Recorded over 4 years in London and Venezuela, Cuban rumba, Venezuelan tambor and tonada, Ghanaian highlife, Ethiopian blues and calypso have been soaked and infused with psychedelia and spiritual jazz to come up with what Gilles Peterson described as “a really great record”. The DJ and tastemaker included the band in his ‘Hot For 2013 Show’ on BBC 6music, premiering the track Cumbacutiri.
A diverse host of heavyweight musicians from both sides of the Atlantic are led by London born Jack Yglesias, producer, multi-instrumentalist and a veteran of The Heliocentrics, and his wife Luzmira Zerpa, traditional Venezuelan musician, poet and singer with a magical voice acclaimed by Manu Chao.
Recorded while living in an abandoned vicarage in East London, the record contains three different generations of Luzmira’s family as well as a cast of musicians from the wider Family Atlantic family. One of the guests on the album, legendary Ethiopian-jazz maestro Mulatu Astatke, adds a classic touch on piano to ‘Escape To The Palenque’, soloing in his unmistakable flowing Ethiopian 6/8 style. Also featured on the record are Senegalese Nuru Kane and Afro-Cuban group Yoruba Andabo. Much of the record was recorded by the Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto at their East London studio.
“A really great record.” Gilles Peterson
“A sophisticated jazz sensibility.” The Telegraph
“I bet they’re great live.” Independent on Sunday
“20 tracks flashing past like blasts from a dozen different radio stations.” Financial Tim
Soundway Records was conceived in 2002 by label owner Miles Cleret whilst returning from Ghana with a hoard of dusty old 45s and LPs that had mostly not been heard outside the former Gold Coast since their original release. Planned on a whim the trip was not one of the carefully planned research expeditions that Miles would later embark on to any number of far-flung tropical destinations. On the contrary he left England with no idea of what he might find or that it might be the start of a career in the record business.
Although the label has it's roots in West Africa the scope has grown to include many other parts of the tropical belt with the aim of making available recordings that have in most cases never been available outside of their original countries and often not even there for over 30 years. Over the years Soundway's modus operandi has been to approach the music from a different angle from many of the more established \"World Music\" labels. By focusing on more obscure artists as well as big names and often concentrating on progressive recordings more in sync with Cleret's generation and background in DJ culture and dance-music. Styles have included afro-beat, funk, highlife, ethio-jazz, molam, calypso, cumbia, champeta, biguine, latin-jazz and disco as well as many unclassifiable recordings.
Since 2012 Soundway has begun releasing new material from a carefully selected handful of contemporary recording artists including acclaimed acts Ondatropica, Bomba Estereo and Ibibio Sound Machine
