'Rare Groove Spectrum, Vol. 3' by Lance Ferguson

The tirelessly prolific efforts of Lance Ferguson now find the New Zealand-born and Melbourne-based DJ, producer, musician and band leader unveil the third instalment of his Rare Groove Spectrum series through the hallowed walls of Tru Thoughts Records.

And any reference to Ferguson's music-making as 'tirelessly prolific' could never be seen as an overstatement - we'd all do well to keep a continually keen eye on Ferguson's ongoing musical adventures that take him from the bombastic funk & soul of The Bamboos to the spiritual jazz of Menagerie or the bossa-boogie-nu-cool of Rare Groove Spectrum.

An incredibly diverse and imaginative artist really able to cultivate any style and adapt to the sounds around him.

We fleetingly mentioned The Bamboos but theirs is also a musical contribution that should be heralded.  With over twenty years of releases and global performances with Ferguson at the helm, Australia's funk and soul luminaries serve as compulsory to the contemporary funk & soul landscape as much as the efforts of The Mighty Mocambos, The Budos Band or The New Mastersounds.

The Rare Groove Spectrum however has afforded Ferguson a compelling new musical adventure.  Spearheaded by the first in the series - unveiled in 2018 through label home at the time Freestyle Records - Ferguson set out to reimagine a series of classic funk, jazz and soul tracks, repackaging them within a groovy jazz-funk aesthetic.  It's a project that ultimately showcases a devoted affection for music stemming from seemingly disparate and unrelated realms.  From Azymuth to Anderson .Paak, the Rare Groove Spectrum to date continues to present Ferguson's unadulterated fandom through an audio smorgasbord of music and culture.

Ferguson had previously alluded to the Rare Groove perception of the songs as being conceived through the eyes of a DJ and reinterpreting songs as desired - fleshing certain songs out further while highlighting perhaps undersold aspects of the originals.  Perhaps Ferguson's years of spinning and collecting records would ultimately pave the way for the Rare Groove Spectrum series to come to fruition as so many of these boundary- and genre-less ideals are beautifully captured through Ferguson's unhindered vision.  

With a versatile selection of tracks covered included 'My Future' by Billie Eilish, Gene Harris' 'Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong' and Pyramid's 'Song for Bobby', the third instalment of the Ferguson's 'Rare Groove Spectrum is a project that lovingly wears its inspirations on its sleeve.  Each inclusion in the trilogy of full-lengths serve as small homages to Ferguson's own heroes – wonderfully recontextualising the music to produce a dynamic and versatile album with each go-round.

'Wavemakers' by Alex Ventling

'Wavemakers' marks the latest release from pianist and visual artist Alex Ventling whose sensational new album delivers a standout amongst his burgeoning catalogue.

New Zealand-born and Norway-based, Ventling's journey to date has taken him across the world with a minor pitstop in New York to attend the New York Film Academy, before ultimately side-stepping the prestigious Berklee College of Music for the Jazzcampus Basel where he completed his Masters in Jazz Piano and Music Pedagogy.

Ventling's commitment to his music and to his art has led to some outstanding moments within his comparatively young career.  Consistently keen to recontextualize his music in accordance with the litany of incredible collaborators that he is able to collaborate and make music with, Ventling has released duo projects alongside guitarist Hein Westgaard ('In Orbit', 2023) and drummer Phelan Burgoyne ('The View', 2024), led his Alex Ventling Trio from Norway to New Zealand in 2020 for an epic run of ten concert performances across two weeks, and of course we have Alex Ventling's quartet project, Alex & The Wavemakers.

Initially debuting in 2018 with their self-titled release, the quartet's original incarnation boasted the esteemed distinction of featuring vocalist and pianist Yumi Ito as part of the line-up.  Ito's presence serves as a real treat especially when considering the team-up with Ventling as something of an inspired combination in of itself.  And while the 2018 album was without doubt a fantastic project, the band's evolved state seven years later presents a line-up that affords a reimagining of the quartet's original sound allowing for expansive new narratives soundscapes to take shape.  Waving the flag for The Wavemakers for this go-round, and performing alongside Ventling on piano, is violinist Tuva Halse, vibraphonist Amund Stenøien and drummer August Glännestrand.  

It's a quartet with an entirely new context and one that soars within a lush collage of sound that navigates a masterfully charted course across the album's nine compositions.  Ventling and company boast an innate ability to create these beautiful pieces that present the rich elegance of neo-classical stylings while still serving as inspired celebrations of ambient and free jazz at the same time.  So much of the music throughout 'Wavemakers' boasts such visceral and vivid textures that it's actually no surprise that Ventling can lay claim to being an accomplished photographer as well: whether consciously or not, Ventling's music is almost conceived with these visual aspects in mind which are a tribute to the intimate and intricate nature of each musician's performance as individuals and as a cohesive quartet.

Vocalist Sissel Vera Pettersen guests on 'Omaha' and skilfully embeds her vocal into the comfort of the musicians around her, never trying to outdo them, and contributing to a wonderfully harmonious soundscapes as a result.

Within the context of Alex Ventling's ever-expanding catalogue of music, 'Wavemakers' stands as a confident and self-assured entry.  It's a project that manages to showcase a wide variety of Ventling influences and a project that does marvellous justice to everything that has brought the pianist and his team to this moment.