I'm beginning to think this might be a good year for my Jazz collection. And no, you're not disremembering... I've already written about one of these two albums shortly ago in my February Forecast. Since then however I decided that I not only wanted a promo download, but also the actual vinyl - preferably in the limited coloured version. So here we go!
KABASSE - About Sitting On Fences (coloured vinyl LP) (2026)
No, the music doesn't change. But there's no denying that a "real" record, especially if it's a gatefold as thoughtfully designed in classic Jazz style with all the particular usages of font and geometric shapes and of course including elaborate liner notes as this one, it helps enhancing the whole experience.
As much as I've already enjoyed the wonderfully arranged and produced, vividly storytelling Fusion of this Southern German ensemble, the presentation as a complete work of art makes me appreciate the timeless beauty of this sound even more.
And if you know you know, ordering anything from Kapitan Platte always means getting some quirky nostalgic extra like old catalogue pages, advertisement or record sleeves alongside with the fairly priced object of your desire. Since the color of "About Sitting On Fences" isn't specified I guess it's random. I'm certainly happy with my transparent orange copy with some red splatter in it.
No, the music doesn't change. But there's no denying that a "real" record, especially if it's a gatefold as thoughtfully designed in classic Jazz style with all the particular usages of font and geometric shapes and of course including elaborate liner notes as this one, it helps enhancing the whole experience.
As much as I've already enjoyed the wonderfully arranged and produced, vividly storytelling Fusion of this Southern German ensemble, the presentation as a complete work of art makes me appreciate the timeless beauty of this sound even more.
And if you know you know, ordering anything from Kapitan Platte always means getting some quirky nostalgic extra like old catalogue pages, advertisement or record sleeves alongside with the fairly priced object of your desire. Since the color of "About Sitting On Fences" isn't specified I guess it's random. I'm certainly happy with my transparent orange copy with some red splatter in it.
WORK MONEY DEATH - A Portal To Here (2LP) (2026)
Starting with the externals I surely would have prefered the coloured special edition of this double album too, or at least the limited black one, which also has the printed inner sleeves and a die-cut cover. But with all the conversion, shipping and taxes that come with ordering directly from the UK, it would have actually doubled the price in comparison to getting the simplest edition from a retailer, so yes, reason simply won in this case.
But no matter in which vinyl, CD or digital form you purchase it, the music of the fourth Work Money Death album always remains spectacular. The Spiritual Jazz of this group has always been epic and ecstatic, but on "A Portal To Here" you can immediately feel a shift towards something even more profound and real, as Tony Burkill's saxophone oozes with heartfelt expression, soul and pain in the aptly named slow opener "Pain Becomes Prayer And (The) Prayer Becomes (A) Song". (The exact spelling of the the title varies online and on the record sleeve.)
Part of the pain is actually of physical nature, since Burkill had medical issues at the time of recording and suffered from severe pain in his leg, which directly influenced his performance.
Besides this the liner notes from Richard Ormrod, who himself guests on bamboo flute on the album's final track "Sometimes It's Death" leave no doubt that the whole work is a tribute to their friend and ATA Records family member Christopher Earl Dawkins, who passed away in Spring 2025.
So even when the band's sound goes into more upbeat and hopeful places - like with the trilling flute, floating harp and fast handclaps in "Brother Earl" -, it's filled with a sincere transformative catathartic energy that has always been present, but never in this inescapable clarity and intensity.
There are of course few musical styles made as much to convey both mourning and the happiness of memory as maximalist Spiritual Jazz inspired by the greats Pharoah Sanders, Alice and John Coltrane and the Sun Ra Arkestra, which Work Money Death have aspired to since their debut "The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises" in 2021.
"A Portal To Here" however feels like their defining "Love Supreme" moment, like musicians having gone through a rite of passage and re-emerging with a deeper connection to both their craft and the listener's heart. The result is a masterpiece that could hardly be more powerful.
Artistic expressions like this album are why music exists.
But no matter in which vinyl, CD or digital form you purchase it, the music of the fourth Work Money Death album always remains spectacular. The Spiritual Jazz of this group has always been epic and ecstatic, but on "A Portal To Here" you can immediately feel a shift towards something even more profound and real, as Tony Burkill's saxophone oozes with heartfelt expression, soul and pain in the aptly named slow opener "Pain Becomes Prayer And (The) Prayer Becomes (A) Song". (The exact spelling of the the title varies online and on the record sleeve.)
Part of the pain is actually of physical nature, since Burkill had medical issues at the time of recording and suffered from severe pain in his leg, which directly influenced his performance.
Besides this the liner notes from Richard Ormrod, who himself guests on bamboo flute on the album's final track "Sometimes It's Death" leave no doubt that the whole work is a tribute to their friend and ATA Records family member Christopher Earl Dawkins, who passed away in Spring 2025.
So even when the band's sound goes into more upbeat and hopeful places - like with the trilling flute, floating harp and fast handclaps in "Brother Earl" -, it's filled with a sincere transformative catathartic energy that has always been present, but never in this inescapable clarity and intensity.
There are of course few musical styles made as much to convey both mourning and the happiness of memory as maximalist Spiritual Jazz inspired by the greats Pharoah Sanders, Alice and John Coltrane and the Sun Ra Arkestra, which Work Money Death have aspired to since their debut "The Space In Which The Uncontrollable Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises" in 2021.
"A Portal To Here" however feels like their defining "Love Supreme" moment, like musicians having gone through a rite of passage and re-emerging with a deeper connection to both their craft and the listener's heart. The result is a masterpiece that could hardly be more powerful.
Artistic expressions like this album are why music exists.
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