Category: jazz funk

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay The Offline Teams Up with Koralle on a Vibey and Laid-Back Remix of “Enfin, la paix”

Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer Felix Müller is the creative mastermind of the JOVM mainstay cinematic soul project The Offline. The Offline was deeply inspired and informed by Müller’s travels along the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing compositions as the sonic counterpart to his visuals.

The German-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix, and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film with themes and atypical song structures. Morning from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism, the album’s material incorporated elements of psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop — inspired by his extensive record collection.

2024’s Les Cigales saw the German-born JOVM mainstay building upon the head-nodding blend of hip-hop and 70s soul jazz that he developed on his debut with the effort’s material taking sonic cues from 1960s and 1970s film and TV scores, while nodding at Francois de Rouabix, David Axelrod, Surprise Chef and Robohands.

Last year, saw Müller release the live EP, The Offline In Session, which featured live renditions of some of his previously released work including “Théme de la couleur de la mer,” and “Cap Camarat.”

Interestingly, his forthcoming effort, Révisé is reportedly a look back into his growing catalog — but this time with the hip-hop and beatmaker ramped up. The effort will feature contributions from highly sought-after producers across the global, lo-fi hip-hop scene including, Koralle, Knowsum, Jake Milliner and 53 Keys, as well as rising underground emcees like SANITY, Summer Sons‘ TURT and Physical Graffiti.

“One of my main motivations for The Offline project was to create a modern version of television and film music from the 60s and 70s, with an analog touch reminiscent of the old funk and jazz albums that hip-hop artists used to sample,” Müller explains. “After releasing several albums an [sic] EPs, the idea arose to change perspective and look at the music from the point of view of hip-hop artists and beatmakers, leading to the remix project Révisé.”

Révisé‘s lead single, sees Müller team up with Italian producer Koralle on a remix of Le couleur de la mer album track, “Enfin, la paix.” The Koralle remix adds anecdotes a laid-back, lounge/headphone hip-hop feel with congo, boom bap beats and dub-inspired textures paired with the original’s twinkling and reverb-soaked Rhodes, Müller’s soulful and psychedelic guitar lines and sun soaked vibes. The remix is perfect for that Chill Out/Make Out/Daydream playlist you’re thinking of.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jerk Returns with Funky and Soulful “alarmed”

Prolific Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Joni Kinney is the creative mastermind behind, the rising recording project Jerk. And with Jerk, Kinney has released five albums and several EPs that feature a sound that draws from J. Dilla, Madlib, Patrice Rushen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Louis Cole, Knower, and Roller Trio. Never content with just music as a creative output, Kinney is also an avid writer and video essayist. 

Late last year, the Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist released the first part of a two EP narrative cycle, as night falls. The two EP cycle sees Kinney using the project’s sound into new territories, taking listeners on a journey through a fusion of electronic influences, midnight funk and forward-thinking jazz. 

as day breaks, the second EP of the narrative cycle is slated for a May 15, 2026 release through DeepMatter Records. as day breaks EP will see a limited vinyl release, alongside last year’s as night falls. 

While the first EP of the cycle explored the darker side of human nature through a blend of midnight funk and electronic-tinged jazz, as day breaks, which was created with long-time friend and collaborator Martine Wade, is a journey through daylight anchored around uplifting, soulful, instrumentals paired with house grooves, breakbeats, bird song and the sounds of NYC. “This joint album project is the essence of Jerk — neither day nor night, but something more ethereal,” Kinney explains.

as day breaks EP will include the swaggering, funky “steppin’ out,” the slow-burning and meditative “wait,” and the EP’s final pre-release single “alarmed.” “alarmed is a Bob James-like bit of jazz funk that opens with a intro that evokes the beginning of the day with a bop-like strutting opening before morphing into a free-flowing improvisational section with a soulful and explosive sax solo from Kinney.

“The track is made up of two distinct sections, with an A section meant to evoke those first moments of consciousness, as well as a B section meant to evoke the baggage we all carry day to day,” Kinney says of the new single.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Black History Month: Thundercat

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms continues his annual celebration of Black History Month with Thundercat.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Atabasca Shares Ethereal and Dreamy “Kundela Mawedi”

Italian trio Atabasca — Luca Mongia (guitar, lap steel, keys, vocals), Paolo Mazzioti (bass, keys, vocals) and Valerio Pompei (drums, percussion, vocals) — features three highly accomplished musicians, who over the course of the past 20 yers have made names for themselves individually on the national and international scene.

Formed back in 2023, the trio got together to create a project that merges experience, experimentation and creative freedom. The trio’s sound moves through jazz-funk, world music and film scores while weaving together elements of Afrobeat, desert and psychedelic influences into a personal and timeless musical language. Each composition manages to set a scene with each sound, each chord is a fragment of a world. Ultimately, their work is a dream-like journey between reality and imagination seamlessly blend.

Atabaca’s self-titled debut is slated for a March 27, 2026 release through Rome-based Killer Groove Records. “Kundela Mawedi,” the album’s second and latest single is an ethereal and slinky tune anchored around shimmering pedal steel, jazz-like four-on-the-floor and twinkling keys that evokes the sensation a psilocybin trip in a tropical paradise.

The accompanying video for “Kundela Mawedi” follows the trio as each individual member skateboards, rollerblades and/or bikes their way through the Italian countryside while they goof off. The video captures the trio’s easy-going, playful chemistry.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 84th Birthday, Maurice White!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of the birth Earth Wind & FIre’s Maurice White.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jerk Shares Slinky, Chilled-Out “stealthy, she moves!”

Prolific Brooklyn-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Kinney is the creative mastermind behind Jerk. And with Jerk, Kinney has released five albums and several EPs that has seen him craft a sound that draws from J. Dilla, Madlib, Patrice Rushen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Louis Cole, Knower, and Roller Trio. Never content with just music as a creative output, Kinney is also an avid writer and video essayist.

Kinney will be releasing the first part of a two EP narrative cycle, continuing the rollout of as night falls. Slated for a November 14, 2025 release through DeepMatter Records, the two EP cycle reportedly sees Kinney pushing his solo project’s sound into new territories, taking listeners on a journey through a single night while exploring the darker side of human nature through a fusion of electronic influences, midnight funk and forward-thinking jazz.

Created with long-time friend and collaborator Martine Wade (drums), the EP is the follow-up to last year’s Mood Swings, which received airplay from BBC 6 Music’s Huey Morgan and Jazz FM’s Tony Minvielle.

The EP’s latest single, the Wyatt Rydleweski (bass) co-written “stealthy, she moves!,” is a slinky bit of chilled-out and groovy, 70s jazz-fusion-inspired funk jazz that — to my ears, at least — manages to recall JOVM mainstays Mildlife and Confusions-era L’Eclair, but with an earthier, grittier quality. “In our journey through the night, this is the soundtrack to those that must move without trace,” Kinney says of the new single.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Moscow’s The Diasonics Shares Mind-Bending “Oriole”

Formed back in 2019, Moscow-based instrumental soul quintet The Diasonics — Daniel Lutsenko (guitar), Kamil Gazizov (keys), Maksim Brusov (bass), Anton Moskvin (drums) and newest member Alexander Shingaling (percussion) — quickly gained cult status through […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: L’Eclair return with Trippy House Banger “VERTIGO”

With recorded output that includes 2018’s full-length debut, Polymood, 2019’s Sauropoda, 2020’s Noshtta EP and 2021’s Confusions, the acclaimed Swiss-based group L’Eclair, founded and led by Bulgarian-born siblings Stef and Yavov Lilov established a sound centered around mind-bending, cosmic grooves.

Along with two live sessions for KEXP, which amassed over 900,000 views combined, the Swiss-based group have built up an international following, while landing on the playlists of adventurous listeners and DJs seeking deep grooves.

L’Eclair’s fourth album Cloud Drifter is slated for a June 20, 2025 release through Innovative Leisure. Meticulously crafted over the last four years, Cloud Drifter is a decided departure from the group’s signature instrumental music, with the album’s material featuring vocal contributions from a wide array of frequent collaborators they’ve worked with over the past few years, including Pink Slifu, Girl Named GOLDEN, Gelli Haha, A Ghost Column, and more.

Having toured with The Cinematic Orchestra and W.I.T.C.H. — including writing and recording W.I.T.C.H.’s 2023 effort Zango and The Cinematic Orchestra’s forthcoming album this year, as well as production work with Varnish La Piscine and Maston, the Lilov brothers have assembled a vast network of likeminded musicians. And across the entire album, they keenly curate a cohesive vision incorporating many disparate contributions. 

Earlier this month, I wrote about Cloud Drifter‘s first single “ODESSOS,” which featured Phoebe Coco‘s and A Ghost Column’s ethereal vocals paired with twinkling and oscillating synths and a dub-inspired motorik groove. While being one of the most club friendly songs the acclaimed Swiss outfit has ever released, “ODESSOS” is a bold, sonic left turn that retains the group’s long-held penchant for crafting mind-bending, expansive grooves. And perhaps more than ever, the track manages to convey the freewheeling, improvisation-driven and infectious energy of their live shows.

“VERTIGO,” Cloud Drifter‘s second and latest single is synth-driven, deep house instrumental that sounds like a synthesis of the material off 2021’s Confusions, Larry Levan-era house and krautrock, anchored around the Swiss unerring knack for hooks and mind-bending groove.

Edited by VVIDEO, the accompanying video for “VERTIGO” is a mix of kaleidoscopic and fittingly hallucinogenic imagery and footage of the band performing the song lie — sometimes simultaneously.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Offline Performs “Cap Camarat”

Felix Müller is a Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer and creative mastermind behind the cinematic soul project The Offline. Müller can trace the origins of The Offline to his travels along the the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing compositions as the sonic counterpart to his visuals. 

The German-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix — and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film. The album’s material evoked images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the ocean’s edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of the imaginary film’s hero. The album also saw the German artist experimenting with themes and atypical song structures, moving from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism while incorporating psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop, inspired by and informed by his extensive record collection. 

Last year’s Les Cigales EP built upon the head-nodding blend of hip-hop and 70s soul jazz the German-born artist developed on La couleur de la mer. Sonically, the EP’s material took sonic cues from the structure of film and TV music from the 1960s and 1960s, channelled long-time influences of film composers like Francois de Rouabix and David Axelrod while also seemingly sitting between the chilled out, summery grooves of Surprise Chef and Robohands. As the EP unwinds, its narrative reflects a love story full of longing, melancholy and drama, connecting with the story of Cyptis and Protis — the founding myth of Marseilles — whose love broke convention and welcomed the arrival of foreigners on French soil. 

2025 has seen Müller release live renditions of two previously released songs — “Théme de la couleur de la mer and his latest single “Cap Camarat,” which will appear on the live EP, The Offline In Session slated for a May 27, 2025 release through DeepMatter Records. Both of these singles originally appear on Müller’s 2023 full-length debut, and fittingly, the live rendition will remind listeners of the German-based artist’s uncanny knack for sleek craftsmanship paired with his long-held penchant for funky yet cinematic-inspired compositions.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Philly’s Jaco Jaco Shares Vibey “I Won’t Bother”

Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based musician and visual artist Jacob Theriot’s career began in earnest when he began writing and recording music in grade school with his brother and childhood friend. Those early efforts led to the acclaimed indie outfit Sports. 

After three albums and several international tours, Theriot decided to step out into the spotlight as as solo artist and relocated to Philadelphia, where he began to explore and meld a variety of different genres and visual mediums with his current creative project Jaco Jaco.

Theriot’s Jaco Jaco sophomore album Gremlin is slated for a March 21, 2025 release. Gremlin is a reportedly playful album that isn’t directly inspired by 1984’s Joe Dante-directed Gremlins but manages to honor the movie’s use of kitsch and camp to explore a prevailing mood of irreverence and introspection. “This record came from a somewhat confused and lonely state of mind,” Theriot explains. “It’s a journey through reflection and longing for something real—an inner dialogue giving me advice on navigating life when it feels like it’s working against you.”

So far I’ve written about two album singles:

  • “Favorite Kind of People,” a seamless synthesis of Thundercat and 70s jazz fusion/jazz funk with the breeziness of Bossa Nova anchored around a strutting bass line, rapid-fire four-on-the-floor, twinkling bursts of Rhodes and shimmering guitar.  “‘Favorite Kind of People’ came out of a phase where I was into some classic Brazilian jazz-funk,” Theriot explained. “I can’t remember which song it was exactly, but I translated the lyrics and loved how simple and earnest they felt. The translation was probably off, but it inspired me to write something direct and real—about just being present with people and not overthinking everything.” 

  • “Woman” a slow-burning and meditative synthesis of Quiet Storm-like R&B/funk and Steely Dan-like AM rock anchored around a slippery, a slick bass line, bursts of glistening synths paired with Theriot’s plaintive delivery. The song’s lyrics are abstract, but behind that abstraction, Theriot tackles something deeper: The song explores the complexities and nuances of human relationships. According to the Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based artist, it’s a meditation on honesty and acceptance, being real with yourself, and being real with your partner. “‘Woman’ was one of those rare, serendipitous type songs that just kinda happened,” Theriot says. “Everything fell into place pretty quick, lyrics and all. I played guitar along to some random breakbeat and out came the guitar riff(s). I was big into Black Messiah (D’Angelo) at the time, so that influence may have seeped in a bit, maybe? No comparison though, of course. I just wanna be like Pino Palladino when I grow up.”

Gremlin‘s third and latest single “I Won’t Bother” is a vibey Tame Impala-meets-Bobby Oroza-like Quiet Storm like number featuring shimmering Rhodes, skittering boom-bap-like rhythms paired with Theriot’s dreamy falsetto.

“I Won’t Bother” is a warm track about coming to terms with life’s impermanence, learning to accept what you can’t control, and taking care of your inner child,” the Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based artist explains.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Black History Month/Happy 82nd Birthday, Maceo Parker!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and Maceo Parker’s 82nd birthday.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jaco Jaco Shares Meditative Yet Soulful “Woman”

Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based musician and visual artist Jacob Theriot’s career began in earnest when he began writing and recording music in grade school with his brother and childhood friend. Those early efforts led to the acclaimed indie outfit Sports.

After three albums and several international tours, Theriot decided to step out into the spotlight as as solo artist, relocating to Philadelphia, where he began to explore and meld a variety of different genres and visual mediums with his current creative project Jaco Jaco.

Theriot’s Jaco Jaco debut, Splat was released early last year. His Jaco Jaco sophomore album Gremlin is slated for a March 21, 2025 release. Gremlin is a reportedly playful album that isn’t directly inspired by Gremlins but manages to honor the movie’s use of kitsch and camp to explore a prevailing mood of irreverence and introspection. “This record came from a somewhat confused and lonely state of mind,” Theriot explains. “It’s a journey through reflection and longing for something real—an inner dialogue giving me advice on navigating life when it feels like it’s working against you.”

Now, if you were frequenting this site late last year, you might recall that Theriot closed out the year with “Favorite Kind of People,” a seamless synthesis of Thundercat and 70s jazz fusion/jazz funk with the breeziness of Bossa Nova that’s anchored around a strutting bass line, rapid-fire four-on-the-floor, twinkling bursts of Rhodes and shimmering guitar.

“‘Favorite Kind of People’ came out of a phase where I was into some classic Brazilian jazz-funk,” Theriot explained. “I can’t remember which song it was exactly, but I translated the lyrics and loved how simple and earnest they felt. The translation was probably off, but it inspired me to write something direct and real—about just being present with people and not overthinking everything.” 

Slated for a March 21, Gremlin is a reportedly playful album that isn’t directly inspired by Gremlins but manages to honor the movie’s use of kitsch and camp to explore a prevailing mood of irreverence and introspection. “This record came from a somewhat confused and lonely state of mind,” Theriot explains. “It’s a journey through reflection and longing for something real—an inner dialogue giving me advice on navigating life when it feels like it’s working against you.”

Gremlin‘s second and latest single “Woman” is a slow-burning and meditative synthesis of Quiet Storm-like R&B/funk and Steely Dan-like AM rock anchored around a slippery, a slick bass line, bursts of glistening synths paired with Theriot’s plaintive delivery.

The song’s lyrics are abstract, but behind that abstraction, Theriot tackles something deeper: The song explores the complexities and nuances of human relationship. According to the Tulsa-born, Philadelphia-based artist, it’s a meditation on honesty and acceptance, being real with yourself, and being real with your partner.

“‘Woman’ was one of those rare, serendipitous type songs that just kinda happened,” Theriot says. “Everything fell into place pretty quick, lyrics and all. I played guitar along to some random breakbeat and out came the guitar riff(s). I was big into Black Messiah (D’Angelo) at the time, so that influence may have seeped in a bit, maybe? No comparison though, of course. I just wanna be like Pino Palladino when I grow up.”

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Maurice White!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 83rd anniversary of Maurice White’s birth.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, Grover Washington, Jr.

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 81st anniversary of Grover Washington, Jr.’s birth.