Song of the Day: Myele Manzanza - Portobello Superhero

Myele Manzanza, world-renowned drummer/composer, and producer/beatmaker released his new single Portobello Superhero dedicated to Jazz Re: Freshed organization. The song is coming from his the forthcoming EP Crisis & Opportunity: Vol.1 - London, dropping 1st of April 2021 via DeepMatter Records. The album features top musicians of the young London jazz scene including Ashley Henry on piano, James Copus on trumpet, George Crowley on tenor saxophone, Benjamin Muralt on bass, and additional contributions from the legendary Mark de Clive-Lowe on synths, with Myele Manzanza captaining the ship behind the drumkit.

Myele has been a founding member of New Zealand's Electric Wire Hustle, released three solo albums, and collaborated with Jordan Rakei, Theo Parrish, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Myele is developing a strong live presence in his new London base. He has performed at the city's top venues The Jazz Café, Ronnie Scott’s, and more. He has shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, The Bad Plus, and Alfa Mist.

Listen below to Myele Manzanza new single Portobello Superhero :

Myele explains the story of the song and the inspirations behind it:

“This track is really a shout out to the team at Jazz Re:Freshed. A rag-tag group of passionate music aficionados that for a decade or so hosted some of London and the world’s best musicians at Mau Mau bar on Portobello Rd in Notting Hill and really help bring a London jazz sound to the world. As a young music student back in New Zealand I discovered (through Myspace no-less) the music of Kaidi Tatham and by extension a whole scene of musicians that were pulling together a unique blend of jazz and dance music that we came to know as Broken Beat. My life was never the same since.
I wanted to have something on this record that went some way to capturing that energy of a sweaty dance floor with musicians just raging out on some broken beat jazz funk vibes. I had initially planned to premiere this song at a night we had booked in 2020 that sadly didn’t get to happen with the world locking down etc. But I’m glad I got to record it all the same. PLAY IT LOUD.”

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Watch below a video of Myele Manzanza new single Portobello Superhero: