VARIOUS – We Out Here (Repress) – 2LP – Orange Vinyl [JUN 6]

2LP – Limited Edition Orange Vinyl (2025 Repress).

(OG Blurb): A genre defining compilation and easily the best this year. A primer on Londons bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Looking at the albums running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of Londons most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years.

Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the crossover between each of the groups speaks to the close-knit circles which make up the scene. Surveying the way that Londons jazz-influenced music had spread outside of its usual spaces in recent years, this album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. Giving a platform to a scene where mutual cooperation and a DIY spirit are second-nature, its a window into the wide-eyed future of Londons musical underground.

Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the projects musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His entry on the album, Black Skin, Black Masks, is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet shape the track with an alluring hue. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility thats shared through all the players on the record. Theon Cross whos also part of Sons of Kemet with Hutchings starts his track, Brockley, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. Ezra Collective whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on Pure Shade, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch. Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on Go See, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on Abusey Junction, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.

Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maishas Inside The Acorn is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. In contrast, Nubya Garcias Once is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. And finally, Triforces Walls is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Browns languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove.

Tracklist:

A1. Maisha – Inside The Acorn [5:53]
Bass Clarinet – Shabaka Hutchings
Double Bass – Twm Dylan
Drums Jake Long (3)
Flute Nubya Garcia
Percussion Tim Doyle
Piano Aman Suganami
Written-By Jake Long

A2. Ezra Collective Pure Shade [6:37]
Bass TJ Koleoso
Drums Femi Koleoso
Piano Joe Armon-Jones
Saxophone James Mollison
Trumpet Dylan Jones
Written-By Dylan Jones, Femi Koleoso, James Mollison, Joe Armon-Jones, TJ Koleoso

B1. Moses Boyd The Balance [5:45]
Drums Moses Boyd
Guitar Artie Zaitz
Saxophone Nubya Garcia
Trombone Nathaniel Cross
Tuba Theon Cross
Written-By Moses Boyd

B2. Theon Cross Brockley [3:37]
Drums Moses Boyd
Tenor Saxophone Nubya Garcia
Tuba Theon Cross
Written-By Theon Cross

C1. Nubya Garcia Once [5:24]
Double Bass Daniel Casimir
Drums Femi Koleoso
Piano Joe Armon-Jones
Saxophone Nubya Garcia
Written-By Nubya Garcia

C2. Shabaka Hutchings Black Skin, Black Masks [7:00]
Bass Clarinet Shabaka Hutchings
Clarinet George Crowley
Double Bass Ruth Goller
Drums Tom Skinner
Piano Alexander Hawkins
Written-By Shabaka Hutchings

C3. Triforce Walls [5:23]
Bass Ricco Komolafe
Drums Benjamin Appiah
Guitar Mansur Brown
Piano Dominic Canning
Written-By Benjamin Appiah, Dominic Canning, Mansur Brown, Ricco Komolafe

D1. Joe Armon-Jones Go See [7:42]
Bass Mutale Chashi
Drums Kwake Bass
Guitar Oscar Jerome
Piano Joe Armon-Jones
Saxophone Nubya Garcia
Trumpet Dylan Jones (7)
Vocals Daniel Casimir (2), Fabrice Bourgelle*, Joe Armon-Jones, Nubya Garcia, Ruby Savage, Shabaka Hutchings
Written-By Joe Armon-Jones

D2. Kokoroko Abusey Junction [7:07]
Alto Saxophone Cassie Kinoshi
Bass Mutale Chashi
Guitar Oscar Jerome
Keyboards Yohan Kebede
Percussion Onome Edgeworth
Trombone Richie Seivwright
Trumpet Sheila Maurice-Grey
Written-By Oscar Jerome