n this celestial union, Peterson acts as the catalyst spurring Maunick into the studio with a handful of references from a bygone era, where the staple jazz-funkers of the late 70s like Freeez, Light of The World and Atmosfear collided with the rise of electro-funk production in the early 80s, the predecessor of the UK street soul sounds like Soul II Soul. A stalwart in the birth of UK street soul, Maunick produced some of the pioneers at the time, such as Steven Dante and Total Contrast. ‘Night Flight’ was inspired by Mike Collins’ Rude Movements and ‘When You Call Me’ was reminiscent of Loose Ends and Maunick’s mid-80s productions, he expresses; ‘That part of the 80s, where the drum machine kicked in, suddenly there was a sound that we who played soul, jazz and funk kind of understood and felt, but there was a coolness, a street element to it that really set it apart. That was down to its sparseness and the introduction of the drum machine, and it felt like the STR4TA story belonged to the 70s and the musical transition to the 80s.”

STR4TA is the new wave jazz funk project pioneered by Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Long-time friends and collaborators, STR4TA sees them mine new musical possibilities inspired by a shared formative era. Their debut album ‘Aspects’ was released in March 2021 to a rapturous reception, in the first material that Maunick and Peterson have released together in over a decade. With standout tracks ‘We Like It’ achieving over 1 million streams on Spotify, ‘Rhythm In Your Mind’ exceeding 12 weeks on Jazz FM’s playlist, and a remix EP featuring Melé, Dave Lee, Greg Wilson, Dave Aju & more released at the end of 2021. Heavily supported by BBC 6Music, The Guardian, Wax Poetics, The Vinyl Factory, CLASH, Télérama (FR), Radio Nova (FR), Rolling Stones Italy & Japan. STR4TA are in the studio working on their latest body of work tipped for release later in 2022, with selected live dates scheduled over the summer.

Tracklist:
When You Call Me
Night Flight