Strut Records End Of Year Round-Up - 2025
This year at Strut we've worked hard on bringing some quality music to the forefront, tracks within compilations finally back on the racks, seminal reissues and stellar contemporary artists.
Rather listen than read? Hear our Strut 2025 playlist here
Take a look back at our 2025 releases....
Ice (The Lafayette Afro-Rock Band) - Each Man Makes His Destiny
This year, Strut continued our exploration of the Topomic catalogue with Ice’s ‘Each Man Makes His Destiny’, officially available on vinyl for the first time. After relocating from the United States to Paris (Pre-The Lafayette Afro Rock Band fame), Ice began performing regularly in the city’s Barbès district, a vibrant area with a large North African immigrant community. Leading to a psychedelic funk exploration that hinted at the evolving sound that would later define them.
Various Artists - Disques Debs International Volume 3
The highly anticipated third volume in the Disques Debs International series, diving deeper into the archives of one of the greatest French Caribbean labels, Disques Debs, based in Guadeloupe. Across 2 LPs, the release features a curated selection of tracks from the Disques Debs circle, highlighting both emerging talents and established artists who defined the era.
A new official reissue of Simigwa by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, launching a series of releases on Strut celebrating the legendary Ghanaian label Essiebons.Ambolley’s Simigwa is a groundbreaking album, recognised as a Ghanaian classic and boasting one of the most iconic covers of the 1970s. Originally released in 1975, the album introduced Ambolley's unique "Simigwa" style, which combined highlife with funk and soul, influencing the evolution of a new generation of Ghanaian artists. This new Strut LP reissue features an exclusive interview with Ambolley himself, offering fresh insights into the creation of this classic album.
Sun Ra - Nuits De La Fondation Maeght
Sun Ra’s Nuits de la Fondation Maeght recordings are legendary within his extensive canon. Across two nights in August 1970, these were the first concerts Ra and the Arkestra had performed outside North America and formed part of a stellar festival line-up alongside Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela. Originally released across two edited volumes by Shandar in 1971, the concerts were reissued for RSD in April 2025. The 6LP or 4CD set features a booklet featuring liner notes by Daniel Caux, Jacqueline Caux and Paul Griffiths and stunning restored photos of the festival by Philippe Gras.
Idris Ackamoor, Rhodessa Jones, Danny Glover - Artistic Being
In February 2024 Idris Ackamoor’s performing arts company, Cultural Odyssey, partnered with The Lab, a prominent San Francisco venue, to co-present "Underground Jazz Cabaret" during Black History Month. The result is a special recording featuring celebrated San Francisco actor, activist, and author Danny Glover, alongside renowned stage actress Rhodessa Jones.
A cosmic fusion of deep funk, interstellar jazz, and avant-garde soundscapes, On Jupiter stands as one of Sun Ra’s most iconic releases. Recorded in 1979 during a prolific period at Variety Arts Studios in New York, this album captures the Arkestra at the height of their creative powers, blending futuristic improvisation with infectious rhythms and otherworldly textures.
Various Artists - Edna Martinez Presents Picó: Sound System Culture From The Colombian Caribbean
Berlin-based Colombian DJ, producer, and curator Edna Martinez presents a sonic journey into the electrifying world of Picó—the vibrant and dynamic sound system culture that has defined the streets of Cartagena and Barranquilla for decades. Through Edna Martinez’s curation, and extensive liner notes, this compilation offers a powerful and authentic glimpse into one of the most vibrant musical traditions of the Colombian Caribbean.
Bringing together original sampling techniques, live improvisation and lush, expansive arrangements, Clay is the result of collaboration between Cult electronic artist Matthew Herbert, and co-producer, drummer and vocalist Momoko Gill. With an intuitive feel for one another’s sound, Clay is a meeting of musical minds that resonates far beyond the sum of its parts - a startlingly fresh, beautifully conceived record from two artists who sound like they’ve been playing together all their lives.
Plunky & Oneness Of Juju - Made Through Ritual
In 1975, the late DJ / producer and jazz distributor Jimmy Gray and James “Plunky” Branch joined a musical revolution, founding Black Fire Records and releasing the label’s debut album, the classic African Rhythms by Oneness of Juju. This July, Plunky brought back this important musical relationship with Made Through Ritual, produced by Plunky’s son Jamiah “Fire” Branch and Jimmy’s son Jamal Gray. The album takes a novel approach to beat culture. Working from demos created by Jamal using a selection of original jazz samples, Plunky took the tracks, replayed and re-interpreted the arrangements using live musicians.
a new edition of one of Sun Ra's most celebrated albums, Sleeping Beauty, reissued in its original artwork for the first time. Originally released in 1979 on his independent Saturn label, Sleeping Beauty captures Sun Ra and his Arkestra at their most soulful and serene. A masterclass in cosmic jazz, the album blends lush grooves, celestial soul, and meditative funk with Ra’s singular spiritual vision — a sound both grounded and otherworldly.
An electrified meeting of minds, Candy Girl is a lost 1975 session by jazz pianist Mal Waldron, recorded in Paris with core members of the mighty Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the American funk unit who had made France their home and whose deep grooves would later be mined by generations of hip-hop producers.
Captured live over three nights at the Knitting Factory in New York City, these performances mark the closing chapter of a 33-year odyssey of radical, independent music-making. Originally issued in tiny quantities with minimal packaging and cryptic artwork—often featuring hand-written labels or Ra’s own handmade designs—Hidden Fire was among the most elusive entries in Sun Ra’s vast discography.
Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Plays Mulatu
This year we were honoured to work again with the Ethio-jazz master Mulatu Astatke. Featuring masterful new arrangements of some of his classic compositions, Mulatu Plays Mulatu finds Mulatu revisiting the sounds that helped to change the face of Ethiopian music during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The album was recorded between London and Addis Ababa, working with his long-standing UK band, a tight, intuitive ensemble honed through years of live performance, alongside cultural musicians resident at his Jazz Village club in Addis.
A landmark recording from one of Ghana’s great musical architects, Ebo Taylor’s 1977 self-title release marked the first solo LP by the legendary guitarist, arranger, and composer after years behind the scenes shaping the sound of modern highlife.
Ice (The Lafayette Afro-Rock Band) - Disco Frankenstein
From the crypts of Parisian funk obscurity comes the long-lost Halloween holy grail, Disco Frankenstein from Ice AKA Lafayette Afro Rock Band. This album unearths a twisted treasure trove of grooves, originally scattered
across obscure side-projects and international pressings, brought back to life by
Strut on blood-soaked vinyl exclusively for Halloween 2025.
Ajomasé is the groundbreaking debut album by legendary Nigerian percussionist Gasper Lawal. Lawal’s style was forged through decades of high-level percussion work with the likes of Stephen Stills, Barbra Streisand, George Clinton & Funkadelic, Manfred Mann, Alexis Korner, Vangelis and Ginger Baker’s Air Force band. Dissatisfied with existing genre labels and production norms, Lawal began recording his own album in 1976. This new edition brings a spiritually resonant, rhythmically rich and genre-defying work to a new generation of listeners.
Brian Auger & The Trinity - Definitely What
Recorded during that unique period in the late ‘60s when jazz, blues and rock musicians found common ground in London’s vibrant subterranean clubs, 1968s Definitely What! was the second of the run of the four ground-breaking Trinity albums. Showcasing Auger's open-minded approach and his masterful organ & piano skills, the album whips up a rich blend of jazz, R&B, psychedelic touches and soulful grooves, complemented by the tight, dynamic rhythm section of Dave Ambrose (bass) and Clive Thacker (drums).
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Straight Ahead
When Straight Ahead hit the shelves in 1974, it marked another bold chapter for Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express. Half a century later, Straight Ahead still resonates. It captures that fertile moment in the 1970s when jazz, rock, and funk were colliding, and artists like Auger were busy redrawing the map.
Thanks to all of our team, artists & supporters throughout 2025. Here's to another fantastic year of great music.