A unique album which brings together the musical traditions of Mali and India and which involves some of the most important musicians of these traditions!

Jean-Charles Richard, né à Bourg-en-Bresse le 17 juillet 1974, est un saxophoniste français. Il fait ses débuts au saxophone à l'harmonie de Mézériat puis se perfectionne aux conservatoires de Bourg, Mâcon, Dijon et CNSMD de Paris. En 1992, il reçoit le 1er prix de saxophone classique. En dehors de son travail pour la musique classique, il a notamment travaillé avec de nombreux grands jazzmen tels que Christopher Culpo, David Patrois, Jean-François Baez et Pascal Berne. Il a également sorti deux albums sous son propre nom : Faces et Traces. En 2012, il a reçu le prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros. Jean-Charles Richard est également professeur de saxophone dans le cycle jazz du Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris.

Chasm (stylized as CHASM) is the 15th studio album by Ryuichi Sakamoto and was released in 2004. The album is experimental, pairing Sakamoto's piano work with ambient and glitch programming. Notably, Sakamoto's former bandmates from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, contribute on several songs under their own production name, Sketch Show. "coro" was featured on the soundtrack to the anime film Appleseed, while "World Citizen - i won't be disappointed/looped piano" and "only love can conquer hate" were featured in the film Babel. The original version of "Ngo", featured on the single for "Undercooled", was used in a New Balance advertisement. "Seven Samurai - ending theme" is taken from Sakamoto's score for the PlayStation 2 game Seven Samurai 20XX.

Sakamoto's all-star blend of Western and Eastern music styles is a triumphant success for the composer, and a consistently good listen. On the title track he takes a traditional Japanese folk song and blends it into a funk groove provided by Bootsy Collins, Bill Laswell, and Sly Dunbar. Unlike Byrne and Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, this blend of cultures is coming from the opposing angle and stays truer to the source material. But that track is only one of Sakamoto's approaches, and on several other tracks he joins with Laswell to create a crisp, techno-cultural hybrid that sounds like nothing except like pure Sakamoto. On "Risky," a subdued Iggy Pop lends vocals and lyrics, and doesn't come across as an interloper. And on "Okinawa Song," Sakamoto seamlessly integrates the southern island culture into his grand scheme.

The Ripple Effect is the coup de grace of Bela Fleck's ten year-plus excursion into the African roots of his chosen instrument of the banjo, originally titled Throw Down Your Heart (Rounder, 2009). Part of a larger set comprised of both video and audio on DVD/CD, The Complete Africa Sessions (Craft Recordings, 2020), these ten concert culls are also available as a double set of vinyl that capture the natural, fluent chemistry between this banjoist extraordinaire and West African kora master Toumani Diabate.

Accordionist Richard Galliano did for European folk – specifically, the early 20th century French ballroom dance form known as musette – what his mentor Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentinian tango. Galliano reimagined and revitalized a musical tradition, expanding its emotional range to reflect modern sensibilities, opening it up to improvisation learned through American jazz. In fact, Galliano was more of a jazz musician than a folk one, although he blurred the lines so much that distinctions were often difficult to make.

Co-produced by Pierre-Edouard Decimus, José has cooked a really personal & singular record with amazing experimental composition merging Gwo Ka, Jazz-Funk, Biguine with an early electronic synthetic production. This ultra rare album privately distributed in the West Indies has now reached the Holy Grail status amongst collectors. This is definitely a real masterpiece with deep tunes like Syka a fierce synthetic jazz funk hybrid with incredible clavinet, synth and trumpet solos halfway between Placebo and Fabiano Orchestra. Vini Couté E Tann' is the amazing funky biguine we choose to compile on Kouté Jazz with incredible piano and guitar solo respectively by Patrick Jean Marie & Gilbert Coco. Tipi Fanm', is another wicked tune gwo ka percussion laden jazz tune. Features the Who's Who of modern guadeloupean jazz : Patrick Jean-Marie, Ramon Pirmé, Herbert Lewis, Roger & Gilbert Coco, Germain Cédé, Philippe Dambury and even Pierre-Edouard Decimus on bass.

This retrospective of the legendary Cameroon saxophonist Manu Dibango includes 10 prime examples of his eclectic style, including his internationally successful hit, "Soul Makossa", the percolating percussion and layered brass of "Africadelic", and the '80s disco of "Sun Explosion".

A native of Guadeloupe, Edmony Krater grow up with the sound of Gwo Ka, this traditional Caribbean percussion. Young trumpeter, Edmony founded with friends the group GWAKASONNE in the late 70s, which was mixing gwo ka tradition and modern music (jazz, soul, spiritual). Then Edmony settled in France where he will plays with many Caribbean musicians but also Bernard Lubat and Nougaro. In 1988, he recorded the album "Ti Jan Pou velo" which is a tribute to the musicians of “roots” music whose percussionist Tijan disappeared some years earlier. This album is an album aside from Caribbean music by its coherence, originality and modernity. This is the first time it is reissued and the title "Gwadeloup" is present on our compilation "Kouté Jazz".

When Metheny celebrates his cerebral side, he usually follows up with something more accessible. After his difficult yet rewarding collaboration with John Scofield, I Can See Your House from Here, Metheny stresses accessibility with this captivating live album. The primary focus is on his Brazilian-influenced material from Still Life (Talking) and Letter from Home, and the very cohesive Pat Metheny Group offers characteristically expressive versions of such favorites as "Have You Heard," "Beat 70," and "Better Days Ahead." While he could have offered a wider variety of material and perhaps revisited some of his early gems, everything that he does include comes across as honest and heartfelt. Thankfully, Metheny's emphasis on accessibility and crowd-pleasing doesn't come at the expense of his artistic integrity.

Allegria was the first album the Gipsy Kings released under their own name. It consists primarily of more traditional flamenco-style pieces, featuring, of course, Tonino's otherworldly guitar. It includes two songs never released on a U.S. album (Pharaon and Recuerda) and the original acoustic version of Djobi Djoba. Note that this album and its successor, Luna de Fuego, are very different from the Gipsy Kings' later albums. They are both "unplugged" and have no instruments besides guitars, voices, and hand clapping.

If eclectic is your bag, then Heartbeat might be your thing. Like Hector Zazou, Ryuichi Sakamoto employs a realm of many styles on this upbeat collection. Songs performed in Japanese, Russian, French, and English (by friends Youssou N'Dour, David Sylvian, and Deee-Lite's DJ Towa Towa and Super DJ Dmitri) top an already brimming album that is everything its predecessor, Beauty, wasn't. Two completely different versions of the title track add arty spice. "Triste" is a wonderful, lazy-afternoon stroll in Paris jazz; "Lulu" follows suit. Is there no end to this Sakamoto's talent? He does jazz, rap, and chucks in a couple of solo piano pieces reminiscent of his soundtrack work. "Songlines" came about via his score for Pedro Almodovar's High Heels. "Boram Gal" and "High Tide" – with guests Youssou N'Dour and Arto Lindsay, respectively – are both delicate and swathed in summer. Ingrid Chavez adds poet's fire to frozen dust on "Returning to the Womb" and contributes eerie funk on "Cloud #9."

Kitaro's universally acknowledged as the founding architect of new age music. The Grammy and Golden Globe Award-Winning Kitaro has achieved global acclaim over a more than three decade long career with a signature sound and a pioneering fusion of cultures, techniques and spheres of consciousness that are truly his own.

Pour cette nouvelle création, Un Poco Loco revient à ses premiers amours avec la musique de Charlie Parker. Les angles aigus, les ruptures abruptes et l'exubérante virtuosité du « Bird » apparaît le terrain de jeu idéal pour un nouvel opus.

An album that fuses the influence of African music, jazz-rock, and free improvisation, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath shares affinities with the '70s music of Don Cherry and Miles Davis. Somewhat of a legendary album amongst collectors of British jazz and fusion, the LP was originally released in the '70s and in early 2002 finally became reissued by the Italian label Akarma. Enlisted on the session were the talents of a group of extraordinary musicians from the free jazz, progressive rock, and improvisation scenes. Chris McGregor led the group on piano and African xylophone with Malcolm Griffiths and Nick Evans on trombones, Mongezi Feza on pocket trumpet and Indian flute, Mark Charig on cornet, Harry Beckett on trumpet, and Dudu Pukwana on alto saxophone. Ronnie Beer's tenor saxophone is outstanding, and pitched up against Alan Skidmore's tenor and soprano saxophone, completing a massive horn section, are two bigger names: '70s U.K. jazzman Mike Osborne on alto saxophone and clarinet and John Surman on baritone and soprano saxophone.