Review:
Consisting of producer Oliver Belz, keyboard player Andre Neundorf, and singer and multi-instrumentalist Kojo Ebenezer Samuels, Kojato here deliver their fantastic debut album All About Jazz. Heavily influenced by 60s soul and 70s funk as well as the sounds of Afrobeat as much as it is by jazz, the album goes from the 20s swing of "Lika A Gypsy" through the frantic pace and African rhythms of "Oudo Makasan" to the laid back dub of "That Kind of Feeling". The undoubted star of the album however is vocalist Kojo, who combines the smooth delivery of Fela Kuti with the gruff charm of Gil Scott-Heron, to create an album that is light years ahead of most contemporary jazz offerings.