Heading to Chicago's Jazz Fest tomorrow, so I'm in a really jazzy mood this week. Dean Martin and all the old crooners yesterday, Stan Getz today, I'm all over the place.
Philip Bailey's album from this year Love Will Find a Way is wonderful. He's in fantastic voice still and channeling Curtis all over it, and he has Christian McBride, Christian Scott, Chick Corea, Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper on the record. Thank god for Verve still letting legends like him work.
This past week I’ve been finally getting into Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming and Kamaal Williams and I’m fucking love it Does anybody wanna throw me a few recs of some major records from the last few years I should hear? I’ll dive into the classics soon but it’s pretty intimidating, just want to get started with some recent albums
Some of my recent favorites. Nubya Garcia - Nubya’s 5ive Maisha - There is a Place Binker and Moses - Journey to the Mountain of Forever Joel Ross - Kingmaker Jamie Branch - Fly or Fie Nerija - Blume Theon Cross - Fyah SEED Ensemble - Driftglass Sarah Tandy - Infection in the Sentence Camilla George - The People Could Fly Moses Boyd - Displaced Diasspora Idris Ackamoor - An Angel Fell Yazz Ahmed - La Sabotuese Tenderlonious - The Shakedown Amaro Freitas - Rasif Damon Locks - Where Future Unfolds
I could give more in a while but that's a good list, imo the other Binker & Moses record Alive in the East? is the absolute best thing the LDN scene has produced and definitely my personal favorite recent jazz record
Have you checked out the new Binker Golding album that came out this past Friday? I unfortunately haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I always look forward to new music from him.
Not yet. His last one was cool but a lot more "free" than I was expecting, haven't returned to it much. Just added the newest one to apple music
I love how much music that whole scene puts out though, seems like there's always 3 or 4 records coming out from them
It’s really fucking good, yeah. But I’d say Theon Cross has put our the best album from the London scene and he did it with a fucking tuba haha
Other recs I’d add... Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah - Ancestral Recall Marquis Hill - Modern Flows Pt 2 Alfa Mist - Structuralism I’m sure there are others, just can’t think of them rn
That's totally fair and I love that record but the drumming on the other one combined with rhythm harp is transcendent for me
If you dig Kamaal Williams, make sure you check out Yussef Kamaal. It’s Kamaal and Yussef Dayes collab and it’s just as good as Kamaals solo stuff.
Being an ex-drummer (and I use “drummer” in the loosest possible use of the word haha), I always hear the drums first and yeah, Alive in the East? hooked me straight away. But there’s something about Theons way of playing and the sounds he creates with the tuba that sounds so fucking cool to me.
Man, if someone had told me this time last year that I’d immersed myself in jazz as much as I have and actually have a (kind of) conversation, I would have laughed at them!