Reflections Eabs

Cult Polish jazz group EABS have produced this tribute to the great Sun Ra, reimagining seven of his compositions across this deeply spiritual and funky LP.

A few years ago, a very interesting relationship began to develop. A bridge was built out of Jaubi's releases on Astigmatic Records and the increasingly frequent collaborations between musicians from Europe and Asia - out of Latarnik's trip to Pakistan resulting in the widely acclaimed album Nafs at Peace and Zohaib, Dhani and Ali's revisit to Poland, which has been recorded as the EABS meets Jaubi In Search of a Better Tomorrow longplay.

If one was to interpret the whole output of EABS in general, an inquisitive listener would notice that each subsequent album stems from the previous one. The overtones are similar and they can be treated as variations on the same theme. The only thing that changes is the background of the story. It is all about life and death, the beginning and the end of the world, and the role of human beings entangled in all this existentially. Following the futurism lessons from Sun Ra, the band travels to the year 2061, continuing their mission in space in the company of a living legend, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski.

For their third and certainly best record the classically inspired New York Rock And Roll Ensemble recruited Greek composer and songwriter Manos Hadjidakis. The resulting Reflections plays like a film score–not surprisingly, given Hadjidakis's experience as a composer of just such works–with epic instrumental sweeps and passages of quiet melancholy. Many of the tracks, such as "Orpheus," "The Day," and "Kemal," incorporate the folk melodies of Hadjidakis's homeland while maintaining a baroque psychedelic touch.

Reflections in Repose captures the pure essence of Steve Roach's ever-deepening intimate embrace of silence, breath, rich harmonic inventiveness, and shifting liminal states; it's a sound and style completely unique to his electronic/ambient vision. Created over two evenings at the close of 2023, the music was recorded in the same sequenced flow as presented on the two discs’ 116 minutes. The five long-form tracks were performed on a single instrument - the Oberheim OB-X8 - the modern equivalent of the iconic Oberheim OB-8 which Steve used 40 years ago in the making of his classic piece "Structures from Silence.”

George Howard began his solo musical career in the late 1970's; prior to going solo Howard had done session work for artists such as Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, First Choice, Blue Magic, and Grover Washington Jr., who invited him to tour with him 1979. The tour helped establish Howard's name and unique sound and in 1982 he released his debut album, Asphalt Garden. The CD is an exacting mix of Contemporary Jazz and funk, with a slow jam thrown in for good measure. Reflections is a must for any George Howard fan.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of “Reflections On A Life”, the classic 1971 album by Welsh Progressive rock group BLONDE ON BLONDE.