JAZZ FUNK VINYL, CINEMA CLASSICS IN 4K AND COFFEE TABLE ODE TO UAE
▶ It has been a stellar month for physical media releases. Here are six of the best
Funk Tide: Tokyo Jazz Funk from Electric Bird on vinyl March 15
In 1977, so-called crossover jazz was all the rage, with artists such as Bob James and Earl Klugh earning a huge following in the US and abroad. It was then that the influential Japanese producer Shigeyuki Kawashima saw an opportunity.
Clubs across Tokyo were full of talented musicians producing an innovative jazz funk sound of their own and he felt the world was ready to hear it. Through his label Electric Bird, he put a host of talented Japanese musicians into studios in Tokyo in New York to lay down their new sound – sun-drenched jazz folk like no one had heard before.
While Kawashima may not have found the international fame and fortune he craved, the music itself was excellent, leading it to find a cult following in jazz communities around the world. It also inspires a new collection of some of its under-appreciated classics released this month by indie French label WeWantSounds.
Titled Funk Tide, the vinyl release is curated by genre expert DJ Notoya, who lives in Tokyo and curated a selection of eight songs released between 1978 and 1987. They were all released during the peak of Nippon jazz funk.
William Mullally, arts
and culture editor
The Abyss released in 4K March 12
Terminator 2: Judgement Day,
Before he tackled
James Cameron wanted to test the computer-generated imagery technology he had innovated in the 1989 deep-sea science fiction experience The Abyss.
The film stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn and tells the story of a diving team tasked with investigating the disappearance of a nuclear submarine.
The film excels in showcasing the serial Oscar-winning director’s love of the sea and has blueprints of choices and techniques that can be found in most of his subsequent films.
It has been re-released alongside two other Cameron films, Aliens and True Lies, and has been embraced by many. It was previously difficult to obtain on home video, making it a sought-after experience. Faisal Salah, gaming, arts and social writer
Chick Corea’s Sardinia on vinyl March 22
Chick Corea’s prowess as an interpreter of classical music shines in Sardinia.
The album, which originally came out last year, is now finally on vinyl. A large part of it was recorded live in November 2018 as Corea performed with Orchestra da Camera Della Sardegna and conductor Simone Pittau as a special guest during the Annual Cultural Festival at Mogoro, Sardinia. Corea died a little more than two years later, in February 2021, and Sardinia was one of his last recorded live performances.
More than that, it was a culmination of the jazz maestro’s ability to reinterpret classical composition, providing new twists to the works of Mozart and George Gershwin. Filled with frisky melodic phrases and with unexpected turns of emotion, Sardinia is cutting edge in the way it toes between the lines of sheet music, often capering into improvisations. “I wanted to tell everybody that Mozart wrote 27 piano concertos. This one in C minor is Number 24, and some parts of the concerto will be improvised sessions,” Corea says in the album’s introductory track, making it clear that the performance ahead would be full of surprises, no matter how well you may be acquainted with the classical composer’s oeuvre.
From Concerto Number 24 in C minor, Corea moves into Gershwin’s works, culminating the performance with the US composer’s most famous piece of music Rhapsody in Blue. Again, however, Corea is not so interested in staying true to the original composition. Rather, he uses it as a springboard, effortlessly taking Gershwin’s melodies to new frontiers.
Sardinia is a quintessential work to have on vinyl; it makes the most of what a live classical performance should be like. Razmig Bedirian, arts
and culture writer
The Manchurian Candidate released in 4K March 19
Despite being a remake, Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate does what only a small number of similar projects have managed – be better than the original.
Starring Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep, the film is set in the aftermath of the American involvement in the Gulf War but says more about the country’s state of mind after the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Exploring themes of PTSD, political zealotry and being controlled for malicious purposes, the film combines these subjects to produce an exciting thriller with incredible performances from a very talented cast.
The underrated remake celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To mark the milestone, fans can purchase a new 4K release from Kino Lorber that, like the 2004 release, looks even better than the original. Faisal Salah
An Archive of Love’s Middle Eastern update March 15
The latest edition of An Archive of Love is now available from Middle East Archive.
The platform that aims to document and revive historical visual narratives from the Middle East and North Africa has added three new photos to the photography coffee table book, which is now available to buy online.
An Archive of Love is a celebration of Arab joy across generations and regions. Stunning and candid street photography captures an array of manifestations of love taken between the late 1960s to early 2022 from countries such as the UAE, Palestine and Oman. The shots were taken by a wide range of photographers including Iranian Attar Abbas, Frenchman Raymond Depardo and Moroccan Rachid Ouettassi.
From familial bonds to spiritual connections and romantic moments, love in all its facets is captured in An Archive of Love in subtle, endearing and universal ways.
Maan Jalal, arts and culture writer
Moon Safari 25th Anniversary CD and Blu-ray set March 8
Air’s landmark debut album Moon Safari was released in 1998, but listen to it now and you’ll find it has barely aged. The group, made up of French duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, remain hugely influential, having inspired a legion of imitators, not to mention giving birth to an entire genre of what is now called downtempo electronic. It’s a style that also spawned countless ambient lo-fi YouTube soundtracks to study to.
To (belatedly) celebrate the album’s 25th anniversary, the band have released a double CD and Blu-ray set featuring rare and unreleased material. It also includes Mike Mills’s 1999 documentary Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing about their first tour.