperdub killer with one of the best examples of the LA beat scene we’ve heard this year, featuring Samiyam in a purely esoteric mode, shaping seven woozy analog bumpers with a blend of stop-starting 8-bit edit techniques, booming bass drops and that skunked-out LA slacker character that defines so much of his work.

London beatmakers Obba Supa’s To:AM Free:AM, which went largely unnoticed until I gave them a second chance yesterday and clicked with it.

The diabolical rhyme dynamics of Teknical Developments lyrics paired with beats cloaked in a blue cheese fog of THTC from Hey!zeus dwell and celebrate in the time of A.M. A time which reveals the full existence of the human cypher in its entirety, From the crooked corrupt cloaked by its shadows to the optimism of dreams and a new days break. TO.AM is a dedication to the time FREE.AM is an experiment in the freedoms of the infant hours Two separate organism from the same body of concept naturally evolved from late night studio sessions all past the hour of midnight.

Hull City producer Pat D’s new full length on A Bridge Too Far Recordings called “Soulscapes & Jazz Breaks“. Collaboration with Lady Paradox as the MC, crisp jazzy beats and oldschool breaks on this one.

And an alltime classic from AFTA-1’s 2008 release Aftathoughts Vol. 1 “Quest”