The train to catch up on 2020's music is on track, although with each station I hit, another station adds itself to the itinerary as more great music continues to be released. But no matter. This leg of the journey is stoked by three albums, two that fall under jazz and one that (for lack of a better term) falls under global. The main playlist has plenty of other goodies for your listening pleasure, but these were the ones that kept me coming back. You can find samples from each in the 40 For 2020 playlist, along with tracks from previous posts focusing on Classical, Electronic, and Hip Hop.
Wayne Escoffery - The Humble Warrior For most people, having a colleague tell them that their nephew is a musician would be an excuse to exit stage right. When that happened to me a couple of years ago, however, I a beeline back to my office to check it out. That's how I discovered this supremely skilled and passionate sax player and his album Vortex. His new one finds him exploring new areas while paying homage to his own roots and that of the music itself. For the former, he's created a searching, expansive take on Benjamin Britten's Missa Brevis, which he heard as a child growing up in London, where he sang with the Trinity Boys Choir. For the latter, his own composition Chain Gang reflects the role of work songs and slave chants in the DNA of jazz. Fittingly, it opens with a Coltrane-like voluntary, heralding in a powerfully involving piece. As on Vortex, his band is all in, especially pianist David Kikoski, who sparkles throughout. Guitarist David Gilmore (not Gilmour!) and trumpet legend Randy Brecker lend a hand to the Britten tracks, giving more foils for Escoffery's reed to work against. If more mainstream jazz was this good I would listen to more mainstream jazz.
Makaya McCraven and Gil Scott-Heron - We're New Again: A Reimagining In 2011, Jamie XX spun spooky electronic gold out of I'm New Here, Scott-Heron's somewhat misshapen final album. Now to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original, Chicago's avatar of the new jazz scene has reimagined the album entirely with all new backing tracks for Scott-Heron's gravelly reflections - and came up with another winner. Aided by crack players like Jeff Parker (guitar) and Brandee Younger (harp) and driven by McCraven's percussion, it refers back to the master's albums with Brian Jackson while the addition of Ben Lamar Gay's diddley bow seems to take it to a more elemental place. Not only does this album honor Scott-Heron's extraordinary legacy, it's also the most convincing work McCraven has yet released. A remarkable and riveting achievement.
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan - Navarasa : Nine Emotions In 2016, I put this trio's Everything Sacred in the "rock, folk, etc." category but as Suhail Yusuf Kahn's voice and sarangi are even more to the fore this time, I'm putting it here. The title refers to a Sanskrit theory of the various emotions expressed by the performing arts and each of the nine tracks represents one sentiment. Even so, it's a consistently contemplative album, with its highest spirits reserved for the second track, The Shearing's Not For You, with James Yorkston singing what sounds like an ancient Scottish folk song. With each release, the polyglot trio's vision sounds ever more gorgeous and full of natural affinities between cultures. There's no better example of that than Westlin' Winds, which combines the Pakistani devotionals of the Qawwali tradition with the poetry of Robert Burns. If you're still unfamiliar with Yorkston/Thorne/Khan, start here but by all means trace the journey back through all three albums.
Make sure to follow this playlist to see what else gets added in these genres.
You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2019: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Best Of 2018: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Double Bass, How Low Can You Go
Bayeté's World
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