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2023 YEAR'S BEST ALBUMS | SunNeverSetsOnMusic

2023 YEAR'S BEST ALBUMS | SunNeverSetsOnMusic

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Yussef Dayes - Black Classical Music

Black Classical Music

by Yussef Dayes

Released 8 September 2023

Brownswood Music

*****

‘Black Classical Music’ is such a sprawling masterpiece and musical autobiography, it seems impossible that it is celebrated multi-instrumentalist, masterful drummer and visionary artist Yussef Dayes' debut solo studio album. In fact, it is the inevitable result of a young man's musical journey: a frontrunner for Album of The Year status that marks Dayes as a giant of contemporary British Jazz.

Having been given a drum kit at the age of 4, by his bass-playing father, Dayes formed childhood bands with his brothers and along the way, age 10, was tutored by drum legend Billy Cobham. Playing what they described as "Afro-beat stylings with forward-looking jazz and rock", the young boys' band, named United Vibrations, released their first single "Ra!" in 2009 and their debut album "Galaxies Not Ghettos" in 2011. The EP "We Never Die" followed in 2012 and "The Myth of the Golden Ratio" in 2016.

Still in his teens, Dayes teamed with keyboardist Kamaal Williams for the short-lived duo Yussef Kamaal in 2016, releasing their only studio album 'Black Focus" on Brownswood and attracting widespread attention and acclaim.

In 2020, Dayes released a "What Kinda Music" with guitarist Tom Misch on Blue Note Records.

More recently, Dayes released "Live At Joshua Tree", an EP presented by Soulection, and other solo releases including the live album "Welcome To The Hills" and "Love Is The Message", which was recorded Live at Abbey Road Studios.

His list of collaborators is ever-growing and has blossomed to include the finest talents across both music and fashion. 

For more Yussef Dayes music, link to our 20 August 2023 Blog entry "Yussef Dayes- Recent Releases and Collaborations", which anticipated the release of "Black Classical Music")

Read more... Bandcamp

Jose James - On & On

On & On

by Jose James

Released 20 January 2023

Rainbow Blonde Records

*****

Jose James has been such a perennial favourite of ours that his records have all received four and five star ratings here - even his 2021 holiday release "Merry Christmas from Jose James".

His new release  "On & On" pays homage to Erykah Badu, revisiting seven of her most outstanding songs, from all stages of her career, representing them in his very own style.

He is supported on this project by a truly exceptional young group of musicians: Big Yuki (Fender Rhodes and Hammond), Ebban Dorsey (alto), Diana Dzhabbar (flute and alto). Ben Williams (bass). 

James uses the album cover artwork to pay further homage to the great Alice Coltrane: the cover photograph and typology replicas the cover of Coltrane's increasingly influential 1967 release "Journey in Satchidananda". Whereas Coltrane credited tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders on her cover, James credits rising saxophonists Dorsey and Dzhabbar. 

All class.

 

NOTE: If you'd like to hear the Badu originals alongside Jose James' covers, (and the Alice Coltrane album that inspired the JJ cover art) there's a playlist for that: On & On - Jose James covers Erykah Badu. Played back-to-back this way, the Jose James versions really stand up well.

Dhafer Youssef - Street of Minarets

Street of Minarets

by Dhafer Youssef

Released 27 January 2023

Black Best Edition

*****

Oud master, vocalist and composer Dhafer Youssef is at the vanguard of a movement in contemporary music that brings East and West together. He is building bridges between different music. As one of the most inventive oud players, he has freed the instrument from its traditional role and brought it into jazz. And just look at the stellar lineup of players that he attracted to the cause of this amazing record:

Dhafer Youssef, oud, vocals
Herbie Hancock, piano
Marcus Miller, bass
Nguyên Lê, guitar
Rakesh Chaurasia, flute
Adriano Dos Santos Tenori, percussion
Dave Holland, double bass
Vinnie Colaiuta, drums
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet

Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy

Heavy Heavy

by Young Fathers

Released 3 February 2023

Ninja Tune

*****

Scottish trio Young Fathers (Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham "G" Hastings) return with their first album in six years and they're once again rocking out with their patented recipe of measured abandon and meaningful lyrics, in their trademark chaotic, hybrid style that embraces rock, pop, hip-hop and soul and much. much more.

This (their fourth) album, is another classic that I am sure will feature among this website's top ten albums at the end of the year, as did their previous "Cocoa Sugar" (2018).

On Heavy Heavy, the Young Fathers' don't rely on teams of collaborators, spoken interludes, or overt studio effects: their work is contemporary development of comparatively "traditional" techniques.

Their Bandcamp entry for Heavy Heavy describes their approach: "(the) project signals a renewed back-to-basics approach, just the three of them in their basement studio, some equipment and microphones: everything always plugged in, everything always in reach."

However, the album's production is as spectacular as anything we're likely to hear this year.

The music is one of contrasts and constant mood swings, resulting is an engaging set that engages the listener, enticing them to take the album in in its entirety - and then to repeat play! It is alternately soft & loud, melodic & noisy, political & personal, calm & wild, serious & fun.

It shows that the Young Fathers have lost none of their potency during their six year hiatus and it places them at to very top of the musical pile.

Cecile McLorin Salvant - Melusine

Melusine

by Cecile McLorin Salvant

Released 24 March 2023

Nonesuch Records

*****

A serpent woman haunts Cecile McLorin Salvant's dreams on her boldly realized seventh album, 2023's Mélusine. Inspired by the European folktale most famously detailed by 14th century French writer Jean d'Arras, Mélusine tells the tale of a shapeshifting maiden, half-serpent/half-woman, whose righteous anger takes on ever-more dualistic meanings under Salvant's dynamic musical sway. Having been lavished with accolades, including several Grammy Awards for her clarion, swinging jazz and French chanson-infused albums, Salvant has increasingly leaned into the more stylistically experimental and personal aspects of her artistry. It was an approach she took to new levels with 2022's Ghost Song, performing her poetic originals alongside unexpected covers of songs by Kate Bush and Sting. Centered on the title track, which she composed during the Ghost Song sessions, Mélusine is a gorgeously realized production. Although there are some English lyrics here, the album features the most French Salvant has sung on record. Thankfully, she offers translations of each song with a sentence that also highlights how each track illuminates the story.

Source/Read More... AllMusic

Jamila Woods - Water Made Us

Water Made Us

by Jamila Woods

Released 13 October 2023

Jagjaguwar

*****

On her expansive new album Water Made Us, Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across Water Made Us, Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love’s wreckage and refuge.

While 2017’s HEAVN saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019’s Legacy! Legacy! reframed her life’s experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, Water Made Us is self-revelatory in an entirely new way. The album reveals a new side of Jamila never fully shared with her previous work, making this her most personal album yet.

Read more... Bandcamp

Kareem Ali - The Color of Sound

The Color of Sound

by Kareem Ali

Released 28 July 2023

CosmoPlus Records

*****

The Color of Sound is a 7 track opus that blends, in Kareem’s trademark sound, deep house, jazz and a variety of elements that are not just sound elements. As always there’s a visual and cinematic side to his work that keeps to impress, cementing his status as one of the most talented and hard-working producers in the game.
The textures on this one are beyond mesmerizing. Intended to be played with over-the-ear headphones, The Color of Sound progresses naturally, travelling all the way from Kareem’s imagination to the minds, bodies and soul of the ones willing to dive deep into the record.

The bad-ass instrumentation is softly complemented by the touch of his trumpet, echoing through the warm night outside. And there’s nothing better than this - a trumpet playing in the night, conveying a nostalgic emotion that is finally there to be appreciated and felt. Kareem Ali is releasing some of his best works on vinyl which is great news for collectors. This record is no exception and is available on vinyl and digital - playing on repeat over here.

Read more... osotao

30/70 - Art Make Love

Art Make Love

by 30/70

Released 17 February 2023

Energy Exchange Records

*****

'ART MAKE LOVE’ is the fifth album by 30/70, the mothership of the internationally acclaimed Melbourne born collective. Expanding far beyond the previous markers of nu-soul and jazz; it is inspired heavily by broken beat complexity, translating dance music into live textures and their truly unique collaborative songwriting.

‘ART MAKE LOVE’ is a statement about the very life giving, love fuelling, interconnected nature of creativity, a reclamation of art in a digital time.

Unique to their catalog, this album was created with each member of the band taking full control of the recording and producing of their own instrument only to culminate in a unified sound, their synergy palpable as a singular force.

Over the years 30/70 has become something of a supergroup, with Allysha Joy, Ziggy Zeitgeist, Josh Kelly, Finn Rees and Matthew Hayes all soaring as solo artists, band leaders and producers in their own right. Each member of the band commands their sound and musicality effortlessly - a concept that is unique in 30/70 too - there is no one leader, they make space for each member to go deep on whatever it is they’re bringing to the table, creating space for the music and one another.

Read More: Bandcamp

Kara Jackson - Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love

Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love

by Kara Jackson

Released 14 April 2023

Kara Jackson / September Recordings

*****

Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?, the debut album from musician and poet Kara Jackson, is a journey into grief, self-possession, and love—a dazzling and devastating examination of life’s unpredictability. Those weighty themes are paired with adventurous arrangements: “no fun/party” forgoes the standard verse-chorus-verse form for a more open-ended style; minor chords usher in each new section, and the hopeful country melody gives way to an elegiac bridge. The song explores the various emotions that accompany the search for love—an echo of the album’s One Big Question, which is why we undertake these searches at all. “Don’t be sorry for missing the party,” Jackson says near the song’s conclusion, “‘Cause somebody’s party is missing you, too.”

Read more... Bandcamp

Jonny Greenwood, Dudu Tassa - Jarak Qaribak

Jarak Qaribak

by Dudu Tassa, Jonny Greenwood

Released 9 June 2023

Dudu Tassa, World Circuit Limited

*****
‘Jarak Qaribak’ is the collaboration between celebrated Israeli singer, musician and producer Dudu Tassa and award-winning composer and guitarist Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead, The Smile), produced by Tassa & Greenwood and mixed by Nigel Godrich, ‘Jarak Qaribak’ brings together vocalists and musicians from throughout the Middle East for a very special album of cross-border collaborations.
Tassa and Greenwood have known each other a long time and have collaborated before. Jonny, who is married into an Israeli family hailing originally from Iraq and Egypt, remembers hearing Dudu’s music twinkling amid the prevailing gloom of mid-noughties Israeli rock when Radiohead first visited.
“Jarak Qaribak” translates, more or less, as “Your Neighbour Is Your Friend”. It’s an expansive, inclusive sentiment. The songs on the album, and the singers, are drawn from all over the Middle East – and, in keeping with the theme established by the album’s title, each singer takes a turn at a tune from a country other than their own.

Read more... Jarak Qaribak

Meshell Ndegeocello - The Omnichord Real Book

The Omnichord Real Book

by Meshell Ndegeocello

Released 16 June 2023

Blue Note

*****

Over the past 30 years, German-born American bassist and vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello has lent her unique blend of spacious melodies, rooted grooves and intricate fingerpicking to tracks by everyone from Madonna to Herbie Hancock and Robert Glasper. Across her own albums, Ndegeocello has been honing this sound to create soulful music that interpolates R&B and hip-hop as much as the virtuosity of jazz. Most recently she produced 2018’s Ventriloquism, which reinterpreted R&B tracks from the 80s. On her latest album Ndegeocello now looks forward, producing a futuristic, original soundscape of jaunty synthpop and electronic R&B.

As a whole, it’s a confident imagining of her infectious future funk sound.

Read more... The Guardian

Cleo Sol - Gold

GOLD

by Cleo Sol

Released 29 September 2023

Forever Loving Originals

*****

Cleo Sol has an excellent artistic strategy: make something great, release it, and then disappear back to her family, and – no doubt – the studio. Dipping in and dipping out when she feels ready, this sense of control pervades her work – whether it’s the intensity of Sault or the languid neo-soul of the songwriting released under her own name, every single detail is attended to.
‘Gold’ is her second album to be released in two weeks. While it’s a hopeless endeavour to compare and contrast unique artistic works, Clash endeavours to say the following: while ‘Heaven’ felt like a mood piece, ‘Gold’ is more defined, the music more sketched out, and with more evident strengths. Obviously everything Cleo Sol releases is excellent, it’s just that some projects are more excellent than others – in the Cleo Sol league table, this is challenging for a European spot.

‘Gold’ is a record that dares to be optimistic in an increasingly dark world. It’s soulful euphoria as a form of protest, a song cycle that revels in the quiet power of connection; in a catalogue replete with soaring highs, ‘Gold’ touches the clouds.

Read more... CLASH

Anohni, Antony and the Johnsons - My Way Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross

My Way Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross

by Anohni, Antony and the Johnsons

Released 6 July 2023

Rebis Music / Rough Trade

*****

Anohni stepped away from her group the Johnsons to make 2016's Hopelessness, an album that honed the activism in her music to a sharp point with bladelike electronics and lyrics delivered with the frankness of someone at her breaking point. She brings some of that directness to My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, her first album with the Johnsons in over a decade. Emblazoned with a portrait of gay liberation activist -- and the band's namesake -- Marsha P. Johnson on its cover, the record draws on politically minded 1960s and '70s soul, an elegant strain of protest music that meets difficult times with beauty, dignity, and humility.  It often feels like she's grappling with her emotions in real time (several songs are first takes), and this spontaneity underscores that the freedom gained by giving heartache a name is just as important as calling out injustice.

A powerful return, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross reaffirms that Anohni & the Johnsons' ability to confront the hardest issues and moments is as eloquent and relevant as ever.

Read more... AllMusic

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows

Black Rainbows

by Corinne Bailey Rae

Released 15 September  2023

Black Rainbows Music / Thirty Tigers

*****

Anyone in the vicinity of a radio around 2006 heard “Put Your Records On,” Corinne Bailey Rae’s warm ode to feeling relaxed and fulfilled in the moment. Since then, the song has become a staple of easy listening channels and kindred playlists, even spinning off one viral cover. The commercial success of the song—alongside Rae’s self-titled debut, which stayed on the Billboard 200 for nearly a year and a half—helped solidify jazz, soul, and R&B as the foundation for her breezy pop. Seventeen years later, Rae has taken a sharp and surprising turn toward unabashed rock music with her scuzzy, guitar-powered new album, Black Rainbows. She’s not whispering but roaring.

As a 15-year-old in her home city of Leeds, Rae was in an upstart, all-girl rock group called Helen, drawing inspiration from women-led bands like L7, Belly, and Veruca Salt. The young ensemble garnered

attention from the alt-rock heavy hitter Roadrunner Records but the deal fell through, an industry heartbreak that nonetheless kept Rae pursuing music. For the first time in her solo catalog, Black Rainbows strikes directly at those formative tastes; Rae indulges the affections of her younger self without succumbing to cheap pastiche. With ferocious energy and clear-eyed confidence, it’s as though Rae is introducing herself all over again.

Read more... Pitchfork

Allison Russell - The Returner

The Returner

by Allison Russell

Released 8 September 2023

Birds of Chicago

*****

Since the release of her debut solo LP two years ago Outside Child, Russell’s often devastating, deeply moving, cathartic celebration of survivor’s joy has become one of the most acclaimed albums of the past 10 years.

Now comes the second chapter in her story, The Returner, a body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of liberation, love, and self-respect that serves as a fierce declaration of joy for all survivors that have made it to the other side. The album was written and co-produced by Allison along with dim star (her partner JT Nero and Drew Lindsay) and was recorded over Solstice week in December 2022 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. It features Russell’s “Rainbow Coalition” band of all female musicians - along with special guest appearances from the legendary Wendy & Lisa, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier - who built The Returner from the bottom up with a rhythm-first, genre-fluid approach.

The improvisational energy of great female artists sparked the album’s fierce joy, and provided a wider canvas for Allison’s immense, unlimited talent. In all, the new album doesn’t just deliver on the promise of the last two years, it exceeds all reasonable (and unreasonable) expectations and affirms Allison Russell’s place among music’s most vital artists and The Returner, as one of 2023’s most essential recordings.

Read more... Bandcamp

Kamaal Williams - Stings

Stings

by Kamaal Williams

Released 27 September 2023

Black Focus Records

*****

Informed by isolation, reflection, and profound spirituality, the third full-length album from South London keyboardist and producer Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu) is a cerebral instrumental journey through jazz, classical, dub, downtempo, bossa nova, and hip-hop styles. The front half features the record’s most immediate moments, peaking with the title track and its sweet flip of Soho’s 1995 track “Hot Music,” before diving into dreamy and downright beautiful classical arrangements on the back half. Tacked onto the album’s 10-track run as a digital bonus disc are Stings’ three early singles that includes the distinctive, menacing, vocal-laced “PKKNO.”

Read more... KEXP

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily - Love In Exile

Love In Exile

by Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily

Released 24 March 2023

Verve

*****

Since 2015, Arooj Aftab has gradually distilled the essence of her work. On her debut album, Bird Under Water, the Pakistan-born, Brooklyn-based composer fused ghazal—a South Asian style focused on loss and love, both romantic and divine—with pop, jazz, and soul, finding the consonance between musical traditions from different corners of the world. On 2018’s ambient Siren Islands, she stripped away tradition, weaving her otherworldly voice between layers of synthesizer. By 2021’s Vulture Prince—her breakout record, an elegiac piece filigreed with voice, harp, and violin—she had learned to squeeze every drop of emotional resonance out of a single elongated syllable, or the vibrato of a gently pressed harp string.

Love in Exile—Aftab’s new album in collaboration with pianist and jazz composer Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily—takes that process of distillation even further: coaxing an entire album’s worth of pathos out of a handful of Urdu couplets, crafting complex emotional inner worlds through the ritualistic repetition of just a few lines of poetry. In Ismaily and Iyer, she has found the perfect partners. All three draw from a shared vocabulary that is subtle, intricate, and minimalist, yet incredibly expressive. 

Read more... Pitchfork

Beverley Glenn-Copeland - The Ones Ahead

The Ones Ahead

by Beverley Glenn-Copeland

Released 28 July 2023

Transgressive Records

*****

Though Beverly Glenn-Copeland is now a Polaris Prize winner whose wondrous music has garnered a group of dedicated fans, his early compositions, like 1986’s superb New Age experiment Keyboard Fantasies, weren’t originally heard by the masses. It’s only recently that the Canadian composer has become part of the mainstream consciousness; his resonant voice, forward-looking lyrics, and blissful instrumentals capturing a new generation of listeners and crate diggers in the past decade. But much of this conversation has surrounded albums he released years ago.

With The Ones Ahead, Glenn-Copeland shares all-new music for the first time in almost 20 years, offering the clearest thesis of his vision yet: that the future is out there for us, and we can capture it in a song.

 

Read SunNeverSetsOnMusic's December 2021 review of Glenn-Copeland's album Keyboard Fantasies here

Read more... The Guardian

Le Cri du Caire, Abdullah Miniawy, Peter Corser - Le Cri du Caire

Le Cri du Caire

by Le Cri du Caire, Abdullah Miniawy, Peter Corser

27 January 2023

Les Disque du Festival Permanent / Airfono / L'Onde & Cybele

*****

Cairo, late 2013. In a city in turmoil, where the curfew had just been lifted after a second coup d'état, where the walls were still covered in dreams and revolt, where even the clubs of the city-centre echoed with anti-Islamist and anti-army slogans, I was deeply touched by the voice of Abdullah Miniawy at the 100Copies music studio, a stone's throw from Tahrir Square. A singer, writer, poet, poetry-slammer and student from the El-Fayoum oasis, this spokesman for Egyptian youth was shaking up the music scene and social networks with his hypnotic voice and unique blend of electro, sufism and jazz music, both punk and psychedelic, secular and avant-garde. Three months later, Abdullah's first on-stage revelations took place at the La Voix est Libre festival in Cairo with the "Jimi Hendrix of oud", Mehdi Haddab, followed by his first meeting with composer and saxophonist Peter Corser at the D-CAF festival (Downtown Contemporary Art Festival), created in the aftermath of the revolution by leading figure in theater Ahmed El-Attar. After three years of administrative battles, while censorship was making a comeback in Egyptian artistic circles, Abdullah finally arrived in Paris where he recorded an initial version of Purple Feathers with Peter Corser, which was broadcast on Soundcloud.

In 2017, gripped from the very first seconds by these soaring vocal and instrumental performances, Erik Truffaz accepted our invitation to become involved with Peter's hypnotic loops and Abdullah's electric vocals, and was soon joined by the visceral strings of cellist Karsten Hochapfel.

Five years later, Le Cri du Caire is still turning heads, and often moving audiences to tears. Both free and spiritual, sensitive and elusive, their music elevates the soul to giddy heights and flies towards what may well be one of the shortest paths from zero to infinity.

Read more... Bandcamp

Acid Arab - ٣ (Trois)

٣ (Trois)

by Acid Arab

Released 3 February 2023

Crammed Dice / Shelter Studio

*****

Based in Paris, Acid Arab is a brilliant Franco-Algerian electronic / dance music collective.

The ten tracks on this eagerly-awaited record are serious dancefloor bangers, and will also be providing delightful private listening experiences, thanks to their sophisticated production and to the intriguing, diverse performances by eight guest vocalists: Sofiane Saidi (Algeria), Cem Yldiz (Turkiye), Wael Alkak (Syria), Cheb Halim (Algeria), Ghizlane Melih (Morocco), Fella Soltana, (Algeria), Khnafer Lazhar, Rachid Taha (Algeria).

Incorporating Algerian gasba, Anatolian trance, synthetic dabkeh, bionic raï, Acid Arab have incorporated and invented a spectrum of styles, breaking boundaries between genres. After spending close to ten years exploring diverse types of music through their numerous collaborations and their constant travels all around the Mediterranean and beyond, Acid Arab keep pushing the envelope and expanding their musical territories.

“We’re careful not to repeat a identical formula from album to album” says the band. “It’s the actual working relationship with the guest artists which drives us to expand the concept.”

This is cutting edge music - sampling and experimenting with the excitement and energy of the music heard in the medinas, souks, taxis and wedding parties of the Arabic speaking hemisphere and bringing it to global attention.

Long live Acid Arab.

Kelela - Raven

Raven

by Kelela

Released 10 February 2023

Warp Records

*****

Largely absent since her debut album Take Me Apart and its remixes (2017-18), US R&B outlier Kelela returns with a stunning new set.

Since her debut, the singer has delved deep, absorbing narratives of resistance to racism, misogynoir (sexism as it relates to the Black female experience) and foregrounding queer female creativity.

The result is a record that divides its time between the dancefloor and the bedroom, moving via hazy, in-between spaces filled with delicate yearning and immersive sound design.

Kelela’s choice of beats has long skewed British, with old-school drum’n’bass powering this album’s most immediate “ravin” track, Contact. But this is a record designed to penetrate cell-deep, with slow, unspooling tracks such as Holier, where beats don’t intrude, the music hanging as though in a space out of time. The standout title track builds deliciously slowly, outlining the distance travelled and – after a piano ripple, angelic backing vocals and an assertion of Kelela’s needs and desires – climaxing into a digital beat workout.

Source: The Guardian

Ryuichi Sakamoto - 12

12

by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Released 17 January 2023

Lee Ufan / Avex Entertainment

*****

As delicately beautiful as anything you're likely to hear this year, Ruichi Sakamoto's "12" comprises a dozen compositions titled only by the date that they were composed, and arranged in chronological order, from 20210310 to 20220304.

Thus, this is a diary of sorts, the beauty of which is underscored by the revelation that these pieces were written and recorded in temporary lodgings, while in convalescence after cancer surgery.

Over the years, I have often wondered whether and how the generation of musicians and pop stars of our youth would age - whether with dignity, good humor and poise, or as embarrassing, 3rd-rate self-caricatures. There are many examples of the latter, playing to audiences forever trapped in the aspic of nostalgia. Fortunately, many others, like Ryucihi Sakamoto continue to create new music that draws deeply from their lives.

The album is subtle in its gradual change of mood, presumably a reflection of the composer's recovery. The opening seven pieces, from 20210310 to 20220214, become progressively longer (from five to nine minutes) and are low in tone.

However, midway through the album on "20220302 - sarabande" (a slow, stately Spanish dance in triple time) there seems to be an awakening - the pieces now become progressively shorter (from three minutes to one) by 20220304 and more structured. 

The final track, the shortest of all, consists of only a naturalistic tinkling sound, perhaps of (wind?) chimes. It as if confinement is finished and the patient is enjoying the garden.

Meg Baird - Furling

Furling

by Meg Baird

Released 27 January 2023

Drag City

*****

California singer-songwriter Meg Baird's first album in six years (and only her fourth in sixteen) is a giant step forward for the artist best known for  Ghost Forests (2018), her new -age chart topping collaboration with American harpist Mary Lattimore. With her new release she fleshes out her post Joni Mitchell persona, built on a elite finger-picking, acoustic guitar technique, with a lot more piano, synths and drums than we've heard from her previously.

The long instrumental opening song Ashes, Ashes opens the album, but it's as if the album starts again when the second song Star Hill Song commences and having been carried along with the instrumental, we're now captivated by Baird's gorgeous vocal. 

It's an album that calls attention to the Baird's arrival among the finest contemporary performers of modern folk music such as Big Thief, Beth Orton, Cass McCombs, Alela Diane, Laura Veirs.

Lakecia Benjamin - Phoenix

Phoenix

by Lakecia Benjamin

Released 27 January 2023

Whirlwind Recordings

*****

Phoenix' is the highly-anticipated, expansive new album in the musical evolution of alto saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin.

The album was produced by the multi-Grammy-award winning Terri Lyne Carrington and features a star-studded line up of specially curated guests Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis and Wayne Shorter. The band is composed of trumpeter Josh Evans, Victor Gould on keys, Orange Rodriguez on synths, drummer Enoch (EJ) Strickland, percussionist Nêgah Santos and bassist Ivan Taylor. Trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr, Rhodes organist Anastassiya Petrova and bassist Jahmal Nichols all join for one track each.

“When we came out from the pandemic we weren't allowed to be broken,” Lakecia shares while describing the deeply personal outing Phoenix became for her. The record presents mostly original compositions written throughout the seasons: “we had to be these beautiful absorbent birds and get to work. I wanted to highlight each month of that.”

By design, the compositions on 'Phoenix' are written around the skillsets of her triumphant guests, a handful of women in jazz who have had prominent influences on Lakecia.

Read more... Bandcamp

Lisa O'Neill - All Of This Is Chance

All Of This Is Chance

by Lisa O'Neill

Released 10 February 2023

Rough Trade

*****

A raconteur in the truest sense of the word, every story starts somewhere and O’Neill starts this extraordinary collection here on earth, on Irish soil, hands in the land. The album is full of both orchestral masterpieces like the ambitious and cinematic "Old Note" and the title track of “All of This Is Chance”, inspired by the great Monaghan writer Patrick Kavanagh's prescient meditation on The Great Hunger, as well as stirring meditations on nature, birds, berries, bees, and blood that ring out over a clacking banjo, dusting and devastating all those in its wake.

Read More... Bandcamp

Ishmael Ensemble & Rider Shafique - New Era

New Era

by Ishmael Ensemble & Rider Shafique

Released 10 February 2023

Seven Songs

*****

Fresh from receiving a standing ovation for their incredible performance at the London Jazz Festival, part of their 5 date UK tour and following comeback single ‘The Rebuke’, Ishmael Ensemble return with EP ‘New Era’, a powerful statement of intent in collaboration with poet, MC and lyricist Rider Shafique.

Shafique’s talent for razor sharp lyricism, keen observation and beautifully woven imagery deliver probing prophetic visions across Ishmael Ensemble’s strikingly emotive soundscapes on this brilliant 5 tracker, weaving jazz, dub and other electronic influences with stunning effect.
‘New Era’ is an absorbing and thought-provoking piece that highlights Ishmael Ensemble’s talent for genre-shifting and taking the sonic conversation well beyond traditional jazz. Coupled with Rider Shafique’s mastery of words, it’s easy to see why audiences have literally been on their feet to praise all concerned at live shows and why 2023 is set to be their most thrilling year yet. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Liv.e - Girl In The Half Pearl

Girl In The Half Pearl

by Liv.e

Released 10 February 2023

In Real Life Music / AWAL Recordings America

*****

“Thematically, it’s about the rebirth of myself and allowing myself to be who I am,” Liv.e has said of her second album. For the Los-Angeles-based artist, Girl in the Half Pearl represents a new era of musical expression, one that is about far more than just a progression in sound or the finessing of one’s craft. Across seventeen songs which track the complexities of love, heartbreak and womanhood, Liv.e paints a picture of liberation, depicting the maturity needed to piece together fragments that have been previously broken down by emotions like anguish and hurt. In its emphasis on reclamation and growth, Girl in the Half Pearl portrays Liv.e at her most authentic and honest, which in turn allows her the space to continue her avant-garde explorations of genre and form.

Since her 2017 EP FRANK, Liv.e has been effortlessly blending neo-soul with experimental production, eclectic R&B and chopped up jazz, thriving on the unpredictable and unexpected with each release.
Girl in the Half Pearl is a metamorphosis in many ways, encapsulating the stress, deep introspection and eventual acceptance that goes hand in hand with the desire to access a complete sense of freedom. It’s an album that is hard to categorise but its methodical beats, otherworldly production, intriguingly chaotic clashes of melody and hazy vocals all inexplicably mesh together, with Liv.e leaning further and further towards that vital point of breakthrough.

Read more... The Quietus

San of the Rambutan - The Legend of Rabona (EP)

The Legend of Rabona

by San of the Rambutan

Released 13 February 2023

SOTR

*****

Purely created from a mistake, as an experiment for ‘The Experiment’, ‘SOTR’ through thick and thin, formed a five piece cinematic jazz fusion band over the years. The members of San of the Rambutan, Emmanuel Maas (pianist), Liam Thompson (drums), Pat Carroll (bass), Sam Holland (electric guitar) & Stephen Brooks (saxophone) have connected through the love of music from different locals of Naarm (Melbourne).

SOTR’s sonic escape is a combination of influences with the key elements of all players coming from very different worlds of music, being, 90’s hip-hop, various electronic styles, rock & metal, high school classical and improvisational jazz.

Inspired by influences such as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) Herbie Hancock, BBNG (BadBadNotGood) & Kamaal Williams, 'The Legend of Rabona' takes on genres such as Jazz-fusion, Funk, Hip-hop, Electronic, Soul & RnB

Read more... Bandcamp

Anna B Savage - In|Flux

in|Flux

by Anna B Savage

Released 17 February 2023

City Slang

*****

Anna B Savage has always asked questions in her music, but on new album in|FLUX answers are no longer her quest. Vulnerability and curiosity have consistently been operative words to describe her work and on her second album she ruminates on the complexities and variables of humanity, the pain or pleasure of love, loss and earthly connection, capturing it all in devastating, elating and powerful ways. The key difference between this and previous releases: she’s not anxious about what’s on the other side. She’s come to appreciate staying afloat - basking even - in the open ended, uncertainty of the grey area.

It’s been hard work to get to this point, both in the studio and in the sometimes gruelling work it takes to get there using therapy. Like anyone that has been knows the unfurling of one's innermost thoughts and feelings - some that you may not even know are there - reveals they are in constant flux. In fact, the aforementioned and operative ‘vulnerability’ attributed to her music before now has a partner, the notion of said ‘flux’.

Because in contrast to her debut, A Common Turn, in|FLUX takes Savage on a diametric journey. When faced with the inconsistencies of the world, in your relationships, and within yourself (they often make themselves present in the damning quiet of a therapy room) you want clear cut and irrefutable answers, especially when paired with the pristine superficiality of a life without conflict or nuance portrayed on social media.

Read more... City Slang Records

Okonski - Magnolia

Magnolia

by Okonski

Released 24 February 2023

Colemine Records

*****

Magnolia, the debut solo album of Steve Okonski, wasn’t meant to sound this way. The Durand Jones & The Indications’ keyboard player originally envisioned something quite different. Something that was beat driven and fully composed. In order to realise his vision, Okonski knew exactly who he needed on the team - DJ&TI bassist Michael Isvara Montgomery (who has also performed with the likes of David Byrne, Pharaoh Sanders and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor) and DJ&TI co-lead vocalist Aaron Frazer, (who turns his hand here to the drum kit). The trio survived, however the original concept developed quite differently.

The end result is an album that glides out of the speakers like a catamaran skipping across a calm ocean at the height of summer. 

Magnolia is a beautiful album, one that carries an overall sense of peace. It is a vehicle that, if you immerse yourself fully in it, will take you to a better place. The musicianship is outstanding and every note exists for a reason. If I have one criticism it is that it feels very short, coming in at under half an hour. I certainly could’ve taken more of this sublime jazz. Apparently, the Magnolia symbolises luck in some parts of the United States. It’s certainly lucky for us that Okonski’s trio decided to go down the path of working on intuition and improvisation to create this fine, free-flowing album.

Read more... Louder Than War

Brad Mehldau - Your Mother Should Know: Brad Meldhau Plays The Beatles

Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles

by Brad Mehldau

Released 10 February 2023

Nonesuch Records

*****

Although known for his intimate and finely rendered jazz, Brad Mehldau has long showcased his interest in digging deep into songs by pop and rock bands.

Recorded in a live solo session at Philharmonie de Paris, the album finds Mehldau investigating a handful of his favorite tunes by the iconic British rock group. While jazz became his life's calling, the pianist was initially drawn to play music listening to rock artists like Billy Joel, Supertramp, Led Zeppelin, and Steely Dan. He has built upon these early inspirations throughout his career, offering distinctive takes on songs by Radiohead, Nick Drake, and yes, the Beatles, as on his 2005 trio album Day Is Done. He has also pushed the envelope of his own jazz compositions towards more maverick rock and classical sounds, as on his ambitious 2022 album Jacob's Ladder.

Your Mother Should Know is closer in vibe to the former, with Mehldau treating each Beatles tune as he might a jazz standard, reconsidering the harmony of the song and using the melody as jumping-off point for his own bold, endlessly lyrical improvisations.


Read More... AllMusic

Yasmin Levy - Live at Tower of David, Jerusalem

Live at Tower of David, Jerusalem

by Yasmin Levy

Released 2 February 2023

Adama Music & Publishing

*****

Yasmin Levy is an Israeli singer who performs Ladino music with a modern twist, an infusion of flamenco in particular. Born on December 23, 1975, in Jerusalem, Levy learned about Ladino music and culture from her father, Yitzhak Levy, a researcher of Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of the Sephardic Jewish communities that were driven from Spain in the late 15th century. Levy's songs are generally sung in Ladino, and her music is generally comprised of traditional instruments such as oud, violin, and cello; however, she also infuses her music with more modern styles such as flamenco. Levy's debut album, Romance & Yasmin (2000), garnered some attention, particularly after being reissued internationally in 2004 and earning her a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2005 BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. Her follow-up album, La Judería: Ladino Meets Flamenco (2005), is more typical of the style that she would carry forward on subsequent albums such as Live at the Tower of David, Jerusalem (2006) and Mano Suave (2008). These follow-up efforts were acclaimed, for instance earning her further BBC Radio 3 World Music Award nominations, and they also were commercially successful on an international scale, with Mano Suave, for instance, charting in France and becoming a Top Ten hit in Sweden. Levy's next full-length was Sentir, released in September 2009.

Read more... AllMusic

The Necks - Travel

Travel

by The Necks

Released 24 February 2023

Northern Sky Records

*****

Over 34 years, Australian trio the Necks -- pianist/keyboardist Chris Abrahams, drummer/electric guitarist Tony Buck, and bassist Lloyd Swanton -- have forged a compelling, exploratory, and singular musical language. Often categorized as a "jazz piano trio," they've essentially reinvented that configuration in their own image with captivating, difficult-to-categorize instrumental music.

Travel follows 2017's Unfolded in offering four side-long cuts spread across a double LP. This music -- impeccably recorded and mixed by longtime collaborator Tim Whitten -- documents the trio's recent rehearsal habit: They start each studio encounter by playing an extended improvisation for roughly 20 minutes. These recordings are some of those improvs played live to tape, then appended with minimal post-production edits and overdubs.

Despite the change in m.o., Travel is very much a Necks album and lines up seamlessly with the trio's vast catalog. It blossoms with new ideas, fluid spontaneity, and fresh ideas. For newcomers curious about the long-standing trio's music, Travel is a truly excellent place to begin.

Read More... AllMusic

U.S. Girls - Bless This Mess

Bless This Mess

by U.S. Girls

Released 24 February 2023

4AD

*****

The highly anticipated eighth album by U.S. Girls, the nom de plume of North American multi-disciplinary and experimental pop artist Meg Remy, will be released on 24 February entitled Bless This Mess. A dynamic suite of dexterous melodies and a nuanced artistic response to the complexities of motherhood, Bless This Mess was crafted in tandem with the conception and birth of Remy’s twin boys. It expands the sonic and thematic palette of U.S. Girls, fusing the muses of funk, mythology, and the radical disorientation of joy into an electric tapestry of anthems, aches, and awakenings.

Source/Read More.. Bandcamp

Jen Cloher - I Am The River, the River Is Me

I Am The River, The River Is Me

by Jen Cloher

Released 3 March 2023

Milk! Records

*****

I Am The River, The River Is Me, Cloher’s fifth album, is verdant and rich; it luxuriates in stillness, and carries itself with cool, unfussy confidence. It suggests that home is not found in a place or a politic, but in the community you keep: Inspired by Cloher’s powerful matrilineal line of wāhine Māori, I Am The River, The River Is Me is not urgent, or hurried, but it is vital, made with the care and ease of someone who knows that their past began before birth, and will continue long after they’re gone. 
credits
Recorded between Aotearoa (NZ) and Naarm (Melbourne) with producers Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams), Anika Ostendorf (Hachiku) and Cloher’s longtime drummer Jen Sholakis; the album brings in trailblazing artists including Emma Donovan (Gumbaynggirr, Yamatji), Kylie Auldist, Liz Stringer, Te Kaahu (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tīpā), Ruby Solly (Kai Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) and members of the Naarm-based Kapa Haka, Te Hononga o ngā Iwi. The entire record feels communal — a celebration not just of Cloher, but of the rich, life-filled communities that surround them. 

Source: Bandcamp

Yazmin Lacey - Voice Notes

Voice Notes

by Yazmin Lacey

Released 3 March 2023

Own Your Own Recoreds / Believe

*****

Yazmin Lacey is a singer-songwriter who knows something about coming into her own. She came to music late, she says – “It's never late, but late in the perspective of that I'm doing it now,” – almost as if by fate. And throughout her time in the music scene, the 33-year-old has used her music as an exercise in capturing those moments and putting them into song, as if a snapshot of the intimate parts of her own life.

Debut album Voice Notes is yet another record of those moments. It follows on from three stunning EP’s; Black Moon (2017), When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees (2018) and Morning Matters (2020), a trilogy of sorts, named in part by the settings in which they were written. Voice Notes is similarly inspired by something that helped the album spring to life. A long-held tool of her music-making and way of sharing melodies with collaborators, it’s a method of communication deeply special to her. “For me, a voice note represents an immediate reaction to something,” she says. “[It’s] unfiltered and raw in the way that you can hear it.

Source/Read More... Bandcamp

Islandman - Direct-to-Disc Sessions

Direct-to-Disc Sessions

by Islandman

Released 9 March 2023

Night Dreamer

*****

Freewheeling dance project Islandman moves in a bold new direction with this essential Direct-To-Disc session featuring storied Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz and contemporary saz player Muhlis Berberoğlu. Expanding beyond their electro-acoustic DJ formula into a wider sound world of experimental instruments, neo-traditional rhythms and folk improvisation, Islandman’s vision on this Night Dreamer disc seeks to reconnect cerebral downtempo beat-making with the folkloric and ritual bedrock that their music has always rested on.

Bandleader Tolga Boyuk’s vision has always been expansive, and the link-up with Night Dreamer was a chance to try out a more spontaneous style of playing and recording. ‘When Night Dreamer told me about their label, for which they only record Direct-to-Disc, I wanted to go there with a special project,’ he says. ‘I thought it would be a nice opportunity to make a more organic, more live and more improvised album. So I came up with the idea to make it with Okay Temiz.’

Read more... Bandcamp

Aja Monet - when the poems do what they do

when the poems do what they do

by aja monet

Released 9 March 2023

Night Dreamer

*****

aja monet’s poems are a work of gravity. A surrealist blues poet, storyteller, and organizer born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, aja won the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam poetry award title in 2007. In 2018, she was nominated for a NAACP Literary Award for Poetry and in 2019 was awarded the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award for Poetry for her cultural organizing work in South Florida. Her work moves, constantly, between origin and outcome, allowing them to exist in converse. In her debut album when the poems do what they do, releasing June 9 via drink sum wtr, we glimpse her indefatigable commitment to speak. Those thematic origins of this album at times center around Black resistance, love and the inexhaustible quest for joy.

In when the poems do what they do, aja monet appears as a woman of letters and storm, her poems do not roar in pentameter - but rather in storm surge because, “Who’s got time for poems when the world is on fire?!.” And this work isn’t one to pull apart into one liners, these are poems of things felt. There is a fullness here that can’t be encapsulated in even the boundaries that language offers.
aja is joined in effort on this album by musicians Christian Scott (trumpet), Samora Pinderhughes (piano), Elena Pinderhughes (flute), Luques Curtis (bass), Weedie Braimah (djembe) and Marcus Gilmore (drums). Together, creating music that is insistent and unrelenting.
When you finally reach the end of this album, you are left with a similar feeling you get when heartbroken, the gravity of barrelling back down to earth, sopping wet with tears, out of breath, overcome with love, despair, hope, and all too aware that all of this, is over far too soon. When the poems do what they do, they do absolutely everything.

 

Read more... Bandcamp

Lonnie Holley - Oh Me Oh My

Oh Me Oh My

by Lonnie Holley

Released 10 March 2023

Jagjaguwar

*****

Holley’s music and visual art (for which he has shown at The Met, The Smithsonian and is represented by the illustrious Blum & Poe) is much more about our place in the cosmos than the cosmos itself. It’s about how we overcome adversity and tremendous pain; about how we develop and maintain an affection for our fellow travelers; about how we stop wishing for some “beyond” and start caring for the one rock we have. Holley has never delivered this message as clear, as concise and as exhilaratingly as he does on his new album ‘Oh Me Oh My.’

‘Oh Me Oh My’ is both elegant and ferocious, sharpening the work contained on his 2018 Jagjaguwar debut ‘MITH’. 

Acclaimed collaborators like Michael Stipe (“Oh Me, Oh My”), Sharon Van Etten (“None of Us Will Have But a Little While”), Moor Mother (“I Am Part of the Wonder,” “Earth Will Be There”), Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (“Kindness Will Follow Your Tears”) and Rokia Koné (“If We Get Lost They Will Find Us”) serve as choirs of angels and co-pilots, giving Lonnie’s message flight, and reaffirming him as a galvanizing, iconoclastic force across the music community.
 

Source/Read More... Bandcamp

Fatima Al Qadiri - Gumar (EP)

Gumar (EP)

by Fatima Al Qadiri

Released 10 March 2023

Hyperdub

*****

2021's 'Medieval Femme' felt like a carefully decorative interweaving of each strand of Al Qadiri's artistic practice. Using Medieval poetry as her inspiration, the veteran Hyperdub polymath was able to invoke "a simulated daydream through the metaphor of an Islamic garden", employing a sonic palette that blended her early vaporous post-club experimentation and her latter day work as an in-demand film composer.

'Gumar' expands the plot, letting it grow into new shapes with the assistance of the eponymous singer, whose name means "moon" in Arabic. The duo's touchstone for this fleeting set of lamentations is the traditional music both grew up with, and the music Gumar was formally trained in as a teenager. Piercing in ways that feel almost inhuman, it's a body of songs that considers the pain of unrequited love - a familiar topic for anyone who's spent time poring over Arabic music and poetry.

Source/Read More... Boomkat

Julian Lage - The Layers (EP)

The Layers (EP)

by Julian Lage

Released 17 March 2023

Blue Note Records

*****

When guitarist Julian Lage released View with a Room in 2022, he was seeking the answer to a question: "Can you have lush orchestration combined with organic improvisation and the agility of a small ensemble?" He discovered clues in studying the electric guitar's history on recordings. Lage felt the need for an additional musical voice and recruited guitar icon Bill Frisell, who appeared with Lage's rhythm section -- bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King -- on seven of the recording's ten pieces.

The Layers is a direct companion; Lage considers it a "prequel," despite appearing afterward. The six tunes included here were cut during the recording sessions for View with a Room, and like its predecessor, the music was produced by singer/songwriter Margaret Glaspy and mixed by Mark Goodell.

Source/Read More... AllMusic

Angel Bat Dawid - Requiem For Jazz

Requiem for Jazz

by Angel Bat Dawid

Released 24 March 2023

International Anthem

*****

Composer, clarinetist, singer and educator Angel Bat Dawid announces the release of a new work, Requiem For Jazz, a 12-movement suite composed, arranged, and inspired in part by dialogue from Edward O. Bland’s 1959 film The Cry of Jazz. The album is a wide-ranging treatise on the African American story from one of its most astute narrators.

Itself an incisive critique of racial politics in the USA, The Cry of Jazz draws formal comparisons between the structure of jazz music and the African American experience - as one of freedom and restraint, of joy and suffering - that manifests in the triumph of spirit over the crushing prejudice of daily life.

Cutting together archive reels from Black neighborhoods in Chicago with live performance footage from Sun Ra and his Arkestra among others, the film remains a radical and prescient evocation of Black pride and its roots in the history of jazz, from spirituals to blues and beyond.

Read more... Bandcamp

Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth

Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth

by Billy Valentine & The Universal Truth

Released 24 March 2023

Acid Jazz Acquisitions

*****

The album sees Billy alongside a stellar cast of musicians, including Larry Goldings, Jeff Parker, Pino Paladino, James Gadson, Linda May Oh, Alex Acuña, Amber Navram from Moonchild and Blue Note recording artists Joel Ross and Immanuel Wilkins. They re-cast a series of important songs from the African-American songbook in a unique and inimitable style, profoundly influenced by the events that were going on around them throughout 2020 to 2022, when the album was recorded at the historic EastWest Studios in LA. The works of Mayfield and Scott-Heron are joined by those of Pharaoh Sanders, Prince, Stevie Wonder, War and Eddie Kendricks. It is a sonically stunning and emotionally moving record.

Source/Read More... Bandcamp

Lankum - False Lankum

False Lankum

by Lankum

Released 24 March 2023

Lankum / Rough Trade

*****

Dublin four-piece Lankum, made up of brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat, have gained worldwide acclaim for their first two albums and captivating, often euphoric live performances.  False Lankum, the band's third outing for the Rough Trade label, is a nihilistic, almost comically bleak trek into the dark heart of folk music. A wounded backwash of dissonance plays throughout most of the set, creating a sense of unease as songs spill into one another in a gapless sequence. False Lankum sounds like industrial music from the 19th century and provides all the comfort of a late period Scott Walker album. And yet, the road of Lankum's career has resolutely led them to create this: a difficult but defining statement made at the height of their powers.

Read more... AllMusic

Erol Josue - Peleri Naj

Peleri-naj

by Erol Josue

Released 24 March 2023

Erol Josue

*****

This wildly acclaimed Port-au-Prince-based artist delivers an unforgettable 2nd album Peleri-naj (Pilgrimage). He blends sacred chants and traditional rhythms with elements of funk, jazz, rock, and electronic music. His avant-garde take on the tradition.

The vodou priest, singer, actor, and choreographer Erol Josue is on a mission to dispel the myths and misconceptions about Haiti's religion with his new album in fifteen years.

His 2007 debut album Regleman had proved him an artist to be reckoned with. His reputation as a sort of spiritual sage, an expert on Haitian history and culture. Josue is ready to once more put his spiritual faculties intermingle with his musical power to provide solace to his community while building a bridge to others.

The album is an ambitious, even epic, work with a reach that spans a lifetime from his childhood through his journey outside of Haiti and to his eventual return to his birthplace.

"I'm presenting a way of life using sacred and secular language," he says. "Even though these songs were composed for musicians to play, not for use in rituals, they represent spiritual knowledge."
 

Read more... Bandcamp

Louis VI - Earthling

EARTHLING

by Louis VI

Released 31 March 2023

HiYaself Recordings Unlimited

*****

EARTHLING is the hotly-tipped second album from musical all-rounder Louis VI and the debut release on the newly-minted HiyaSelf Recordings Unlimited, helmed by Nightmares On Wax.

Here, the rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist draws on hip hop, jazz, electronic, afrobeat, funk, RnB, and soul to create a melting pot of future-leaning sounds that directly challenges the colonial legacy of climate change.

EARTHLING is stacked full of features from the friends and musicians that surround Louis – including Lex Amor, Oscar Jerome, Moses Boyd, Bluestaeb, Alex Cosmo Blake. On new cut ‘Orange Skies’, Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins drops by for a verse…

Read more... Bandcamp

Eddie Chacon - Sundown

Sundown

by Eddie Chacon

Released 31 March 2023

Stones Throw Records

*****

In 2021, Eddie Chacon and John Carroll Kirby decamped to Ibiza for two weeks. There, they rented the island’s only Fender Rhodes from one of the local rave crews. John posted it against the plaster walls and concrete floors of their temporary home, which was set into a green hillside overlooking a beach called Siesta. As they worked on Sundown, Pharoah Sanders’s “Greeting to Saud” was a daily listen. Instead of emulating its sound, Eddie absorbed its deeper lesson – that simplicity wins out over virtuosity every time.

They wrote the first half of Sundown during that Ibiza stay and finished it at 64 Sound Studios in Los Angeles, where they both live. Joining Eddie on vocals and John on production and keys were Logan Hone (flutes and saxophones) Elizabeth Lea (trombone), Will Logan (drums) and David Leach (percussion). “It feels like we’re building our dream house,” says Eddie. “With Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness, we poured the foundation and now we’re expanding into new rooms.”

The two artists have worked together before, on Eddie Chacon’s 2020 album, Pleasure, Joy and Happiness. It was in 2019, when he met John Carroll Kirby – a prolific artist in his own right who’s collaborated with Steve Lacy, Frank Ocean, Solange, and many more – that Chacon considered a return to releasing music. Pleasure, Joy and Happiness was meant to bring closure to a music career that began when Eddie was a teenager playing in Bay Area garage bands, and peaked in the 1990s when, as one half of the duo Charles & Eddie, he topped charts internationally with “Would I Lie To You”, before deserting the business. Eddie didn’t expect much from Pleasure’s release, and was amazed to find it resonated widely, gaining him a whole new fanbase and reinvigorating his career.

Eddie says that only at his age – 59 – could he have the life experience and quiet confidence to make Sundown. That this new record exists at all is a surprise to its creator. As Eddie says, “Sundown is the follow-up I never thought I would get to make.”

Source/Read More... Bandcamp

boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus - the record

the record

by boygenius

Released 31 March 2023

boygenius / Innerscope

*****

The opening line of boygenius’ ‘the record’ doubles as a thesis statement for the album: “Give me everything you got / I’ll take what I can get / I want to hear your story and be a part of it”. On ‘Without You Without Them’ Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus harmonise a sincere request, their voices taking on complimentary choral tones to create the shape of a timeless Americana folk song: it is haunting, beautiful and piercingly vulnerable. You have to have radically honest to start an album with a song like this, an acknowledgement that you want to be known deeply and meet others at that depth as well, but as ‘the record’ proves, boldness is something boygenius have in droves.

The supergroup began working on ‘the record’ back in 2020, two years after the surprise release of their debut self-titled EP. Since then, the trio have been busy making and touring music of their own, positioning themselves as generation-defining songwriters, picking up Grammy nominations, high-profile collaborations and the respect of their peers along the way. Somehow however, just a week after Bridgers’ critically-acclaimed second album ‘Punisher’ dropped, they found time to flirt with the idea of getting the band together again, sharing demos, asking questions and collapsing their individual songwriting and musical propensities into something new. They are a supergroup worth their salt, and one that take on extra powers when working together.

This debut is a gorgeous testament to what can happen when you allow yourself to fully be seen. Though each of the album’s 12 tracks could have fit nicely on one of their personal records, their work together takes on a brighter bolder existence, enabling them to light up individually and together at the same time. Bridgers, Dacus and Baker did the tedious work of getting to know each other artistically and collaboratively and then poured what they found out into the world. Now, we as listeners, get to benefit.

Source/Read More... NME

Naissam Jabal - Healing Rituals

Healing Rituals

by Naissam Jabal

Released 31 March 2023

Les colours du son

*****

Naïssam Jalal is a flautist, vocalist and composer born to to Syrian parents in France. Keen to explore her musical roots, she studied at the Higher Institute of Arab Music in Damascus, and also later with a private teacher in Cairo before returning to France.  Her music brings together an attractive mix of Western chamber music, jazz and Arab classical music.  


The music of her latest album, Healing Rituals recorded with a quartet featuring Clément Petit on cello, Claude Tchamitchian on double bass, and Zaza Desiderio on drums develops the theme of imaginary healing rituals that address a suffering body: silence that calms and cools the body down, trance that deals with pain and anxiety, and beauty that fosters hope and the desire to live. Thus we have the rituals of ‘vent (wind)’, ‘soleil (sun)’, ‘collines (hills)’, ‘rivière (river)’, ‘terre (earth)’, ‘forêt (forest), ‘lune (moon)’ and ‘brume’ (mist)’.

The music itself has the feel of chamber music with added vocals, plus a strong element of Arab music.  It is essentially structured, but has an improvisatory and rhythmic aspect to it. 

Read more... London Jazz News

Brandee Younger - Brand New Life

Brand New Life

by Brandee Younger

Released 7 April 2023

Impulse Records / Verve

*****

Celebrated as the premier harpist of her generation, Brandee Younger has broken new ground for harpists over the entirety of her career. Younger made history as the first Black female solo artist to be GRAMMY®-nominated for Best Instrumental Composition, for “Beautiful is Black”
from her genre-busting 2021 major-label debut album, Somewhere Different. That same year the album also garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental. Along with the release of Brand New Life, Younger will be embarking on a series
of headlining shows across the U.S. this spring, and will follow her whirlwind 2023 with a residency as SFJazz’s Resident Artistic Director in early 2024. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Petite Noir - MotherFather

MotherFather

by Petite Noir

Released 14 April 2023

Roya

*****

Petite Noir is the architect of Noirwave – a musical and cultural movement that draws creative energy from punk aesthetics and the fragmented identity of today’s African diaspora. The Congolese artist was born in Belgium, raised in South Africa, and is now based between London and Paris.

MotherFather is his long-awaited second album, and it has a subtitle: ‘The darkness is comforting sometimes’. As Petite Noir explains: “It’s about going through the darkness. But it’s also about rebirth. Because the dark times are needed for us to grow.”

 

Read more... Bandcamp


 

Feist - Multitudes

Multitudes

by Feist

Released 14 April 2023

Polydor (France)

*****

Over the past three decades, Feist has established herself in indie music as one of her generation’s most distinctive voices. Since the release of her solo debut in 1999, she has produced Grammy-nominated and Juno-winning records that oscillate between intimacy and experimentation. At the height of her popularity – with the 2007 song 1234, which soundtracked an iPod commercial, or 2004’s Mushaboom – she harnessed pop-focused hooks and acoustic warmth, clothing layered compositions with a catchy simplicity. But her back catalogue is full of unusual sonic details too: 2011’s Metals is punctuated by dynamic bursts of stamping, shouting and scratching guitars, while Pleasure (2017) saw her stretching out into five-minute tracks that unfurl into swaggering riffs.

The six years since the release of Leslie Feist’s last album, Pleasure, have been momentous ones for the Canadian singer-songwriter. She has relocated to Los Angeles, adopted a daughter and lost her father. Death, birth and persistence inform her moving, raw and occasionally unpredictable sixth record, Multitudes.

Read more... The Guardian

Everything But The Girl - Fuse

Fuse

by Everything But The Girl

Released 21 April 2023

Buzzin' Fly Records / Virgin

*****

It’s not really a comeback. Not really. For one thing, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt – the component units of Everything But The Girl – haven’t exactly lost touch. The two married in 2008, and while the group have been inactive, the odd release (a non-EBTG cover of The xx, for example) has emerged. But let’s just it’s pretty close to a comeback. And as far as not-really-a-comeback-but-sort-of events go, ‘Fuse’ is up there with the best of them – a graceful, majestic, moving experience, one that dips into club tropes while illuminating pop at its iciest, and most arresting.

Read more... Clash Music

Jessie Ware - That Feels Good

That Feels Good

by Jessie Ware

Released 28 April 2023

EMI / Universal Music Operations Limited

*****

That! Feels Good! is an emphatic answer to 2020's What's Your Pleasure? in more than one way. The dialogue evoked by the titles translates to how Jessie Ware's fifth album relates to her fourth, as this moves the party into a bigger and more opulent disco with a laser focus on fevered physical gratification. Continuing to work with primary What's Your Pleasure? collaborator James Ford, Ware also pairs here with Stuart Price -- who reached out after helping Pet Shop Boys and Dua Lipa make other dancefloor bombs dropped in 2020 -- to assist in turning up the heat.

Resd more... AllMusic

Smokey Robinson  - Gasms

Gasms

by Smokey Robinson

Released 28 April 2023

Polydor (France)

*****

Smokey Robinson’s first collection of new songs in 14 years is gorgeous, tender and utterly filthy – a concept album about sex called Gasms. Robinson, 83, admits he thought the title would be good for business. “When people think of gasms, they think of orgasms first and foremost … I tell everybody: ‘Whatever your gasm is, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.’” He bursts out laughing. Within seconds of meeting him, you can tell this is a man who’s done a hell of a lot of laughing, loving and living.

On the title track, Robinson sings about eyegasms, eargasms, the whole gamut of gasms. If there is any danger of missing the point, he throws in double entendres that verge on the single. He sings with the silky falsetto of yesteryear, the words perfectly phrased as ever. The album ranges from the exultant (“We’re each other’s ecstasy”) on Roll Around to the biological (“If you got an inner vacancy / Baby, then make it a place for me”) on I Fit in There.

Read more... The Guardian

Kayhan Kalhor, Toumani Diabate - The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere

The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere

by Kayhan Kalhor and Toumani Diabate

Released 5 May 2023

Real World Records

*****

The Sky Is the Same Colour Everywhere is a spiritual meditation - best listened to in one sitting - by two master musicians and culture bearers of centuries-old musical traditions sharing modes based on Persian and Malian repertoires on kamancheh (spike fiddle) and kora (harp/lute).

Kayhan Kalhor and Toumani Diabaté are both well-known soloists in their own right, but this duo recording is something special taking us on an improvisational musical journey into new landscapes.

The idea for the duo came from Michael Dreyer, director of the Morgenland Festival in Osnabrück, Germany where Kayhan had frequently played in several other collaborations. The preparation was minimal, not even a discussion about scales or structure, but just a sound check in which they “checked certain things” and then simply played about 90 minutes of music.
 

Read more... Bandcamp

Artemis - In Real Time

In Real Time

by Artemis

Released 5 May 2013

Blue Note

*****

Artemis double down on their fiery yet regal 2020 self-titled, Blue Note debut with a punchy, calligraphic flare (thanks in part to their younger contemporaries, in demand multi-reedist Alexa Tarantino and hellfire saxophonist Nicole Glover), catch fire, and watch it spread.

An early, sure-fire contender for the tops-of-twenty-three list barrage, In Real Time is really very hard to resist, even when it falls out of step. "Balance of Time," though intoxicating in texture, seems out of sequence just when the pace is hitting another early high. (As a kindly piece of advice, perhaps its placement in future set-lists should succeed trumpeter Ingrid Jensen's split tempered or split tempo'ed "Timber," a taut, hot-wired reverie held together by Renee Rosnes' ringing Rhodes. Just sayin.')

Multi-cultural as well as multi-generational, Artemis continue blending the best of us into a froth which never goes flat. One listen to their sly take on the late Lyle Mays' twisting "Slink" is all the proof needed, which makes the remaining seven performances on In Real Time a full blown bonus all the way around.

Read more... All About Jazz

Sufjan Stevens, Conor Hanik, Timo Andres - Reflections

Reflections

by Sufjan Stevens, Conor Hanik, Timo Andres

Released 19 May 2023

Asthmatic Kitty Records

*****

There is a long tradition of using pianos to accompany dance – whether it is during lessons at the barre or for rehearsals when hiring a full orchestra is prohibitively expensive – and Stevens was happy to further explore the instrument's capabilities. “Although I've never taken a lesson,” he says, “the piano was my first true love.” Self-taught as both a pianist and a composer, Stevens’ first instrument was the oboe, which he started playing in 5th grade. He played in orchestras from high school through college and listened voraciously to recordings of classical music alongside pop radio. He would often take breaks from the oboe by improvising on the piano, working out music he had heard in passing – pieces by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Bach. “I learned by ear, in a very rudimentary way, inspired by a wide range of music,” he says. “A lot of the work that I compose is anachronistic as it doesn't follow a genealogy of aesthetic. It can be a cornucopia of styles.”

That's the case with Reflections, where listeners may detect a hint of Debussy, Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and even Bruce Hornsby. Born in 1975, New York-based Stevens is best known as a singer-songwriter. He has recorded over a dozen solo and collaborative albums. He received Academy and Grammy Award nominations for Best Original Song for Mystery of Love, which was one of three contributions towards the soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s feature film “Call Me By Your Name”. Reflections is imbued with Stevens's broad experience in orchestral pop and electronica—but here the grandiosity is reduced to just two instruments.

Read more... Bandcamp

Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom

Shadow Kingdom

by Bob Dylan

Released 2 June 2023

Columbia Records

*****

With the Never-Ending Tour grinding to a halt due to the COVID-19 lock-downs, Bob Dylan staged a startling original concert in Shadow Kingdom, a live-in-the-studio show captured in a noir-ish black & white film. Stripped of those striking visuals on this 2023 album -- released two years after the film aired for a brief time on the internet -- the music sounds remarkable, a genuine re-imagination of Dylan's warhorses. The key to Shadow Kingdom is that he's not performing any of these songs like he did at the time they were written. They're given inventive arrangements that are right in the vein of the pan-American roadhouse music he's been making since the dawn of the 21st century: they're blues and rockabilly, they're soul and country, they're standards meant to be crooned in a saloon. Dylan plays with his vocal phrasing, relying on all the tricks he learned cutting record after record of tunes associated with Frank Sinatra. The result is surprising and singular, revealing new twists in songs that seemed to be set in stone decades ago.

Read more... AllMusic

Luke Una (Various Artists) - Luke Una Presents E Soul Cultura Vol. 2

Luke Una Presents E Soul Cultura Vol. 2

by Luke Una (Various Artists)

Released 9 June 2023

Golden Angel / Interscope

*****

Mr Bongo presents a much anticipated second volume of ‘É Soul Cultura’, curated by the charismatic Manchester based DJ Luke Una. In May 2022, ‘É Soul Cultura’ Vol.1 seemed to land at exactly the right moment. Post-lockdown, optimism was back on the rise and the dance floors swelled again. For many listeners, Luke Una’s intriguingly woven pattern of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world became the soundtrack to rejuvenated positivity. Piccadilly Records made the release their top compilation of the year, with Rough Trade placing it as their number two. The enthusiasm from the industry was mirrored by record buyers and demonstrated that in the right hands, moving through genres, tempos and decades can make perfect musical sense.

It was clear from the get-go that the concept warranted a series, there are many sides to É Soul Cultura and many musical stories to tell. This second volume gives another opportunity for Luke to share his journey of the past four decades of staying up late and getting transcendental whilst listening to holy grail music as the city slept. It follows on from where Vol.1 left off, at times venturing into the deeper, spiritual, soulful, downtempo, experimental aspects of his tastes

Read more... Bandcamp

Jayda G - Guy

Guy

by Jayda G

Released 9 June 2023

Ninja Tune

*****

"Guy", the new album from the Grammy-nominated writer, producer, DJ, environmental toxicologist, campaigner and broadcaster, Jayda G is co-produced with Jack Peñate, who has previously worked with the likes of SAULT, David Byrne and Adele, with contributions from Lisa-Kaindé Diaz (of Ibeyi), Ed Thomas (Stormzy, Nia Archives, Jorja Smith) and more.

The album arrives on the back of a busy few years that includes Grammy nomination, worldwide performances amd marriage.

The new album brings Jayda’s own voice and words more prominently into focus than ever before, across 13 tracks that draw on her House, Disco, RnB and Soul roots while emphasizing her pop songwriting sensibilities, while interspersed with archival recordings of her late father, the eponymous William Richard Guy.

Those recordings — of which there are more than 11 hours, made shortly before he passed away when Jayda was just 10 years old — form the bedrock of the album’s narrative, capturing a small snapshot of the American experience, told through the eyes of a young African American man.

Read more... Bandcamp

Rick Deitrick - The Unguitarist: Complete Works, 1969​-​2022

The Unguitarist: Complete Works, 1969​-​2022

by Rick Deitrick

Released 16 June 2023

Tompkins Square

*****

Ohio-born Rick Deitrick took up the guitar at 16 and decided to approach his playing as if he was the only guy on an island and the instrument had just washed ashore one day. According to Rick, "I completely divorced my playing from any formal music knowledge, but it was very important to me to use original tuning. During those years, the ‘60s/70's, there was a lot of acoustic guitar playing, often using open tuning as a base. I wanted to create whole tones without de-tuning and keep access to the complex sounds stock tuning provided."
Rick pressed 500 LPs of his tranquil solo guitar record, Gentle Wilderness, in 1978. He gave copies to libraries and left a few in the middle of the wilderness, next to trails, "so people would find them." Rick sought inspiration in nature and in particular the various rivers scattered around the Western United States, often composing songs while seated beside them.
Now, Tompkins Square is proud to present a 5CD retrospective box set, Rick Deitrick - The Unguitarist : Complete Works, 1969 - 2022 , which makes a strong case for Rick as one of the most individual voices in acoustic guitar music over the past half century.

Read more... Bandcamp

Shakti, John McLaughlin - This Moment

This Moment

by Shakti, John McLaughlin

Released 23 June 2023

Abstract Logic

*****

As a cornerstone of what is now called World Music, the vision and virtuosity of Shakti has inspired generations of musicians from around the world to explore sonic hybrids once thought impossible. Born of the musical and spiritual brotherhood shared by the revolutionary British guitarist and bandleader John McLaughlin and master Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, Shakti’s soulful, organic intermingling of Eastern and Western musical traditions has proven transformative for both the band’s members and its listeners.

Fifty years after the informal conversations and jam sessions that sparked the band into existence, their music continues to resonate and evolve. This Moment – Shakti’s first new studio album in more than 45 years, is a work of immense depth and radiant optimism, This Moment offers a set of new compositions and performances that burn with a rare intensity born out of passion. With McLaughlin (guitar, guitar synth) and Hussain (tabla) joined by vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram, the Shakti of now is a powerfully dynamic collective, defined by deft interplay, dazzling unison passages, extraordinarily dexterous improvisations, and the ability to draw from a vast well of global traditions and, miraculously, put them in conversation with one another.
 

Read more... Bandcamp

Blue Lake - Sun Arcs

Sun Arcs

by Blue Lake

Released 23 June 2023

Tonal Union Records

*****

Weaving between self-built zithers, drones, clarinets, slide guitars and drum machines, ‘Sun Arcs’ presents a unique sound space formed by an inventive approach to acoustic folk and jazz.

The starting point of ‘Sun Arcs’ saw Jason travel for a week alone to Andersabo, a cabin set in the Swedish woods just outside of Unnaryd, known also as the music project, festival and residency space which has been run by Dungan since 2016, hosting artists like Sofie Birch, Johan Carøe and Ellen Arkbro. Whilst writing 1-2 pieces per day, a conscious decision was made to leave behind everyday distractions and shut out the outside world to instead focus on the natural passage of time.
‘Sun Arcs’ depicts the intricate balance of nature’s cycles and the paths outlined by the seasons, from a winter dormancy to a warm sun drenched scene. The album scales new heights and further defines Dungan’s musical narrative, inhabiting a unique space in left-field, improvised and experimental music, bearing his most accomplished compositions to date. A singular and visionary expression, drawing on an array of instruments and sound worlds with a renewed sense of joy and discovery.

Read more... Bandcamp

SANAM - Aykathani Malakon

Aykathani Malakon ص​ن​م - أ​ي​ق​ظ​ن​ي م​ل​ا​ك​ٌ

by SANAM

Released 23 June 2023

Mais Um

*****

Debut release from the Beirut-based free-rock post-folk sextet.

Sandy Chamoun (vocals), Antonio Hajj (bass), Farah Kaddour (buzuk), Anthony Sahyoun (guitar, synth), Pascal Semerdjian (drums) and Marwan Tohme (guitars) bring a myriad of influences gleaned from years performing either solo or as members of influential acts in Beirut’s tight-knit independent music scene (such as Al Rahel al Kabir, Postcards, Kinematik and Ovid).

SANAM's music is a ritual where improvised rock, free jazz and noise underscore an exorcism of traditional Egyptian song and Arabic poetry,

Combining regional and local folklore and poetry with experimental forms of instrumental music are at the core of Aykathani Malakon. Chamoun, who chose the texts for this album and has performed in the Lebanese satirical music collective Al Rahel al Kabir, turned to modern and contemporary Arab writers and composers such as Lebanese poet Bassem Hajjar whose poem Aykathani Malakon lends the album its title and opening track, Paul Chaoul whose poem Chamoun recites in a state of ascending ecstasy in Ayouha Al-Taiin Fi Al-Mawt and the Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish in the languorous Ya Nass that features prominently the buzuk played by Farah Kaddour. As Chamoun points out, the poetry or lyrics in the album constitute “a collective call for an escape from a hallucinatory state engendered by love but also the mysteries of life itself”. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Secret Night Gang - Belongs On A Place Called Earth

Belongs On A Place Called Earth

by Secret Night Gang

Released 23 June 2023

Brownswood Recordings

*****

British jazz, funk and street soul masters, Secret Night Gang return with their highly anticipated second studio album ‘Belongs on a Place Called Earth’.

Led by Manchester natives and childhood friends Kemani Anderson and Callum Connell, Secret Night Gang spread their uplifting, transcendent, and genre blending street soul sound through, dynamic melodies, striking brass accents and jazz inflected soul prowess, renewing the musical frontiers of the genre. 

 

Read more... Brownswood Recordings

Modern Jazz Quartet - The Montreux Years

The Montreux Years

by Modern Jazz Quartet

Released 23 June 2023

Montreux Sounds

*****

Shortly after the name changed from the Milt Jackson Quartet to the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), critics started honing their knives. Most hostile comments came from those who preferred less formality and polish: “effete”, “too restrained”, “over-subtle”, “too Baroque” and “neutered”.
However, if people closed their ears to four distinguished masters working together seamlessly, it was their loss. If they pretended deafness to a stimulating interplay of talents, hard cheese. They ignored the ability of Milt Jackson to take wing and soar and the artistry of John Lewis’s economical precision. They disregarded the inherent swing, mastery of tension/release and passion for the blues that constituted the MJQ’s musical core (after all, it wasn’t called the Modern Jazz Quartet for nothing). With hindsight, the hostility was a by-product of intolerance (not helped by the group’s popularity) towards a different kind of chamber jazz.

 

Fortunately, as this new album proves, time has obliterated most of the disagreements and embarrassed any surviving detractors. Recorded live in concert halls rather than the sterility of the studio, it’s a collection of eleven performances captured over a dozen years in front of enthusiastic audiences (occasionally over-enthusiastic, inevitably clapping their hands on beats one and three when the Quartet finds a groove) at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Read more... London Jazz News

Ambrose Akinmusire - Beauty is Enough

Beauty is Enough

by Ambrose Akinmusire 

Released 23 June 2023

Origami Harvest

*****

Since his 2008 debut Prelude, Ambrose Akinmusire has been nothing if not adventurous; and this latest release consolidates his ambition in no small measure. Solo horn recordings are still relatively uncommon (certainly compared to those on piano) but the trumpeter proves himself more than adept on this set which has many of the qualities that drew audiences to Akinmusire in the first place. Richness of tone; precision of articulation; ingenuity of timbre that, when he pursues microtonal avenues, creates the sense that particular sounds are almost hermetically sealed before being slowly squeezed and pinched into the air. In other words there is a high degree of technical mastery, but, tellingly, it underpins a profound and often engrossing sense of narrative.

The 16 relatively short pieces (the longest ‘To:Taymoor‘ is just under five minutes) are akin to involving short stories or portraits that balance exploratory texture with fraught, concise melody to create a form of blues, which is not reduced to strategies such as the tried and tested ‘moan and groan.’ The late, great Ron Miles was a master in that sense, and Akinmusire is proving to be one of his key heirs. Courageous, creative work from an artist who continues to boldly grow in stature.

Read more... Jazzwise

Shida Shahabi - Living Circle

Living Circle

by Shida Shahabi

Released 23 June 2023

130701 / FatCat Records

*****

 

Stockholm-based composer Shida Shahabi returns with her sophomore album, ‘Living Circle’ - a wonderfully rich and accomplished new work that resonates with a powerful depth and viscerality. Where the warm, homespun piano of her 2018 debut, ‘Homes’, drew widespread praise and announced her arrival as a bold new voice, ‘Living Circle’ sees the artist pushing forwards into deeper, more expansive sonic realms. With tracks stretching longer and slower, and her piano lines less ornate and dominant, ‘Living Circle’ is a heavyweight album and a must-hear for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Sarah Davachi, Max Richter, Labradford, etc. 

 Glacially paced and powerfully resonant, ‘Living Circle’ is an important reminder of the joys in taking a measured, patient approach to the art of creation. There is, let’s not forget, nothing like being in the right place at the right time, especially if ultimately the goal is to achieve something timeless. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Uriel Herman - Different Eyes

Different Eyes

by Uriel Herman

Released 30 June 2023

Ubuntu Music

*****

Uriel Herman, the young pianist and composer from Jerusalem, studied classical piano and composition with exalted Israeli conservatoire teachers during the 2000s, but has recently toured the world as a soloist and bandleader in pursuit of an increasingly personal and spontaneously-evolving music. When he released his 2014 debut album, Awake, it was evident how far the then 26 year-old Herman had moved from the orthodox roots of his training - songs by Nirvana and Radiohead joined originals framing words by revered Hebrew-language poets Yehuda Amichai and the gifted but short-lived Tirza Attar.

Different Eyes, Herman's third release, and a vivid collage of the sounds of his childhood on Jerusalem streets, mergers of rhythmic and melodic ideas spanning the Middle East, a little Chopin, and a closing lullaby dedicated to his young son – is the most powerful evidence so far of his formidable promise. T

If there are any racing certs for the 2023 poll winners' lists so far, Different Eyes sounds like one of the front-runners.

Read More... Jazzwise

Diego Gaeta - Fearlessly Accessing The Divine Spirit Of Freedom From Here On Out

Fearlessly Accessing The Divine Spirit Of Freedom From Here On Out

by ​Diego Gaeta

Released 7 July 2023

Preference Records

*****

"Fearlessly Accessing the Divine Spirit From Here on Out" is the vinyl debut from up-and-coming pianist, composer, and producer Diego Gaeta. He has previously released projects as Club Diego and with the trio Human Error Club (whose members Mekala Session and Jesse Justice helped produce this record). He has quickly become a fixture in a number of Los Angeles musical environments, working with Lionmilk, The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Carlos Niño, Black Nile among others. This album is a synthesis of these many LA environments, and carries chamber, jazz, ambient, and folk influences, ultimately giving it an uncategorizable feel similar to works by Arthur Verocai or David Axelrod.

Gaeta recorded the initial ideas for the album by himself after experiencing a burst of creativity during the lockdown of 2020, in the aftermath of a season of protests in Los Angeles, on a piano at his home in El Sereno. 

Gaeta’s dream band for these ideas would be a 9-piece ensemble or “nonet”, which was finally assembled in the summer of 2021. After careful arrangements and rehearsals the album was recorded. Some of Los Angeles’s finest artists are featured in the ensemble and as featured guests, all combining efforts to fulfill the thematic vision of Gaeta’s inspirations and ideas. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Joseph Tawadros - To Those Who Came Before Us

To Those Who Came Before Us

by Joseph Tawadros

Released 14 July 2023

Joseph Tawadros

*****

SunNeverSetsOnMusic favourite Joseph Tawadros’ 20th studio recording sees him totally solo and in his element. Drawing upon the ancient music tradition of taqasim, Tawadros attempts a soulful meditative hour long improvisation in this tradition. After 20 albums, this will be the greatest feat of solo creativity, a long extended solo work using the Arabic maqam system and the other influences picked up in his 20 year recording career.

"For my 20th album, I wanted to be solo. Solitary. Lost within the confines of my beloved Taqasim, the traditional Arabic musical art form of improvisation," says Tawadros. "I wanted to honour the people that have come before me, who have inspired my thoughts, my dreams, my feelings, my musical phrases and directed me on the path I'm on today."

Taqasim is the traditional musical art form of improvisation. It is based on the maqam  system of 72 heptatonic tone rows or scales. Each maqam is built on a scale, and carries a tradition that defines its habitual phrases, important notes, melodic development and modulation and shows the prowess of the player through modulations and shifts in modes.

Joseph’s 1 hour taqasim is a challenging work, engaging the listener and allowing them to be lost in an extended modal journey. Joseph is constantly evolving as a musician and composer and the music on the new album will feature a modern take on taqasim.

Read more... Origin Music

PJ Harvey - I Inside The Old Year Dying

I Inside The Old Year Dying

by PJ Harvey

Released 7 July 2023

Partisan Records

*****

On Let England Shake and The Hope Six Demolition Project, PJ Harvey documented troubled times in the world; on I Inside the Old Year Dying, she presents a spellbinding world of her own. The album expands on Orlam, her epic poem about the coming of age of Ira-Abel, a young Dorset girl whose companions include the bleeding, ghostly soldier Wyman-Elvis and Orlam itself, a lamb's eyeball that serves as the village oracle. As complex as this sounds, there's a lightness to I Inside that's especially welcome following the scope of Harvey's last two albums. Like Orlam, I Inside the Old Year Dying weaves the old Dorset dialect Harvey grew up hearing into its songs, and the local idioms only heighten its bewitching strangeness.

A triumph in its own right, I Inside the Old Year Dying's lively exploration is also a rekindling of something vital in Harvey's art in general. Though its whispers and shadows may not reveal everything, they're more than enough for a fascinating listening experience.

Read more... AllMusic

Laura Groves - Radio Red

Radio Red

by Laura Groves

Released 11 August 2023

Bella Union

*****

If Laura Groves is a name you don’t initially recognize, then maybe you are familiar with her former moniker, Blue Roses. When Groves was barely in her 20s, she put out her then-self-titled album Blue Roses through XL Recordings in 2009 and it was a great portrait of romanticized youth—a project that enacted a proper balance between the adventurous bends of life and its coiling, sometimes insurmountable, downswings. She put forth great singer/songwriter harmonies back then, conjuring flickers of Joanna Newsom and Judee Sill atop a bed of lush, plucked and subdued soundscapes. Now, 14 years later, Groves has returned—this time, under her own name. Her latest offering, Radio Red, is a triumphant display of how wide a creative palette can stretch.

The London songwriter has a unique approach to her own world-building and characterization. Radio Red is a folk album in spirit, yes, but an electronic record sonically. There are touches of soul and synth-pop adrift with Groves’ acoustic-driven foundation, something she worked through on Blue Roses, too, but nowhere near as deftly. Radio Red wants to be many things, and it succeeds at adopting each outfit—which is not a feat so easily met these days, especially in the still-going conversations around genre. As soon as Radio Red’s opening track, “Sky At Night,” rings in, it’s clear that Groves has taken to a different musical plane this time around. Merging dream-pop piano with the bravado of a chart-topping vocal set, she muses on the cosmos while trying to understand a lover. “I can’t pin you down, for the love of trying,” she sings. “I’m getting you on that wavelength, maybe?”

Read more... Paste

Johnathan Blake - Passage

Passage

by Jonathan Blake

Released 11 August  2023

Blue Note Records

*****

Band-leading drummers have a tendency to be over-present, to get in the way of the actual music. Not so Johnathan Blake. The 47-year-old Philadelphian, who has backed everyone from Lonnie Smith to Q-Tip, remains a team player even with his own group. Passage reconvenes Pentad, the quintet behind Blake’s much-praised 2021 Blue Note debut, Homeward Bound: bassist Dezron Douglas, vibes player Joel Ross, Cuban pianist David Virelles and alto sax tyro Immanuel Wilkins. A tribute to his late father, violinist John Blake Jr, it’s a vibrant, varied set in which all five players get to shine.

Its centrepiece is the title track, composed by John Blake Jr but never recorded, which moves from a ruminative intro to a rumbustious jam in which Wilkins evokes the bebop melodicism of Charlie Parker and later atonal developments. Although never sombre, there’s a wistful theme to much of the album – there on Muna & Johna’s Playtime, a nod to Blake’s children; on Tears I Cannot Hide, a composition by the late Ralph Peterson Jr (another drummer) and a showcase for Ross’s lush vibes; and on the funky West Berkely St, named after Blake’s childhood home. For contrast comes the Latinate Tiempos and the jaunty, itchy Groundhog Day. A warm, uplifting celebration.

Read more... The Guardian

Victoria Monet - Jaguar II

Jaguar II

by Victoria Monet

Released 25 August 2023

Lovett Music / RCA

*****

When Victoria Monét released Jaguar in 2020, she intended the EP to function as the first part of a trilogy taken altogether as her debut album. She changed course three years later with Jaguar II, a concluding LP sequel she considers the EP's "older sister." It's without doubt a more rounded display of Monét's writing and vocal talents, and at the same time underscores her high-wattage synergy with chief production associate D'Mile.

Jaguar II nudges contemporary R&B forward as it mixes inspirations spanning continents and generations. "Party Girls" and "Cadillac (A Pimp's Anthem)" radiate carefree pleasure and nonchalant swagger with a combination of early-'70s cinematic soul and dub. The first of the two includes a dancehall section featuring the duly energizing presence of genre legend Buju Banton, a major figure in Monét's musical upbringing. Jaguar contained an all-too-brief interlude with echoes of peak Earth, Wind & Fire, another inspiration. The group is even more of a factor this time, namechecked by Lucky Daye, Monét's well-matched duet partner on the stoned opener "Smoke," while "Hollywood," a wistful and resigned reflection on fame, is augmented by the voice of Philip Bailey and the bass of EW&F partner Verdine White. The elements more subtly inform the song that follows, "Good Bye," a slow exhalation -- with strings, brass, and a group-harmony chorus neatly laid atop a sailing rhythm -- that feels like a lost Faces-era gem co-written by Brenda Russell and David Foster. Just as salient is that Monét always comes across as an everywoman at heart, no matter how fantastical or personal she gets, followed closely by her ability to sound authoritative without increasing the volume or toughness of her dulcet voice. Those notions are backed up strongest with "On My Mama," slinking and triumphant Southern funk with more horns and a punctuating sample from Charlie Boy's 2009 hit "I Look Good."

Monét's wordplay is full of humor and stated as if she's just presenting facts off the dome: "I'm so deep in my bag/Like a grandma with a peppermint/They say, 'Ooh, she smell good'/That' just 'cause I'm heaven-sent." Wittier yet is "Stop (Askin' Me 4Shyt)," a confrontation that takes some unexpected sonic turns and delivers on its title.

Read more... AllMusic

Matthew Halsall - An Ever Changing View

An Ever Changing View

by Matthew Halsall

Released 8 September 2023

Gondwana Records

*****

Manchester trumpeter, bandleader and composer Matthew Halsall's landmark new album An Ever Changing View is an expansive, immaculately conceived project which presents Halsall’s signature blend of jazz, electronica, global and spiritual jazz influences.

An Ever Changing View is released on Gondwana Record, the label Halsall founded 15 years ago.

Halsall who has been hailed as one of the leading figures of the UK jazz renaissance has never seen himself as part of any one sound or scene: he builds his own sonic universe instead.

An Ever Changing View finds him at his most experimental yet, once again expanding his sound and production techniques to create his unique brand of deeply meditative music.

During the album's creation, he was staying in both a beautiful architect’s house with breathtaking sea views and a striking modernist house, where he composed what he saw “like a landscape painting”.

In these new environments, Halsall wanted to capture “the feeling of openness and escapism” and to approach making music again from scratch. “I hit the reset button and wanted to have complete musical freedom,” he says. “It was a real exploration of sound.”

An Ever Changing View comes in a package as striking as the music, with handmade fonts designed by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic and the specially commissioned tapestry by artist Sara Kelly is a stunning and harmonious complement to the record's sound. 

Read more... Bandcamp

Irreversible Entanglements - Protect Your Light

Protect Your Light

by Irreversible Entanglements

Released 8 September 2023

Verve

*****

Irreversible Entanglements is a band built on improvisation, five jazz virtuosos—poet/vocalist Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), bassist Luke Stewart, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, and drummer Tcheser Holmes—coalescing around an idea and discovering where it takes them. Their live shows are typically presented as a single piece of music, one movement seamlessly evolving into the next as they explore their anti-colonial and anti-fascist politics through sound. Their albums so far have mirrored this approach. After bonding during a Musicians Against Police Brutality event, they recorded their self-titled 2017 debut in a single day in Brooklyn, their first time performing as a collective.

Their fourth album, Protect Your Light, represents a departure from this free-flowing process. Recording across several days, the ensemble leaned into the tools of the studio, reexamining material and layering overdubs with help from multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily. The list of production credits dwarfs the lyrics sheet; each member wields multiple instruments, producing an album that sounds bigger than the five-piece group that created it. Cymbals crash, saxophones scream, horns swirl, and basslines walk confidently before tumbling down the stairs. But the chaos is controlled. The songs are relatively concise for Irreversible Entanglements, with the longest one clocking in at seven and a half minutes.

Read more... Pitchfork

Cleo Sol - Heaven

Heaven

by Cleo Sol

Released 15 September 2023

Forever Loving Originals

*****

Cleo Sol occupies a rarefied space. A press-averse cult figure, she’s quietly but uncompromisingly codified the sound of UK soul. Earlier this year, the London-born singer performed sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall; for a singer without hits to her name, this was a monumental feat. Cleo’s affirming odes have chimed with an audience who’ve grown with her, bearing witness to a repertoire of soul-seasoned fusion – distinctly homegrown but with the kind of transatlantic appeal that made Sade a crossover success.
New album ‘Heaven’ is Cleo Sol’s third in under four years, and like previous LPs – ‘Rose In The Dark’ and ‘Mother’ and her essential contributions to the eleven studio albums released by the enigmatic SAULT collective in the same period – it dramatises the vicissitudes that comes with enduring love, fidelity, motherhood and the orbit of platonic relationships.

‘Heaven’ develops rather than radically departs from the muted palette of its predecessors, this time through the lens of an earned maturity. These are short stories with a heightened sense of spiritual self-work coursing through them.

Read more... CLASH

Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid & Savannah Harris - Beyond Dragons

Beyond Dragons

by Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid & Savannah Harris

Released 15 September 2023

Jones Schoder

*****

Always seeking new musical adventures, alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier (after winning the prestigious Albert Mangelsdorff Prize, she was recently awarded the WDR Jazz Prize 2023) is one of the most distinguished voices on the European jazz scene. Continuously, she has established close ties with some of the most significant and distinctive figures of the American jazz scene.

Together with renowned cellist Tomeka Reid and acclaimed drummer Savannah Harris, three technically accomplished instrumentalists with sparkling temperament, drive and a joy for experimentation are united to let the complexity and originality of Niescier‘s compositions shine on Beyond Dragons. This is a trio that explores every possible aspect of interplay, at times transparent in chamber music, at other times dense and boisterous, and always with captivating intensity. “This is an ensemble with a cohesiveness and empathy, and is an object lesson in the notion that collectivity need in no way blunt the radical individualism of participants”, writes Alexander Hawkins in the liner notes

Read more... Bandcamp

The National - Laugh Track

Laugh Track

by The National

Released 18 September 2023

4AD

*****

There’s something to be said about a band that never gets worse. You can point to any post-Beatles band and find a dip in quality someplace, but it’s hard to perform such a task when piecing through The National’s catalog—which has grown one album larger this week, upon the surprise release of Laugh Track. If you believe that Boxer or High Violet or even Trouble Will Find Me are the various apexes of The National’s career then, yes, Laugh Track is probably a dip in quality for you. But, in this case, I’m thinking about Dirty Work-level bad or, even, Cut the Crap or St. Anger levels of atrociousness. With The National, there are no flaws, rips, tears or stains. Even their most “boring” release, I Am Easy to Find, is still quite enjoyable. Laugh Track is, without a doubt, better than its predecessor—and let’s face it, First Two Pages of Frankenstein was pretty damn good, too.

Read more... Paste

Loraine James - Gentle Confrontation

Gentle Confrontation

by Loraine James

Released 22 September 2023

Hyperdub Ltd.

*****

With Gentle Confrontation, Loraine's third album for Hyperdub, she lets us into a new chapter of her real and sonic life in which she examines her past and present. She says this is the record a teenage Loraine would like to have made, with musical tendencies that reflect that time, too. It's a positively languid, enjoyably disjointed set made while listening to her teenage favorites: math rock and emo-electronic such as DNTEL, Lusine, and Telefon Tel Aviv, which drew her back to her adolescence. Featuring an ever more diverse set of peers, the album places them into Loraine’s unusual musical settings and draws out sensitive and reflexive performances. At other times the album stretches out into a drifting ambience as if trying to find a sense of bliss in the everyday.

Read more... Bandcamp

GODTET, Novak Manojovic - +STRINGS

+STRINGS

by GODTET, Novak Manojovic

Released 22 September 2023

La Scape

*****

Fans of the experimental/electronic/ambient jazz of GODTET (and indeed La Sape Records) know that they are partial to a bit of a '+' experiment but this is the first time it's been recorded as a live album and with the addition of Australian pianist Noval Manojlovic and a string quartet.

It's was apparently Noval's idea of the 'classical' strings and it really work as an experimental. Lets hope Godriguez/they are all best buds now as we definitely want more of this.  

This is GODTET's fifth album and a couple of years ago I said, "Ambient jazz club types that fall in the Cinematic Orchestra/Portico Quartet envelope with be onto GODTET's trio of tracks, Meditation I, II & III as a beautiful landscape of outer spatial sounds".

'+Strings' was performed in a former women's prison at VIVID Festival in Sydney 2022 and this recording has certainly captured an 'atmospheric' that's mesmorizing in just an audio format; check the appropriately named 'Texture'. 

You don't have to be Jez Nelson to love this and many thanks to the label for making this event more widely available.
 

Read more... You And Your Music

Kiefer - It's OK, B U

It's OK, B U

by Kiefer

Released 22 September 2023

Stones Throw Records

*****

Kiefer is a central figure in the diverse independent music scene of Los Angeles. His sound fuses various modalities of Black American Music, from jazz and R&B to hip-hop and electronic music.

It's OK B U is the fourth long-player from L.A.-based keyboardist, composer, and producer Kiefer. While 2021's When There's Love Around showcased him along with a jazz band for the first time, this 16-track set is a return to solo playing, beatmaking, and production. The album's selections range from just under five seconds to five-and-a-half minutes. The music is tenderly introspective, lushly melodic, and clean with inventive rhythm tracks framing stellar piano skills. While his last outing registered firmly on the modern side of contemporary jazz (in spiritual and aesthetic kinship with John Carroll Kirby), this one claims a space on its bleeding edge. Kiefer is a key part of the current generation of L.A.-area musicians erasing boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, funk, electronic, and pop, calling into question more traditional notions of composition, production, and performance.

Read more... AllMusic

Jorja Smith - falling or flying

falling or flying

by Jorja Smith

Released 29 September 2023

FAMM

*****

There’s always a forlorn edge to Jorja Smith’s voice, even when things are going well. “A love like this is nothing I have known before,” she sings on “Make Sense,” a track from her new album, “Falling or Flying.” Even as she rejoices, “A home in you I’ve found,” the chords circle around a minor key and she sounds cautious, almost disbelieving.

Smith, 25, has been delivering pensive British R&B since she emerged with “Blue Lights” in 2016, singing about racism and police violence. She has released a steady string of her own tracks and collaborated prolifically and internationally: with Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Burna Boy, Stormzy, Kali Uchis and Ibeyi, among many others.

From the beginning, and more than ever on “Falling or Flying,” her second full-length studio album, Smith has kept her sound strictly focused. No matter how many layers are in the final mixes — and there can be plenty tucked in — the songs present themselves as minimal, with stripped-down riffs behind aching vocals. In other words, rhythms and blues.

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On first impression, Smith might seem diffident. Her tone is natural and understated, and as her catalog has grown, she has raised her voice less and less. Smith uses nuance instead of volume. With a voice that often sounds like it’s on the verge of tears, she brings flickers of vibrato, jazzy curlicues, grainy inflections and subtle pauses and accelerations to her phrasing. It’s not modesty at all — it’s precision, and it has been ever more sharply honed.

Read more... New York Times

Hania Rani - Ghosts

Ghosts

by Hania Rani

Released 6 October 2023

Gondwana Records

*****

Hania Rani announces her new album, Ghosts, bringing her songwriting and beautiful vocals to the fore and featuring special guests Patrick Watson, Ólafur Arnalds and Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet).

Ghosts is the sound of an ever-evolving artist and, just as the album’s title suggests she passes repeatedly and gracefully between musical worlds: as composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. This album builds on Rani’s earlier successes Esja (2019) and Home (2020) with an expanded yet still minimal setup of piano, keyboards, synths (most importantly her Prophet) and features more of her mysterious, bewitching voice. Its spirit is warm, beckoning one into an ambitious double album that unfolds at an exquisite pace, informed by her revelatory, exploratory live performances.

A prolific composer and performer, Hani has also completed a number of soundtracks and extended works in recent years including: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (2023), On Giacometti (2023), Venice - Infinitely Avantgarde (2022), Biala Flaga (Remastered) (2021), Inner Symphonies (2021) and Music for Film and Theatre (2021)

Read more... Bandcamp

John Scofield - Uncle John's Band

Uncle John's Band

by John Scofield

Released 13 October 2023

ECM

*****

Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John’s Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling.

Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” to Neil Young’s “Old Man”, from Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” to the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool classic “Budo”. And jazz standards including “Stairway to the Stars” and “Ray’s Idea” rub shoulders with seven Scofield originals that are variously swing, funk and folk-inflected.

The red thread through the programme is the trio’s tremendous improvisational verve.  “I feel like we can go anywhere,” says John Scofield of the group’s multi-directional versatility.

Uncle John’s Band was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in August 2022.

Read more... ECM

Rob Luft - Dahab Days

Dahab Days

by Rob Luft

Released 20 October 2023

Edition Records

*****

With "Dahab Days," Luft embarks on another significant stride in his artistic journey. This album represents a notable expansion of his sound, incorporating a string quartet and reinforcing the contributions of his talented band members, who have become an integral part of his musical identity. Luft's well-deserved reputation as a versatile guitarist shines through as he delivers uplifting improvisations that evolve in hypnotic and contemporary ways, captivating listeners with their compelling and immersive qualities.
The album derives its name from Dahab, a location in Egypt where much of the music was written. Over the past three years, Luft has spent considerable time there due to the Covid-19 pandemic's limitations. While not overtly drawing from the music of the region, "Dahab Days" subtly reflects the influence of his experiences in that unique setting.
Featuring an exceptional lineup, "Dahab Days" includes Rob Luft on electric and acoustic guitars, as well as the kalimba, alongside Joe Wright on tenor saxophone, Joe Webb on piano and Hammond organ, Tom McCredie on bass guitar, and Corrie Dick on drum kit and percussion. The album also boasts special guest performances by Alice Zawadzki on vocals and violin, Byron Wallen on trumpet, and Steve Buckley on alto saxophone and penny whistle.

Read more... Bandcamp

Javelin

by Sufjan Stevens

Released 6 October 2023

Asthmatic Kitty Records

*****

It's hard to say where pop music would be if it weren't for love songs -– love has been most songwriters' favorite subject for centuries, but beyond the fact that almost everyone wants to be in love and is sad when they're not, there are only so many things to be said about the subject. Sufjan Stevens' 2023 album, Javelin, is that rarity, a collection of songs about love that feels like something you haven't heard before, both in its depth and complexity, and in the way it explores love in both its human and divine forms.

Javelin is an album about the need to be loved, agape and philia, and Stevens shows that he can write about both without trivializing or minimizing the importance of either. That's a commendable achievement in any creative medium, and the fact that he's done so while creating some of the best music of his life makes this essential listening.

Read more... AllMusic

Elmiene - Marking My Time

Marking My Time (EP)

by Elmiene

Released 20 October 2023

Polydor / Def Jam

****-

Elmiene - EL-MEAN (EP)

EL-MEAN (EP)

by Elmiene

Released 10 March 2023

R&R Digital

*****

Elmiene's voice is undeniable. Born Abdala Elamin and raised in Oxford since the age of 5, the now 21-year-old has been called on for his sweetly soulful croons. And yet, despite his love of performance and a knack for poetry and writing, it wasn't until he was discovered via his effortlessly silken cover videos on social media that he realised he could merge the worlds of his words and melodies and shape a future for himself. The next chapter of unearthing who he was as an artist was another fairly speedy one. Within the span of a week, he'd experimented with incorporating spoken word alongside singing on a track, then just spoken word over an instrumental. And then it hit him: "I realised that marrying the two doesn't have to mean them being separate things, like water and oil in a song. It could be the same thing. And the first song after that was 'Golden.' 

Read more... Wasserman

Robbie Robertson - Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack

Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack

by Robbie Robertson

Released 20 October 2023

Sony Masterworks

*****

Over 40 years, Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese collaborated on 11 projects. Today brings their final joint effort, as Sony Music Masterworks has released Robertson’s posthumous soundtrack for Scorsese’s new film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon explores the murders of native Osage peoples in Oklahoma in the 1920s after oil deposits were discovered on their land, in a saga that came to be called the Reign of Terror.

Robertson himself spent much of his childhood on the Six Nations Reserve as part of his mother’s Mohawk community. As he explained in a posthumous statement, he leaned on this personal history as he crafted the film’s accompanying soundtrack. “I was gathering pictures in my head of music I heard as a child at the Six Nations Indian Reserve. My relatives are all sitting around with their instruments, and one guy would start a rhythm, and then somebody would start singing a melody to that, and it was just haunting. The feeling of the music beside you like that, humming and droning – the groove and the feel of it got under my skin and it lives there forever.”

Read more... Consequence of Sound

Tara Clerkin Trio - On The Turning Ground

On The Turning Ground (EP)

by Tara Clerkin Trio

Released 3 November 2023

World of Echo

*****

Not far off two years from the day, Bristol's Tara Clerkin Trio return to World of Echo and the EP format for a five song collection of quixotic, emotional redolence. But do not mistake their absence for inertia. If their musical output has been a little sparse during those in-between years, limited to a few solo ventures and an astonishing ten minute long piece as a trio, their time has otherwise been richly spent: continuous writing and recording, extensive live performances across Europe and Japan, a cultivation of local and more far-flung artistic connections (musical and otherwise), and a monthly NTS show that, through the voice of others, speaks most obviously to their own unorthodox interests. It's the conflux of that winding activity that leads indirectly to On The Turning Ground, 26 minutes of probing, thoughtful composition that draws from no one specific source.

Read more... Bandcamp

Berke Can Ozcan - Twin Rocks (EP)

Twin Rocks

by Berke Can Özcan

Released 10 November 2023

Omni Sound

*****

Hailing from Istanbul, Turkey Berke Can Özcan began his career as a drummer and has founded (and killed-off) many bands. He has written music, sang, built musical instruments, played the drums and many other instruments within a variety of projects, recorded and produced albums, travelled and received acclaim. And, you know, everything keeps changing.

With "Twin Rocks" Özcan takes us on a captivating journey through the depths of nature on the Lycian Way - a 520 km long hiking trail in southwestern Turkey around part of the coast of ancient Lycia, named after the Lycian civilization that once ruled in this region. As Özcan ventures deeper into uncharted territory on the trail, he stumbles upon a sight that sparks an artistic flame, the Twin Rocks. In collaboration with critically acclaimed Norwegian trumpet mastermind Arve Henriksen and Brooklyn-based baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Özcan immerses the listener in a mesmerizing soundscape that echoes the wonder and mystery of the trail leading to ancient Lycia.

Read more... Bandcamp

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1

Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1

by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Released 10 November 2023

Brainfeeder

*****

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is a LA-based producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, music director, and educator. Recording on over 600 albums, films and TV shows, Miguel has recorded and performed with some of the greatest artists of our time, spanning multiple genres.

14 years in the making, “Les Jardins Mystiques Vol.1” comprises 52 tracks / 3.5 hours of music composed, arranged and produced by Miguel with contributions from 50+ friends including Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, DOMi & JD Beck, Jeff Parker, Carlos Niño, Austin Peralta, Bennie Maupin, Gabe Noel, Jamael Dean, Jamire Williams, Burniss Travis II, Deantoni Parks, Josh Johnson, Marcus Gilmore and many more.

“Les Jardins Mystiques” is a project that throws open and shares Miguel’s musical universe. It took shape over a dozen years, largely self-funded by Miguel, and showcasing his distinctly elegant musicianship (on violin, viola, cello and keyboards among other instruments) alongside his free-spirited dialogues with more than 50 instrumentalists. Volume 1 is the first in a planned triptych, which will collectively comprise ten-and-a-half-hours of original, refreshingly expansive music.

Read more... Bandcamp

Niecy Blues - Exit Simulation

Exit Simulation

by Niecy Blues

Released 10 November 2023

kranky

*****

South Carolina singer and producer Niecy Blues describes her songwriting process like an undertow: “I feel a strange pull, and let it carry me, following swirling leaves… whole days roll by, forgetting about the body.” Their full-length debut, Exit Simulation, captures this sense of deep-rooted
divination, cycling between simmering ballads, ghosted R&B, downtempo gospel, and looped vocal improvisations – often within the same track. The title is taken from a science fiction novel she read during the purgatory of the pandemic, alluding to a dimensional ideation of departure – “the permission to imagine leaving.”

Recorded in her current home of Charleston, she characterizes the album’s mood in terms both reflective and raw: an exploration of things suppressed, foundations beginning to crack, “talking myself off a ledge.”

Read more... Bandcamp

Special Feelings - Special Feelings

Special Feelings

by Special Feelings

Released 10 November 2023

Rhythm Section International

*****

Special Feelings is the brainchild of Poli-Pearl and Naomi Robison, formed following a chance meeting in a bar in their original base in Boorloo (Perth, Western Australia). There, the duo was free to develop a unique sound before relocating to their current base in Naarm (Melbourne), and collaborating with musicians there.

The duo share a vision and work together to create and compose apocalyptic jazz / fusion music with  selected artists, which make up the collective.  

“We would like pay respect to the roots of jazz and world music. We’d also express our gratitude being apart of the future of music. We extend our gratitude to the original people of the lands we create on, such as, the the Whadjuk Noongar people of the Noongar Nation and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.

We’d also like to pay our deepest respects to any first nations/colonised listeners of the world.”

Read more... Rhythm Section

Mon Laferte - Autopoietica

Autopoietica

by Mon Laferte

Released 10 November 2023

UMM Universal Music Group, Mexico

*****

Chilean singer and songwriter Mon Laferte has experimented with and traversed an astonishing variety of musical styles and genres. Her earliest work was beat-conscious indie rock, while 2019's Norma ranged across 1940s big band, mambo, psychedelic cumbia, and salsa. In 2021, inspired by a documentary about the life and music of Chavela Vargas, she delivered Seis. Its songs run from ranchera and mariachi to bolero, banda, and corridos. Months later she issued the largely D.I.Y. 1940 Carmen, recorded in an L.A. apartment with her producer. The pair played all the instruments.

Then there's 2023's Autopoiética, Laferte's only recording to deliberately borrow ideas from her catalog. Titled after the term "autopoiesis," coined by the Chilean biologist Humberto Maturan, it's defined as "a being able to self-create or re-create itself". Laferte claimed it as a metaphor for herself and humanity: We have the ability to re-create ourselves at any time, creating new universes and personal mythologies in that process.

Read more... AllMusic

Cat Power - Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert

Cat Power Sings Dylan The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert

by Cat Power

Released 10 November 2023

Domino Recording Co.

*****

At first approach, Cat Power Sings Dylan is as straightforward as covers albums come. Marshall performed the music live, following every contour of Dylan’s set, down to his switch halfway through from solo acoustic performance to rollicking full-band rock. She didn’t tinker much with his arrangements: If a given song, in Dylan’s rendition, begins with an instrumental vamp or ends with a harmonica solo, it probably does in Marshall’s version as well. But after a while, the meticulous literalism of her interpretation comes to seem like its own conceptual gambit. When the similarities are so pronounced, the differences, when they inevitably occur, capture your attention.

Rather than in volume and intensity, Sings Dylan finds subversion in its very form, as a covers album that celebrates and estranges its source material at once. Of course, someone shouts “Judas” near the end of the show, as if following the evening’s script; instead of Dylan’s famous “I don’t believe you,” Marshall retorts with “Jesus.”

It’s the most uncanny moment on an uncanny album, made more so by the fact that the mock heckler pipes up a little earlier than he’s supposed to: before “Ballad of a Thin Man” instead of “Like a Rolling Stone,” which is fitting enough.

The chorus of “Thin Man,” a sort of mission statement for Dylan at the time, might also describe the aptness of Marshall’s tribute, whose sly ambiguity is essential to the truths it conveys about both parties. Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is.

Read more... Pitchfork

Ancient Infinity Orchestra - River of Light

River of Light

by Ancient Infinity Orchestra

Released 17 November 2023

Gondwana Records

*****

Ancient Infinity Orchestra is a 14-member jazz ensemble led by double-bassist and composer Ozzy Moysey, based in Leeds in the North of England – home to one of the most innovative and community-based jazz scenes in the UK. Saxophonist Mathew Cliffe who also performs with Matthew Halsall is a key member of the rotating line-up which includes drums, two bassists, keyboards, harp, violin, cello, two tenors, alto, oboe, flute and percussion.

Their Gondwana Records debut ‘River of Light’ drinks deep from the well of spiritual jazz and is especially inspired by the soulful sounds of Pharoah Sanders, Alice and John Coltrane – all of whom are mentioned in the brilliant track ‘Pharoah Sings’ – but also channels a certain Northern sensibility that can be heard in the music of Matthew Halsall or Alabaster de Plume. Melodic, warm and honest this is music that is happy to wear its heart on its sleeve.

Read more... Gondwana Records

Andre 3000 - New Blue Sun

New Blue Sun

by Andre 3000

Released 17 November 2023

Epic Records

*****

If you can get past the premise (and overlook the goofy song titles, most of which are too long and silly to dignify) and tune in to New Blue Sun as an album of contemplative healing sounds, it's pleasant and sometimes even sublime. Carlos Niño co-produces, bringing the same soft warmth he's cultivated on his own transcendental pop albums for the International Anthem label. The songs wash by in waves of airy synth pads, gentle wind chimes, electric piano, or absent-minded guitar lines. 3000 is joined by a host of players including Nate Mercereau, Diego Gaeta, Surya Botofasina, Mia Doi Todd, and others, all of whom fold new textures effortlessly into the stream of sounds. Opening track "I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time" is among the most structured pieces, moving in patient ripples similar to Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points' majestic Promises. It's hovering and aimless like Emerald Web's or Alice Coltrane's most new age material, vibrating constantly but never bubbling over.

New Blue Sun is probably not the André 3000 solo debut most OutKast fans had expected or hoped for, but it does continue the integrity and spirit of his creative journey, in a way that's fittingly bizarre and beautiful.

Read more... AllMusic

Ali Sethi, Nicolas Jaar - Inthia

Inthia

by Ali Sethi, Nicolas Jaar

Released 17 November 2023

Other People

*****

Singer, songwriter and author Ali Sethi had been entranced by the music of Nicolas Jaar (the Chilean-American composer and recording artist based in New York) long before they began collaborating.

He’d absorbed the sounds over a number of years, listening casually and taking in their subtleties in bars and rooftop parties across Lahore and London. “It felt familiar to me, that sense of adventure you have when you hear his music, like a tale that teases you and plays with your expectations as it unfolds,” says Sethi. “In that sense it resembled the leisurely improvised ghazals and qawwalis I grew up hearing in Pakistan.” So when the two were finally introduced by Indian visual artist Somnath Bhatt, a regular Jaar collaborator who also handled the album’s artwork, Sethi was well prepared. He began to sketch out voice notes using loops snipped from Jaar’s acclaimed 2020 album ‘Telas’, improvising vocalizations and seductive Urdu poems over Jaar’s weightless, time-bending productions. Jaar was astonished by the result; “It was what ‘Telas’ had been missing,” he explains.

Read more... Bandcamp

Don Leisure, Amanda Whiting - Beyond The Midnight Sun

Beyond The Midnight Sun

by Don Leisure with Amanda Whiting -

Released 24 November 2023

First World Records

*****

Cardiff producer Don Leisure has evolved considerably in the decade or so he’s been releasing wax. Indeed, he wasn’t Don Leisure when he was making drum’n’bass in the late-00s – he did that as Jamal, his real name – but adopted the pseudonym when he hooked up with Che Ahmed to make tracks as Darkhouse Family.

Beyond The Midnight Sun' expands upon ground first explored on Don Leisure's track 'All Praises Due', which also featured Amanda (with Angel Bat Dawid), and featured on his previous album 'Shaboo Strikes Back'. This is a full-length project that these two formidable Welsh artists have collaborated on together.

Joining him throughout this project, we have the pleasure of welcoming the phenomenal talents of highly-acclaimed harpist Amanda Whiting to the First Word label. A virtuoso in her field, this classically trained musician quickly established herself as an essential player in the UK jazz scene, carving her unique sound following the paths forged by Ashby and Coltrane.

Read more... Stones Throw Records

Isaiah Collier - Parallel Universe

Parallel Universe

by Isaiah Collier

Released 24 November 2023

Night Dreamer

*****

Chicago-based innovator and educator Isaiah Collier is opening up new dimensions in the jazzwise continuum. A saxophonist by trade whose multi-instrumental talents and compositional prowess have stretched the limits of the form, Parallel Universe (which was recorded direct-to-disk) represents a new chapter in Collier’s musical journey.

Having already performed with a diverse range of musicians such as Chance The Rapper, Waddada Leo Smith, Chicago jazz royalty Angel Bat Dawid and his own band The Chosen Few, Collier’s latest work as a bandleader explores the shared musical heritage of the African diaspora with a sense of grace and assurance that belies his years.

Embracing the risk and vulnerability that comes with the live process, Collier and his band tapped into the frequencies of improvisation that fired up so many of the most timeless jazz recordings.

“Recording direct-to-disc gave me a really fortunate opportunity to experience what our musical predecessors almost a hundred years ago were dealing with,” he explains.

Read more... Bandcamp

Ambrose Akinmusire - Owl Song

Owl Song

by Ambrose Akinmusire

Released 15 December 2023

Origami Harvest / Nonesuch

*****

 

Composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire makes his Nonesuch Records debut with Owl Song. The album features a trio with two musicians Akinmusire has long admired, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley.

“This is my reaction to being assaulted by information,” Akinmusire says of Owl Song. “This record is me wanting to create a safe space. Part of the challenge was: Can I create something that’s oriented around open space, the way some of the records I love the most do?”

He says of his collaborators, “I had a feeling of wanting to record with Bill from the first time we played—it was a duo performance, very little rehearsal. We just played through some of my songs, and it worked. One of Bill’s special gifts is the ability to shape a piece he’s just heard for the first time. He seems to know what the music wants before the first note.
 

Read more... Bandcamp

Barney McAll - Emerald Hands

Emerald Hands

by Barney McAll

Released 22 December 2023

Barney McAll

*****

 Emerald Hands is cloaked as a joyous life affirming romp with an eye towards pop and soul, yet McAll takes no easy options. It feels like he has somehow syntheisized the fears hopes and dreams of the last couple of years into one coherent musical form. A place where torch song electronica, neo soul, 70’s electro funk, and soul jazz have coalesced with pointed lyrics referring to doom scrolling, Bitcoin, Ukraine, Covid denialism and all manner of 2023 existential dramas to create a magpie view of the now. The world feels more nonsensical, threatening and designed for others than ever before, it’s refreshing to discover art that not only acknowledges this but repurposes the wacky and harmful 21st century detritus into nourishing soul affirming sounds that make the world a better place. Emerald Hands is a cleansing machine.

Read more... Cyclic Defrost

Hollie Kenniff - We All Have Places That We Miss

We All Have Places That We Miss

by Hollie Kenniff

Released 10 February 2023

Western Vinyl

*****

Hollie Kenniff, a  Canadian-American vocalist and composer, describes her third album as "a chorus of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, humming drones, and reverb drenched shoegaze guitars, all melding into an impressionistic story of remembrance, loss, family, and connection" but as alarming as that all sounds (the execution of such music, more often than not, embarrassingly dreary) "We All have Places That We Miss" is an unexpected delight.

The collection is, she says, "a first-hand audio treatise on these in-between realms (between waking and sleeping, memory and history, and even living and dying), and the concepts of time, death, loss, growth, love, and longing that are clarified within them. Hollie Kenniff is a rare find - an artist who dares enter such emotional musical territory and does not get lost. 

"We All have Places That We Miss" is an ambient classic.

And equally engaging are her previous releases - "The Quiet Drift" (2021) and "The Gathering Dawn"( 2019)

Boddhi Satva - Ancestral Soul & Afro House

Ancestral Soul & Afro House 2023

by Boddhi Satva

Released 29 December 2023

Offering Recordings

*****

Boddhi Satva, known affectionately as the founding father of Ancestral Soul, places spirituality as the central hallmark of his music and uses the thread of soul music to weave a seamless tapestry of African music styles, set to the pace of house music and, in so doing, changes entirely the way the genre is perceived and experienced.  

Ancestral Soul & Afro House 2023 is a compilation of remixes and recent releases.

Special mention must be made to the consistently excellent album cover art for all of Boddhi Satva's work, which often pays homage to iconic artists, particularly Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mati Klarwein (best known for "Annunciation"the Santana - Abraxas album cover).

Read more... Bandcamp

As a kid, I fell in love with music through the radio - listening to broadcasts from far away, late at night.
With the internet, I now discover artists from ever-widening sources and locations.
Each month, I share discoveries, favorites, reviews and sources.

Sun Never Sets On Music is produced in Rubibi | Broome, a small coastal town in the Kimberley Region, far north of Western Australia. 

 

This is the traditional lands of the Djugun and Yawuru People and is part of Djugun-Yawuru Country.

The Djugan and Yawuru People are the knowledge holders of this Country, embodying the history, culture, seasons, stories and songlines of this landscape.

Sun Never Sets On Music pays respects to Elders past, current and emerging. We celebrate the stories, cultures, traditions - and especially the music - of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders of all communities who also work and live on this land.

Peter Hyland

Sun Never Sets On Music

sunneversetsonmusic.com

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