Words by Justin Turford

The iconic ‘Future Sounds of Jazz’ series has reached its sixteenth volume, an extraordinary achievement considering the Munich label Compost Records’ founder and compiler Michael Reinboth pretty much unveiled the term ‘future jazz’. This epic series of jazz-meets-electronica compilations began in 1995 and I’ve been a fan since the first edition when Michael drew the dots between artists as diverse as Luke Vibert, Patrick Pulsinger, Jimi Tenor and The Mighty Bop (alongside some lesser known names). A sonic space of jazz-infused house, breakbeats, future jazz and spaced out electronic oddities, the shared aesthetic was a jazz sensibility even if the music lived in other generic boxes. Not in a jazz sense of live improvisational musicianship but certainly in the sense of freedom, vibes, experimentation. From this early outing the world has caught up with Michael’s vision, a vision in turn inspired by Detroit’s own ‘Hi-Tech Jazz’, the Underground Resistance (Galaxy 2 Galaxy) all-time classic that revealed that jazz and electronic music could thrive together.

Thirty one years after kickstarting this journey, the label returns with volume 16 and it’s another Michael (Rütten) who has been invited by his old friend to co-curate, and together they've absolutely smashed it, offering possibly my favourite volume so far with a roster that includes Momoko Gill, Trinidadian Deep, Felix Laband, Emanative & Jessica Lauren and DJ Oil.

Michael Rütten is himself an essential cog in spreading the gospel about future-leaning jazz, electronic music and more. His globally-syndicated Soulsearching radio show has run for decades, he’s a music journalist, DJ and producer and has promoted key independent artists in his hometown of Frankfurt. Who better to join in the dig?

I asked them a few questions on the eve of the release..

JT - Firstly, thank you for such a great compilation! Is it the best one yet? For my tastes it definitely is.

Michael Reinboth - Many thanks for the compliments.

Michael Rütten - Wow, that‘s a great compliment, thank you!

JT - You’ve both been friends for so long and you’ve both curated many compilations but is this the first time you have compiled a record together?

Michael Reinboth - Yes indeed, we’ve known each other since the beginning of Compost, and have a a genuine shared sense of taste, a journey through time. After Vol. 15, I had a few good tracks up my sleeve but somehow not enough to fill a 3-LP / 2-CD set. That’s when Michael Rütten came along at just the right time. He had so many great suggestions that I was quite—and extremely—positively surprised, and I motivated myself to go into seclusion once again. Ha, I then found some rough FSOJ track listings on my old computer, gave them another listen, and sent my (old) ideas to Michael. Well, Michael Rütten really stepped up his game, so we currently have over 50 great tracks on our list and are already planning the next Vol. 17 for 2027.

And we've decided to go on tour together and play this music in clubs, that is, to DJ. It's been a while since we've done that, and we think it's about time. Well, we're pretty good at it. After all, we have 40 years of experience.

Michael Rütten - Yeah, and it happened almost by coincidence as we were talking on the phone earlier this year about potential compilations on Compost Records in the near future generally. I was relistening to some of the last ‘Future Sounds Of Jazz’ editions, especially Vol. 13 which Michael compiled on his own, for me one of the best ones, speaking about the selection, the flow, the feeling. All making sense. Also, I am thinking about a follow up of ‘Soulsearching’ as it’s been quite a while.

We speak on a regular basis about music, life, and what’s going on in the world of music and Compost Records. A new chapter of ‘Future Sounds Of Jazz’ has been ‘in the air’ since a couple of years, as not only there are so many new brilliant artists and tracks floating around that match with the idea of the series but also a new generation of young people discovering and appreciating this special sound of no boundaries, an open minded blend of jazz and electronics. I do feel and recognize this through my radio shows and DJ sets. So, as Michael mentioned that he could only think of two people - apart from himself - who could compile a FSOJ - one of them was me - we quite spontaneously decided to do the next edition together. Overnight we had a list of more than 50 tracks and started to sort (them) out. Which has been great fun! And apart from our dear friendship and shared love for good music I really do appreciate Michael’s attitude of ‘let’s do this’ and his open mind. And trust.

As I do like his way of DJing ever since. Happy that someone just recently described us as pioneers of the DJ culture, instead of speaking of veterans ; ) We are still doing it out of pure passion. Neverending. So I am very much looking forward to travelling and sharing the decks again with Michael, spreading the music we love. Making people dance to timeless tunes of past, present, future via quite spontaneous DJ sets. No prepared set lists, always inspiring, always great fun also!

JT - How did you approach the shared responsibility? Were there tracks that you had to fight over to be included or was it a relaxed process? Did you have fun?

Michael Reinboth - First of all, it was a pleasure to hear each other's suggestions, it's always enriching. Then we basically gave the tracks grades, on a scale of one to three. No arguments at all. We were pretty much in complete agreement.

Michael Rütten - Exciting, relaxed, open minded. Always enriching to hear each other’s new discoveries. And rediscoveries, tunes, that go a long way back and feel just right in the here and now. As we are both connected with so many artists of different genres from around the world who sent their music in and checking what’s going on daily or even 24/7 ... we both can’t just listen to everything. But tell each other about exciting new stuff. And I think it‘s a premiere that a fully analogue recorded jazz song made it onto Future Sounds Of Jazz - Brittany Davis’ ‘Sun & Moon’. Thanks to Michael’s open minded flexibility he instantly said yes to my idea. Oh, and no fights, never. FUN!

JT - When you started out with the idea of ‘Future Jazz’ 31 years ago (!), there were a lot less artists operating in that way but there seems to be a galaxy full of them now. Compost and the Future Jazz compilations have undoubtedly been leaders in the development and widespread awareness of the ‘scene’ - do you recognise that yourself and have a sense of pride in your essential contribution?

Michael Reinboth - The term “Future Jazz” didn’t exist in 1994 (neither as a genre nor as a catchphrase among DJs), but I wanted to give this new stylistic phenomenon a powerful (and provocative) name. Basically, it meant: this isn’t acid jazz (i.e. old stuff or old stuff played anew) but electronically produced music, mostly created by recluses in the studio, as opposed to live bands. To answer your question about whether I have a sense of pride: yes, at the very least I can claim that, with the FSOJ series, I helped found and shape this genre.

JT - You have both been at the forefront of exploring and revealing the links between electronic music and jazz for decades. What has changed in your opinion?

Michael Reinboth - Back then, as mentioned above, it was mostly individuals producing jazzy electronic music; today, there are far more collectives (perhaps the first being Jazzanova) that can also perform it live (the Cinematic Orchestra, for example). It always takes time (much longer for jazz than for techno) for the tracks to become more complex and sophisticated - that is, to delve deeper into the essence of jazz, discover something new, and master electronic equipment and production techniques at the same level.

But there were phases when Future Jazz was flooded by Neo Disco, New Wave revivals, Trap, Lo-Fi, and Broken Techno. That was also one reason why the intervals between FSOJ events grew longer. At this point, I have to once again give a big shout-out to Michael Rütten, who really helped me get back on track with it.

Michael Rütten - Many projects, bands and producers that combine both worlds (jazz and electronics) have appeared on the scene over the last 10-15 years. Probably a lot of them inspired by the likes of Jason Swinscoe‘s Cinematic Orchestra, Theo Parrish, Nicolas Jaar, Matthew Herbert, just to name a few. Contrast Trio out of Frankfurt is one of them, just re-united with a new approach, or Momoko Gill out of London, who combines classic songwriting and live played drums by herself with jazz, soul and electronic elements. Emanative aka Nick Woodmansey also produces and plays music with the live aspect in mind from scratch. DJ Oil from Marseille/Paris with his quite unique sound. So much has happened and is still happening on the forefront of music which sits somewhere in between genres. I think that the pandemic has also played a huge role regarding this point. Artists had to find a new way of expression and took the time to either re-invent themselves or/and explore new territories. Jazz is the teacher, always or let‘s say again.

JT - There’s a deep and hypnotic aesthetic running throughout the compilation (with a few exceptions). This cosmic-ambient-krauty-repetition way of composition is something I’ve noticed myself a lot recently on labels like We Jazz, International Anthem and many others. Do you think that this is the natural result of a generation of jazz (and jazz-curious) musicians growing up knowing and understanding electronic music? Is it also a sign of the times? A human need to explore slowness and transcendence in an ever-crazier world?

Michael Reinboth - Oh yes, I do think that slowing down and a certain catharsis - escaping this crazy world - is a reason to turn to this music more than ever. It helps; it heals a little.

Michael Rütten - Well, that is something I’ve just realized while doing the tracklist for the CD/digital release of FSOJ 16! And yes, it‘s definitely a sign of the times we are living in. And also all things go round in circles. With the overload of overproduced music plus AI most recently, producers, musicians and people feel the need to slow down, dive into soul-soothing repetitive moments, going back to the roots actually. Be it via ancient rhythms, ambient (healing) sounds, it’s soulsearching in the end. Seeking warmth and something to hold on to in this mad world. Electronic music evolved out of repetitive elements, exploring of sounds and a very free approach, far from limiting forms of music theory. Bringing the human aspect more into the creation. It’s a very exciting time period right now!

JT - It’s been four years since the last Future Jazz compilation which had quite a different feel to this new one - What do you see NOW that could be a new direction in another four years in the future?

Michael Reinboth - It’s completely trend-independent, but Michael and I have a few older tracks with a disco vibe—disco jazz, so to speak. Let’s see if we can put together a ‘Future Sounds of Disco Jazz’ compilation with them. For Vol. 19 or 20, I could imagine something more hardcore tech-jazz.

I’m curious to see how our Future Sounds of Jazz DJ gigs go. The sound has been totally underground for years and I hope that will change in four years. We’re working on it.

Michael Rütten - Like Michael Reinboth said: trend-independent is the word here. Timelessness, always forward thinking without following any trends. Just following our instinct, gut and feeling.

BUY HERE! https://compostrecords.bandcamp.com/album/future-sounds-of-jazz-vol-16