Author: philovereem

Music monomaniac, retired English teacher, resident of Columbia, Missouri, former correspondent for ANOREXIC TEENAGE SEX GODS, READY TO SNAP, HITLIST, SUGARBUZZ, THE WAYBACK MACHINE, ROCK THERAPY, and THE FIRST CHURCH OF HOLY ROCK AND ROLL, co-lead singer of the non-legendary Wayne Coomers and the Original Sins of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

September Struggle: 22 Records That Helped Me Power Through

Covid finally caught up with me. I had not received the most recent booster (I’d been advised to wait), but I suppose it was inevitable, and at least I have a measure more immunity. The virus was a different bitch each of the five days I was on my back: uncontrollable 101.5-102.5 fever, deep hacking (including ugly music exploding from me without warning) to the point I could barely put a cough lozenge back there, 160 BPM heart rate (plus some A-Fib, which I’ve already had a procedure to prevent) for nearly 12 hours, an inability to sleep for more than an hour at a time (two night actually), and some rounds of deep lethargy, a state I despise with every fiber of my being. BUT: such a state enabled me to listen to the entirety of Allen Lowe’s Louis Armstrong’s America (see below–four consistently interesting discs of varied and original jazz compositions played by instrumentalists of unique voice many of you have not heard of–and in Lowe’s own liner notes) and the entire three-volume, seven-disc oeuvre of the mysterious international improvisatory jazz unit called [ahmed]–they’re like The Necks with something to be angry about. And such a state is just what fascinating music exists to sweep away. Fittingly, I came around just in time to see AACM stalwart Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio (featuring a fragile but still musically fetching Ari Brown on saxophone) energetically open the 66th year (!!!) of St. Louis’ New Circle Jazz Series, and, in spite of a surprisingly rough recovery week, caught alto saxophonist Vincent Herring’s “Something Else!” jazz band here in Columbia, which featured Nicole’s and my favorite saxophonist, the (sometimes too) ebullient master of the reeds James Carter.

I did get to listen to and evaluate some new stuff. All things below are listed alphabetically, but I’ve bolded the ones that are really fine. I’m still limiting myself to single-sentence reviews because I am busy with other things. And soon to come will be my update–for what it could possibly be worth to you–of my 10 or 15 or 20 favorite albums of this entire scary year.

New

  1. BASIC: This is Basic (No Quarter)—A pleasing labor of love, in tribute to a widely-felt too-basic ’80s album featuring the corruscating guitarist Robert Quine.
  2. Coco & Clair Clair: Girl (Nice Girl World)–Throbbing bass, cute tunes ‘n’ talk-singing…and the wrong girls to eff with.
  3. Kris Davis: Run the Gauntlet (Pyroclastic)–The pre-eminent pianist in Stateside improvisatory jazz waxes her first trio record in awhile, which is also showcase for master drummer Johnathan Blake.
  4. Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Hea l (Top Dawg Entertainment / Capitol)–I’m no one to play women against each other–that’s a chump’s game–but rap’s a battle-art no matter who’s spittin’, so maybe team Doechii up with Coco & Clair on an EP and turn ’em loose on some victimizers or some fakes.
  5. El Khat: Mute (Glitterbeat)—At a local record party, a friend played me this Berlin-based Yemeni band’s previous record and I was immediately hooked by its hypnotic clanking and addictive Middle Eastern rhythms; I’ve since acquired their entire catalog–solid!–and this new one might be their best.
  6. Etran de L’Air: 100% Sahara Guitar (Sahel Sounds)–This Agadez wedding band keeps getting better–my esteemed music-enraptured colleague behind the superb Substack newsletter RiotRiot prefers them to Mdou Moctar–and the title speaks for itself.
  7. Fastbacks: For WHAT Reason? (No Threes)–Rock and roll lives, though if you listen through the bright, fast guitar-propelled music, it hasn’t been easy.
  8. Ingebrigt Haker Flaten & (Exit) Knarr: Breezy (Sonic Transmissions)—Flaten and his excellent band (Exit Knarr) follow up the stunning compositions and free playing of their debut by upping the ante with continued inventive writing and the well-timed skronks of guitarist Jonathan Horne.
  9. Floating Points: Cascade (Ninja Tune)–The Pharoah Sanders record didn’t end up knocking my socks off, so, in sampling this as an obligation, I was pleased to find the beats delighted and brightened me.
  10. GALVEZTON: Some Kind of Love (A Tribute to the Velvet Underground) (La Izquierda)–The Feelies did this last year, on a record of pretty much the same title, and the vocals killed it for me, which they DO NOT here…plus I’m fascinated by why these Texans even waxed it.
  11. Darius Jones: Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) (AUM Fidelity)–Jones’ saxophone playing on this soon-come release is emotionally powerful but carefully controlled, and it’s the strongest of what will be eventually nine installments of his “Man’ish Boy” epic (according to the notes) as well as my favorite saxophone record of the year.
  12. LL Cool J: The FORCE (LL Cool J Records)–I’m calling it a comeback, a strong one, though while reading Helen Zahavi’s haunting and harrowing Dirty Weekend, I have questions about his sexual politics.
  13. Allen Lowe & The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong’s America (Constant Sorrow)–No important music chronicler has ever composed and played this well, though I am tempted to boil the four discs down to a master cut and see if it strikes me more deeply.
  14. Satoko Fujii Quartet: Dog Days of Summer (Libra)–Fujii can play piano and compose in any configuration, including fusion, which this kinda is, and though the bassist occasionally exerts too much enthusiasm, I continue to marvel at her flexibility and dream of witnessing her live.
  15. Brandon Seabrook: Object of Unknown Function (Pyroclastic)–Roll over, Bill Orcutt, and tell Bob Quine’s dust the news.
  16. Patrick Shiroishi: Glass House (Otherly Love)—I kid you not, this lovely sax-and-soundscape record is on par (for me) with In a Silent Way, Another Green World, Private Parts, and Ocean of Remembrance as magically calming records to meditate or get to sleep to if you’re troubled
  17. Snotty Nose Rez Kids: Red Future (Savage Mob)—I await anyone’s answer why this trio of First Nations smart-allecks and advancers of tradition aren’t more lauded in the hip hop world…other than that they’re First Nations rappers (they’re a trip love, too).
  18. Thalin, Cravinhos & VCR Slim: Maria Esmeralda (Sujoground)–Brazilian rap of the first order…though I don’t really know enough to know that for sure, I just stayed locked in.
  19. Various Artists: BACaRDi Fest EP (New Money Gang)–Almost 50 minutes of rolling South African beat-flow, if you wanna call that an EP.
  20. Dustin Wong & Gregory Uhlmann: Water Map (Otherly Love)–An engrossing tour of, as one listener puts it, “A river, a cavern, for the mind’s ear.”

New-Old

  1. Unholy Modal Rounders: Unholier Than Thou 7/7/77 (Don Giovanni)—An absolutely essential, impossibly lively, lovably louche–and highly educational–pair of performances led by the mad vocals and scratch-that-itch fiddle of the legendary Peter Stampfel.
  2. Raphael Roginski: Plays John Coltrane and Langston Hughes (Unsound)–Lots of guitar this month, but so be it, and Roginski’s 2015 album–guitar-only but for a few guest vocals–does justice to the title, which I was certain it would not and could not.

Sample the shit!

AUGUST 24: 15 New Records That Reached Me

August was a great musical month for us, but new records had little to do with it. Chappell Roan really blew up–deservedly so, but too late for the 2024 list since her record came out in ’23–and I found out her parents were students at Parkview High School in Springfield, Missouri, when I was teaching there. In fact, I was her dad’s student council sponsor, though I don’t remember him very well. We have played that 2023 record a lot and can’t wait for the next one. We also snagged tickets to several concerts scheduled for Columbia’s fabled “We Always Swing!” Jazz Series–check out the schedule, which might be the best in the series’ long history and which was shrewdly enriched by incorporating the sharp ear and skills of Dismal Niche‘s Matt Crook. Also, I discovered a St. Louis jazz series I didn’t know about–it’s only in its 66th year!–and bought tickets to the on-a-serious-roll AACM vet Kahil El’Zabar’s show as well as Nicole Mitchell’s (the best album of her long career is listed below). I’ve built an asynchronous composition class for freshmen around Ann Powers’ alternate American pop history Good Booty here at Stephens College, student writing is just coming in, and it looks promising. Finally, I substitute-taught for a friend at Hickman High School, my old stomping grounds, and he allowed me to construct my own lesson to fit his objectives: we reviewed aspects and “non-negotiables” of poetry by examining the question, “Can song lyrics be poetry with the music and vocals excised?” Students vehemently agreed as we listened to a few songs; I’m usually on the other side of the fence there. I also snuck in a lesson about blackface minstrelsy; Missouri officialdom ain’t so fond of any kind of black history, but Hickman has always been a mental cut above the state it occupies.

OK, my favorites, with my commentary continuing to be limited to single–and I hope simple–sentences (* indicate older recordings brought back to the present in some way):

Patricia Brennan: Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic) – Brennan threads strands of strange vibraphone magic through all of her very impressive compositions, and this album may be her best yet.

Melissa Carper: Borned in Ya (Mae Music / Thirty Tigers) – First full album by a member of the Wonder Women of Country Music (Carper, Kelly Willis, and Brennen Leigh) since their outstanding EP appeared earlier this year, and it’s a legit doozy, mixing witty originals with soulful covers of standards that aren’t actually country.

Dead Moon: Dead Ahead (Mississippi Records)* – I very seriously ride or die with Dead Moon, the last of the great garage bands; Mississippi Records has been dedicated to keeping all their work in print, and this was their final record, which I’d call autumnal except the Coles would return a decade later with the more explosive band Pierced Arrows.

Phil Haynes: 4 Horns or What?—The Complete American Recordings (Corner Store Jazz)* – I hadn’t heard of Haynes, received a physical copy of this three-CD rerelease + live show, ignored it, then played it out of obligation–only to have my doors blown off by the power of Haynes’ drumming and writing and his employment of some amazing horns (specifically Ellery Eskelin and John Tchicai on saxophones).

Ka: The Thief Next to Jesus (self-released) – The Brownsville, NY, rapper carefully–and lyrically–examines the minefield of Christianity many of us, but specifically Black Americans, are trying to negotiate in these difficult times on perhaps the finest of his many intriguing albums.

Shelby Lynne: Consequences of the Crown (Monument) – She sounds slightly bruised but very much unbowed, as well as justifies folks’ occasional comparisons between her and Dusty Springfield.

Nicole Mitchell and Ballake Sissoko: Bamako * Chicago Sound System (FPE) – I admire Mitchell so much as a thinker and conceptualist and player, but none of her previous albums have stuck with me permanently until now–Sissoko’s kora contributions are the glue that grounds her flute.

Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water—The Gospel of James Baldwin (Blue Note) The second quietly powerful tribute Meshell’s assayed in ’24–the first honoring Sun Ra–comes at, as Lightnin’ Hopkins and others have sung, a “needed time.”

OKSE: OKSE (BackwoodzStudioz) – As with Superposition (see below), I am at the beck and call of the sharp-eared Norwegian music writer Christopher Monsen–I have even tried to coin the term “Monsen Bucks” to designate how reliably I shed dollars when he raves–who was the first to hip me to this Danish/Swedish/Haitian/American rap-jazz combo that lured none other than Billy Woods onto their fascinating disc.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (Milan) – I am not a classical music buff, but this is one of the saddest records I have ever heard, and I mean that as a high compliment.

Juma Sultan’s Aboriginal Music Society: Father of Origin (Eremite)* – As with Dead Moon/Pierced Arrows, I ride or die with any record featuring participants in St. Louis’ Black Arts Group; the leader’s on bass, hand drums, and other stuff, but to hear Julius Hemphill, Bobo Shaw, Philip Wilson, and Abdul Wadud on a set of 1969-1970 recordings is a treat.

Moses Sumney: Sophcore (self-released EP) – When I first heard Sumney a few years back, I figured him for a kind of innovator–of depressive r&b or something like that–but the words didn’t hold me like the music and his vocals, and they definitely do here.

Superposition: II (We Jazz) – Another Chris Monsen whisper-in-my-ear, this Finnish group is the latest Scandinavian jazz unit to make me seriously consider traveling to the region and exploring the clubs.

Cecily Wilborn: Kuntry Gurl Playlist (self-released) – This very solid album is not as raw as the title seems to imply, but it’s very high-quality country music with rhythm and blues flavor, Ms. Wilborn can sing and write fetchingly, and I’m intrigued that, though she claims West Memphis, she mentions zydeco and trail rides.

Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand: Willson Williams (One Little Independent Records) – I knew nothing about Kathryn Williams and, for some reason, despite enjoying Dan Wilson’s /Withered Hand’s previous work, thought another contributor might water his very unique yearning, spiritual thing down–but damned if this doesn’t catch me up just as short, and movingly.

JULY 2024: The Best Newish Releases I Lived to Listen to This Month

‘Twas hard to squeeze in extended and deep listening this month, what with a long and much-needed vacation in Dauphin Island, Alabama, and difficult family matters, but I hung in there. The beach, two rounds of fresh shrimp off a Bayou Le Batre fishing boat, ample portions of Blue Moon, tons o’ time spent with my very best friends and my beloved (I was the house DJ but stuck to old favorites from our past for the most part–along with Fox Green’s new album*), two great audiobooks that cut the feeling of a long-ass drive in half [Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars and James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (still only 67% finished, so don’t send me any spoilers)], and a late-breaking political surprise have done wonders for my mood. And just finishing Ann Powers’ neat Joni Mitchell book led to that estimable music critic’s possible engagement with an upcoming class of mine, during which the students will read, write, and talk about Powers’ equally sterling tome, Good Booty! I need to quit being so emo on this blog….

OK, to the music: lots of new jazz, a clear-cut AOTY possibility which may surprise my handful of readers (don’t sleep on Corb Lund*!), a face-punch of an envoi from X, a fresh blues/r&b voice from (of all places) Memphis. Dig in!

Recorded in 2024

Note: If listed as “self-released,” know that I tried.

[ahmed]: Giant Beauty (fonstret) – When I came back from vacation, news of this somewhat mysterious multi-national improvisatory unit’s five-disc exploration of bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik’s work piqued me as deeply as I can be piqued, then I discovered they were damned serious about their journey and exciting in making it–then, while prepping this post, I listened to their 2023 Abdul-Malik quest Super Majnoon and it might just be better.

Charles Gayle / Milford Graves / William Parker: WEBO (Black Editions) – Gayle could wail, Graves kept all collaborators on their toes with his nimble mind, feet, hands, and heart (both men have gone to meet ‘Trane), and Parker remains simply the reigning master bassist in jazz, so this 1991 concert–the trio seldom recorded together–is special.

John Escreet: the epicenter of your dreams (Blue Room Music) – The above two records roar, and with everything going on in our world they might be too much; however, the fleet inventiveness of Brit pianist Escreet, who’s worked with players ranging from Dr. Tyshawn Sorey to Floating Points, might be more up your alley, especially with Mark Turner, a kind of 21st century Lester Young, flowing beside him on tenor.

Fox Green*: Light Over Darkness (self-released) – I once yelled in a garage band in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and, if we’d been able to stay together over time, considering what we have otherwise ended up doing with our lives, I’d like to think we could have (only) come within spitting distance of this smart Little Rock Americana-rock unit–and have been proud of that.

Boldy James & Conductor Williams: Across the Tracks (self-released) – I’ve tried with Detroiter James’ last few albums, and they’ve just taken me halfway there, so it’s funny that, among other things, cameos from very young guest MCs put this over for me.

Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash—To March is to Love (Cuneiform) – This is cellist/composer Leppin’s second excellent album of 2024–the first was the wonderfully spacy New Moon in the Evil Age, a duet with her husband Anthony Pirog on which she also sings–and its wide-ranging sounds are anchored by the justifiably ubiquitous bassist Luke Stewart, who along with Leppin is making a run at Jazz Musician of the Year.

Corb Lund*: El Viejo (New West) – This is an AOTY-worthy country concept album about gambling–not simply with a hand of cards–and Lund’s writing (he has occasional assistance) and his band’s living-room playing are astoundingly sharp.

Charles McPherson: Reverence (Smoke Sessions) – Along with Bobby Watson, McPherson is one of the last of the great Charlie Parker torch-carriers, though here he demonstrates that he’s learned plenty of other moves in his eighty-five years on the most recent of a shining run of records…and I get to see him live in a few months!

Moor Mother: The Great Bailout (Deluxe Edition) (Anti-) – Camae Ayewa never takes a historical prisoner, and this is one of two excellent and musically complex Afrofuturism-meets-Europastism records of 2024 (the other being Red Hot Org / Kronos Quartet’s Sun Ra tribute Outer Spaceways Incorporated)–but for that you have to get the deluxe version.

David Murray: Francesca (Intakt) – Twenty years ago, poring over jazz record guides and hunting down a myriad of terrific Murray releases on DIW, I just knew this guy couldn’t keep up such prolific musical fecundity for much longer….

Pet Shop Boys: Nonetheless (Parlophone) – The limited series It’s a Sin, which I took in several years ago, sent me back to luxuriate in the power, wit, and effervescence of the first PSB albums, and, though the world has taken a toll on the last of those, and though “wit” seems too light a word for the wisdom on display here, they remain…unbowed.

Roberto Ottaviano: Lacy in the Sky with Diamonds (Clean Feed) – Jazz fans familiar with the other Steve Lacy probably won’t think that’s a terrible title–the band’s aim in this tribute is to write the mighty soprano saxophonist’s name in the sky, and they nail it, especially the leader.

Red Kross: Red Kross (In the Red) – They definitely still got it, and I really hear prime Raspberries in this one.

Rempis / Adasiewicz / Abrams / Damon (coming in October): Propulsion (Aerophonic Records) – All four of these men are superior improvisors, but Jason Adasiewicz, who last year transformed AACM star Roscoe Mitchell’s compositions into something completely different on an album of his own, is the star, laying a calming bed of imaginative, evocative vibes underneath the others’ blooms of sound.

Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Atlantic) – Straight outta Willard, Missouri, an unfettered soul that has not a little in common with none other than Little Richard–yeah, I said it!

Christopher Rountree / Wild Up: 3BPM (Brassland) – Though I was a bit disappointed in Wild Up’s fourth volume of Julius Eastman tributes/interpretations, I still buy sound-unheard anything with which they associate their name, and founder Rountree’s debut, enlisting the group’s help, tops it.

Taliba Safiya: Black Magic (self-released EP) – The Memphis blues again–with a vengeance.

SAULT: Acts of Faith (self-released) – Now you’ll have to lean on Soulseek or your pals for it, or wait–I never can with them–and you’ll have to believe me when I say it’s near the top of the group’s pretty solid catalog, thanks to a Mayfieldian streak running through its 32 unbroken minutes.

Ren: Sick Boi (renmakesmusic.com) – Unlike Eminem, Ren’s really ill; also unlike Eminem, Ren’s really ill.

Takkak Takkak: Takkak Takkak (Nyege Nyege Tapes) – It’s hard to keep up with releases from this Kampala label, and I’ve tried, but out of them all, turned up loud, this one thumps so hard and weird I immediately played it twice.

Natsuki Tamura & Satoko Fujii: Aloft (Libra) – Tamura (trumpet) and Fujii (piano) are married in more ways than one; they’ve made several duet albums and their telepathy is well-honed here.

X: Smoke & Fiction (Fat Possum) – The band thanks the original Ramones by first name in the notes, open with what sounds like a tribute, then proceed to say so long to us and their partnership in style: Zoom zooming, Bonebrake cracking the skins hard, and John and Exene harmonizing like yesterday was tomorrow. (The LP version was released early, without a lyric sheet, or I’d comment on those–what I could pick up seems appropriately bittersweet.)

New Archival Excavations (a somewhat paltry selection, but I welcome tips):

Bessie Jones, John Davis, the Georgia South Sea Island Singers with Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ed Young: The Complete “Friends of Old-Time Music” Concert (Smithsonian) – The musical Bessie many know best is Smith, the Mississippi bluesman they may be most familiar with John Hurt, but Jones was one of the greatest folk-gospel singers of all-time, and McDowell, best known as the source of The Rolling Stones’ “You Got to Move,” played spiritual tunes with as much–possibly more–stinging fire than he did blues.

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre: Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 1 (No Business) – AACM stalwart meets primo NYC Loft-era setting for serious fireworks.

JUNE 2024–Halfway There: 10 Newish Albums I Lived to Listen To + My 10 Favorite Jazz Albums of 2024 So Far + Encounters with Old Reggae

I really don’t have much to write this month. My mind feels paralyzed; at least my ears are working. Also, I am behind due to being distracted by non-new musical explorations, as you will see. Thus, I am just going to make three lists (this will help me get to THIS faster, too–I need it and I hope it’s great, but I can’t really listen to it until I’m done here).

The 20 Best Albums Released in 2024 That I First Heard This Month (in alphabetical order, but * = really kicking my butt)

Arooj Aftab: Night Reign (Verve)

*Christer Bothen Featuring Bolon Beta: Trancedance—40th Anniversary Edition (Black Truffle reissue)

*Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Tears (The Control Group / Valley of Search)

Jonas Cambien: Macu Conu (Clean Feed)

Charli xcx: BRAT (Atlantic)

*Cosmic Psychos: Go the Hack (Goner Records reissue)

Janel [Leppin] and Anthony [Pirog]: New Moon in the Evil Age (Cuneiform) (The “Janel disc” rools, although they are both on all of it.) (Wait, I said I wasn’t writing.)

*Kronos Quartet: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Red Hot Org)

*Corb Lund: El Viejo (New West)

*Willie Nelson: The Border (Sony Music)

*Nestor: Teenage Rebel (Napalm Records/Handels GmbH) (I would have hated this in my 20s, in its way its allegiance to the laws of 1980s hard rock–passionate allegiance!–is stunning.) (I’m writing!)

Ngwaka Son Systeme: Iboto Ngenge (Eck Echo Records)

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo: Pra voce, Ilza (Rocinante Records)

Sexyy Red: In Sexyy We Trust (Rebel/gamma)

Sisso & Maiko: Singeli & Maiko (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

*Swamp Dogg: Blackgrass—From West Virginia to 125th Street (Oh Boy! Records) (I’ve LONG been a fan but this is by far his best record in many moons.)

Rapsody: Please Don’t Cry (We Each Other, Inc. / Jamla Records / Rock Nation Records) (jeeze lou-eeze, even the label/s is/are lonnnng!)

Staples Jr. Singers: Searching (Luaka Bop)

Esy Tadesse: Ahadu (FPE Records)

*Tri-County Liquidators: Shining Through (Hitt Records / Big Cartel EP) (Columbia, MO, locals’ follow-up to an impressive debut shines)

My Top 10 Favorite Jazz Albums of 2024 (In order of preference)

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Four Guitars Live (Palilalia)

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)

Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (Psychic Hotline)

Satoko Fujii Trio: Jet Black (Libra)

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)

Fay Victor:  Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)

Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville (Hot Cup)

Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Tears (The Control Group / Valley of Search)

Kronos Quartet: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Red Hot Org)

James Carter: UN (JMI Recordings)

5 Stellar Jazz Excavations from 2024 (in order of preference):

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)

Sun Ra: Excelsior Mill (Sundazed / Modern Harmonic)

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)

Art Tatum: Jewels in the Treasure Box—The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)

Christer Bothen Featuring Bolon Beta: Trancedance—40th Anniversary Edition (Black Truffle)

OLD REGGAE ALBUMS I’D NEVER HEARD BEFORE WERE MY JUNE SALVATION!

It was all triggered when I rather randomly chose to read Alex Wheatle‘s memoir, Sufferah. Wheatle’s childhood experiences inspired one of the best episodes of Steve McQueen’s limited series Small Axe, all of which I thoroughly loved. Reggae songs were extremely important to Wheatle’s survival as a youth, and he mentioned so many I didn’t know (and I’m pretty well-informed) that I made a playlist as I read (which I accidentally deleted yesterday!). Unsurprisingly, the best of those songs led me to research the albums from which they came via two excellent out-of-print reggae guides, one by Lloyd Bradley, the other by Randall Grass, both acknowledged genre adepts. While researching those, I bumped into non-Wheatle-related records I’d somehow missed. That resulting research led me willy-nilly to Discogs, where–oh hell, I’ll just take a picture. This is the life of a music fanatic folks!

MAY 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

This was a tough month. I was finishing up teaching and getting ready to start up again, very fatigued; trying to organize scholarship awards in memory of a too-soon-departed friend; playing Cecil Taylor albums every day very loudly (Nicole hadn’t finished teaching yet, so I was home alone with six cats and the stereo turned to 11), thanks to Phil Freeman’s outstanding upcoming biography In the Brewing Luminous (read my pal Ken Shimamoto’s outstanding review here); experiencing unusual trouble really getting into new albums (I can hear my current Conservatory students and my lovable provocateur Kevin Bozelka whispering, “Get into singles, get lit, and sing some karaoke, Phil!”); and…also being more than a bit depressed about the state of the country and this world, my mom having to be in an assisted living facility, and already having 62 trips around the sun under my belt while, with Sandy Denny on heavy rotation, wondering in vain who really knows where that time has gone. I couldn’t even imagine getting this done.

BUT the indefatigable Adeem the Artist–why could I not muster the energy to go see them when they were playing a little club here, after all they’ve done for humanity in just three albums?–Mdou Moctar‘s defiant guitar and words, and a wonderfully weird Sun Ra excavation jolted me into action. I hope you all are not having the same struggles. But I bet you are having some of them.

(I would also like to thank, along with the above artists, my current students in an alleged “rock and roll” class at Stephens College for delighting me with their work and commentary–enjoy their “Top 5 Album” lists below.)

These records made me happy in May.

Adeem The Artist: ANNIVERSARY (Thirty Tigers /Four Quarters) From the personal to the public, this pansexual writer continues to vividly capture the complications and cruelties that are us–they could stand to work on the melodies, though, but I’ll settle.

Les Amazones d’Afrique: Musow Dance (Real World). Jumpin’, jubilant, empowering, even if I’m not an African woman and I don’t understand the words–and I love the synths and 808s!

Anitta: Funk Generation (Republic / Universal) This Brazilian temptress is edging toward “force of nature” status, and I think the label may have misspelled the first word of the album title.

Bloodest Saxophone featuring Crystal Thomas: Extreme Heat (Continental Record Services) I am charmed by this jubilant 25-years-together-and countin’ Japanese jump blues outfit, and Ms. Thomas, while not exactly Ruth Brown or Etta Jones–those are high bars–gives it her boisterous all.

Creation Rebel: High Above Harlesden 1978-2023 (On-U Sound) I am pretty new to the Creation Rebel experience–I knew not of their Prince Far I and Adrian Sherwood connections–but the inexpensiveness and cover photo, plus a reggae jones that I can never quite dampen, pushed me forward with the following result: I’ve listened to the entire six-disc box three times and, thanks to some pit-stops in space and other non-Caribbean locations, they hold one’s attention.

Billie Eilish: HIT ME HARD & SOFT (Dark Room / Interscope) I listened to it and heard a remarkable stylistic tour de force for one so young (including a very welcome opening-up of her voice and one of the most vivid, longing, and funny oral sex songs I’ve ever heard); many others listened and heard a scattershot record, so…whom do you trust more, me or the many?

Ibibio Sound Machine: Pull the Rope (Merge) 2017’s Uyai lifted me so much I still have a poster of Eno Williams up in my office, but she and they have struggled to match that one since, though this comes awfully damn close.

Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey: Compassion (ECM) A bracingly calming (is that a possible state of being?) set by three relatively young masters–I can simply listen to Sorey and be entranced–and maybe that’s what they mean by “compassion”: couldn’t we all stand to be braced by calm?

Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble: Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble (Palmetto) I received a review copy of this and, for some reason, the cover photo (which is fine) left me in a mood of obligation when I slid it into the CD changer, but I found it exciting: a) John Lewis’ title concept we still need to be reminded to mind; b) Wilson’s one helluva a drummer; c) the saxophonists–Jeff Lederer and Tia Fuller–are on fire; and d) they cover Prime Time Ornette (“Feet Music”!) with panache.

Joe McPhee (with Ken Vandermark): Musings of a Bahamanian Son (Catalytic Sound) Anyone who’s followed my blog for long knows I ride or die with this 84-year-old multi-instrumentalist, imaginative noise-maker, and cultural envoy from Poughkeepsie–but damned if I expected he’d release a terrific album of original poetry (with some honking assists by long-time buddy Ken Vandermark) that any young gun will have trouble topping this year.

Mdou Moctar: Funeral for Justice (Matador) I have been to many concerts in my life, and heard some amazing guitar players–including Sonic Youth’s at their absolute peak–but the 10+-minute wildfire I saw Moctar start in a little cafe in Columbia, Missouri, in 2019 tops them all, and this AOTY candidate’s his first one that gets within spitting distance of that (oh, and the translations are worth reading, as the album title has probably already tipped you).

Rapsody: Please Don’t Cry (We Each Other / Jamla Records) I’ve actually been longing for a new Rapsody record for awhile, as perhaps many of you have, and, for the patient–it’s a bit of an epic–the wait’s been worth it, especially because one of the best rappers alive tempers her wrenching reportage of her mental health struggles with a very combative spirit.

Sun Ra: Excelsior Mill (Sundazed / Modern Harmonic) The Sun One, in a perfect sound-image of the Phantom of the Opera, playing “the biggest pipe organ in the South” at Atlanta’s title club with just a bit of percussional help from the Arkestra–if you think that over 40 minutes of that would have to be a bit much, you’re just wrong, as it is an astonishing aural trip–complete with wry quotes, Ellingtonian choo-choo noises, phantasmagoria, and (of course space) travel–that was by far my favorite trip of any kind in May.

Sun Ra: Pink Elephants on Parade (Modern Harmonic) Most readers who know the work of Sun Ra and His Arkestra also know they would occasionally knock out a Disney cover, and, while this could actually benefit from a little more weirdness, it’s fun for the whole family, unlike most Arkestra records.

Students in Stephens College’s outstanding Conservatory are taking an asynchronous online course with me that’s stubbornly titled “Rock and Roll History” by the school. It’s actually built around Berklee neuroscience professors Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas’ book This is What It Sounds Like, which examines what brain science tells us about our connections to music, most fascinatingly through establishing a listening profile that asks the reader to truly examine their attractions. The neat thing–to me, anyway–is that students bring their own musical passions to the course and don’t have to endure me cramming “historically significant works” down their throats. To try to keep a toe in the titular pool, every week they are required to ask me a question about “rock and roll history”–and I ask them one. I often go to great lengths to answer their questions (it’s actually the lecture section of the course) and they (wisely) go to lesser lengths to answer mine.

Last week, I asked them to assess Billie Eilish’s new album (their takes resemble very closely the current critical division on that subject), plus post their Top 5 albums. When I ask students about their jams, I’m consistently amazed, considering how much music I listen to and how widely I range to do so, how little I really know about. For your pleasure, here are their lists (for their amusement, I bolded the relatively few albums they’ve chosen that I’ve actually heard). Mine (at least at the time of my posting them) are at the end–they change daily, if not hourly.

Student 1

(I am only naming the students if I have their permission, and I’m still waiting for some of those.)

A Letter To My Younger Self – Quinn XCII

Inside – Bo Burnham

Death of a Bachelor – Panic! at the Disco

Off to the Races – Jukebox the Ghost

The Greatest Showman – Various Artists

Student 2

Cowboy Carter – Beyonce

GUTS – Olivia Rodrigo

Emails I can’t send – Sabrina Carpenter

The Rise and Fall Of a Midwestern Princess – Chappell Roan

IGOR – Tyler, The Creator

Student 3

Obviously – Lake Street Dive

SOUR – Olivia Rodrigo

Emails I Can’t Send – Sabrina Carpenter

Oh the Places You’ll Go – Doechii

Stick Season – Noah Kahan

Student 4

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology – Taylor Swift

Songs I Wrote in My Bedroom – Anson Seabra

cemeteries and socials – Paris Paloma

Now That I’ve Been Honest – Maddie Zahm

EPIC: The Underworld Saga – Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Student 5

Shrek the Musical

Hadestown

The Lightning Thief

Come from Away

Something Rotten!

Student 6

evermore – Taylor Swift

Muna – Muna

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

the record – boygenius

The Tortured Poets Department – Taylor Swift

Claire McLewin

Build a Problem – Dodie

Demidevil – Ashnikko

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish

Typical of Me EP – Laufey

Midwest Kids Can Make It Big – Lauren Sanderson

Student 8

Misadventures – Pierce the Veil

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

How to Be a Human Being – Glass Animals

After Laughter – Paramore

SOUR – Olivia Rodrigo

Sawyer Nevins

Julie Is Her Name – Julie London

Latin ala Lee – Peggy Lee

Tragic Kingdom – No Doubt

Under the Pink – Tori Amos

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort – Michel Legrand

Student 10

ORQUÍDEAS – Kali Uchis

Gemini Rights – Steve Lacy

Willow – Willow

Volcano – Jungle

Portals – Melanie Martinez

Student 11

Montero – Lil Nas X

Call Me By Your Name Soundtrack – Sufjan Stevens and Various Artists

Something To Give Each Other – Troye Sivan

Night Work – Scissor Sisters

I Disagree – Poppy

Student 12

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Elilish

RAZZMATAZZ – I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

American Boys – Don McLean

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

Now, Not Yet – Half•Alive

Izzy Porzillo

AAAH!BA – Brian David Gilbert

SCREAMING IN THE MIRROR – Sunday Cruise

Big Man Says Slappydoo – GUPPY

LOUDMOUTH – VIAL

Am I Pretty? – Sunday Cruise

Makenzie Schutter

Impera – Ghost

The Connect: Déjà vu – Monsta x

How to: Friend, Love, Freefall – Rainbow Kitten Surprise

Who Am I? – Palewaves

Inside – Bo Burnham

Kaley Sikora

Next to Normal – Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY – Taylor Swift

Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – Dave Malloy

Love Me Forever – Pinkshift

Paige “Blue” Trew

When the World Stopped Moving: The Live EP – Lizzie McAlpine

Prelude to Ecstasy – The Last Dinner Party

Sunset Season: EP – Conan Gray

Through the Tides – Fish in a Birdcage

Waterfall – Fish in a Birdcage

Student 17

Into The Woods – 2022 Broadway Cast Recording

Faith In the Future (Deluxe) – Louis Tomlinson

The Comeback – Zac Brown Band

Portraits – Birdy

Kid Krow – Conan Gray

Student 18

Where Owls Know My Name – Rivers of Nihil

The Violent Sleep of Reason – Meshuggah

Masego – Masego

It Is What It Is – Thundercat

Remember That You Will Die – Polyphia

My Lists (of course I had to make two)!

My five favorite albums when I was 19:

The Clash: London Calling

Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited

Public Image Limited: Second Edition

Gang of Four: Entertainment

John Coltrane Quartet: A Love Supreme

My five favorite albums at 62 (these change from day to day–I have thousands of them):

Professor Longhair: Crawfish Fiesta

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: The Tiffany Transcriptions, Volume 3–Basin Street Blues

Carmen McRae: As Time Goes By-Alone-Live at the Dug

Joni Mitchell: Blue

Tie: The Velvet Underground: 1969 Live / The Flying Burrito Brothers: The Gilded Palace of Sin

2024 First Quarter Report Card: My 20 Very Favorite Newbies, My 10 Very Favorite Old Crusts

I just realized that since this year I have changed things up–only writing about 20-25 records a month instead of creating a long ol’ snake of a list as the year goes on–my massive readership must be waiting with bated breath to learn what my very fuckin’ favorites are. I am begging forgiveness! I was planning on submitting such a list every quarter, so when I hit December I don’t go cross-eyed when I head to the polls. SO, excuse me while I annoy you with alphabetization instead of ranking (JLin, hint hint…maybe), but….

MY 20 VERY FAVORITE NEW RECORDS FROM 2024 SO FAR

Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville (Hot Cup)

Brune Berle: No Reino Dos Afetos 2 (Far Out Recordings)

Beyonce: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment)

James Carter: UN (JMI Recordings)

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse) 

Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (Psychic Hotline)

Satoko Fujii Trio: Jet Black (Libra)

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)

Heems & Lapgan: Lafandar

Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past is Still Alive (Nonesuch)

Jlin: Akoma (Planet Mu) (Note: I don’t think I’ve written about this one but it is incredible, even for her!)

Adrienne Lenker: Bright Future (4AD)

Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven (Epitaph)

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Four Guitars Live (Palilalia)

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)

Ann Savoy: Another Heart (Smithsonian Folkways)

Split System: Volume 2 (Legless)

Fay Victor:  Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)

Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun (Ghost Theater)

Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack (Interscope) 

MY TOP 10 VERY FAVORITE ESCAVATED OR REISSUED RECORDS FROM 2024 SO FAR

Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo)

Love Child: Never Meant to Be (12XU) 

Franco Luambo Mkaidi: Presents Les Editions Populaires (Planet Ilunga) 

Rail Band: Rail Band (Mississippi Records)

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)

Sun Ra:  At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music)

Various Artists: Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Analog Africa)

Various Artists: Love Hides All Faults—Deep Gospel Soul Selected by Jumbo (Elusive Vinyl / Pyramid Records)

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)

ADDENDUMS:

  1. Via Mr. Postman, I just got this drums ‘n’ trumpet duet explosion from Libra Records by Natsuki Tamura and Jim Black that is crisply recorded, rocks even though it’s technically free jazz, and even includes nicely-timed ululations for fans of Yoko Ono and later-period Cecil Taylor. I wish I had a video or Spotify link, but it’s not yet out–I will be enthusing about it.
  2. Out of the blue, it struck me how I really feel about Taylor Swift: I admire her like I admired Tom Petty (which will now make Tom Petty fans mad, maybe). Crafty, solid, memorable, reliable, pleasurable–but, for me, just not enough to bring one of their records into the house. (I did own Damn the Torpedos and that one he argued the price down on when I was a whippersnapper, though).
  3. Some readers who are also my Facebook cyberpals already know about this, but in my composition class this year, while Cowboy Carter was still in the offing, we got to talking about the history of descendants of enslaved Africans (and sometimes former enslaved Africans) making country music far in advance as is what is popularly assumed. For my students, I started a Spotify playlist including some such recordings, shared it on Facebook, then watched joyfully as former students–many of whom are now Southerners–started adding to the playlist. I’m very happy about it, and here it is. Is it missing some things? Certainly. Hit me ‘up….

April 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

I will again try to comment meaningfully on each of the following alphabetically-ordered new release in single complete sentences. Two introductory notes, though:

  1. Later this year, Phil Freeman’s Cecil Taylor biography In the Brewing Luminous will be published. I’m reading a review copy, and I’m here to tell you it’s outstanding. First of all, this book was badly needed, given Taylor’s singular genius and influence; second of all, in well-documented form it gathers much info that’s out there in one place; third, it’s so comprehensive it’s alerted this passionate fan to recordings he’s never heard of; fourth–no surprise with Mr. Freeman–it advances some critical arguments very convincingly; and fifth, in a continuance from Freeman’s stellar electric Miles investigation, Running the Voodoo Down, the author excels–really excels–at describing a furious, sometimes byzantine music in very distinctive and accurate detail. That’s a trick I really envy; if I could do a fifth as good a job as Freeman, I’d be writing about jazz much more frequently. Check out Phil’s chock-full Burning Ambulance Substack to learn more.
  2. I’m not that much a fan of Light in the Attic’s new Lou Reed tribute The Power of the Heart–at all–but that damn Bobby Rush will be ninety-one in November, and if Sally truly can’t dance, he sure as hell can. He elides a few phrases in Reed’s lyric I bet he wasn’t wholly comfortable with, but he, as per usual for many, many years, sells the song. Hear it in the Spotify Playlist linked at the bottom!

April Top 15 New Platters:

Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music: Lord, when you send the rain (Sinking City)–Like Asher’s previous Skrontch Music album, the problems of New Orleans’ (and other places’) present send him backwards into the future, with spoken clips, traditional instrumentation, and post-modern feints and juxtapositions helping us get why.

Bruno Berle: No Reino Dos Afetos 2 (Psychic Hotline)–The Bandcamp description of this soothing singer’s project (the first volume is excellent, too) informs us that lo-fi, dub step, and other ingredients are utilized to help Berle break away from the Brazilian expected–but I also note that it notes the album’s “sun-soaked” and “sun-drenched” affect, so maybe that’s just historical gravity, not at all a bad thing.

Beyonce: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment)–OK, so it’s not all that country (please dig out featured vet Linda Martell’s Color Me Country if you want that)–it’s just a really good Beyonce album, but, with much less pre-release hype and in-release bombast, I’d argue Mickey Guyton made a stronger statement with Remember Her Name in ’21 without riding a horse or wearing a cowboy hat (plus she turned whiskey into wine).

Buck 65, doseone, Jel: North American Adonis (Handsmade)–Rap earworm line of the year from this on-a-serious-verbal-roll Canadian MC is that he bets his CDs are gonna be “alive in a landfill”–that’s thinking ahead.

Cedric Burnside: Hill Country Love (Mascot / Provogue)–The North Mississippi Hill Country blues practitioners are getting whittled down something considerable, R. L.’s grandson’s has gamely tried keep the style alive with some gently modern tweaks, and he finally nails it here.

James Carter: UN (J.M.I. Recordings)–J.M.I.’s cutting analog jazz vinyl, and, while I have not heard them all (David Murray’s 2023 offerings, solo and with Plumb, were impressive), this is tops for them so far, causing one to wonder why it’s taken JC this long to wax an unaccompanied set…though I’m still waiting for his Earl Bostic tribute album.

Big Freedia & The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: Live at the Orpheum Theater (Queen Diva)–A bounce orchestra’s taking it too far, you might think, but you SHOULD already know not to sell the Queen Diva short.

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)–When I received a digital review copy of this 5-disc collection of new compositions and improvisations by the 26-year-old Slovenian pianist, I rolled my eyes but, as I have sworn to do with these “gifts,” gave it a shot–then found myself so mesmerized not only by the variable moods and configurations (strings, solo, drums only, collab with sax sensation Zoh Amba, etc.), but also by the distinctiveness of the six-count-’em-six pieces that I listened to the whole thing straight through and determined that it’s my favorite jazz release of the year.

Matt Lavelle and the 12 Houses: The Crop Circles Suite, Part 1 (Mahakala Music)–NYC clarinetist, trumpeter, composer and conductor Lavelle, long a very underrated player on the jazz scene, released this, (it looks like the first half of) his “life’s work,” on his 54th birthday: easily one of the genre’s most ambitious, successful and inspiring records of the young year.

Meshell Ndegeocello (and Friends): Red Hot & Ra – The Magic City (Red Hot Org)–You know you cannot resist the pull of the perennially underrated Ndegeocelleo, assisted by jazz compatriots Immanuel Wilkins and Darius Jones, putting a fresh spin on The Sun One–which the Red Hot Org label seems recently dedicated to doing, with a Kronos Quartet set in the offing.

Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3 + 3 (Cuneiform)–More and more predictably, when you put Reid and guitarist Mary Halvorson in the same room, sparks will fly along with those fingers, and aural magic will be the result, as it is here.

Ann Savoy: Another Heart (Smithsonian Folkways)–Surprise of the month: a passionate combo of covers (Springsteen, Sandy Denny, Kinks!) and originals sung and played by acclaimed Cajun historian and member of one of the style’s most acclaimed and hardest working families, a Top-Tenner to my ears (and…heart).

Reyna Tropical: Reyna Tropical (Psychic Hotline)–I swear I’ve run into one of these albums every month for a couple of years: a moody, sexy, lithely swinging, electronic trance-r&b–maybe in this case, yeah, trance–tropical–album that I can’t quit playing and beats monkey gland shots or whatever, which means I might need to dive into the artist’s considerable (for her age) back catalog.

Fay Victor: Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)–I’ll admit that, while an earlier 2024 group from Brazil did successfully sing Bill Evans, I thought star-crossed jazz pianist Nichols’ quirky compositions were too high a hurdle, but then I didn’t know diddley about Victor, whose scatting isn’t just experimental but vies with Carter, McRae, Ross, and Vaughan (stylistically, not really Ella, though) at their most daring; the band makes it over the bar as clearly.

Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun (Ghost Theater)–A youngster for our times, though, compared to his last two records, this one seems almost autumnal, as if the pure revolutionary fire he regularly lights has prematurely aged him–but these times can do that, too.

April Top 10 Old Platters [Post-Record Store Day CD Meteor Shower (for me, every day is RSD)].

Alice Coltrane: The 1971 Carnegie Hall Concert (Impulse!)–The latest entry in the Alice Coltrane revival is the rowdiest and maybe the best, thanks to horns shaking things up.

Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: Souvenirs (Mississippi Records)–As they do a Professor Longhair platter, all homes that dig music need a record by the recently-departed, ghost-fingered Ethiopian pianist and nun, but this is her first recording with vocals, which I wasn’t completely certain hadn’t slowed down her already sauntering roll–but, upon two more listens, I was wrong again.

Grupo Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo)–Cuban bands come no hotter than this one, and this is their long-unavailable debut recording (and it’s not just hot).

Rail Band: Rail Band (Mississippi Records)–Another debut recording by a legendary band, this one from Mali, this one too long-unavailable, and featuring not one but two legendary vocalists:  Salif Keita and Mory Kanté.

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)–My good pal Chris Gray, referring to this album, wondered who could complain about “live Rollins ’59,” and. while I whole-heartedly agree, especially since Sonny’s working in a trio format, Sonny would soon hit the bridge to…woodshed; I promise you that if you’re ever this good at what you do that you think you’re not good enough, you might just need lysergic therapy. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Sun Ra: At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music)–Ra in Chicago, always a spot for top-of-the-line spaceworks, with the band orbiting. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Art Tatum: Jewels In the Treasure Box (Resonance)–Mainly, you need to know this Tatum is in trio mode, which naturally cuts into his usual carnival of pianistics but also allows guitarist Everett Barksdale and legendary bassist Slam Stewart to show their scintillating stuff. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Various Artists: Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Analog Africa)–Key words: “Congo,” “Funk!” (exclamation point earned), “Sound Madness,” “Mighty”–and “Analog Africa; in other words, “Merde, putain, lâche-toi le cul et jam !” (Et j’adore de la confiture!)

Various Artists: New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is (Revelation Records)–I had not heard of any of these bands, but all the vocalists sound in some way like my best friend, former ranter, opera buff, free jazz buff, French-Canadian advocate, European football nut, and scientist Mark Pelletier, so it’s a win.

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)–Both these now-underrated instrumentalists started out trad, in a way–pianist Waldron accompanying twilight-era Billie Holiday, soprano saxophonist Lacy playing New Orleans jazz–but ended up taking things just out enough to be trenchantly in, and they were master players, especially live, and here they are backed by two more flexible and pretty legendary rhythm controllers you heard about last week: bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD–and it might be the pick of the litter.)

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:

LABELS TO WATCH: Psychic Hotline (Durham, North Carolina), Sinking City (always—New Orleans), Mahakala Music (Little Rock, Arkansas)

March 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

Tried to keep it to 10 per month. Failed. Not even sure I didn’t fail in NOT keeping it to 10 (having trouble keeping track of what I’ve liked). Have not listened to Beyonce’s yet (other than first two singles–I just have to let her ride for awhile until the dust settles and I can think); also, I am apparently invulnerable to Katie Crutchfield’s charms (based on the songs, she is my kind of person, but her singing does not do it for me–it is what it is). Decided to do a Quarterly Top 10 (coming soon in a separate post). Blessed problems, I suppose.

MARCH TOP 25 (in alphabetical order, even, and under the feared “one sentence” rule)

Florian Arbenz: Conversation #11 / #12 (Hammer) – All twelve of this versatile Swedish percussionist’s conversations with other excellent musicians/responsive listeners are worth your time, and he gave a nice gift to every fan who bought every one of them along the way.

Citric Du: Zen and the Arcade of Beating Your Ass (Feel It Records) – Maybe it’s the marginally witty referential cover art that’s the main attraction, but their sound is redolent of its source and their songs’ words belie the title.

Guy Davis: Be Ready When I Call You (Continental Record Services) – Supposedly, this both has already been released and is not going to be released until later in the year, but it’s all there on Apple Music, and Ossie and Ruby’s son has a distinctly inherited wiliness and world view.

Joan Diaz Trio (Introducing Silvia Perez): We Sing Bill Evans (Fresh Sound Records)– Bill Evans, played and sung, you ask, but yes it works, Brazil is part of the reason, and the young Perez is the rest.

Empress Of: For Your Consideration (Major Arcana / Giant) – I feel like there is a small mountain of dreamy, sensual, hurt, flowing electronic records like this sung by women who can reach me that I can potentially hoist to the deserted island I hope is available if I need it in November.

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit(Spiritmuse) – Kahil El’Zabar is on a three-album roll keepin’ that AACM thang alive, and of the three this strikes me as the deepest.

Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (Psychic Hotline) – A gorgeous, late-night or early morning piano record out of Brazil by a terrific young pianist—and his backing band (on some of the songs) is loaded: do the names Hamid Drake, Jeff Parker, Shabaka Hitchings, or Brandee Younger ring a bell?

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra: Sob Story (Relative Pitch) – Three lively jazz orchestra selections in three months—should I be worried?

Heems & Lapgan: Lafandar (Veena Sounds / Mass Appeal India) – Dude’s funny, smart, verbally ingenious, but he’s never stuck with me long, so maybe it’s Lapgan?

Jlin: Akoma (Planet Mu) – The first song of Jerilynn Patton’s I ever heard, I was like, “I’m ridin’ ‘til I die,” and ain’t a damn thing changed about that here (touches of marching band and home cookin’ are just right), a sentiment collaborators Bjork, The Kronos Quartet, and Philip Glass might well affirm.

Adrienne Lenker: Bright Future (4AD) – It’s kinda one-note, but she (I think Lenker considers her gender undefined, but research turns up this pronoun) strikes that note with deeply moving resonance.

Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven (Epitaph) – And she got Jesus right (t)here.

The Messthetics: The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (Impulse) – My measuring sticks for jazz sax with electric band are prime OC Prime Time and James Carter’s Layin’ in the Cut, and I’ve kept waiting for this to really break loose through three plays, but as a JBL freak I’ll at least say this: it’s got dynamics and guitar feedback, the latter if which those other two didn’t, so like the Marvelettes, I’ll keep on holdin’ on….

Moor Mother: The Great Bail-Out (Anti-) – In these times she’s brave, bold, and boisterous, and the settings always put her across, which in this case are her most varied.

Kasey Musgraves: Deeper Well (Interscope / MCA Nashville) – Many are disappointed by this offering, but actual record critic Jon Pareles nailed what is working for me: a modesty that is very affecting and seems authentic, especially on the heels of her previous records (I would add too that she bares some hard-earned wisdom that’s winning).

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Four Guitars Live (Palilalia) – My favorite new (see below) record of the year: what would seem like a difficult collaborative project sounds excitingly organic—kinda makes me wish Bob Quine were still alive to hear it.

Ivo Perelman/Chad Fowler/Reggie Workman/Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown (Mahakala Music) – Perelman can wail beyond the call of the average free jazz tirekicker’s patience, but in the company of a rhythm section of two octogenarian instrumental griots, he sounds more responsive, and when he doesn’t…you can just listen to the rhythm section (and by the way, Fowler’s having a great year behind this and another stunning record).

Pissed Jeans: Half Divorced (Sub Pop) – These dudes have never hit for me, and I’m a punk self-starter, but, as Lightnin’ Hopkins and others have sung, “Now…is a needed time,” and theirs is a rallying cry.

Sai Galaxy: Okere (Soundway EP) – Everybody disco, West African style!

Sheer Mag: Playing Favorites (Third Man) – Rock and roll in many of its infinite varieties, all on one record…and that’s a compliment.

_thesmoothcat & Wino Willy: Ready, Set (Sinking City) – A) I buy everything Sinking City, a crafty New Orleans label, puts out (jazz, brass band, Indian chants, old and new school rap), and have never been disappointed; and B) this dreamy beats ‘n’ rhyme set evokes WWOZ at 3 a.m.

That Mexican OT: Texas Technician (Manifest / Good Talk / Good Money Global / Capitol) – One funny hijo de puta!

D. Clinton Thompson: Donnie’s Mood (Borrowed Records) – From out of obscurity one of the world’s great rock and roll guitarists, squirreled away in Springfield, Missouri, as usual, delivers a mostly instrumental record that “Sleep Walk” fans need—and for Morells / Symptoms / Skeletons fans who’re too late feeling their age, he pens a typically wry and weather-beaten “Live Fast Die Young.”

Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack (Interscope) – This woman is no ordinary rap artist, and I know that’s no great revelation—it’s just that to proceed from a wholly successful and delightful 15-song, 15-minute debut to a psychological (and understandable) (and still occasionally delightful) depth-plumbing that surely has some fans concerned is some kind of whiplash.

Willis, Carper, Leigh: Wonder Women of Country (Bismeaux EP) – It’s too short, and maybe there’s a full-length to follow, but the songs are strong and these women have soul—country-soul.

Coming soon! Noah Haidu: Standards II (Sunnyside) – A bewitching trio album where the spells are cast not so much by the pianist, who is definitely no slouch, but by another octogenarian rhythm section: Billy Hart on drums and Buster Williams on bass.

OLD & MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo) – The reissue of the first studio recording by one of Cuba’s hottest bands—and that’s saying something—is a welcome surprise.

Love Child: Never Meant to Be (12XU) – Where the fuck was I when this band was putting out these songs, fired by that guitar, in the early Nineties?

Various Artists: Love Hides All Faults—Deep Gospel Soul Selected by Jumbo (Elusive Vinyl / Pyramid Records) – I have complained to my musico-amis frequently about reissue/excavation bloat—everything ever recorded doesn’t have to be brought to market—but this may well be the most powerful compilation of locally/regionally recorded black gospel I’ve ever heard, and, despite Goner Record’s bait-line of “guitar forward” in advertising it, the real highlights are the true depth of emotional vocal power in these humble offerings and the range of arrangements they employ—can an excavation be my favorite record of the year?

Mississippi Records Blues and Gospel Bargains – Mississippi Records out of Portland does many things right (like keeping Dead Moon records in print), but one of the coolest is offering terrific old blues and black gospel comps on their Bandcamp site for “name your price.”

Franco Luambo Mkaidi: Presents Les Editions Populaires (Planet Ilunga) – The name, and you should know it, is Franco, he played a guitar like he was fencing against a master, and he could lead a band to rhythmic ecstasy—oh yeah, and though he recorded little that wasn’t great, much of it is difficult to attain (hint hint).

February 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To (Plus Stuff)

I think I’m going to stick to recommending just 10 new albums I enjoyed each month and highlighting some non-2024 beauties, then maybe compiling a comprehensive list at the end of June and, finally, at the end of December. Those endlessly unspooling scrolls were starting to drive me nuts, and I need additional storage in my skull. And, let’s face it, the great Tom Hull has the long-list category wrapped up like Sam & Dave. And…I need to write a bit, even if it isn’t all that insightful, as opposed to simple enthusing.

FEBRUARY TOP 10

Beyonce: “Texas Hold ‘Em” b/w “16 Carriages” (Parkwood Entertainment)—I unequivocally love this imaginary 45, which is no small statement from me, as I (like others I have observed) have issues with imperial projection. I have spent many years begging young students to understand that Black Americans have been making (and loving) (and spreading) what can fairly be called country music since the 1920s, I’ve been rigorously pointing out their growing current visibility in that genre over the last few years…so this impassioned foray is so very welcome. I feel more warmly toward Mickey Guyton, but these songs make her sound like Nancy Wilson. I can only chuckle at country radio programmers trying to stop Country Bey.

Burnt Sugar: The Reconstru​-​Ducted Repatriation Road​-​Rage ReMiXeS [of “Angels Over Oakanda’] (self-released)—a cheat, in a way, as you can only obtain it by buying the vinyl version of the band’s wonderful Angels Over Oakand (or by illegally download it, but please honor and remember Greg Tate with cash). It’s sonically and creatively warped enough for one to need it as much as the original, which is among the best of Tate’s stew of funk, ‘70s Miles, Afrofuturist soul, and a sprinkling of Hendrix.

George Cartwright’s GloryLand PonyCats: Black Ants Crawling (Mahakala Records)—I am very loyal to Cartwright’s record label (free and experimental jazz out of Hot Springs, Arkansas? Yes, Pharoah was from Little Rock, but check the variety and volume of the music it puts out). Here, Aylerian alto/tenor saxophonist Cartwright and two comrades collaborate for a honking, skittering recording which the title fits perfectly.

Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past is Still Alive (Nonesuch)—I have been rooting for Alynda Segarra since their first records; their story, their concerns, their songwriting, their conviction have always added up to my jam, but somehow their singing and music never put them over the top for me beyond first (and sometimes second) listen. This grabbed me from the first line, and, as a friend texted me, “This is a 2024 record for sure. A keeper.” The vocals sound more confident and more charged, the music doesn’t get in the way, and songs like “Hawkmoon,” “Snake Plant,” and “Colossus of Roads” forced me out of my dedication to a straight-through first hearing and into repeat plays. The inclusion of a voice mail from their late father broke my heart. I proceeded to buy the physical copy, which, I suppose, is my signal that an album is in all ways (yes, Brett) a keeper. I’m glad I hung in there.

Legendary Singing Stars: Good Old Way (Music Maker Foundation)—Yet again, here’s a label/company I believe in. It’s dedicated to getting our last generation of long-term practitioners of blues and gospel on record and into solid financial standing. Everything it touches is not exactly gold, but they seem more successful finding and recording gospel acts, and this is a great example. One might not trust the group name (“Legendary? I never heard of ‘em!”) and at first glance the title isn’t mouth-watering, but here’s some enticing tidbits: it’s live and passionate (a tribute to co-founder Tommy Ellison, who passed from cancer), the set list is certainly not the gospel same-ole, and they’re straight out of…Brooklyn. Moving.

Molly Lewis: On the Lips (Jagjaguwar)—Yes, I remember her whistling in Barbie, and it was neat. And, among other magic powers, Toots Thielemans could jazz his lips. When I noted that Lewis had a record out, I thought to myself, “I don’t need a whistler’s record” (how many of you wrestle with record need?). But…well…Pitchfork reviewed it, the cover photo and title stimulated me, I did think of Thielemans, who’s a personal favorite, and I streamed it. COOL! Noirish, mischievous, winsome, varied, catchy—in short, one of a kind and the kind of cute I go for. Please, Lord or whatever, do not let Lana Del Rey fold her in.

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)—Norway jazz aficionado Chris Monsen has an unerring ear for great jazz, especially if it’s not of the States (though he’s reliable on that subject, too). He recommends one new jazz record a week and I do not question him; he provides a link, I click, and I listen. It’s scary! I fancy myself antiauthoritarian, but I do not question Chris. He recommended this release by an English unit earlier this month, and as I was doing his bidding (but also reading and not really homed in), I suddenly sat up from the couch, and said aloud (I was alone—I’m getting old), “Damn, that sounds like Sonny Rollins!” Sad secret: I don’t even read Chris’ reviews of these albums; I just play them first and go back and read them after—that’s trust. So I grabbed my phone, looked at the album track list, and bugged out at the closer: “I’m an Old Cowhand”! Suffice it to say that, if you’re missing new Rollins—we’re long past the end of that line, sadly—you best check this out. Saxophonist Riley Stone Lonergan is no imitator; he’s got his own sense of line, but he steams along with a very powerful tone and has a very familiar sense of humor. The rest of the trio are clearly listening—in some ways, also, more responsive than some of the master’s trios—resulting in an “A” recording. I’m working my way through their previous offerings, and this one’s no fluke. Isn’t it funny how often you’re reminded that you haven’t listened to every great thing?

Joel Ross: Nublues (Blue Note)—I’ve seen Ross thrice: leading a combo and supporting Makaya McCraven and Immanuel Wilkins, respectively. As a player, he’s an angular wonder. I have not been blown away by the recordings he’s made under his own name, but he always makes me sit up and take notice as a sideman. This, I think, is easily his best solo record, and if you feel reluctant when you notice the jazz classics (two well-worn Tranes and a Monk) he’s covering on it, suppress the urge to move on and listen to the interpretive magic he brings to them. His originals are great as well.

Split System: Volume 2 (Legless)—No, garage punk ain’t over. Never has been in Australia. Following a lead from Memphis’ Goner Records—if you’re starved for forcebeat and two- or three-chord energy (or general aggressive outsider weirdness, Memphian and otherwise), subscribe to their mailing list—I checked out this Melbourne unit and they are like running into an electric fence. Fans of Eddy Current Suppression Ring should not tarry, but these guys don’t go on as long. Volume 1? Also, highly recommended.

Ms. Boogie & Ky Ani: The Breakdown (Ms. Boogie Records)—The surprise of the month for me. The New York rapper got a good notice from Pitchfork, but I’ve cooled a little on its rap recs, so streamed this to get it over with. Boom. They rap-whisper, in a way—like what they have to tell are secrets, but secrets one has to fight—daily. Try “Build Me Up,” where the church they attend and need wants them dead, for a convincer.

OLD & MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

Dennis Gonzalez: (with Yells with Eels and his sons) Cape of Storms (featuring Louis Moholo-Moholo / Resurrection and Life (featuring Alvin Fielder) / The Great Bydgosczc Concert (featuring Rodrigo Amado); (with Inspiration Band) Nile River Suite (featuring Henry Grimes)—The Abilene-born and Dallas/FW-headquartered Gonzalez is the most underappreciated jazz composer and bandleader of the post-Trane era. There, I said it. The music journalist Ken Shimamoto, who has been a far kinder Stanley Crouch to Gonzalez’s much more interesting Wynton Marsalis, says it better in one of the last editions of the Penguin Guide to Jazz, and Ken’s the friend that firmly advised me to sample his work. Since I did, it’s been Sally-bar-the-door. Gonzalez’s trumpet and pen knew endless variations, his sons (on bass and drums in the Yells with Eels band) were more than just acolytes, and by the time he died in 2022, he’d gained the respect of many jazz masters. Great starting points for all three claims are these records, which also showcase the distinctive movement and energy Gonzalez’s writing stimulated and prove how wonderfully he engaged with drummers. I used to experience Dylan fixations, and Lou Reed still puts a ring through my nose for weeks, but this month was the fourth time I found myself awash in Gonzalez’s work. You can’t miss with these if you’re adventurous, like some structure with your freedom, and simply want to catch up.

Trouble in Mind (THE Jerry Lee Lewis Documentary, directed by Ethan Coen)—I have been a serious Jerry Lee fan since I first heard “Crazy Arms” and read Nick Tosches’ Hellfire, I own several Killer books and docs, and, even with a Coen Brother at the helm and Mick Jagger, T-Bone Burnett, and Callie Khouri producing, I was skeptical that a) we needed another Lewis documentary, and b) anyone could really do justice to such an enigmatic force of nature, both dangerous and life-affirming. I was wrong again. In 74 minutes of mostly Jerry Lee, through clips, telling his own stories and footage even most JLL adepts have never seen, they nail it. Lone caveat: minutes and minutes of Mickey Gilley and some drama from Jimmy Swaggart, and A FEW SECONDS (!!!!) of Lewis’ wild-assed piano-pounding sister Linda Gail, who got married (the first time out of NINE—the current number as of today, I think) so she could get laid properly under the gaze of God? That’s a serious “what the fuck?” but this documentary is still very much worth your time.

Exploring Gong Culture of Southeast Asia: Massif and Archipelago—A Project by Yasuhiro Morinaga (Sub Rosa)—A typical music junkie Internet experience: I was looking for something else when I saw an ad for a Smithsonian-style collection of gong music from Cambodia. As if my cyber-brakes weren’t working, I kept clicking past it, then tried to back track and lost it. I don’t know how. I wanted gong music so badly (my lip’s always hook-ready) that, after trying in vain to find the album I’d seen an image of, I plugged “gong Cambodia” into a Discogs search and this appeared at the top of the list. I noticed the cover alluded to a David Toop intro, so—what the hell?—like Patty Hearst did to Roland’s Thompson gun, I bought it. It’s been playing enchantingly throughout my drafting this. Certain people, you know what to do!

January 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To (Plus Stuff)

Happy New Year! In the interesting of preserving my sanity–I hereby validate the fears of some of my handful of readers, upon scanning 200+-album lists, that I must be compromising my mental health–I am going to try to do something new with this blog in 2024. First, I’m not going to keep a running list; every month, I’m first going to list the 10-15 new records that grabbed me that month; then, I am going to gab about old stuff (not just reissues and archival digs) plus music-related experiences I had–yes, I don’t just lay on the couch surrounded by cats with my nose in a book and 10-12 albums queued up to play on or through my stereo. I do live. Sorry, as you might already have surmised–I’m really talking to myself. So here goes.

My Favorite 10 New Releases of the Month (alphabetically presented)

*Archival or Reissue

Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville/ Advancing on a Wild Pitch: Disasters, Volume 2 (both featuring the writing and playing of Moppa Elliott—known for leading the oft-exciting and -interesting band Mostly Other People Do The Killing—and both on Hot Cup Records)

I’ve enjoyed several records by MOPDTK in the past, but didn’t dig in enough to know that Elliott led the band from behind his bass. The guy has definite ideas about how to name a band. Seriously speaking, these two records are very strong jazz, the former highlighting compositions by jazz great Sam Jones via a terrific nine-piece band that features the impressive young guitarist Ava Mendoza excelling in a more disciplined format than I’ve ever heard her in, the latter, also conceptual but moodier, made up of compositions representing preventable Pennsylvania disasters that will have me checking out Volume 1.

Friends & Neighbors: Circles (Clean Feed)

Straight out of Trondheim, Norway, this quintet contributes to my growing feeling that I straight-up love Scandinavian jazz. I’m sure there’s BAD Scandinavian jazz, but I’ve been engaged by almost every such record I’ve heard in the last few years. Unsurprisingly, given the band and album name, Ornette is close to this band’s heart, and you can hear it.

Satoko Fujii Trio: Jet Black/ Satoko Fujii and Kaze: Unwritten (both on Libra Records)

I knew nothing about the astoundingly prolific and consistently powerful Japanese pianist Fujii until I wound up on a mailing list and received a few review copies that sent me on a deep dive into her OVER 100 HUNDRED RELEASES and she shows no signs of slowing down. Whether working in a small or large combo, she composes and plays pieces that have very focused moods and complex structures, while allowing room for improvisations by her always high-quality supporting casts. I think of her work as stormy and meditative, and she works seemingly endless variations on producing that feeling. These two records are a great start for the beginner.

Ghetto Brothers: Power-Fuerza (Vampisoul)*

Vampisoul is a Spanish label I keep a close eye on because they often package very interesting vintage releases inexpensively. For example, they offer loads of ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s cumbia; I’ve pigged out on those without being disappointed. The label calls this one a “Latin funk classic,” but it’s also got some decent romantic songs. You might have to be a bit patient.

Enrique Heredia Trio (with Pere Soto and Xavi Castillo): Plays Herbie Nichols (Fresh Sound Jazz)

I know little about Heredia or the other members of his trio, but I instantly purchased this due to my love for the short-lived Nichols’ distinctive compositions (see also A. B. Spellman’s book Four Lives in the Be-Bop Business). I wasn’t sure how a guitar trio would navigate them, but just when you think Heredia is fading into that kind of picking you’ve never liked in this genre, he leans into some mild distortion and slurring to keep you upright. The trio works up a killer groove while staying true to Nicols’ originality.

Abdullah Ibrahim: 3 (Gearbox)

The South African pianistic master turns 90 this October and he sounds undimmed in this studio-and-live trio recording (double bass/cello + flute/piccolo!) featuring his own compositions plus a few by Monk, Ellington and others.

Anna Kiviniemi Trio: Eir (We Jazz)

If you do not follow Chris Monsen’s Substack and you—like me, as I just said—like Scandinavian jazz, please rectify that, as Mr. Monsen has a nigh-infallible ear. I picked up on his plug for this, and was surprised and delighted by its gentle, inventive eloquence. It’s a pretty good month for jazz trio records, if haven’t noticed and /or trust me.

Mark Masters and Adam Shroeder: CT! (Capri Records)

I’ll put it simply: this big band tribute to the work of the irrepressible trumpeter and fluegelhorn enthusiast Clark Terry for the occasion of his 100th birthday is smashing because it captures Terry’s uplifting energy. I’m not that much of a big band fan, but the ebullience of the group quickened my pulse, and Terry would definitely have approved. Masters arranges brilliantly and bari saxophonist leads the group.

Malcria: Fantasias Histericas(Iron Lung)

Had enough of me pluggin’ jazz? Well, ok then: how ‘bout some Mexican hardcore punk? Me, I needed it, and I bet Mexico does, too. I’ve yet to dive into translations, but they kick ass…and I think they’re on the side of the angels.

Montanera: A Flor de Piel (Western Vinyl)

I have developed a weakness for chanteuses embedded in atmospheric musical settings and seeming to sing in very specific chains like the sea. I don’t trust myself in my warm response to this Colombian with a master’s, but my students walked in to her music yesterday and were inspired to ask about it, so maybe I’m right. Isabelia Herrera makes a fascinating case for the album on Pitchfork that is beyond my means, and it feels right. The title apparently translate to “on edge” or “at skin level,” which adds a level of richness to listen for.

R.A.P. Ferreira & Fumitake Tamura: the First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap (Alpha Pup)

Trust Ferreira’s own words about the release, via the album’s Bandcamp site: “…this album more than any other i’ve made encapsulates my vision of rap music. it is free. it is international. it is beloved. it is sharp and silly. it presents one way and participates another. it flexes and is flexible. there is study and there is the mystical. slices and crumbs. it’s something my whole family listened to and enjoyed first.” And trust the words he spits that live up to that vision. He continues to honor the work of one of his guiding lights, Bob Kaufman.

Lou Reed: Hudson River Meditations (Light in the Attic)*

Frankly, my wife and I meditate. This music was created to support that, and it does. The opening track is ideally looped for focused awareness of just being; the bass throb of the second reminds you of your body. Well, that’s enough for now, but I can listen to it for pleasure and reading, too.

Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope (Loma Vista)

I have never been an S-K fanatic—I saw them live on the last Weiss tour and they rocked my ass, and I still dig and dig out Dig Me Out—and the last couple haven’t helped, but I really like this one. The writing’s excellent, the drums are fine…but there’s a new Rosanne Cash-like ache to Tucker’s vocals I hadn’t picked up before that keeps me locked in.

Kali Uchis: Orquideas (Geffen)

Uchis keeps getting better. She’s very assured here, her singing and the rhythms are very seductive, and…again…I have three obligations in this list alone…I need to check out the translations, but I love the sound of her singing in Spanish. Sound is enough.

Wildernauts: Wildernauts (Don Giovanni)

It’s a joy to hear Pete Stampfel’s voice further up the road to recovery—really, he’s there—and his fiddle joyfully scratching out not only some old ones but also (as far as I can tell) a new weird and funny one called “Peyote Blues.”

My Favorite Music Experiences, Late Discoveries and Dives Into Music I Already Have But Barely Have Time to Listen To (One-Sentence Limit!)

Musical Poker Night—at almost 62, I’ve lost several friends and sometimes feel isolated and lonely for buds, but, thanks to someone’s recommendation, I was invited to a kind of “Record Poker” night where we took turns playing stuff for each other, and, while I created a Carnival theme out of the 45s I brought, I got to hear some interesting noise records and some really quite fetching proto-dream-pop by Terry “Seasons in the Sun” Jacks’ sister!

Danny Brown—Everything I’ve ever heard by him I’ve liked, but due, I think, to the avalanche of stuff that rumbles into my ears, I’d never “taken his CDs to the truck” for a very close listen: Be Real 2.0 with much better range in subject matter and mood, plus it’s got to be hard to pull off autumnal rap.

Chet Baker book leads to Twardzik and Freeman—I finally cracked and read James Gavin’s painful Chet Baker bio Deep in a Dream, in which the facts reveal Baker able to make Jerry Lee Lewis seem like David Gates, but at least I was moved to check out the pianistics of the doomed Dick Twardzik (whom Baker may have left to die when he was overdosing) and the not-doomed Russ Freeman (check out Richard Meltzer’s interview with him in A Whore Just Like the Rest).

Hannah Ewens and Fans—I am just a really big fan of UK Rolling Stone editor and FANGIRLS author Hannah Ewens—I have an “intellectual” rock and roll crush on her, I think—and chose to teach that book to my current group of college freshman, unaware that it would perfectly dovetail into Taylor Swift ruining football and prove Ewens’ wisdom.

Birmingham Influence—Did you know how wide Birmingham, Alabama’s influence was on nearly the whole of pre-WWII jazz (plus post- if you count Sun Ra and Basie’s rebound), because if you didn’t, please read Burgin Mathews’ Magic City, which one of my remaining great buds (almost all of whom live miles upon miles away) gave me for Christmas.

Cuticles!!!—Why the hell didn’t I know (too late for the lists) that one of the best rock and roll albums of 2023 is funny as hell and came out of New Zealand—someone shoulda told me, and thankfully Isaac Davila did, albeit this month?

Embarrassment Documentary + Toons—I was an Embarrassment fan back in their days, but hadn’t listened to them in awhile, and I bet neither have you; should you want to change that, please watch the documentary We Were Famous Once, Don’t You Remember, one of the best-ever made on an ‘80s indie band, this one from WICHITA, not LAWRENCE!!!

Joni Mitchell Carnegie Hall Thrills—I have very mixed feelings about these big boxes repackaging a ton of stuff we already have, but by god, this concert wedged into the Asylum Years set makes my short hairs stand up for most of its duration, and I prefer her backed by a band.