JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 104th anniversary of the birth of Charles Mingus.
Tag: instrumental
New Audio: rhythmspitter Shares Vibey “Candle Magic”
San Francisco-based musician, composer, producer Michael Mosley is best known for playing bass in Red Thread Theory and for being the creative mastermind behind the JOVM mainstay act rhythmspitter. With rhythmspitter, Mosley explores instrumental indie rock and lo-fi beat-driven material that draws from an eclectic array of sources, including Bill Laswell’s Material and Jah Wobble‘s Invaders of the Heart.
Mosley weaves together a rich tapestry of instruments and rhythms from across the world into a meticulously crafted composition that provides a chill and captivating vibe that’s entrancing. His work seeks to break down barriers and introduce audiences to a world of sonic exploration that they may not have encountered before, while opening minds to the beauty of different styles, instruments and sounds.
Earlier this month, the JOVM mainstay released his full-length debut, Cosmological Exigency and the Astrological Paradigm. The album’s latest single “Candle Magic” is a vibey, meditative track featuring hypnotic, Middle Eastern-inspired percussion and shimmering reverb-soaked guitar that seemingly channels experimental jazz and New Age while being lounge friendly and remarkably accessible.
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.
New Audio: Blue Earth Sound Shares Meditative and Hypnotic “Chartreuse”
Blue Earth County, Minnesota-born, Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and composer James Weir is the creative mastermind behind the instrumental project Blue Earth Sound. Named after his birthplace, Blue Earth Sound sees Weir blending cinematic jazz, soul and psychedelic textures into rich, atmospheric soundscapes that reflect a sense of place and his collaborative approach to creating music.
Weir’s Blue Earth Sound debut, last year’s Cicero Nights was released by Root Records to praise from Clash Magazine and airplay from BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music and KEXP. The album consisted of eight, immersive compositions inspired by late-night city wanderings, and recorded with a cast of Chicago-based players including International Anthem engineer Dave Vettraino and Resavoir‘s Will Miller (trumpet).
Weir’s forthcoming The St. Louis Sessions EP will feature a collection of recordings documenting a spontaneous creative moment shared between friends and collaborators in the newly built, St. Louis-based home studio of drummer and long-time collaborator Austin LeMoine.
Weir brought a handful of demos to LeMoine’s home studio to experiment and workshop. “Austin was hip to the some local brass players, Jawaad Spaan and Josiah Burton, from the St. Louis scene that we invited over for experimental session tracked in his living room. After bonding over shared taste [sic] and drinks, we recorded the horn takes live together over my demos,” the Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist explains.
As it turns out, the relaxed but inspired sessions unfolded with the recordings capturing the warmth and spontaneity of musicians sharing a room, following their instincts and balancing hypnotic grooves, dusty Wurlitzer tones and soul-tinged arrangements with moments of late-night reflection. And as a result, the EP is a more intimate snapshot of the project in motion, with material moving fluidity between improvisation and carefully curated post-production.
The St. Louis Sessions EP‘s lead single “Chartreuse,” is a meditative tune, anchored around a hazy, trance-inducing groove, some soulful and expressive brass that seemingly channels Kind of Blue-era Miles Davis and Giant Steps-era Coltrane but with a subtly modern sensibility. Interestingly, the composition emerged as the group of musicians were learning the ins-and-outs of the new studio set up and captures the uncanny simpatico of musicians in a room jamming together and creating something new.
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.
New Video: CAVS Shares Gorgeous and Groove-Driven “First Light”
Best known for drumming with acclaimed JOVM mainstay King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Michael Cavanagh is the creative mastermind behind the solo instrumental project CAVS. Cavanagh’s sophomore CAVS album Sojourn is slated for an April 24, 2026 release through p(doom) records.
Unlike the fantasy and sci-fi driven storytelling found in much of his work with King Gizz, Sojourn‘s 10 compositions builds its world entirely through music, shaped by Cavanagh’s long-standing interest in spiritual jazz, prog rock and krautock while simultaneously moving beyond traditional genre boundaries. The album’s material follows an imagined journey, using shifting moods, textures and rhythmic structures to suggest exploration, confrontation and transformation.
The King Gizz drummer began developing Sojourn during the recording sessions of his solo debut, 2021’s CAVS, a percussion-only album. Determined to expand his musical palette, he took on the roles of composer, arranger and musical director for his sophomore album — despite not playing pitched instruments. Early demos were constructed from sampled bass, drums and synthesizers, which were expanded and further fleshed out through collaboration.
Cavangh’s key collaborators for Sojourn included Mildlife‘s Jim Rindfleish, who co-arranged the material, alongside a group of Melbourne musicians that included Adam Halliwell (flute, guitar), Siwei Wong (harp), Archibald Pommelhorse (sax), Selene Messinis (keys), Robbin Poppins (percussion) and his King Gizz bandmate Joey Walker (bass). Recording sessions combined structured takes with free-flowing improvisation, which were later edited and arranged to retain a cohesive, live-sounding feel.
Drawing from artists like Herbie Hancock, Alice Coltrane, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham and Harvey Mason, Sojourn‘s material emphasizes atmosphere and groove over technical prowess.
Sojourn’s second and latest single “First Light” evokes the woozy yet awe-inspiring moment of capturing a brilliant burst of dappled light across rippling water while sonically nodding at Midllife and 70s jazz fusion with the composition being anchored around a deep, funky groove.
“The first rays of a gentle sunrise touching a river’s glassy surface, painting the water in soft hues of gold and emerald,” Cavanagh says of the new single. “Slowly, your eyes flutter open — not to the velvet darkness of the night before, but to an unfamiliar brilliance that seems almost too vivid to believe.”
“Two persons and a yowie got a room at a halfway house motel for the night with three beds but only one was ripped apart, the others left in tack [sic]. This is real footage, Cavs is now a Cavsquatch and this proof that sasquatches are real,” the video’s director Jackson Devereaux says of the accompanying video. “Sojourn is an odyssey of an album, and so we wanted to add another chapter to the story, building off the first music clip. In the video for ‘First Light,’ we follow Cavs transition to his new tree form, and his first stages of coping with this new reality. We found a literal halfway house and booked a room for him to tweak out.”
New Audio: Parlor Greens Share a Mournful Ode to Dear, Departed Loved Ones
Organ trio Parlor Greens features a collection of grizzled veterans and incredibly accomplished musicians:
- Tim Carman (drums): Arguably best known for his lengthy stint in acclaimed, Boston-based blues outfit GA-20, Carman showcases his ability to start steady, heavy and downright funky pockets for his bandmates.
- Jimmy James (guitar): Through his work with The True Loves and the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, James has firmly established a signature and readily recognizable funky approach that has won him fans across the world.
- Adam Scone (organ): Scone is a soul revival scene stalwart, playing on many Daptone Records sessions since their inception, including with Scone Cash Players and The Sugarman 3. He has learned from some of the beloved lends of soul jazz, including Melvin Sparks and the iconic Dr. Lonnie Smith.
The trio’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Emeralds is slated for a Friday release through Colemine Records. Emeralds reportedly sees the acclaimed trip upping the ante, while capturing the band in top form: tour tight and more confident than ever in who they are and where they’re going. Though the results are stronger than ever, the overall mood of the recording sessions was much different.
The first time the trio met in Colemine’s Loveland, OH-based Portage Lounge Studio, the meeting was marked by a certain sense of freshness: It was the first time they had all played together. Understandably, it was exciting and unknown territory. But the sessions were underlined by the heaviness each of the individual members were going through at the time. With each individual member dealing with personal tragedies in their own lives, the sessions serves as a genuine moment of joy. Just three talented musicians, writing and playing music, now as friends, in a familiar environment.
Emeralds will feature the previously released, album opening “Eat Your Greens,” “Drop Top” and the final single, the Jimmy James written “Queen of My Heart.” “Queen of My Heart” may arguably be the most somber tune on the entire album, blending church funeral observance music and Booker T. organ-driven soul in a seamless, fashion. The most heartbreaking part of the entire song is towards the song’s coda: A man named Jabril and his mother Marie, express their love for one another. It’s a touching, very sweet moment seemingly punctuated by a sense of loss — and of memorializing someone who’s profoundly important to you.
“My mom is and always will be my Rock of Gibraltar, I came from her. She taught me many lessons in life, as well as character and integrity, and she didn’t only just mother me, but anyone she came across,” Parlor Greens’ Jimmy James explains. “I miss her with every fiber of my being, and she will always be the queen of my heart.”
Throwback: Happy 48th Birthday, Robert Glasper!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Robert Glasper’s 48th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 77th Birthday, Michael Brecker!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 77th anniversary of the birth of Micheal Brecker.
New Audio: Naná Rizinni Teams Up with Mark Cake on Quirky and Off-Kilter “Fifth Life”
Naná Rizinni is a São Paulo-born, London-based drummer, composer and producer, whose musical journey began in the mid-2000s, studying with acclaimed Brazilian drummers Lilian Carmona, Vera Figueiredo, and Duda Neves. Rizinni has been a highly sough-after drummer and producer in her native Brazil ever since, touring and recording with acclaimed Brazilian artists like Tiê, Johnny Hooker, Ana Cañas, Bárbara Eugênia, and Thiago Pethit, while recording and releasing four solo albums.
In her native Brazil, Rizinni was known for her fluid, experimental approach to genre with her work evolving from the post rock and garage rock textures of her earliest work into a hybrid, jazz-forward language rooted in rhythm, texture and improvisation.
Adding to a growing profile in her native Brazil, Rizinni has recorded music for television, film and ad campaigns while also making a run of the international festival circuit with sets at Lollapalooza, Rock in Rio, SXSW and Primavera Sound among others.
In 2020, the São Paulo-born artist relocated to London, where she wrote and recorded her highly-anticipated album, Epiblast. Slated for an April 24, 2026 release through Bridge The Gap, Epiblast was written and co-produced by Rizinni and saxophonist and producer Mark Cake over the course of the Brazilian artist’s last two years in London.
Epiblast reportedly sees Rizinni diving deeper into experimental territory with the album sonically sitting somewhere between the synth-heavy sounds of The Comet Is Coming and the future jazz of corto.alto while also nodding at the progressive fusion of jazz and electronics pioneered by fellow drummer/producers Mark Guilianna and Richard Spaven.
Thematically the album chronicles a full cycle of life in all of its intensity, beginning with the excitement and joy of new parenthood, along with adjusting to the pace of life and the creation of relationships in her new home. But along with that the album was in many ways a companion for Rizinni’s grieving process after the tragic loss of her brother. “The title Epiblast comes from an early embryonic layer from which the entire organism develops,” Rizinni explains. “For me, it represents multiple births and rebirths — new roles, identities, and directions — capturing both fragility and infinite potential.”
The forthcoming album will include the previously released “Familiar Stranger” and “The Right Side of the Escalator,” which have received airplay internationally from BBC Radio 3, Rinse FM, KEXP, PBS-FM, as well as its third and last pre-release single “Fifth Life.” Seemingly drawing from early Hiatus Kaiyote, and Mildlife‘s “How Long Does It Take,” “Fifth Life” is a quirky and playful composition anchored around an off-kilter rhythmic-driven groove that’s one part Afrobeat-inspired, one-part Brazilian music-inspired paired with a soulful saxophone and flute solo.
“’Fifth Life’ is probably my favourite track on the album,” Rizinni explains. “It has a quirky, playful vibe that I really relate to. I wrote it on top of a beat I had been developing, and when I brought it to Mark, the guitars he came up with reminded me of a band I loved in the early 2000s called Screaming Headless Torsos, and guitarist David Fiuczynski in particular — a connection that added an extra spark to the track.”
New Audio: Cardiff’s FORT Shares Expansive and Stormy “From Sullen Earth”
Over the course of their nine year history, Cardiff-based post rock quartet FORT — Ben Hooper, Matthew Moore, Gavin O’Driscoll and Craig Prosser — have developed an instrumental post rock sound inspired by Caspian, And So I Will Watch You From Afar, Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, sleepmakeswaves, This Will Destroy You and Russian Circles.
The band employs driving bass lines and soaring guitars to convey emotion, while taking the listener on a journey.
The Welsh quartet’s recently released full-length debut, A Token of Our Depreciation is also sadly, their last. The band’s members decided it was time for the band to call it a day and to move on from it separately. But as they explain, “we poured everything into this release and truly proud of what we have created.”
A Token of Our Depreciation single “From Sullen Earth” is an atmospheric and expansive song featuring a swirling shoegazer guitar-driven melody, thunderous . .. And Justice For All and Black Album-like drumming and some big, heavy metal-like riffage. Sonically bearing a resemblance to Mogwai and Collapse Under The Empire among others, “From Sullen Earth” is a bruising yet cinematic composition that conveys a deep sensitivity and beauty, much like watching a storm brewing on the horizon.
Throwback: Happy 96th Birthday, Ornette Coleman!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 96th anniversary of the birth of Ornette Coleman.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month!/Happy 45th Birthday, Kamasi Washington!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month and Kamasi Washington’s 45th birthday.
New Audio: Parlor Greens Return with Slow-Burning “Drop Top”
Organ trio Parlor Greens features a collection of grizzled veterans and incredibly accomplished musicians:
- Tim Carman (drums): Arguably best known for his lengthy stint in acclaimed, Boston-based blues outfit GA-20, Carman showcases his ability to start steady, heavy and downright funky pockets for his bandmates.
- Jimmy James (guitar): Through his work with The True Loves and the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, James has firmly established a signature and readily recognizable funky approach that has won him fans across the world.
- Adam Scone (organ): Scone is a soul revival scene stalwart, playing on many Daptone Records sessions since their inception, including with Scone Cash Players and The Sugarman 3. He has learned from some of the beloved lends of soul jazz, including Melvin Sparks and the iconic Dr. Lonnie Smith.
The trio’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Emeralds is slated a March 27, 2026 release through Colemine Records. Their sophomore album reportedly sees the acclaimed trio upping the ante while capturing the band in top form: tour tight and more confident than ever in who they are and where they’re going. Though the results are stronger than ever, the overall mood of the recording sessions was much different.
The first time the trio met in Colemine’s Loveland, OH-based Portage Lounge Studio, the meeting was marked by a certain sense of freshness: It was the first time they had all played together. Understandably, it was exciting and unknown territory. But the sessions were underlined by the heaviness each of the individual members were going through at the time. With each member dealing with personal tragedies in their individual lives, the sessions serves as a genuine moment of joy. Just three talented musicians, writing and playing music, now as friends, in a familiar environment.
Emeralds will feature the previously released, album opening “Eat Your Greens,” a strutting and rollicking groover of a tune, and the album’s latest single “Drop Top.” “Drop Top” is anchored around a slow-burning, sultry Quiet Storm-like strut of a tune completed by Scone’s shimmering bass organ and James’ bluesy guitar melody. While arguably being one of the more mellow soul jazz compositions of their growing catalog together, “Drop Top” continues to showcase both their seemingly effortless simpatico and their unerring knack for pairing tight groove with improvisation and old-fashioned songcraft.
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.