Business Laws of Kuwait Supp.1 1995

Instinct has a reputation for presenting fine compilations highlighting the best of more obscure labels worldwide. This first chapter in their future jazz series heralded styles and categories that have since become adopted into the electronica vernacular. Licensed from Germany's stalwart Compost label, home to many artists eking out their own singular takes on downtempo trip-hop and drum-and-bass, Volume 1 includes contributions from Rephlex's Gentle People (the Casio-squelched lullabies of "Journey"), and Max 404, who uses the gurgling opening synth riff of Gary Numan's "Cars" to devastating effect on the interstellar overdrive "Quiddity." Fauna Flash offers the sultry drum-and-bass sulk of "Sexual Attraction," and there are other outstanding contributions from Patrick Pulsinger, Shantel, Chaser, and Turntable Terranova. The Future Sound Of Jazz is rare groove funk for space critters across the universe.

What you see is what you get, an excellent little compilation of the various faces of soul-jazz as presented by the Verve label with their amazing array of artists from Hugh Masekela to Willie Bobo and Herbie Mann on the one hand, and Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks (in an outstanding reading of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") the Heath Brothers, and Teddy Edwards on the other. The track list is wonderfully varied, too: there's a smoking version of Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" by Masekela, a pair by Jimmy Smith, and a big band – a new entry by the acid jazz group the James Taylor Quartet, but they get it deep; and Wynton Kelly goes deep into soul and blues with "Escapade." Anyway you cut it, it comes out great.