Jazz Genre • Page 48

That album is killer

 

A continuation of my recent fixation on African music from other threads, here is a stunner I found yesterday.

 

I have that in my library! Will bump it up the list

 

That Batsumi record is incredible, definitely worth prioritizing.

 

Best albums of the year so far? I’m more into calmer Jazz (but, like, not smooth Jazz)

 

The Greg Foat & Gigi Masin collab is dope, but I’m not sure if you can strictly classify it as “jazz.” Certainly jazzy enough for me, at least. I also really enjoyed Fuubutsushi, Nonkeen, and Ezra Feinberg. All very chill/ambient-adjacent, but all definitely worth checking out.

I post a lot more of that vibe in the Ambient thread, but will try to post things here as well.

 

I’m not sure if ambient is what I mean.

My two reference albums are:

And Kind of Blue.

 

Heard it for the first time last week but this years Black Arts Jazz Collective release is a nice little straight-ahead thing. You should definitely prioritize Birth of the Cool as you go through the canon, but as for this year...

I liked Melissa Aldana's album, and her one before that was one of my favs of 2022.

"WAW!" by Winther, Andersson & Watts (get it) is another cool straight-aheadish one from this year.

"e.s.t. 30" is an album from this year celebrating 30 years of the Esbjörn Svensson (RIP) trio, a hallmark group in "ambient" jazz - but much more "quiet, contemplative jazz" ambient vibes than "traditional ambient music with jazz elements" vibes.

Andrew Bird's record from this year is beautiful straight-ahead vocal jazz.

I've always found all of Joel Ross's records calming, including the one from this year which is pointedly more straight-ahead than his previous.

Almost anything from Vijay Iyer will be some kind of calming, including "Compassion" from this year.

Arooj Aftab's record from this year goes very far from straight-ahead and gets very intense in moments but ultimately I find it very calming. Definitely one of my favorites of the year of any style.

Bill Frisell is the ultimate calming jazz guitar player to me and he is on a live record from this year led by a drummer named Ron Miles called "Old Man Chapel (live)."

Also, I feel like Greg Foat's live records from this year might be more up your alley than the ambient collab. Some might say this stuff of his pushes into smooth jazz - Aquarium Drunkard includes some of this on a list of records that draw "on long-traduced, sometimes crassly commercial, musical forms—jazz-funk, exotica, new age, sci-fi schlock, lounge music and library—and channels it all into deeply funky, low-key psychedelic groove music." But it's good shit.

Not this year but LongGone with McBride, Blade, Redman, and Mehldau is one of my favorite straight-ahead records of the 2020s. Not always calm but definitely straight-ahead.

thats what i got i think

 

this record always chills me out

 

Sorry to quote an old post but dude this fuckin' cooks.

 

Discovered this 1983 spiritual jazz album by french hornist Bob Northern. Very good

 

Really terrific stuff here, probably gonna be my new obsession for a bit

 

Can’t shake this song. So good

 

Seriously, can’t get it out of my head. Is there anything else like this from that era? I feel like this is the Rosetta Stone for Tom Krell

edit:
I guess the move is to dig deeper into Bobby McFerrin beyond “Don’t Worry” haha

 

Have you listened to Beverly Glenn-Copeland?

 

I have not! Good looks

 

Ever New makes me feel like crying every time.

I generally prefer his earlier albums, extraordinary psych-jazz-folk stuff.

 

One of the all-timers

 

A masterpiece, for sure.

 

Got Count Basie's The Complete Decca Recordings, 3 discs for $5.

Record stores that are snooty about vinyl are really ripe for steals on CD.

 

took a lovely nap to this earlier today

 

This one is a real journey. Wonderful stuff. Incredible drumming.

 

I am listening to In Line for the first time. Wow!

 

In Line is so beautiful. Listened to that for the first time earlier this summer and I’m constantly returning to it